Alexandra Nassau-Brownstone is a leading voice on strategies for using resident engagement and services to create healthy, affordable homes where people can thrive.
Vice president for resident outcomes and CORES (Certified Organization for Resident Engagement and Services) at Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF), she works with developers and financial partners to help create strong communities across the country and demonstrate the impact of service-enriched housing.
She has been critical in establishing the CORES certification program, which recognizes owner-
operators and third-party providers that have demonstrated a robust commitment and competency in providing services coordination. Administered by SAHF, the program boasts close to 50 certified organizations. In addition, CORES has been incorporated into several state qualified allocation plans for the award of low-income housing tax credits and is also part of Fannie Mae’s Healthy Housing Rewards Enhanced Resident Services program, which provides financial incentives for borrowers that incorporate robust resident-centered services at their properties.
“Housing is this incredible platform, the nexus of the built environment, sustainability, health, and individual and community well-being,” says Nassau-Brownstone, who originally thought she might become a photojournalist. However, an interest in exploring issues of power and poverty in communities led her to working at Enterprise Community Partners’ National Resident Services Initiative.
She then served as director of resident services for Somerset Development Co. in Washington, D.C., where she developed and managed partnerships, program design, and systems for financial and outcomes tracking before joining SAHF, a collaborative of 12 multistate, nonprofit affordable housing providers, in 2017.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nassau-Brownstone oversaw the creation of a practitioner resource center to provide affordable housing industry members information on the latest alerts and best practices to navigate the crisis.
Her reach extends beyond the SAHF network, Nassau-Brownstone is engaged with industry partners such as NeighborWorks America, Housing Partnership Network, the National Affordable Housing Trust, the American Association of Service Coordinators, and the Housing Association for Nonprofit Developers. She also serves on a panel reviewing the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Supportive Services Demonstration Evaluation for the iWish program as well as volunteers with the D.C. Landlord Partnership Fund and on her daughter’s school board. In addition, she is a frequent speaker and writer on resident-centered practices and strategies for financing and delivering resident services.
She lives with her husband and daughter in the D.C. region.
