Skrebutenas joins LISC to lead affordable housing work

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has named Michael Skrebutenas, a long-time national affordable housing leader, as its new senior vice president for housing.

Skrebutenas will draw on his 25 years of experience to lead LISC's work investing in and advocating for quality rental and for-sale housing across the country. He will work on key systemic and policy issues, help assemble vital housing capital, and oversee products and services to help LISC's community-based partners meet critical affordable housing goals.

Skrebutenas comes to LISC—one of the nation's largest community development organizations—from New York-based Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), where he worked as senior vice president and regional director of community preservation in the Albany office. At CPC, he originated and closed on construction, permanent and agency multifamily financing for affordable, supportive and market-rate housing in New York. He also worked on a range of policy and programmatic opportunities to fuel housing development for underserved communities.

"Michael has been deeply engaged in strategies to expand the nation's stock of affordable housing for decades," said Denise Scott, LISC executive vice president for programs. After many decades of policy work and discussion, we finally have a consensus among federal and state policymakers, academics and business leaders about the desperate need for affordable housing in our country.  We are happy to have Michael's experience at LISC to help drive and promote good housing development policy and practice. He will be an invaluable asset to the LISC local program staff, our policy team and our partners as we work to address the affordable housing crisis that affects every state in the country—a crisis that has deepened as COVID-19 has persisted," she added.

Prior to his work at CPC, Skrebutenas was executive deputy commissioner/president at New York State Housing and Community Renewal. Earlier, he worked in the New York governor's office as deputy secretary for economic development and housing, and he played key development and project management roles at several community development nonprofits. He also served in the Clinton Administration as fund manager for the White House budget.

"Then it comes to housing, the country is at a critical juncture, with families facing unprecedented health and economic pressures from COVID-19," said Skrebutenas. "From the threat of evictions to racial discrimination in appraisals to the urgent need for supportive housing for homeless residents, LISC is tackling challenges that impact the quality of life for millions of people. I'm excited to reach further and deeper on these critical issues as part of the LISC family," he said.

Skrebutenas has served as adjunct faculty at Columbia, Rutgers and Wesleyan Universities. He currently sits on the local planning commission in Niskayuna, N.Y., the board of the Albany Convention Center, and the board of Better Community Neighborhoods, Inc., a nonprofit community development organization in Schenectady County, New York.

He holds a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, both from Columbia University, as well as a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

He can be reached at [email protected].

About LISC
With residents and partners, LISC forges resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity across America – great places to live, work, visit, do business and raise families. Since 1979, LISC has invested $24 billion to build or rehab more than 436,320 affordable homes and apartments and develop 74.4 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. For more, visit www.lisc.org.

Media Contact: Colleen Mulcahy, [email protected]

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SOURCE Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)