The Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver (DHA) has three final candidates under consideration to serve as its next CEO, following a national search and multiple rounds of interviews.
Finalists include:
Yvonda Bean – currently employed as the CEO at the Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, since 2022. Before this, she served as the CEO/executive director for the Housing Authority of the City of Lafayette, Louisiana. Ms. Bean has worked in public and affordable housing since 2000.
Terri M. Lee – currently employed as the COO at the Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, since 2020. Before this, she served as the chief housing officer for the Office of the Mayor in Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Lee has worked in public and affordable housing since 1997. Joaquin Cintron Vega – is currently employed as the president & chief executive officer at Lucas Metropolitan Housing in Toledo, Ohio, since 2020. Before this, he served as the director of the Public Housing Division in Miami-Dade County. Mr. Vega has worked in public and affordable housing since 2001.
“In August 2023, I appointed a committee of five Commissioners who represent the rich diversity of our Board to undertake a thorough national search for a new chief executive to lead the Denver Housing Authority. The search has involved a wide range of both internal and external stakeholders and I am pleased to present these finalists who were selected with the consensus of our Board,” Grace Buckley, chair of DHA’s Board of Commissioners said. Commissioner Buckley continued, “The search process resulted in significant interest among a diverse pool of highly qualified candidates, many of whom were executive leaders of impressive public and private sector organizations, both local and national which further speaks to the extraordinary quality of our finalists.”
DHA selected Bridge Partners, a minority-owned business focused on guiding and implementing an inclusive search process to partner with DHA for this search. The position became available last summer following an announcement by David Nisivoccia that he would be leaving DHA to pursue another opportunity. Nisivoccia led DHA from 2020 through August 2023. DHA residents and staff will have the opportunity to hear from finalists during upcoming interviews and forums. The Board of Commissioners will also conduct an additional round of interviews with the candidates before a final selection is made.
