Preston Prince

Preston Prince
CEO / Executive Director, Fresno Housing Authority

As the CEO of the Fresno Housing Authority with more than 23 years of housing and community revitalization experience and with a Master’s Degree in Urban Affairs and Policy Analysis from New School University, Preston Prince is a Successful Collaborator, Neighborhood Builder, Social Entrepreneur, and Ethical Leader.  In his six years in Fresno, Preston has overseen the development and financing of over 1300 units of housing, including 120 units of permanent supportive housing for the homeless and the rehabilitation of 450 units of public housing through RAD. The development activity has brought in over $200m in private and public investment to Fresno County.

In his 23 year career, Preston has contributed to the development of more 80 projects resulting in more than 6,000 units of housing, accessing almost all housing program funds.  Preston uses real estate principles to transform compliance-focused housing authorities into performance and outcome driven community assets that center on residents first. Through his commitment to NAHRO, Preston takes his lessons learned from Fresno and his past work experiences across the country, striving to end chronic homelessness and bring awareness to the nexus between housing and education.  He has served NAHRO at the national, regional, and local levels, and currently serves as the National Senior Vice-President.

He currently serves boards of the Work Investment Board, Fresno Housing and Education Corps, Better Opportunities Builders, and California Association of Local Finance Agencies.  He recently joined the board of Fresno Metro Ministries.

[quote]As stewards of public investment in Fresno, the Fresno Housing Authority recognizes that the funds we receive are not ours, but belong to the community. Our policies and strategies must reflect the goals that the community has for itself, rather than perpetuate our agency and our jobs. As such, we have strengthened long standing partnerships, created new alliances, and have worked to identify future collaborations that will lead to a higher impact in our community than we can do on our own. Instead of being evaluated on occupancy levels and strength of unit turns, Fresno Housing is moving towards beings evaluated by the academic achievement of the children we house, the employment and wage progression of the adults, the quality of life of our seniors and people with disabilities, and by the help we give the homeless that we are moving off the streets.”[/quote]