SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 27, 2017—Ed McNamara has been elected to the Board of Directors of BRIDGE Housing, a leading nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing.Mr. McNamara, a real estate developer in Portland, OR, has more than 45 years of experience in construction and in private sector and nonprofit development. He worked as a building contractor for over a decade before joining a startup community-based nonprofit, REACH Community Development Inc., in 1983; he was named its Executive Director two years later.
In 1990, Mr. McNamara was recruited by the Oregon Community Foundation to run a new initiative, funded by the Ford Foundation, to help start, train and support community-based development corporations in other Portland neighborhoods. He was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in 1994.
Upon returning to Portland, he shifted into for-profit development with the goal of putting community-based values into practice while working in the private sector. He joined Prendergast and Associates, the firm that catalyzed development of Portland’s Pearl District. Then in 2002, Mr. McNamara founded Turtle Island Development LLC, to focus on mid-rise, transit-oriented affordable rental housing. In 2013, he was tapped by Portland’s incoming mayor to restructure the city’s urban renewal agency and urban renewal areas.
Mr. McNamara has been and continues to be active in civic, environmental and land-use activities in Portland. He has chaired Portland’s Housing Advisory Committee as well as the Oregon Environmental Council, and served on the Executive Committee of 1000 Friends of Oregon.
"Ed has a tremendous depth of knowledge and experience, and we are delighted to welcome him to our board," said Cynthia A. Parker, BRIDGE President and CEO. "He’s a true community visionary whose values align well with our commitment to quality, quantity and affordability.”
For more information about BRIDGE, visit bridgehousing.com
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