Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta Announces Three New Members of its Affordable Housing Advisory Council

ATLANTA, Jan. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) announced today that it has appointed three members to its Affordable Housing Advisory Council (Council). The Council serves an important role in helping FHLBank Atlanta fulfill its community lending and affordable housing mission, and works closely with the FHLBank Atlanta board of directors and management to ensure the community lending and housing finance needs of communities within the Bank’s district are met. There are 15 members of FHLBank Atlanta’s Council.*New Members:*

*William Grant* is currently a member relations consultant with the American Bankers Association. Previously, he was Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of First United Bank & Trust. Mr. Grant’s banking career in Maryland spans over forty years, beginning in 1978 with First National Bank of Oakland, Maryland. During his tenure with First United Bank & Trust, Mr. Grant was frequently engaged in projects involving housing for low- to moderate-income households and worked with organizations such as the Garrett County Community Action Committee. He served on the board of directors of the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from 2007 to 2013. After retiring from First United Bank & Trust in 2015, Mr. Grant continued to support rural Appalachia in a number of ways, for example by serving on the board of Garrett County Habitat for Humanity and serving as a mentor in the Garrett Mentors program. Additionally, he served as a board member for Cindy’s Fund, a local charity established in memory of Cindy Kutchman that raises funds to assist Garrett County people with cancer expenses. In 2017, he was the recipient of the Community Trust Foundation of Cumberland, Maryland’s Humanitarian Leadership Award for his service to many local organizations. Mr. Grant earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from the West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Juris Doctorate from the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University.

*Michael Wong* is the Executive Director of the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority (HRHA) in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a position he has held since 2001. Under Mr. Wong’s leadership, the HRHA expanded its Housing Choice Voucher program, more than doubled the number of HRHA-owned affordable housing units, converted all of its public housing units, and developed permanent supportive housing serving individuals who are chronically homeless and veterans. The HRHA’s current initiatives include affordable housing preservation and a development that would be the largest ever housing project in the City of Harrisonburg, including approximately 850 to 900 units of housing geared toward workforce, first-time homebuyers, and senior residents. Mr. Wong is the current chair of the Harrisonburg Rockingham Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness Steering Committee. He is also executive board member of the Western Virginia Continuum of Care, executive board member of the Virginia Housing Alliance, Housing, Legislative Committee, Board of Governors member for the National Association of Housing Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), Secretary for South Eastern Region Council-NAHRO, and President of the Virginia Association of Housing and Community Development Officials. Mr. Wong’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Social Work from James Madison University.

*Randall Woodfin* is the Mayor of the City of Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to becoming Mayor in 2017, Mr. Woodfin served as the President of the Birmingham City School Board from 2013 to 2015 and as a city attorney for Birmingham from 2009 to 2017. His initiatives as Mayor have included neighborhood revitalization and affordable housing among a number of other important initiatives. He has been committed to serving the city, for example by bringing people and businesses and organizations together to make Birmingham a place where every citizen has opportunities to develop their potential to its fullest and where innovation and progress are charted while beginning to achieve goals of equality and inclusion. Mr. Woodfin is a lifelong resident of Birmingham, with the exception of four years in Atlanta while earning a degree in Political Science from Morehouse University. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Cumberland Law School at Samford University. His accomplishments include increasing Birmingham’s national rating for LGBTQ+ equality from 12 to a perfect 100, establishing the Division of Social Justice and Racial Equity to oversee the nation’s first Office of Peace and Policy, the Pardons for Progress initiative, the Tuhska Lusa initiative, and the Birmingham Promise scholarship initiative. He is dedicated to reimagining public safety, strengthening public health infrastructure, revitalizing neighborhoods, and leading recovery from COVID.

*About the Affordable Housing Advisory Council *
FHLBank Atlanta’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council comprises 15 representatives from a diverse group of community and nonprofit organizations actively involved in providing or promoting low- and moderate-income housing and community lending within FHLBank Atlanta’s district. The Council provides advice to FHLBank Atlanta’s board of directors regarding ways in which the Bank can enhance the effectiveness of its housing finance and community lending mission.

*About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta*
FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank's members—its shareholders and customers—are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $7.3 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than one million households.

For more information, visit our website at *www.fhlbatl.com*.

*CONTACT:* Peter E. Garuccio
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
pgaruccio@fhlbatl.com
404.888.8143