As the state’s first director of fair housing, Whitney Demetrius’ experience in housing policy is a welcome addition to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Demetrius is a graduate of Boston College, where she studied philosophy and African Diaspora Studies.
She has spent almost two decades in housing policy and has long supported and led fair housing initiatives. After college, she became the deputy director of the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston before joining the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, where she worked as a municipal engagement program associate. She was subsequently appointed the director of fair housing and engagement.
After working with the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association for six years, Demetrius will now move to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
In her role as deputy director of the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston, Demetrius worked with communities throughout the city in efforts to create healthy and sustainable living arrangements. She also has experience collaborating with other organizations and agencies with the goal of fair and sustainable housing.
“Whitney’s long experience and expertise on fair housing policy will ensure that the Healey-Driscoll administration’s efforts to make housing more affordable, accessible and open to all are led with diligence and compassion,” said Ed Augustus, secretary of Housing and Livable Communities.
Demetrius aims to combine civic engagement with action in attempts to elevate and uplift voices and start conversations about sustainable living at the grassroots level. “A crucial part of ensuring our commonwealth is truly livable is addressing the barriers to fair housing and housing choice,” she said. “I am eager to work collaboratively in this role to carry out the vision of this administration, putting fair housing at the forefront of our path forward.”
While she has devoted her career to ensuring fair and equitable housing throughout the commonwealth, she devotes her free time to her philanthropic efforts. Demetrius is a member of the boards of Metro Housing Boston and the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation.
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