The Nevada Housing Coalition’s New Executive Director

The Nevada Housing Coalition, whose mission is creating sustainable solutions through community awareness, capacity building, and advocacy to ensure housing options for all Nevadans, was formed a year ago by housing leaders in the state of Nevada. The Coalition has reached an important milestone, hiring Christine Hess as a part-time executive director who is tasked with assisting the Coalition board with growing the membership and carrying out the mission.

Hess and her family relocated to Reno, Nevada from Wyoming where she stepped down after six years as the executive director for a local economic development organization, the Powell Economic Partnership. One of Wyoming’s rising leaders, Hess spearheaded a $10 million public-private partnership hotel and conference center for her community and led state conversations for agriculture and economic diversification, collaborating with local organizations, higher education and state agencies. She was the board president for the Wyoming Economic Developers Association and a director of the WIDC Frontier CDC, Wyoming’s SBA 504 lender. She interacted regularly with local and state elected officials in support of economic development priorities.

Hess said she is excited to take on this new role and leading the Coalition in helping create affordable housing options for Nevadans.

“Nevada has a tremendous shortage of affordable housing which translates to a tremendous opportunity to make a difference. As Executive Director for the Nevada Housing Coalition I will strive to expand the awareness and engagement on affordable housing across industry sectors and bring us all together to share our passions, concerns, activities and ideas,” Hess said. “I will be a strong partner and advocate for those working on the ground to make sure they have the funding and policy support necessary to complete their missions and close our affordable housing gap, this includes preserving what we have and increasing production. And finally, by accessing best practices and expertise, I will work to provide access to information and resources that can help all of us to accurately understand Nevada’s situation, ‘Tell Our Stories’ and develop programming and solutions that are innovative, relevant and timely.”

Hess will continue to strengthen and build relationships for the Coalition and advocate and educate for affordable housing. She is also working closely with the board as it organizes the first statewide housing conference slated for this year in Las Vegas.