The Center for Affordable Housing Lending, the 501(c)(3) research and policy partner of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL), announced Monday that former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) official Julia Gordon has been named as its inaugural senior fellow.

Gordon, who most recently served as HUD assistant secretary for housing and commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), is the first appointment under the nonprofit’s new Housing Supply Research & Fellowship Program that aims to address challenges in affordable housing finance.

Gordon formerly served as president of the National Community Stabilization Trust. She also previously held senior roles at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Center for American Progress and the Center for Responsible Lending.

In her new role, Gordon will focus on barriers to affordable homeownership, including increasing the supply of starter homes and addressing rising property insurance costs. The center said her research will be geared toward developing policy recommendations for lenders, developers and government officials.

“Families can’t buy homes that don’t exist, and the homes that do exist are increasingly unaffordable and uninsurable,” Gordon said in a statement. “I look forward to digging into both these challenges with the Center and developing real solutions that policymakers and lenders can realistically use.”

The fellowship is the first initiative under the center’s Housing Supply Research & Fellowship Program, which was launched with a $1 million grant from the Citi Foundation.

The fellowship is part of the Citi Foundation’s Blueprint for Housing Opportunity initiative — a five-year commitment that includes $60 billion in financing to support the creation and preservation of at least 250,000 housing units nationwide, as well as $50 million in grants to nonprofit organizations working on housing affordability.

The program is designed to bring together housing practitioners and policymakers to develop research that can be translated into policy proposals. Fellows will work with the NAAHL’s network of banks, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and housing lenders to test ideas before publication, with the association’s policy team helping advance recommendations with lawmakers.

The first phase of the program also includes a report examining the impact of the Community Reinvestment Act on affordable housing and community development, along with a series of policy briefs covering topics such as the role of CDFIs and the nation’s shortage of starter homes.

Sarah Brundage, president and CEO of NAAHL and the Center for Affordable Housing Lending, said Gordon’s experience in federal housing policy and community development makes her well suited to lead the initiative.

“Julia Gordon has spent her career fighting to make homeownership a real possibility for more people who have too often been left out. Her experience – from the federal level to the community level — makes her exactly the kind of bold, experienced thinker the Center needs to ensure policy and practice go hand-in-hand,” Brundage said.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

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