In his first six weeks on the job, Shaun Donovan has visited 11 cities, met with dozens of partners and investors, and toured affordable housing properties across the country. The recent travels drove home the breadth and depth of Enterprise's work, mission, and partnerships. But as the organization's new CEO and president, Donovan believes Enterprise must expand its network to tackle the full scope of the country's affordable housing crisis.

The IRA offers unprecedented opportunities for the affordable housing sector. But there's no shortage of challenges, from determining eligibility for subsidies and tax incentives to prioritizing when and how to meet a variety of requirements. Among the emerging tools to help the field navigate this new terrain are SAHF's Multifamily Portfolio Carbon Emissions Roadmap and Momentum, a planning platform from Cadence OneFive.

While the world watches and calls for swift and immediate action to address climate change, environmental justice proponents warn that not all policies are created equal, and that some may serve to exacerbate existing inequities, including by race and ethnicity. While many homeowners can invest in efficiency upgrades, electric technologies, and renewable energy generation, renters—particularly low-income and BIPOC renters—rarely have the same options. A careful approach to decarbonization must be considered to avoid exacerbating the nation’s affordable housing crisis.

Congress must act so that communities hit by disaster can receive funding more quickly and equitably, Enterprise’s CEO and President Shaun Donovan testified before Congress. Donovan also stressed that communities need funding to be better prepared for disasters, noting that mitigation measures can more than pay for themselves and can save an average of $6 in future disaster recovery costs for every dollar spent.

As Enterprise’s vice president and market leader for New York, Baaba Halm says she never forgets the people she advocated for each day in her first job at Covenant House, even as she now focuses on broad policy changes that aim to create more affordable homes for millions of New Yorkers.

Affordable housing developers, owners, and operators in the Rocky Mountain region of the country area face challenges ranging from the impact of drought on water supply, to the need for repairs due to high winds and other extreme weather conditions. Over the course of eight weeks this fall, a cohort of 19 affordable housing owners and operators participated in the Rocky Mountain Resilience Academy.

In this latest interview with Shaun Donovan, the CEO and president of Enterprise talks about the recent win for our Power Forward Communities coalition, his conviction that homelessness is a solvable problem, and the significance of our one million homes milestone.