Sandra B. Henriquez, administrator and CEO of the Boston Housing Authority, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be assistant secretary for public and Indian housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Her appointment is the latest key move in assembling the new HUD leadership team.
An industry veteran, Henriquez is well familiar with HUD public housing programs.
She assumed her duties as the administrator and CEO of the Boston Housing Authority in April 1996. She is the chief of public housing for the city, which is a cabinet position within the administration of Mayor Thomas M. Menino. She previously served at the Boston Housing Authority in various capacities from 1977 to 1983.
She is the immediate past president of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA).
“Sandi is widely recognized as a national leader on affordable housing issues, and we are confident and optimistic she will make a tremendous contribution,” said Sunia Zaterman, executive director of CLPHA, in a prepared statement. “She has a great vision for the future of public housing, proven leadership, and ability to forge critical partnerships that can help meet our nation’s affordable housing needs.”
In Boston, she has guided $1 billion in public housing redevelopment activities.
Henriquez serves on multiple boards, including YWCA Boston and Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp.
Obama has picked several key industry veterans from around the country to serve at HUD, starting with Secretary Shaun Donovan, who was commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He also recently selected affordable housing developer Carol Galante of BRIDGE Housing, a California nonprofit organization, to be deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing programs.
