Maura Collins has been named executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA). She will step into the post on the first of the year when Sarah Carpenter, the agency’s leader for the past 20 years, retires.
Since joining VHFA in 2002, Collins has held several positions at the agency, most recently as deputy director. The VHFA Board of Commissioners unanimously approved her appointment after an extensive national search with more than 45 applicants.
"The board was pleased to discover that the best candidate was so close to home. ... It's affirming of Sarah's legacy and points to VHFA's promising future," said Randy Amis, board chairman.
As deputy director, Collins has led the agency’s core programs of homeownership, multifamily development and financing, multifamily asset management and compliance, and information technology. In this role, she developed and implemented strategic goals and business plans, maximized capital resources for VHFA programs, and developed new business opportunities.
"I look forward to advancing VHFA's mission of financing and promoting affordable housing," Collins said in a statement. "The state continues to face a shortage of homes affordable to many Vermonters, and I am excited to lead VHFA as it creatively addresses these complex issues."
In a prior role at VHFA, Collins served as director of policy, planning and administration, where she was a state and federal legislative liaison and managed the agency's research, communications, human resources, and administration departments.
Before joining the agency, she worked at the Technical Assistance Collaborative in Boston, a consulting firm that focuses on the intersection of affordable housing, health care, human services policy, and systems development.
In 2012, Collins was named as one of the top 40 professionals under 40 years old by Vermont Business Magazine. She is chair of the board of directors of Pathways Vermont, a homeless service agency pioneering a rural version of the Housing First model.
Collins has a master's in public administration from the University of Vermont and served on the university’s faculty, teaching a graduate-level housing policy course. She has a bachelor’s in English from SUNY Buffalo.
VHFA is a nonprofit agency created in 1974 by the Vermont Legislature to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since its inception, the agency has helped approximately 29,000 Vermont households with affordable mortgages and financed the development of approximately 8,800 affordable rental apartments.
