Leadership for Housing and Economic Development (L.H.E.D.)
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| Leadership for Housing and Economic Development (L.H.E.D.) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Leadership for Housing and Economic Development (L.H.E.D.) |
| Formation | 2010 |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Region served | United States, international |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
Leadership for Housing and Economic Development (L.H.E.D.) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on urban revitalization, affordable housing policy, and community economic initiatives. The organization convenes practitioners, policymakers, philanthropies, and academic institutions to design and scale models for housing production, neighborhood stabilization, and workforce development. L.H.E.D. operates through policy research, technical assistance, and coalition building across municipal, state, and federal levels.
Overview
L.H.E.D. positions itself at the nexus of urban planning, public finance, and social services, engaging with entities such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Brookings Institution, and Urban Institute. It collaborates with municipal administrations including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia while maintaining partnerships with philanthropic organizations like the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The organization draws on research and technical practice associated with universities and think tanks such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and Princeton University.
History and Founding
L.H.E.D. was founded in 2010 by a coalition of housing practitioners, former officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and leaders from nonprofit housing providers including representatives from Habitat for Humanity International, Enterprise Community Partners, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Early funders and advisors included executives with prior roles at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Kresge Foundation, and policy veterans from The White House and the U.S. Congress. The organization scaled programs in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, aligning its work with federal responses like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and initiatives linked to the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Mission and Programs
L.H.E.D.’s mission emphasizes creating durable pathways to affordable housing, equitable development, and inclusive employment. Programmatic work spans technical assistance for transit-oriented development projects with transit agencies such as Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Bay Area Rapid Transit; workforce initiatives in partnership with AFL–CIO affiliates and community colleges like City College of San Francisco; and policy advocacy aligned with municipal zoning reforms in cities like Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon. Signature programs include a rental preservation initiative modeled on strategies used by National Low Income Housing Coalition affiliates, a community land trust program informed by examples from Burlington, Vermont, and a housing finance innovation lab building on research from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Urban Institute.
Organizational Structure and Governance
The organization is governed by a board comprising former elected officials, corporate executives, academic leaders, and nonprofit CEOs, with members who previously served at institutions such as Department of Housing and Urban Development, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), MetLife Foundation, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. Operational divisions include Policy & Research, Technical Assistance, Field Operations, and Finance & Development, staffed by personnel with backgrounds at McKinsey & Company, KPMG, Accenture, and universities including Georgetown University and University of Chicago. L.H.E.D. maintains advisory councils featuring leaders from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Yale School of Architecture, and the London School of Economics.
Partnerships and Funding
L.H.E.D. secures funding through a mixture of philanthropic grants, government contracts, and impact investments, receiving support from institutions such as the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and regional economic development agencies. Strategic private-sector partnerships include collaborations with banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and investment arms such as BlackRock for syndicating housing finance. International cooperation has involved multilateral partners including the World Bank Group, Inter-American Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank for pilot projects in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Impact and Evaluation
L.H.E.D. reports outcomes through program evaluations, impact studies, and third-party audits conducted in partnership with research organizations such as RAND Corporation, Urban Institute, and university research centers at New York University and University of Pennsylvania. Reported impacts include preservation of affordable units modeled on efforts by Enterprise Community Partners, reductions in vacancy in targeted neighborhoods comparable to interventions studied in Detroit revitalization work, and job placement metrics aligned with workforce partnership examples from Chicago Jobs Council. Evaluations reference standards from entities like the Government Accountability Office and assessments comparable to those used by HUD program reviews.
Criticism and Controversies
L.H.E.D. has faced criticism concerning partnerships with large financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, raising questions similar to debates around public–private partnerships seen in projects involving Hudson Yards and redevelopment controversies like Atlantic Yards. Critics including local advocacy groups in Oakland, Baltimore, and Miami have argued that some initiatives risk displacement effects reminiscent of critiques leveled at redevelopment in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. Other controversies involve evaluation transparency and debates over reliance on impact investment models criticized in analyses from The New York Times, The Guardian, and policy critiques by academics affiliated with University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University.