Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta names Atlanta housing veteran Sarah Kirsch as the managing director of the organization’s affordable housing investment portfolios, the Atlanta Affordable Housing Fund (AAHF), and the GoATL Affordable Housing Fund.

Launched in 2020, the AAHF mobilizes private sector funds and deploys low-cost capital to scale the creation and preservation of affordable housing throughout the metro Atlanta region. To date, AAHF has raised more than $15 million and supported nearly 500 units of affordable housing. The GoATL Affordable Housing Fund is managed through impact investment dollars, where investors benefit from a moderate financial return and a high impact on the quality of life in the neighborhood served.

“Affordable housing is one of the most critical issues facing the metro Atlanta region right now,” says Frank Fernandez, president, and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. “Our ability to solve our other challenges – crime, education, and economic mobility – hinges on our ability to ensure that everyone in our region has access to safe, secure, affordable housing. We are delighted to welcome Sarah to the Community Foundation team. Her expertise, foresight and proven successes in the affordable housing space will help us scale our efforts and effect real change in this arena.”

Previously, Kirsch spent a decade as executive director of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta, a global nonprofit providing leadership in the responsible use of land in creating and sustaining thriving communities. Kirsch joined ULI as director of the Livable Communities Council (LCC), a member-driven group of 50 executives in the Atlanta region organized to advance transit-oriented development and walkable communities, in partnership with MARTA, the Atlanta BeltLine, and the City of Atlanta.