Carla Richards has been appointed first vice president of programs at FamilyAid, a Boston nonprofit that provides solutions for family homelessness.
“Carla is a tenacious leader with years of experience advocating for those in need,” says FamilyAid President Larry Seamans. “We welcome her passion and expertise as we focus on expanding our two generational work to meet the needs of an increasing number of homeless children and parents.”
Richards will lead the agency’s deepening services to more than 3,000 homeless children and parents, and direct innovations to its anti-poverty programming.
Richards most recently served as director of planning at Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), one of Boston’s largest human service organizations, where she oversaw strategic planning, community needs assessments, and program development efforts for residents experiencing poverty. Over the past two decades, she has held key posts within Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston, notably as inaugural transition manager for the City’s Empowerment Zone initiative.
Richards currently serves on the board of directors of the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation and has served in various liaison capacities with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Newmarket Business Association, Fenway CDC’s Economic Development Committee, Washington Gateway Main Street, and Old Dover Neighborhood Association.
A former Congressional Black Caucus Foundation fellow, Richards holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the City University of New York at Brooklyn College, a master’s degree in public policy studies from The University of Chicago, and national certification as a results oriented management & accountability implementer. A native of Panama who immigrated to the United States as a child, she currently lives in the Four Corners neighborhood in Dorchester.
FamilyAid has been improving the lives of the working poor since 1916. As Boston’s largest provider of solutions to family homelessness, the agency empowers parents and caregivers to secure and sustain housing and build strong foundations for their children’s futures.
