Century Housing has named Jacqueline Waggoner as its president and CEO, effective Monday, the California-focused nonprofit affordable housing organization announced. She brings more than 25 years of experience in delivering affordable homes, and, as a born-and-raised Angeleno, “Waggoner leads with robust professional ties and profound personal connection to the communities that Century Housing serves,” according to Century’s release.
Over her career, Waggoner has scaled housing solutions and built partnerships in California and nationally, she told Multifamily Dive in an email, and the new role is “a perfect alignment of my professional passions and experiences.”
“Stepping into this role at Century feels like a natural continuation of my path and brings together so much of what I care about, from expanding affordable housing to working in partnership with others and leading in a way that keeps people and community at the center,” Waggoner said.
“With our deep community roots, strong partnerships, and a 30-year track record, we now have a real opportunity to expand our impact and advance affordable housing at an even greater scale.”
Waggoner’s experience spans affordable housing and nonprofit leadership, and she has worked simultaneously across policy, finance, development and programs teams, per the release.
“I’ve spent my career at the intersection of community, capital, and pathways to opportunity. What has become clear to me is that housing sits at the center of it all,” Waggoner said. “Stable, affordable, high-quality homes help people unlock the full potential of their health, education, and economic mobility—yet far too many people still don’t have a stable place to call home.”
She joins the organization amid an acute housing shortage in California and across the country. The complexity of affordable housing finance and regulatory requirements remains a major constraint, she said, and there are other obstacles to getting affordable housing built.
“Rising construction costs, including building materials, are making it more difficult to deliver projects at the scale and speed needed to meet the high demand. Insurance costs for affordable housing are also rising dramatically,” she said. “In California, climate-impacted areas are seeing significant premium increases, making it harder to afford the preservation of existing affordable homes while keeping their operations running smoothly.”
Most recently, Waggoner was president of the Solutions Division at Enterprise Community Partners, where she oversaw a portfolio of housing, capital and policy initiatives across the country and helped mobilize more than $1 billion in impact investments and grants for community-informed solutions. Before that, she led Enterprise’s Southern California market, where she helped build programs that expanded affordable housing access across the region.
Waggoner has held numerous leadership roles at civic and philanthropic organizations, and currently serves on the board of advisors for the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and on the board of directors of the Weingart Foundation. Previously, she served as commissioner of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and on board director positions at the California Community Reinvestment Corporation and Los Angeles Business Council.
Century Housing works to expand housing opportunities through financing tools, development expertise and long-term community investment. The organization has invested more than $3.5 billion to create and preserve more than 63,000 homes across California, per the release.
“The need to catalyze affordable housing supply and solutions in California has never been greater – and we know that Jacqueline will deliver for Californians and lead Century into its next chapter with clarity and commitment,” said R. Steven Lewis, chair of Century Housing’s Board of Directors and principal of ZGF Architects, in the release.
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