Housing and economic development expert Stockton Williams has been named executive director of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), effective April 2.
Williams joins NCSHA from the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he serves as executive vice president of content and executive director of the Terwilliger Center for Housing. While at ULI, he has had executive management responsibility for research and analysis on housing and communities, real estate finance and investment, urban sustainability, and development practice. He is an author and frequent media commentator on housing issues and an adviser to local communities across the United States.
Before joining ULI, Williams was managing principal of HR&A Advisors' Washington, D.C., office. He previously served as a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Energy. Williams has also held senior leadership positions at Enterprise Community Partners, Living Cities, and with an affordable housing developer.
Chairman of the board of Groundswell, a community solar organization serving low-income communities, Williams holds a master of science degree in real estate development from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in religion from Princeton University.
"We are very pleased to have Stockton lead NCSHA into the future,” said Grant S. Whitaker, NCSHA president and president and CEO of the Utah Housing Corp., in a statement. “The NCSHA Search Committee, which included a majority of NCSHA's board, was unanimous in choosing Stockton. He has impressive credentials and talent. We all agreed he will add tremendous value leading NCSHA's advocacy and education efforts."
Williams takes over for Barbara Thompson, who stepped down from the post last year after 30 years with the organization. His appointment marks a return to NCSHA, where he served as a senior legislative and policy associate early in his career.
"I am deeply honored by the opportunity to rejoin NCSHA and the housing finance agency community at a time when the states' role in solving our nation's housing challenges is more important than ever," Williams said.
