Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing, Carol Galante

The United States Senate confirmed Carol J. Galante to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner on December 30, 2012. Prior to her confirmation, Ms. Galante served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing/FHA Commissioner, having first joined HUD in May 2009 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing programs.

As FHA Commissioner, Ms. Galante has direct responsibility for oversight and administration of the FHA’s trillion dollar insurance portfolio, which includes single family and multifamily housing as well as insured health care facilities. She is also responsible for several of HUD’s rental assistance programs, including 1.2 million units of Project Based Rental Assistance, and over 400,000 apartments for elderly and the disabled under the Section 202 and 811 programs.

Under her leadership, the Office of Housing has developed a comprehensive risk management infrastructure through the Office of Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs and organized the formation of a new Office of Housing Counseling. Ms. Galante has also played an important role in key Administration initiatives, including Choice Neighborhoods, the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and other interagency alignment efforts.

Prior to her appointment at HUD, Ms. Galante was President and Chief Executive of BRIDGE Housing Corporation, the largest non-profit developer of affordable, mixed-income and mixed-use developments in California. BRIDGE is a hybrid organization blending the best of business practices and entrepreneurial ideas with a mission to create affordable homes and apartments. Prior to BRIDGE she was the Executive Director of Eden Housing, Inc.

In addition to her work in real estate development, ownership and management, Ms. Galante has also worked for the cities of Santa Barbara, Philadelphia and Richmond, CA, in city planning and community economic development. She has held numerous volunteer leadership positions in organizations such as the Housing Partnership Network, OneCalifornia Bank Foundation, California Housing Consortium, Center for Creative Land Recycling, Center for Housing Policy, and Urban Land Institute. She has been the recipient of many notable honors, including: Housing Wire Magazine’s Influential Woman in Housing 2012, Multifamily/Developer Magazine-Executive of the Year in 2008, Builder Magazine-Top Most Influential People in Homebuilding in 2006, and the California Homebuilder Hall of Fame.

Ms. Galante is a licensed real estate broker (currently inactive) and holds a Master of City Planning from U.C. Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan.