As executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), Melanie Walter leads the state’s independent agency responsible for affordable housing and homeownership production programs, overseeing a diverse portfolio of single and multifamily financing and policy initiatives. During her five-plus years in this role, Melanie has modernized and expanded NJHMFA’s operational, financial and programmatic activities, using extensive stakeholder outreach and data driven decision-making to reshape and expand the state’s housing production capacity.
Through this work, Melanie and her team have substantially increased the availability of high-quality affordable housing across New Jersey, financing the creation 25,000 new multifamily units and supporting more than 16,000 first-time and first-generation homebuyers. In fact, today, one in 10 New Jersey renters, and one in six New Jersey low- and moderate-income renters live in a building NJHMFA financed.
Immediately prior to assuming the helm at NJHMFA, Melanie served as director of the Division of Local Government Services and chair of the state’s Local Finance Board, in which capacity she led New Jersey’s municipal finance and bonding oversight entity. Through this work she implemented policies and developed programs to enhance the financial health of municipalities, leading to improved credit ratings and reduced taxpayer burden. Before that, Melanie, a William and Mary educated attorney, represented numerous state entities as a Deputy Attorney General in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office’s Division of Law. |  |