Katherine Fleming keeps a watchful eye on BRIDGE Housing’s deep pool of affordable housing developments.
Vice president of portfolio at one of the nation’s largest nonprofit affordable housing firms, Fleming, along with her six-member team, is responsible for the financial and physical health of the organization’s portfolio of 112 properties and more than 12,000 units and counting.
“It’s hugely important because how well our properties are run determines how successful we are in getting new deals,” she says. “To fight NIMBYism and convince cities and counties to partner with us, we have to show that we can keep our promises and be good stewards of the properties, our residents, and the communities. It’s showing our dedication over the long term.”
Fleming also does her part to advocate for strong asset management across the industry. She’s active with the Consortium for Housing and Asset Managers (CHAM) and has led training sessions for CHAM, NeighborWorks America, and other organizations. She’s also chair of the San Francisco Bay Asset Managers Group, which encourages local affordable housing asset managers to collaborate and lobby on issues that impact the operations of their portfolios.
Fleming, 40, discovered the affordable housing industry right out of school. After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mount Holyoke College, she was planning to go into social work when she learned that The Community Builders was looking for help putting together grant applications. It was a temporary job that turned into a six-year stay at the Boston-based housing organization, where she eventually became a development project manager.
Fleming then went on to work in asset management at both Resources for Community Development, a nonprofit affordable housing developer based in Berkeley, Calif., and RBC Capital Markets—Tax Credit Equity Group, a national housing tax credit syndicator, before joining BRIDGE Housing in 2014.
“I love the mission and what we are accomplishing by providing affordable housing because there’s such a great need nationally,” says the mother of two.
