National Housing Conference Director to Retire

WASHINGTON, DC-The National Housing Conference (NHC), the 60-year old affordable housing advocate association, will mark a change in leadership next year as executive director Robert J. Reid announces his retirement at the end of 2002. Reid has been heading NHC since 1993.

“We are not lacking in programs or expertise. What we need are more resources,” Reid explained to a US House of Representatives subcommittee hearing earlier this year. “What we currently lack is the will to meet this challenge head on. This lack of will is based on a lack of understanding among our leaders, at all levels, and average citizens alike.” Reid’s ardent advocacy for the establishment of more affordable housing led to an increase in NHC corporate and association membership from 375 in 1993 to 800 today.

Reid’s successor will be Conrad E. Egan, an NHC official who has taken a leave of absence to serve as executive director of the US Millennial Housing Commission. His tenure begins Jan. 1, 2003.