Cooper Housing Institute Selects Advisory Board Members

The Cooper Housing Institute has selected five notable academic and advocacy leaders in the housing community to serve on its advisory board.

Cooper Housing Institute Co-Founder Will Cooper Sr. said, “The Cooper Housing Institute is dedicated to its mission of making housing a priority in the United States. This board helps us expand our impact on the housing crisis in the United States and is another positive step toward our goal of ensuring that everyone in the world’s most prosperous nation has access to decent housing.”

“We are pleased to welcome this group of experts to help guide the Cooper Housing Institute as we identify innovative solutions to address this nation’s housing crisis,” added Co-Founder Will Cooper Jr.

“Their combined expertise and knowledge in regards to affordable housing, homelessness, supportive housing services and economics will support our efforts to ultimately end homelessness.”

The Cooper Housing Institute advisory board includes:

• Dr. Robert Dietz, chief economist and senior vice president for economics and housing policy for the National Association of Home Builders;
• Denise Muha, executive director of the National Leased Housing Association (NLHA), a membership organization involved in the development, management and administration of federally assisted rental housing for persons of low and moderate incomes;
• Dr. Norweeta Milburn, a professor-in-residence in the department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles Semel Institute; senior director of research and evaluation at the Nathanson Family Resilience Center; co-director of the Department of Mental Health-UCLA Prevention Center of Excellence, and director of the UCLA Center for AIDS Research Health Disparities Core;
• Dr. Sam Tsemberis, clinical psychologist, founder and executive director of Pathways to Housing and developer of the Housing First program model, which offers housing as a basic human right and supports recovery for individuals experiencing homelessness; and
• Pamela West, managing director and leader of the real estate impact investment strategy at Nuveen, a global investment manager.

The members of the advisory board will provide advice, overall guidance and recommendations to Cooper Housing Institute in support of addressing housing affordability challenges and homelessness within the United States.