President's Message: Meet Priya Jayachandran

By NHT President, Priya Jayachandran

This is my first Message as President of National Housing Trust. I am thrilled to be here and grateful to our Board and to our staff for the opportunity to lead this organization. 

Even though I am only in week four, NHT is well known to me. I served on the Board of NHTCDF for nine years including a few years as Chair. As a local banker, I frequently called on NHT-Enterprise and know their housing developments well. While at HUD, I visited regularly with the NHT-led Preservation Working Group (PWG) and enjoyed the depth of passion and expertise always in the turn. I’ve often turned to the policy team’s emails, blogs and resources for up to date information on new developments in the industry. In many ways, it feels like being back to lead my old school. NHT has taught me so much on my journey thus far. 

What drew me most to NHT was the challenge and opportunity to champion the rental affordability crisis in the US. With 11.4 million households currently unable to afford their rent and current federal subsidy levels assisting fewer than one in four Americans who need it. More than ever, there is an acute need for new ideas. We need new solutions; new messages and messengers; old messengers and new messages; and new funding for affordable housing. I believe NHT can and will continue to lead the campaign for new ideas. I’m excited to be part of it. 

I look forward to sharing our thoughts, innovations and progress over the coming months and years. For now, I’ll end naturally where Michael left off last month:

“In life, you hope to do something meaningful, work with intelligent, caring people and have fun”. 

I’m there and I stand on the shoulders of greatness.