Maura Collins Named as VHFA’s Next Executive Director

BURLINGTON, VT — The Board of Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) announced today the selection of Maura Collins of Essex Junction for the position of Executive Director. Collins will step into her new role on the first of the year when Sarah Carpenter, the agency’s Executive Director for the past 20 years, retires. Since joining VHFA in 2002, Collins has held several positions at the agency, most recently as Deputy Director.

After an extensive national search, with over 45 applicants, the Board unanimously approved Collins.

“The Board was pleased to discover that the best candidate was so close to home… It’s affirming of Sarah’s legacy and points to VHFA’s promising future,” noted Randy Amis, Chair of VHFA’s Board of Commissioners.

“I look forward to advancing VHFA’s mission of financing and promoting affordable housing,” Collins said. “The state continues to face a shortage of homes affordable to many Vermonters and I am excited to lead VHFA as it creatively addresses these complex issues.”

In her most recent role as VHFA’s Deputy Director, Collins led the agency’s core programs of Homeownership, Multifamily Development and Financing, Multifamily Asset Management and Compliance, and Information Technology. In this role, she developed and implemented strategic goals and business plans, maximized capital resources for VHFA programs, and developed new business opportunities.

With the depth and breadth of her experience, Collins is a highly sought-after advisor to other organizations and communities on housing policy, homeless and supportive housing efforts. In a prior role at VHFA, Collins was Director of Policy, Planning and Administration where she was a state and federal legislative liaison and managed the Agency’s research, communications, human resources, and administration departments.

In 2012, Collins was named as one of the top 40 professionals under 40 years old by Vermont Business Magazine. Collins is Chair of the Board of Directors of Pathways Vermont, a homeless service agency pioneering a rural version of the Housing First model.  Prior to joining VHFA, Collins worked at the Technical Assistance Collaborative in Boston, MA, a consulting firm that focuses on the intersection of affordable housing, health care, human services policy and systems development.

Collins has a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Vermont and served on UVM’s faculty, teaching a graduate-level housing policy course. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from SUNY Buffalo.

VHFA is a non-profit agency created in 1974 by the Vermont Legislature to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since its inception, the Agency has helped approximately 29,000 Vermont households with affordable mortgages and financed the development of approximately 8,800 affordable rental apartments.