The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) has named as CEO an Illinois public finance executive with local roots.
The quasi-public agency said Nandini Natarajan will begin her new role on Nov. 1. She will be CHFA’s first female chief executive in its 50-year history.
Since 2014, Nandini has been chief financial officer of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), but for a dozen years prior to that, she was vice president of Caine Mitter and Associates Inc., which has offices in Northampton, Mass. and New York.
Nandini earned her computer science bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Smith College in Northampton and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, respectively, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Safe, sanitary, and affordable rental housing is an important determinant of the social, economic and health outcomes of a population,” Natarajan said in a statement. “CHFA’s first-time homeownership programs are equally important, allowing families and individuals to put down roots, build wealth, and contribute to a more robust economy.”
Her hiring appointment comes four months after CHFA’s board of directors declined to re-up former CEO Karl F. Kilduff’s contract.
CHFA, which has been led in the interim by Diane L. Smith, did not detail its reasons for that decision.
The Hartford Business Journal reported last month that CHFA took a nearly $25 million haircut on a heavily subsidized downtown Hartford apartment project.
CHFA said Natarajan’s leadership skills and experience with capital markets and affordable housing development won her the role.
