After his inauguration Wednesday, President Joe Biden swore in Jenn Jones as the new chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Jones will replace former HUD Chief of Staff Andrew Hughes. She was among several senior appointees who took part in a virtual swearing-in ceremony at the White House led by Biden after the presidential inauguration earlier in the day.
This won’t be Jones’ first time serving at HUD. During former President Barack Obama’s administration, Jones served as senior policy advisor under former HUD Secretary Julian Castro. During that time, Jones was charged with leading HUD’s affirmatively furthering fair housing, neighborhood and community revitalization, rental assistance transformation, criminal justice reform and socio-economic mobility priorities.
Jones served the last four years as chief of membership and policy for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, where she helped expand the organization’s membership to more than 600 members. She also transformed NCRC’s annual conference into the Just Economy Conference with more than 1,100 attendees and helped shape the organization’s policy agenda for years to come, according to a statement by NCRC.
“While we will miss Jenn dearly, we also couldn’t be more excited for her,” said Jesse Van Tol, CEO of NCRC. “Jenn is a leader in social-economic justice, so we are not surprised that Biden tapped her for his administration. We look forward to working with her in her new capacity at HUD, and we wish her all best in her future endeavors.”
At the end of last year, Biden announced Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, as his choice for HUD secretary. As Fudge is waiting on her confirmation hearing from the Senate, Matt Ammon is currently serving as HUD’s acting secretary. Ammon previously served as director of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes.
