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REMARKS
Valerie White on financing affordable housing and addressing systemic inequality
0:30:08
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3 min
Commissioner Valerie White shares her extensive background in economic and community development across private, public, and nonprofit sectors, including work at LISC New York, Empire State Development, and the NYC Housing Authority.
Her focus has often been on financing affordable housing and finding ways to remove barriers to systemic equity. As a fourth-generation New Yorker who has witnessed drastic increases in housing costs, she is excited to incorporate resident feedback into policies that promote equity.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:30:08
Next, Valerie White is senior executive director of LISC New York, where she leads the expansion strategy to promote LISC and Y's statewide efforts to create an economic and community development ecosystem that addresses deeply rooted systemic inequalities.
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She has more than thirty years of experience across private, public, and nonprofit sectors, including as executive vice president of the New York State Empire State develop Development Corporation.
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Valerie.
Valerie White
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It's on.
0:30:40
I'm on.
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Yes.
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Hi.
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Good afternoon.
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Thank you, chair very, Sharon, who I met in the street.
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Excited to be here and very honored to have this opportunity to bring some of the experiences that I've had, you know, been blessed with over, the relatively long career.
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The the issue of housing has been something that I've worked on for many, many years, and, some of you don't know this, but I'm a housing authority alum from, '91 to '99 when the first department of asset management and private market operations was launched.
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And that department was looking at alternative means of bringing financing to build additional housing to support the needs of lower income New Yorkers.
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So it was looking at bonds.
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It was looking at financing, looking at securitizing future appropriations.
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And that work led me to, the longest part of my career, which was at Standard and Poor's in Wall Street, starting the, analytical methodology for housing authorities to build additional units.
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So that's been very exciting.
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And then I went on to do, similar work, not just nationally, but globally.
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And what I found in looking at affordable housing across the globe, the issue of social housing, government support, the, you know, capacity that's needed for folks who are in, you know, cadres or or blocks of, of low income all in one area, is very similar across the globe.
0:32:15
And so the work that I do now at LISC takes that experience, my government experience, my experience at the state of New York, my experience with the city, and tries to find ways that we are investing in housing and other community infrastructure that is supporting the removal of barriers to systemic equity, to systemic, growth in economics, and providing those opportunities for families to have access to housing, homeownership, jobs.
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So I'm really, really excited to hear from the residents of New York City and to work with the commission to find ways to incorporate those those policies and tools into the charter that allow us to invest in equity for all New Yorkers.
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So I thank you.
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I do live in Brooklyn.
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I will say that.
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I was born in Manhattan, but, lived in Upstate New York.
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And when I graduated from college, I moved back to Brooklyn.
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And in those days, my first apartment was on Hancock Street for $300 a month.
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That same apartment, I think, is going for $4,500 now.
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So understanding how that, it it was a long time ago, but understanding how that change has happened.
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The last thing I'll mention, I am fourth generation born in New York City.
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So this city is very important to me and my family, generationally, and, I look forward to participating.