Community TrailBlazers
Housing and community development's evolvement rests on the shoulders of women and men who have played a strong role in developing affordable housing and communities throughout the country. Their stories provide a human historical perspective on our cities and the housing within our cities.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 37 minutes
- Episodes
- 78
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2021
Ep. 18-Robert Embry: Leading Change in Baltimore
Robert Embry has been a change agent in Baltimore, playing a pivotal role in shaping the area’s housing policy as Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development for Baltimore and…
Ep. 17-Conrad Egan: Millennials! Power Up at the Local Level
The future of housing must change, according to Conrad Egan. With 20 years of service to HUD and ongoing work with housing agencies in Northern Virginia, he points to communities that are embracing g…
Ep. 16-Kent Colton: The Ivory Prize and Other Innovations
Kent Colton is a sought-after voice in housing policy. As president of the Colton Housing Group and senior research fellow at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, he has a sweeping knowledge…
Ep. 15-Emil Frankel: Transportation Links to Urbanism
Transportation policy is a path to understanding how U.S. cities were built and their role in shaping people’s lives. Emil Frankel has a distinguished career, serving as Assistant Secretary for Trans…
Ep. 14-Joe Schiff: Banish the Blinders
Joe Schiff has been at the highest levels of HUD, responsible for housing millions of families and a continual voice for reforming the system. He deep dives into what is and isn’t working in public h…
Ep. 13-Joe Ventrone: Time for Radical Change
Joe Ventrone believes that HUD and federal housing policy need a radical realignment. After over 40 years of industry experience in the private sector, Congress, HUD, and federal agencies, he believe…
Ep.12-William Gilmartin: Bridging a Partisan Divide
William Gilmartin has led a life committed to public service. He spent over 44 years in Washington with the Army, Congressional offices, and reaching the level of Assistant Secretary of Congress and …
Ep. 11-Ann Schnare: The Economics of Housing
Ann Schnare is an expert in housing and mortgage finance, with 20 years as president of her own consulting firm. With a Harvard Ph.D in economics, she built a strong career in many sectors of the hou…
Ep. 10-Tom Buzzuto: Doing Housing Right
For too long, the issue wasn’t even on the national dialogue and inaction has only worsened the crisis.
Yet he’s optimistic about the new conversations amongst the current presidential candidates and…
Ep. 9-Elisabette Calero: High Priestess of Culture in Puerto Rico
Elisabette Calero is known as the high priestess of culture in Puerto Rico. At 14 she joined the Boston Ballet, the launch for a storied career traveling the world as a ballerina. Her many experience…
Ep. 8-Marshall Kaplan: A First-Hand Historical Overview of HUD
Marshall Kaplan gives an excellent first-hand account of HUD's evolution and expectations and its ability to meet them. He discusses the difficulties of HUD's role as a lead agency, how close we came…
Ep. 7-Monica Sussman: Do Good to Do Well
Monica Sussman has been on both sides of the affordable housing sector, serving as a deputy general counsel with HUD and currently practicing at a law firm focused on affordable housing policy.
She o…
Ep. 6-David Smith: Sure! I Can Do That!
David is a self-taught pioneer in affordable housing, building two successful companies including the Affordable Housing Institute which has worked in over 65 countries, with partners including World…
Ep. 5-Carol Lamberg: From Ashes to Triumph
Building housing in New York isn’t easy. There’s lots of red tape and high housing costs, but none of that detracted Carol Lamberg from pushing through projects that later when on to flourish.
As a l…
Ep. 4-Bob Moss: Innovate to Fix Housing Woes
After 36 years in the affordable housing industry, Bob Moss has a clear vision for what must change.
He discusses that to meet the myriad of needs in housing, the U.S. needs to be more creative about…
Ep. 3-John McIlwain: Easing the Housing Squeeze
John Mcllwain has been on the ground floor of the country’s affordable housing movement, becoming a trusted voice on Capitol Hill for his deep expertise.
Mcllwain closed the first Section 8 deal in t…
Ep. 2-Denise Muha: Respect on Capitol Hill
Housing expert Denise Muha is a sought after expert in Washington for her insight on affordable housing policy. As Executive Director of the National Leased Housing Association, she regularly advoca…
Ep.1-Kent Watkins & Nan McKay: A Historical Perspective of Housing and Communities
Kent Watkins and Nan McKay reflect on their decades of work in the affordable housing industry and analyze the many challenges on the horizon. They discuss their reasons for collaborating on this his…