WNC Founder Will Cooper Sr. Awarded Prestigious Honor for His Lifetime of Exceptional Commitment to Affordable Housing

WNC Founder and Chairman of the Board Will Cooper Sr. has been named the 2019 recipient of the prestigious Carl A.S. Coan Sr. Award, presented by the National Housing Conference. The honor has been awarded just 15 times since its establishment in 1984 to individuals who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to affordable housing.

Cooper will be presented the award during the National Housing Conference’s 47th Annual Housing Visionary Awards Gala. Held on June 6 in Washington D.C., the gala will celebrate the achievements of organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions toward advancing affordable housing.

“A pioneer in the modern affordable housing industry, my father has dedicated nearly half a century to exploring and delivering solutions that provide underserved communities with safe, quality housing,” said WNC President and Chief Executive Officer Will Cooper Jr.

“He has been a tireless advocate for low-income housing for most of his life, and continues as a vocal champion to this day, both on Capitol Hill and across the nation.”

Will Cooper Sr. founded WNC, a national investor in real estate and community development initiatives, nearly 50 years ago to help deliver quality affordable housing to communities in need throughout the United States. An industry trailblazer, he built the company’s investor base to include Fortune 500 companies, insurance giants, and multinational banks, helping to bring private institutional investment into the affordable housing sector. In 1997, Cooper cofounded the California Housing Consortium to unite the businesses and organizations working to support affordable housing in the state in a nonpartisan advocacy effort, to great success. Under his leadership, WNC has helped to develop and preserve more than 1,000 affordable housing communities and provided quality affordable housing to more than one million families.