Today, MPHA announced the appointment of Heather Pacheco as the agency’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Heather has spent the past 16 years working at MPHA in a variety of finance roles, most recently serving as Assistant Director of Finance. Heather will begin in her new role on Tuesday, June 2. Heather is replacing long-time MPHA CFO Tim Durose, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

“During Heather’s 16 years at MPHA, she has built a career creating solutions for some of MPHA’s most complex challenges,” said Abdi Warsame, Executive Director/CEO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. “Heather has helped navigate MPHA’s finances through everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to a historic 43-day federal government shutdown with little to no interruption to the agency’s activities. Her work has been instrumental in MPHA’s finance team achieving operational excellence in recent years, and I am confident Heather will help continue MPHA’s legacy of being a nationally recognized, high-performing housing authority.”

“After working at MPHA for 16 years, I am ready and excited to take on this new challenge,” said Heather Pacheco, incoming CFO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. “The MPHA finance team has delivered exceptional results in recent years, and I am honored at the opportunity to lead this incredible group. This team will continue leading MPHA through all manners of transformation, including diminished federal funding, increased state and local funding, and meeting the need for more affordable housing in Minneapolis. I look forward to helping preserve and produce the affordable housing opportunities our community needs.”

In her role as Assistant Director of Finance, Heather leads a team of seven, coordinates the agency’s annual budget planning process, develops financial reporting for new programs, and manages backend system changes. Her work has been instrumental in helping MPHA’s finance team achieve operational excellence in recent years.

As the agency’s work to address the city’s affordable housing crisis has grown increasingly innovative in recent years, Heather has helped build novel compliance and reporting systems to accommodate new funding programs and grants. Her work includes overseeing the accounting and financial reporting for $8.2 million in Minnesota Housing’s Publicly Owned Housing Program, a one-time $1.3 million grant from Minnesota Housing’s Stable Housing Organization Relief Program, and a $350,000 Pohlad Family Foundation grant supporting the nationally acclaimed Stable Homes Stable Schools.

Heather has earned several promotions throughout her time with MPHA, entrusting her with increasing responsibilities. Heather began her career at MPHA in 2010 as a financial analyst and earned her first promotion within a year. In 2014, Heather was promoted to a manager-level role within the department. And in 2019, Heather was promoted into an assistant director of finance role, helping CFO Tim Durose lead the department.

“I have built my career here at MPHA,” said Heather. “My time at the agency has spanned the entirety of my career, so I’m excited to enter this new chapter of leading the department. And I am grateful for mentors like Tim Durose who have encouraged me along the way.”

Heather is stepping into the role of CFO at a time the agency faces uncertainty and volatility with its nearly $200 million in annual federal funding, including a historic 43-day federal government shutdown in October. Despite the headwinds coming from Washington, MPHA continues to advance numerous local projects, including the largest public housing redevelopment in the city’s history, a new city-funded emergency housing voucher, and planning for a large-scale construction project at Glendale.

MPHA provides stable, affordable housing for more than 26,000 people through its various housing assistance programs. This includes owning and operating nearly 6,000 units across 42 high-rises, 184 family townhomes at Glendale, and nearly 800 deeply affordable family homes collectively serving nearly 10,000 residents. MPHA also administers roughly 7,500 federally subsidized Housing Choice Vouchers, serving nearly 18,500 participants.

Heather Pacheco’s headshot can be downloaded here.