Richard C. Gentry
President & Chief Executive
Officer
San Diego Housing Commission
Richard
C. Gentry is President & Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego
Housing Commission, a public agency working to expand affordable housing
opportunities in the City of San Diego. Each year, SDHC helps more than
80,000 low-income individuals with affordable housing through
award-winning programs that benefit the city’s economy and revitalize
neighborhoods.
The San Diego Housing
Authority selected Gentry for the position in
July 2008 after a nationwide executive search.
Gentry has 36 years of
experience in the affordable housing and community
redevelopment field, including executive leadership positions at three
housing
authorities -- Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority, Austin Housing
Authority,
and Greensboro Housing Authority.
Most recently, he was Senior
Vice President of Asset Management for the National
Equity Fund in Chicago, Ill., the nation’s largest non-profit Low Income
Housing Tax
Credit syndicator. He has also served as Vice President for Public Housing
Initiatives
at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in Washington, D.C., and
he worked
for several years in the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
Gentry’s accomplishments
include restoring the Austin and Richmond Housing
Authorities to sound financial footing; participating in the development of
Standard &
Poor’s rating system for housing authorities, now in use nationally; forging
significant
federal contacts; and providing testimony at congressional hearings on
affordable
housing issues.
Gentry is a member of the
National Association of Housing and Redevelopment
Officials, where he served as President from 1995-1997; the Public Housing
Authorities Directors’ Association; National Housing Conference; and the
Council of Large Public
Housing Authorities.
Born in Elkin, N.C., Gentry
holds a master of arts in religion from Florida State
University and a bachelor of arts in religion from Wake Forest University.
Richard
C. Gentry is President & Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego
Housing Commission, a public agency working to expand affordable housing
opportunities in the City of San Diego. Each year, SDHC helps more than
80,000 low-income individuals with affordable housing through
award-winning programs that benefit the city’s economy and revitalize
neighborhoods.