Home Forward is led by a Chief Executive Officer, who oversees all of its programs and its nearly 400 employees. The CEO implements board-approved policies and programs, and directly supervises the executive team and policy department.
Ivory N. Mathews has dedicated more than 20 years of her professional career to the work of providing equitable housing solutions and supportive services to families. As Executive Director of the largest provider of affordable housing in Oregon, she oversees an annual budget of $198M, serving 15,000 households; a team of 300 plus employees; a housing portfolio of more than 6,300 apartments; and the administration of a variety of rent assistance programs, including 8,900 Housing Choice Vouchers, a short-term rent assistance program that consolidates funding from several different sources and provides assistance through 19 social service partners; and partnerships with more than 100 community organizations.
Under Mathews’ leadership, Home Forward continues fostering cooperation and partnerships among a collection of external constituencies and stakeholders, including federal, state, and local government officials; private and non-profit agencies; jurisdictional partners; housing clientele; and the community as a whole. She also continues the implementation of Home Forward’s vision, mission, strategies, policies, and operational objectives, towards its evolution to a diverse, anti-racist, equitable, and inclusive organization. In addition, she continues to lead the work of attracting, developing, managing, and retaining an effective, diverse workforce.
Prior to joining Home Forward, Mathews was the Chief Executive Officer for Columbia Housing and Cayce Housing in South Carolina. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Legislative Network Advisory Committee for the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) and is on the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) board.
Mathews holds a master’s degree in Counseling & Psychology from Troy University, a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Newberry College, and several nationally recognized certifications in the affordable housing arena. She is a Riley Institute Diversity Leadership Initiative Fellow and has recently been named Top 20 Dynamic CEOs for 2021 by The CEO Publication. Mathews was also named as one of the 50 Most Influential in the Midlands by Columbia Business Monthly in 2020 and 2021.
She is happily married for 20 years to Donnie Mathews; they are the proud parents of two children, Mahogany, 17 and Dalton, 12.
Kitty Miller, LCSW, joined Home Forward in 2010 as the Organizational Development Manager. She quickly advanced to Director of Community Services, where she fortified the department’s infrastructure and deepened strategic community partnerships.
Under her leadership, Home Forward built stronger connections to the health, workforce, domestic violence, and education systems in the county.
As Deputy Executive Director, Kitty expands her strengths and experience in organizational development, service delivery, and systems alignment, as Home Forward prioritizes inter-jurisdictional collaborations. Furthermore, Kitty will guide Home Forward’s commitment to expand supportive housing in the community over the next 10 years, while she oversees the business lines of Community Services, Human Resources, Contracts and Procurement, and key policy staff.
Ian Davie began at Home Forward in September, 2016. After a rural Oregon upbringing and some college years in Los Angeles, Ian spent nearly twelve years in New York City.
Among other things, he biked through as many neighborhoods as possible, figured out where to get a good late-night slice, and tried his best to remain productive while commuting two hours a day on the subway.
A lawyer by training, Ian became Deputy Director of Housing at the Bronx office of Legal Services NYC, where he focused on eviction prevention, legal services, civil rights litigation, fair housing advocacy, and anti-poverty policy.
At Home Forward, Ian oversees various departments including Rent Assistance, Homelessness Initiatives, Facilities and Safety, and Property Management.
Kandy Sage joined Home Forward in 2008 as the Senior Development and Construction Accountant, bringing with her a deep knowledge of real estate development and finance.
Through her previous professional experience in this area of the accounting filed, she was charged with the creation and implementation of this new accounting role and was responsible for oversight of accounting and analysis for over $100M of development projects.
Additionally, she streamlined financial reporting for development projects, administered and provided compliance oversight for the HUD Capital Fund Program and Replacement Housing Factor grants, and implemented improvements to the agency’s fixed asset tracking process. In 2015, she advanced to Controller, where she managed the ongoing operations of agency’s finance and accounting department, oversaw monthly internal and external financial reporting, and managed the independent annual audit of Home Forward’s financials and compliance, which contributed to six consecutive years of clean financial audits. In August, 2021, Kandy was promoted to Deputy Executive Director of Finance and now oversees various departments including Development & Community Revitalization, Asset Management, Accounting & Finance, Reporting & Analytics, Risk and Treasury.
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