The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), which administers the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline (888) 995-HOPE to provide free, financial education and confidential foreclosure prevention counseling to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, find sustainable solutions, and ultimately improve their financial situation, has announced that Dr. Christopher Herbert has been named to serve on HPF’s board of directors.
Dr. Herbert is the research director at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. The Center, a collaborative venture of the Graduate School of Design and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, conducts research on the nation’s most critical housing and urban issues.
Dr. Herbert has more than two decades of experience conducting research related to housing policy, housing markets, housing finance and urban development. In recent years, Dr. Herbert’s work has had a particular focus on efforts to promote and maintain homeownership for low-income and minority families. His work in this area has included evaluations of federal and state homeownership programs, detailed literature reviews, and analysis of disparities in mortgage lending and residential foreclosure by income and race/ethnicity.
“Chris Herbert’s research and analysis focus in creating sustainable homeownership is a valued contribution to the HPF as an organization, and to our board of directors,” said Colleen Hernandez, chief executive officer of HPF. “We are extremely pleased to have his perspective and experience in guiding the organization. HPF is fortunate to have Chris join our board, which is comprised of members who represent a broad range of professional backgrounds, including the nonprofit sector where they are or have been serving in housing finance and community development, are former elected officials, or are working or have worked in corporate life and academia."
Prior to joining the Joint Center, Dr. Herbert was a Senior Associate in the Housing and Community Development practice of Abt Associates Inc., the global leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and economic policy, and international development.
“HPF plays an important role in ensuring that high quality counseling is available to all homeowners who seek this help from all walks of life and all parts of the country,” said Dr. Herbert. “The advice and support provided by independent counseling agencies to financially strapped homeowners has been vitally important during the foreclosure crisis and will continue to be important in the future, even when the market returns to more normal conditions."
Dr. Herbert holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
For more information, visit www.995hope.org.
