Name

Jamie Smarr

Jamie Smarr, a North Carolina native, began his professional career in housing and urban development at the Boston Housing Authority, where he worked under then Administrator Sandra Henriquez and as part of the HOPE VI transformation development team for Orchard Park (now Orchard Gardens). From Boston, he moved on to New York City, where he served as Director of Tax and Zoning Incentives for NYC Housing Preservation and Development, and led a portfolio of housing and zoning (“Inclusionary Housing”) incentive programs available to housing developers in New York City.

The next phase of Jamie’s career marked a transition from housing to education administration/school development. When he joined the NYC Department of Education in 2001, he became part of the team that created New York City’s first public charter school. Serving as both Executive Director and Special Assistant for four Schools Chancellors until 2013, Jamie was responsible for a portfolio of school construction/mixed-used development and capital financing programs and ultimately, the creation of more than 4,000 new public-school seats in various developments across New York City. 

Transitioning back into the affordable housing arena in 2013, where he has served since that time, Jamie led The NHP Foundation’s faith-based development initiatives for a decade, with new projects in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Texas. Jamie became President and CEO of the New York City Housing Partnership, a nonprofit organization founded by Mayor Edward Koch and David Rockefeller in 1983 to advance affordable housing causes in NYC, in 2022.