Bryan Brown to exit Greenville Housing Fund

Bryan Brown, the founding CEO of the Greenville Housing Fund, will be leaving the agency at the end of the month to take a post with NeighborWorks America.

“This marks the end of an historic era for the Housing Fund,” said Jimmy Kimbell, the board chairman for the agency. “Bryan has done a tremendous job of taking us from the ground-up and he leaves us in a place where we can continue to succeed.”

Brown’s last official day with the Greenville Housing Fund will be December 31, Kimbell said. An interim CEO will be named afterward and will assist the agency as it begins a national search for a new leader. Until then, board leadership will be working directly with staff to help in the transition.

Greenville Housing Fund originally launched in 2018 in response to the findings and recommendations in the 2016 “Balancing Prosperity and Housing Affordability” report, an eye-opening community-wide look at Greenville’s alarming shortfall of affordable housing options. At the time, it was stated the city was at least 2,500 units behind when it came to affordable housing.

Brown was appointed the CEO in April of 2019 and immediately started to change how Greenville looked at affordable housing.

Brown emphasized an entrepreneurial social enterprise model for GHF that leveraged local funds to catalyze strategic public-private partnerships resulting in more than two thousand units of affordable housing across Greenville; innovated the use of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to include 152 deeply affordable supportive housing options across 500 units of new affordable apartment homes supported by a strong partnership with the Greenville Housing Authority; developed and deployed a social impact fund; raised nearly $40 million dollars to support GHF and its investments; launched a resident services program to support at-risk residents in GHF affordable housing; and supported early relationship building by connecting United Way of Greenville County and the City of Greenville with external expertise during early conversations about homelessness that later evolved Greenville Together: A Home for All.

In addition to the array of affordable housing production and preservation, Brown led GHF efforts to support effective public policy development at the local, state, and federal levels to support housing affordability.

Earlier this year, Greenville Housing Fund became a NeighborWorks affiliate after a multi- year effort. Brown said while it was not his goal to work for NeighborWorks, it was an opportunity that he could not pass once it was offered.

“I have enjoyed my time leading the Greenville Housing Fund, but going to NeighborWorks America to lead its National Initiatives is an opportunity to do so much more to support affordable housing, attainable homeownership, and innovations in community development,” Brown said. “We accomplished a lot in the past few years, and I am sure GHF will continue to excel.”

Brown will continue to call Greenville home while working in DC and looks forward to seeing the community meet its affordable housing goals.