Community Development Resources (CDR) Board of Directors recently announced the selection of Farshad Maltes as its new Executive Director. Farshad started with CDR in early December following a national search for an executive director which CDR has not had in place since the passing of their founder Rick Wallace in 2016.
“Farshad brings a unique set of skills and abilities that will truly advantage Lincoln’s aggressive affordable housing development goals,” said Mark Hesser, CDR board chair. “He is recognized as a national expert on many of the complex financial instruments CDR seeks to incorporate into our local affordable housing development efforts, and we are lucky to bring his skills to our community.”
Community Development Resources is a nonprofit community development financial institution whose purpose is to provide financing for economic and affordable housing development activities that primarily benefit low-income populations and neighborhoods. CDR was originally founded in 1994 to provide loans and technical assistance to low income and minority individuals looking to start or grow their small business.
In early 2022, CDR went through a strategic change adding financing and technical assistance for affordable housing to their portfolio of work. The transition to the new strategy and purpose was led by Mark Hansen, who served as interim executive director until Maltes was hired.
Maltes joins CDR with more than 30 years of experience in community development financing. He most recently served as the President/CEO of Community Capital New York, and prior to that worked for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. Throughout his career Maltes has overseen multiple small business, commercial real estate, and affordable housing lending programs benefit low-income communities, managing portfolios as large as $575 million.
“Both Lincoln and Nebraska in general have a refreshing unified focus on solving the affordable housing challenges in our communities,” said Maltes. “There is agreement on the need for more affordable housing to support economic growth and the well-being of our neighborhoods. I am looking forward to working together on this goal.”
Maltes earned a Bachelor’s Degree with high honors from Haverford College. He also has a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.