Zigas and Associates LLC helps organizations develop sound strategies, build effective leadership, and create innovation that produces results. Zigas and Associates LLC works with both for profit and nonprofit organizations. The firm brings to its engagements a robust understanding of organizational growth and development; a deep expertise in how policy and practice interact to create effective results; a passionate commitment to effective strategies that improve peoples’ lives; and a practical, market oriented approach to social ventures.
Zigas and Associates LLC is led by Barry Zigas. With more than 40 years of diverse leadership roles in housing, community and economic development, Zigas has a unique blend of for-profit and nonprofit experience. This includes leading organizations and workgroups ranging from more than 200 national and regional staff members as a Senior Vice President at Fannie Mae to leading the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a national nonprofit advocacy organization, with 16 staff. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow for Consumer Federation of America in addition to working with nonprofit and other clients.
He helped create market-changing innovations such as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the HOME program,and affordable single family mortgage products at Fannie Mae that have helped to significantly expand affordable home ownership and rental housing opportunities for low and moderate income Americans. He has led strategic planning, product development, board management and constituency relations in both the for-profit and nonprofit realms.
He was appointed to the Bipartisan Policy Center's Housing Commission in December, 2011, and he currently is a member of consumer advisory councils for the Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Quicken. the MBA, Ocwen Financial and Freddie Mac. He is a Senior Advisor to the Enterprise Community Partners Board of Trustees, and served as Chair of the board of Mercy Housing, Inc.from 2012-2016 as well as a board member and other capacities from 1986-2016. He also has served on the boards of the Low Income Investment Fund, the National Housing Conference, and The Avalon Theater Project, a nonprofit, neighborhood supported movie theater his Northwest Washington, DC. neighborhood where he serves as Treasurer.
Zigas has published articles on housing, finance and other topics in the American Banker, Huffington Post, The American Prospect, Shelterforce, Housing Wire, The Washington Post and other publications.
Zigas is a 1973 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA, where he received one of the first Wingspread Fellowships from the Johnson Foundation. He also is 1997 graduate of the Wharton School of Business's Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012 he received an Alumni Award from Grinnell College for his service and accomplishments.
He was honored with a "Guardian Angel" award by Mercy Housing on Oct 6, 2017 at Mercy's 35th anniversary gala dinner.
He was inducted into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame on November 15, 2017.