Janell Byrd-Chichester Named Chief of Staff for the FHFA

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt has announced the appointment of Janell Byrd-Chichester as Chief of Staff for the FHFA. Byrd-Chichester most recently served as partner in the law firm Mehri & Skalet in Washington, D.C. from 2010 to 2014 in their fair housing, lending and consumer protection practice. Prior to this, Byrd-Chichester was co-managing attorney for the Cochran Firm’s Washington, D.C. office from 2002-2009. She has also held positions with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the North Carolina Central University School of Law, and she clerked for the Honorable Cecil F. Poole of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Byrd-Chichester holds a BS from American University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a member of the California Law Review.

“Janell brings a broad array of talent, experience and knowledge to the FHFA leadership team and I am pleased to have her aboard,” said Watt. “We look forward to working with her to support the Agency’s goals of ensuring safety, soundness and liquidity in the nation’s housing finance markets.”