Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the appointment of Terri Lee as the City of Atlanta’s first Chief Housing Officer during a gathering of more than 100 cross-sector non-profit, corporate, community and affordable housing leaders.

“Ensuring that all Atlanta families have access to quality, safe housing that they can afford is one of the highest priorities of our Administration,” said Mayor Bottoms.  “I truly appreciate the hard work and thoughtful consideration that has gone into the recommendations developed by the HouseATL Task Force and look forward to continuing to make progress towards our shared goal of affordable housing for all.”

“To ensure our success, I am excited to announce that Terri Lee has been named Chief Housing Officer for the City of Atlanta.  She is an established champion for change in housing affordability and I have full confidence in her ability to lead this important effort in partnership with the diverse and unique cohort of leaders who have gotten us to where we are today,” concluded the Mayor.

Lee was most recently the Deputy Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of City Planning where she established the city’s $75 million Housing Opportunity Bond initiative and implemented strategies to encourage neighborhood stabilization, transformation and growth.  She has served as a board member of the Freddie Mac National Affordable Housing Council, Trees Atlanta, Urban Land Institute Advisory Board, Rebuilding Together Atlanta and as a founding board member of the Atlanta Collaborative Land Trust.

The primary responsibilities of the new Chief Housing Officer include establishing policies and goals for the city’s affordable housing strategy; coordinating with public-private agencies to identify key investment opportunities; communicating with the community in order to fully understand housing needs; and ensuring bold thinking, collaboration and accountability across city agencies as the challenge of affordable housing is addressed.

 “I am excited to serve the City of Atlanta in this new role and look forward to working with Mayor Bottoms and other key stakeholders to address the growing challenge of housing affordability.  Our work will be intentional and purposeful as we collectively move forward towards the vision of a more inclusive and livable city,” added Lee.

The HouseATL Task Force was formed earlier this year in support of Mayor Bottoms’ $1 billion affordable housing initiative and includes such organizations as the Urban Land Institute Atlanta, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Central Atlanta Progress, the Center for Civic Innovation, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

The role of Chief Housing Officer is a cabinet-level position, effective immediately.