Washington, D.C. – The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) has a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Yvette Downs. This week Downs began her tenure at DCHFA where she is responsible for coordinating the financial management functions of the Agency’s $10 million budget.
Downs will act as the authoritative source for accurate and complete financial reporting on DCHFA’s operations and accounting. In addition, Downs will make recommendations on financial policies for te Agency’s debt and investment portfolio and cash management. Upon joining the Agency Downs stated, “As a native Washingtonian and District resident, I am eager to contribute to DCHFA’s impactful work of financing the preservation and expansion of affordable housing in neighborhoods throughout D.C.”
Regarding the appointment of the new CFO, Todd A. Lee, DCHFA, Acting Executive Director, lauded Downs’ credentials “Yvette’s expertise and extensive experience as a financial leader and public official is sure to produce innovative approaches to the Agency’s financial operations.”
Downs joins DCHFA as an established leader with more than 30 years of experience in financial oversight, strategic planning, capital budget management and development. Prior to joining the Agency she served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC).
While at WSSC, she led a team of 60 staff members providing strategic support to the overall financial management of the AAA rated utility and its $1.4 billion annual budget, issuing over $400 million in municipal debt annually. Downs spent an additional seven years in the utility industry, providing strategic and financial leadership for both public and private entities including the Metropolitan Sewer District and Greater Water Works in Cincinnati, Ohio where she served as the Interim CFO. She consulted on electric rates within the State of Maryland and served as the Finance Director and Interim CFO for the DC Water and Sewer Authority. Downs spent 24 years in transit management at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) working in construction management, oversight of grants, capital planning, federal compliance, and development of operating and capital budgets.
Downs is a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in Economics, holds a Master’s Degree from Keller
Graduate School and is a Certified Construction Manager from the Construction Management Association of America. She holds affiliations with several professional and civic associations, including the Government Finance Officers Association, National Forum of Black Public Administrators, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and was recently appointed to the EPA Environment Finance Advisory Board.
The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency was established in 1979 to stimulate and expand homeownership and rental housing opportunities in Washington, D.C. We accomplish our mission by offering below market rate mortgage loans to lower the homebuyers’ costs of purchasing homes and by issuing mortgage revenue bonds to lower the developers’ costs of acquiring, constructing and rehabilitating rental housing.
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Contact: Yolanda McCutchen
August 24 2016 (202) 777-1650
