The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), established in 1965, seeks to “create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.” But how does HUD help families secure quality housing, work to end homelessness, root out discrimination, address climate change and natural disasters, and initiate many other community development initiatives? In our inaugural Housing Brass Tacks discussion, Holly Leicht will explain:

• What are the main programs funded through HUD’s $49 billion budget?
• Who does HUD serve?
• How is housing policy born at the federal level implemented at the local level?

Ample time for discussion will follow Holly’s presentation. You bring the questions, we’ll supply the experts and the wine.

Holly Leicht served in the Obama Administration as the Regional Administrator for HUD in Region II, presiding over the agency’s activities in New York and New Jersey. Leicht administered $6 billion in affordable housing and other urban development programs, as well as the Superstorm Sandy recovery funds and implementation of the region’s winning Rebuild by Design and National Disaster Resilience Competition projects. Prior to her appointment at HUD, Leicht was the Executive Director of New Yorkers for Parks and she previously held positions at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp, and the Municipal Art Society. She grew up in St. Louis and graduated from Yale College and Northwestern University School of Law.

About Housing Brass Tacks

Understanding housing policy, finance, and regulation is daunting. One must wade through a sea of acronyms, untangle public and private interests, trace knotty financial flows, and decrypt complex bureaucracies. Making heads or tails of all this can take a lifetime, but the need to understand is urgent. We all feel New York City’s housing squeeze; increased affordable housing is a centerpiece of our mayor’s agenda; and sweeping changes in housing and community development policy may soon come at the federal level. The Architectural League is here to introduce (or refresh) our housing proficiency. Housing Brass Tacks is an informal discussion series designed as a primer on big ideas and essential mechanics in housing policy and development. We’re getting down to brass tacks: the fundamentals that structure this unwieldy topic.

Housing Brass Tacks will be held biweekly on Monday evenings. More topics and discussion dates to be announced soon.