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For Immediate Release: April 6, 2007

For More Information, Contact:
Laura Olsen, Cheryl Cort or Melissa Bondi at: (202) 244-4408

Melissa Bondi Joins Coalition for Smarter Growth
as New Housing Director

Washington, DC: The Coalition for Smarter Growth is pleased to announce the addition of Melissa Bondi as Housing Director.

“We are privileged to have Melissa Bondi, a longtime Virginia housing and community advocate, join our team to lead our housing efforts,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “She brings a unique mix of detailed housing policy and community expertise.”

Starting April 2, Bondi will lead the Coalition’s housing initiatives and the integration of equitable development principles into land use planning throughout the Washington Metro area. The Housing Director is a new position at the Coalition for Smarter Growth and part of an Equitable Development Campaign resulting from the organization’s merger with the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities.
 
“A lack of affordable housing choices near job centers means longer commutes for many workers, which leads to more traffic,” said Laura Olsen, Managing Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “Our new Housing Director will work with communities to secure policies and funding that create more housing choices people can afford near their jobs.”

Ms. Bondi chairs the Arlington Advisory Commission on Housing, the primary review commission for all housing planning and policy, and sits on the Steering Committee of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance.

“I’m thrilled to be working with such an effective regional organization to educate communities on the important role affordable housing plays in sound regional development policy,” said Bondi.

Ms. Bondi sits on the Virginia Housing Commission’s Housing Affordability and Real Estate Policy work group, and is a member of her local Community Development Citizens Advisory Committee, which oversees local program distribution of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. She has worked on numerous statewide, regional and local planning, transportation and housing committees. She also is president of her civic association.

Currently, she chairs two public working groups related to affordable housing and tenant retention issues in the historic Buckingham garden apartment district. She was also a key task force member of two local government convened special roundtables on applicable affordable housing policies for-profit development.

Ms. Bondi has worked with nonprofits as an organizational development manager and strategic planner. Most recently, she helped launch The Commonwealth Institute, a non-profit think tank providing independent research, analysis, and advocacy on Virginia fiscal policy issues, focused particularly on impacts to low- and moderate-income Virginians.  Prior to that, she served for seven years as the Assistant Director for the Natural Resources Council of America, a national coalition of the largest conservation and environmental advocacy organizations.  

In her role as the Coalition’s Housing Director, Ms. Bondi will share her housing policy and project expertise with communities throughout the region. 

Melissa Bondi, Housing Director, can be reached at the Coalition’s office at: (202) 244-4408 x 123 or via email: Melissa(at)SmarterGrowth.net

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The Coalition is a regional leader in ensuring that transportation and development decisions accommodate growth while revitalizing communities, providing more housing and travel choices, and conserving our natural and historic areas. The Coalition’s website is www.smartergrowth.net .