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RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner/CEO of NYS Homes and Community Renewal.
In February 2017, former Governor Cuomo appointed RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal. In March, 2017, Ms. Visnauskas was appointed as the President/CEO of the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the State of New York Mortgage Agency and the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation, the State agencies that comprise New York State Homes and Community Renewal (“HCR”).
RuthAnne previously served as HCR’s Executive Deputy Commissioner for Housing Development, where she was responsible for strategic leadership and oversight of multi-family housing finance programs, the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA), the Mortgage Insurance Fund (MIF), the Office of Community Renewal and the Office of Faith-Based Community Development Services.
Prior to joining HCR, RuthAnne was Managing Director of the Housing Advisory Board for the Robin Hood Foundation, New York's largest poverty-fighting organization. The Housing Advisory Board was established to fund initiatives to advance the quantity and quality of affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers.
RuthAnne held also several key positions at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), including the role of Commissioner from September 2014 to February 2015. HPD is the nation’s largest municipal housing agency, in charge of the development and preservation of affordable housing and the enforcement of the City’s Housing Maintenance Code.
Prior to taking the helm at HPD, RuthAnne served as Deputy Commissioner for Development, spearheading innovative development programs, including the Preserving City Neighborhoods (PCN) initiative, designed to purchase the notes of overleveraged buildings, and stabilize them by ultimately transferring them to responsible not-for-profit owners.
She received her Bachelor degree in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.
Ms. Visnauskas lives in Manhattan with her husband and three children.
