The Affordable Housing Accreditation Board is made up of a great team of housing and support services professionals with decades of experience. We understand our function as both an oversight board and a facilitator to bridge the interests of housing organizations, residents, developers, communities and the government in the pursuit of great, safe communities.
Edwin T. Lowndes has served as the Executive Director for the Housing Authority of Kansas City, Missouri since 2001. Ed began his career at the Housing Authority in 1995 as General Counsel. Prior to coming to the Housing Authority of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Lowndes served as a Deputy County Attorney for Douglas County, Nebraska working primarily on civil matters, concentrating on regulatory and governmental issues as well as counsel to the Board of Commissioners. In addition to his duties as the Executive Director for the Housing Authority, Mr. Lowndes serves as a member of the board of directors for the Affordable Housing Accreditation Board, a member of the board of directors for the Housing Authority Insurance Group and its affiliate companies; a member of the board of directors for the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities; a member of the Kansas City Workforce Investment Board; and a member of the advisory committee for the Metropolitan Community Service Program of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission. Mr. Lowndes earned both his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree and his Juris Doctorate from Creighton University.
Josh Meehan has been the Executive Director of Keene Housing (NH), a Moving to Work agency, since September 2012. Josh came to Keene from the Houston (TX) Housing Authority where he served as Vice President of Administration. Before his time in Houston Josh spent a decade at the Cambridge (MA) Housing Authority where he served as Director of Policy & Communication. Locally Josh serves on the Boards of Impact Monadnock, the Keene Housing Kids Collaborative, Pilot Health and the New Hampshire Housing Authorities Corporation. He is a member of the New Hampshire Endowment for Health’s Advisory Council and Housing Action New Hampshire’s Governing Council. In addition to AHAB, he serves on the boards of several national organizations including the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Moving to Work Research Advisory Committee. Josh earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Hampshire College and his Master of Public Policy from Tufts University’s School of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning.
Renée Rooker has led the Walla Walla, Washington Housing Authority as its executive director since December 1991. During her tenure, the organization has expanded its portfolio through enriched partnerships, taking advantage of a wide range of financing mechanisms from low income housing tax credits, community development block grant, HOME, bond financing, historic tax credits and a variety of federal funding. The organization has received local and national recognition for their housing and economic development programs. In 2009, Renee completed a two year term as the national President of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, a member organization representing more than 23,000 housing and community development professionals nationwide. During her term she advanced housing and community development policy issues with her testimony in front of Congress, building relations with members of Congress and their staff along with industry partners. Renée recently completed a two year term as the president of the Association of Washington Housing Authorities and is currently a member of their legislative committee. In addition to serving as the chair of the Affordable Housing Accreditation Board, Renee is also on the Board of Directors of the Housing Authority Risk Retention Pool; the Governor’s Policy Advisory Team for the Housing Trust Fund; Board member for the Comprehensive Health Education Foundation, and a member of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. During her career she has served on the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Advisory Board, Governor’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board, Washington Community Development Loan Fund Board, and Impact Capital.
Ulric Chung has been the Chief Executive Office of the American Board for Industrial Hygiene since 2014. Dr. Chung brings extensive experience in accreditation and management of non-profit agencies, having served for five years as Executive Director of the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). While there, he assisted his board in developing standards, policies and procedures for the accreditation of US and international education programs leading toward the practice credential, developed positive relationships with educators, and maintained ACEND’s recognition as a Title IV gatekeeper by the U.S. Department of Education. Before joining ACEND, he had almost ten years of experience in accreditation as an executive staff member at the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Dr. Chung applied his expertise in education and the use of technology to evaluate doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree programs, especially those using distance education, and continuing pharmacy education providers. In addition, he helped to simplify and standardize ACPE’s accreditation practices by developing computer-based accreditation tools, evaluation instruments, educational materials and accreditation training workshops. His evaluation instruments became the foundation for self-study reports and accreditation reviews at colleges and schools of pharmacy and ACPE-accredited continuing pharmacy education providers. Dr. Chung was an active member and board member of the Association for Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA) and is currently a board member on the Affordable Housing Accreditation Board (AHAB). His interests are in developing approaches for simplifying and standardizing accreditation and credentialing activities while maintaining or increasing quality through the use of research, technology and training. Dr. Chung holds a Bachelor’s in French teaching with a Minor in Computer-Aided Instruction, a Master of Computer Science, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction focusing on Interactive Multimedia.
Mr. Williams recently retired from public service with over forty-five years of Housing and Community Development experience and served as Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Authority of Columbus, Georgia (HACG) from 2001 to 2020. Prior to Columbus, he worked in Birmingham, Alabama, Savannah, Georgia and Memphis, Tennessee. His work in Birmingham and Savannah involved the turnaround of deeply troubled housing authorities. His background includes extensive experience in Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Community Planning and Development positions. Areas of expertise include Low Income Housing Tax Credits (4% and 9%), affordable housing finance, housing operations, programs housing the homeless, RAD, Moving to Work, cash management and investment, human resources, labor relations, leadership, governance and strategic planning. Mr. Williams has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Memphis and is a Certified Property Manager (CPM).
Linnie Willis has been a champion for affordable housing and high-quality resident services her entire career. She is retired from her 35-year career at the Lucas Housing Authority in Ohio, where she started as a housing manager and was promoted within the organization to become the first female to serve as Executive Director from 2007 until her retirement in 2017. Ms. Willis was very active during her career, as the first LMHA Executive Director elected to serve as President of the Ohio Housing Authorities Conference (OHAC), first African American to serve as Board Chair of the Safety Council of Northwest Ohio, past chair of the HAI Group Board of Directors, and past board member of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. She has been a champion for supportive services in her community by serving in board capacities on the Board of Developmental Disabilities, the Fair Housing Center, the Sight Center, the United Way of Greater Toledo, the Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, and more. She also was awarded the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio Woman of Distinction. She currently she serves as the Vice Chair of the Bon Secours Mercy Health North Board of Directors. Ms. Willis has several certifications: Certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Certified Occupancy Specialist – Public Housing and Certified Manager of Housing. Ms. Willis was one of the original founders of the Affordable Housing Accreditation Board. She is known as a visionary leader who has led change and raised the bar for affordable housing in her local community. She was re-elected as a director for AHAB in August 2021.
Diana became President of the Affordable Housing Accreditation Board in April 2017. She has over 25 years of management experience helping transform public organizations to work more effectively for the people and communities they serve. Her leadership experience includes working on accreditation from the service provider side, with accrediting bodies of the National Children’s Alliance, Council on Accreditation, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Diana served for two terms as a state representative in Delaware, and as behavioral health commissioner for the State of New Mexico. In the commissioner role, accreditation played a crucial part in funding decisions, and assessing the quality of the provider network. Diana’s unique experience, such as her membership on the executive team that expanded Medicaid for the State of New Mexico, has enabled her to have a strong understanding of all areas of managing organizations receiving public funding. She has led organizations through the accreditation process, established quality assurance programs, led re-accreditation teams, and been on the receiving end of accreditation. Diana was most recently the CEO of Families Forward Philadelphia, running the largest emergency shelter in the City of Philadelphia serving homeless families, and providing 80 units of transitional and permanent supportive housing funded by the City of Philadelphia and HUD in scattered sites throughout West Philadelphia.
Diana is a graduate of George Mason University and holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Delaware where she was a Legislative Fellow for the Delaware House of Representatives and Executive Fellow for former Governor Carper, now US Senator. She is committed to helping affordable housing organizations of all types and sizes with implementing best practices, giving a platform to innovative strategies, and assisting them with being assets to their communities.