A Message from TAAHP's 2022-2023 President

By Jean Latsha, 2022-2023 TAAHP President

Last year, the day before the start of the Texas Housing Conference, I attended a Banksy exhibit and since then have had a poster hanging on my office wall which reads, “There’s nothing more dangerous than someone who wants to make the world a better place.” It served as a bit of inspiration on some challenging days at work, but what I’ve really learned over the last year is that there IS something more dangerous, and that is a huge team of people who want to make some positive change for a good cause!

The enormous number of professionals who have committed time and resources to the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers is astonishing, and I want to thank each and every one of our members for their support. That support comes in so many different ways, from sponsoring a webinar to participating in a committee, from attending a fundraising event to reaching out to a legislator.

In December last year, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of this organization, and it was a truly memorable and humbling experience. TAAHP started with the vision and leadership of Edwina Carrington, Dick Kilday, Sally Gaskin and JOT Couch. (If you find Sally at the conference, ask her to tell the story!) Later presidents (and now legends) Chris Bergman, Mike Lankford, Jerry Wright and Diana McIver continued to grow and strengthen the organization. The legacy continued with Granger MacDonald, Mike Clark, Mike Sugrue, and Linda McMahon, who held on through the recession. Dan Markson, Toni Jackson, Barry Kahn and George Littlejohn followed, expanding the conference and membership through a period of significant growth. Then Justin MacDonald, Mahesh Aiyer, Bobby Bowling, and Nicole Asarch stepped up, doing some very heavy lifting while we transitioned to our new (and very thankfully current) Executive Director. I became a board member under the leadership of Debra Guerrero, who catapulted TAAHP to a new level of recognition from peer organizations and lawmakers, and Dan Kierce, who calmly and astonishingly managed us through the shutdown caused by the pandemic. Then Janine Sisak and Chris Akbari didn’t miss a beat, hosting wildly successful conferences and adding several new programs, working groups, goals, and member benefits.

I look at this list of people and now fully appreciate what they have done and are still doing for TAAHP, and in turn how they have truly served Texans in need of safe, decent, affordable housing. I look at that list a second time and can think of a hundred people who are not on it, but who have contributed so much time and energy (and money!) to our common goal. Again, it’s astonishing!

This year, much of the focus was on our legislative agenda, which called for long hours at the Capitol, and many miles driven by Nathan Kelley as chair of the Government Affairs Committee. It required hundreds of phone calls and personal visits by the Andrade-Van De Putte lobbying team, and incredible wrangling from our staff, particularly in organizing events like our Rally Day at the Capitol earlier this year. Others – Steve LeClere, Khayree Duckett, Nick Walsh and many more – worked tirelessly and pitched in at a moment’s notice. And the result? New legislation that will directly and positively impact the ability to provide affordable housing in Texas! This includes the added provision for a state housing tax credit, improvements to the laws governing developments owned in partnership with public facility corporations, and efficiencies added to the private activity bond program, among others. Success in a legislative session is always exciting, but we cannot forget all the other accomplishments of this group. The scholarship committee raised an unprecedented amount of funds, and we formed a separate non-profit, the TAAHP Foundation, to accept donations and administer the program. We hosted educational webinars throughout the year, including our holiday anniversary event; and of course, we are having our biggest conference yet, thanks in large part to the masterful Kristi Sutterfield! We are in constant engagement with TDHCA and other stakeholders through the work of so many committees, while also just taking care of business internally. That leads to a big, big thank you to Roger, Naomi, Whitney, and Amanda, the hardest working staff in Texas. Finally, I would be remiss not to recognize our four board members who are leaving, all after several years of service. Cheers to David Saling, Audrey Martin, Terri Anderson, and Dan Kierce! Your dedication is unmatched. And last but not least, hats off to incoming President Valerie Williams! Well done, y’all!