The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has appointed six new members to its Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee, including Ibijoke Akinbowale, director of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s (NCRC) Housing Counseling Network (HCN).
The committee was first established in 2015 to advise HUD’s Office of Housing Counseling on how best to utilize HUD’s resources to reach those in need of housing counseling services.
Members of the committee serve three-year terms.
“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on our flawed housing infrastructure, and the housing counseling community will be integral to supporting the nation’s economic recovery,” Akinbowale said. “I’m proud to share in the responsibility of that while advocating for racial equity in housing.”
NCRC’s Housing Counseling Network is a HUD-approved national housing counseling organization made up of over 50 housing counseling agencies across the nation.
The other new members of the federal committee are Lawrence Batiste, President, Batiste Premier Realty; Carol Ann Dujanovich, Vice President and Director of Operations, 1st Nations Reverse Mortgage; Marcia Lewis, Deputy Executive Director – Change Management, Indianapolis Housing Authority; Bill Sevilla, Director, Community Development and Asset Building, Centro Campesino; and Tony Walters, Executive Director, National American Indian Housing Council. The committee includes two returning members, Patricia Arvielo, President and Co-Founder, New American Funding and Paul Yorkis, President, Patriot Real Estate.
