AHA Leadership
A Mission Driven Team
The Housing Authority of the City of Alameda(AHA) staff and executive leadership are a mission driven team that everyday works towards providing housing solutions for the City of Alameda’s most vulnerable community members.AHA currently assists approximately 4,000 individuals with housing and AHA is actively working to increase the number of affordable homes in the City of Alameda so that even more low-income individuals and families can be served. AHA welcomes this duty with customer service, diligence, and transparency.
Meet AHA’s Executive Director, Vanessa Cooper
Vanessa Cooper serves as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Alameda (AHA).
Prior to joining AHA, Vanessa served as the Real Estate Services Director for the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara where her responsibilities included development, construction, asset management, property management, maintenance, compliance, and resident services for about 3000 affordable LIHTC housing units.
Vanessa previously worked for Charities Housing Development Corporation, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County and for the Bank of England. Vanessa has a BA from Bath University (UK), an MBA from Durham University (UK) and an MA from San Jose State University. Vanessa attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government as a Fannie Mae fellow in the State and Local Officials program.
Vanessa is a California licensed real estate broker (#01892974) and is a Certified Housing Asset Manager, Certified Section 8 Executive Manager and is tax credit certified. Vanessa serves on various housing committees nationally, and locally.
AHA staff is categorized into six different departments:
Administrative Services
The Administrative Services department at AHA is responsible for managing office operations, equipment, and systems; procurement; reasonable accommodations processing for clients; public records requests; information technology; risk management; fleet management; communications; and environmental sustainability activities.
Finance
The Finance department at AHA is responsible for transparent fiscal management of all AHA’s departments and funds, which also includes administering payments to AHA landlords and vendors.
Housing Development
The Housing Development department is responsible for planning, financing, and building affordable housing options for low-income households in the City of Alameda. The Housing Development department is currently working to create over 600 affordable rental units (in the new construction pipeline) to the City of Alameda.
Housing Programs
The Housing Programs department administers housing assistance programs, most commonly known as “Section 8”, which includes Housing Choice Voucher Assistance (HCV) and Project Based Voucher Assistance (PBV). These programs provide housing for 3,260 individuals and accounts for over $25 million dollars in financial assistance annually.
General inquiries for the Housing Programs Department can be emailed to: HCVsubmissions@alamedahsg.org
Human Resources
The Human Resources department at AHA is responsible for hiring, training and development, administering employee benefits program, and ensuring AHA is in compliance with employment laws.
Portfolio Management
The Portfolio Management department is responsible for the management of all existing real estate owned by AHA and its affiliates. The department is also responsible for long-term asset management, direct maintenance services, managing contracts. AHA’s social services delivery via LifeSTEPS, and oversight of third-party property management service provider FPI Management.
Click here to learn more about tenant responsibilities