Adrianne Todman

Adrianne Todman served as the CEO of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) from 2017 to June 2021, when she was confirmed as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. NAHRO, established in 1933, is a Washington, D.C.-based membership organization of 20,000 housing and community development agencies and professionals who house eight million people in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the country. NAHRO’s advocacy, trainings, and industry convenings are focused on inspiring and resourcing strong and sustainable communities, and preserving and creating quality affordable housing. Ms. Todman has rightsized the association’s expenditures, restructured business functions, brought on new talent, and diversified revenue sources. Ms. Todman has focused on creating a member-centric culture at the association, raising the profile of the critical work undertaken by housing professionals, and advocating for funding and common-sense policy development that preserves and develops affordable housing, and helps families and communities thrive.

Before joining NAHRO, Ms. Todman served as the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA). At DCHA, Ms. Todman focused on strengthening the agency’s business practices and secured unqualified independent audits each year during her tenure. Ms. Todman implemented a national award-winning model to house homeless veterans, increased homeownership opportunities by 50% for low- and moderate-income families served by DCHA, expanded the number of families affordably housed via federal and local vouchers by building stronger business relationships with private landlords and support systems for voucher program participants, increased the number of affordable units available in sub-markets experiencing rapid growth, and oversaw 12 concurrent large redevelopment efforts with the goal of preserving the stock of low-income units and increasing the supply of units available to a range of household incomes. She prioritized youth empowerment programs, workforce development, and commissioned the first citywide needs assessment of public housing residents. Ms. Todman also worked with community leaders and residents to message the need for local and federal investments necessary to make almost $1 billion in public housing capital repairs in the city’s affordable housing inventory.

Ms. Todman also served in several career positions at HUD. First, as a manager of HUD’s $500 million grant competition that focused on the redevelopment of distressed public housing sites, then as a policy aide in both the Office of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of the Secretary where she worked with staff across HUD’s programs on policy solutions and streamlining implementation. She also served as a legislative director in then-Congressman Ron de Lugo’s office, a long-serving delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands where Ms. Todman was born and raised.

Ms. Todman serves on Brookings Institution’s “Health and Economic Mobility” policy group, and Urban Institute’s “Renters and Rental Market Crisis” working group, among many other cross-sector collaborations. She is a frequent speaker at housing conferences across the country and has been called upon as an expert witness before the U.S. House of Representative’s Financial Services Committee. She previously served as Vice-President of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities and a Trustee with the National Housing Conference.

Ms. Todman currently serves on the Smith College Board of Trustees and the Alumnae Association Board. She is a faculty member with the Masters Series of Distinguished Leaders. She was named a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire, received the federal Distinguished Service Award, the Hammer Award, the 2016 NAHRO Professional of the Year Award, and the DC Building Industry Association’s Government Partner award, among many other recognitions. She is a graduate of Smith College.