The San Diego Housing Commission has a new president and CEO Wednesday, following approval of Lisa Jones to head the 390-employee housing agency with a budget of $595 million.
Jones was previously serving as the SDHC’s executive vice president of strategic initiatives before the San Diego City Council, acting as the Housing Authority, promoted her late Tuesday. She is the housing commission’s sixth leader in its nearly 45-year history.
“The greatest threats to the well-being and success of our community are the housing affordability and homelessness crises that continue to plague us,” City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said. “In other words, San Diego cannot succeed without the success of the San Diego Housing Commission. Doing so will require compassion, experience, savvy and expertise.
“Having worked with Lisa Jones over the last few years, I’ve witnessed her demonstrate those attributes and do so while always prioritizing the people who most need our attention,” Elo-Rivera said. “With her guidance, we’re taking active steps toward ensuring everyone in San Diego can have a home they can afford.”
Elo-Rivera appointed the Ad Hoc Working Group for the Recruitment of the San Diego Housing Commission president and chief executive officer, which led the recruitment process.
“We need a leader who expands access to affordable housing, leverages external resources to help people get off the streets, reverses historical actions that have segregated communities, and invests in the hard-working staff at the Housing Commission,” said City Council President Pro Tem Joe LaCava, the chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group. “That leader is Lisa Jones.”
Before joining the SDHC in 2017, Jones worked for seven years for the Housing Authority of the county of San Bernardino. She concurrently served as executive director of knowledge and education for Your Success, a nonprofit affiliate of the housing authority of that county.
“I am honored and deeply humbled to be entrusted with the leadership of the San Diego Housing Commission at this pivotal time,” Jones said. “As housing costs increase and resources continue to be limited, it will take innovative approaches and partnerships to make the progress that San Diegans need.
“Engaging with the community is one of my core values. I want to reach out to our community stakeholders, our community members and people across our city who don’t know we are there for them to better reach and serve those that need us the most,” she added. “I look forward to working with our City Council, Mayor Todd Gloria, our Board of Commissioners, our community partners and our outstanding staff to develop more diverse, person-centered solutions to serve families facing housing instability or homelessness.”
Jones holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Institute of Leadership and Management with the University of West Anglia, England. She also is an alumna of the Impact Center’s Women’s Executive Leadership Program.
–City News Service
