Mayor London N. Breed today announced the appointment of Eric D. Shaw as the new Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). Shaw’s appointment as Director follows a comprehensive, nationwide search for the position. Former MOHCD Deputy Director of Housing Dan Adams had been serving as Acting Director of the agency since July 2019. Shaw’s first day will be April 27, 2020.
“Creating affordable housing and building strong communities is critical to ensure that all of our neighborhoods in San Francisco are well-served,” said Mayor Breed. “Eric has extensive experience in community planning and I’m looking forward to working with him to create a more affordable and equitable San Francisco. I would also like to thank Dan Adams for stepping into the role of Acting Director these past few months. With his leadership, MOHCD’s housing and community development work has continued to expand, and I wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
“I am honored to be selected by Mayor Breed to lead the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development during this critical time in San Francisco’s history,” said Eric Shaw. “I am looking forward to being part of the Mayor’s team to create more housing and make San Francisco a more affordable and equitable place to live. With the current Coronavirus pandemic, MOHCD’s services are more important than ever, especially in our vulnerable communities.”
Most recently, Shaw served as an advisor to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), where he coordinated community planning and engagement activities associated with recovery from the 2018 Camp Fire. Prior to his work at Cal OES, Shaw was the Director of the Office of Planning for Washington, D.C., and was the Director of Community and Economic Development for Salt Lake City. He has experience working in the Bay Area for Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.
He is a graduate of both UCLA and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Shaw brings a wealth of applicable experience to MOHCD, having worked extensively in and held leadership positions in both the public and non-profit sectors.
“The last 9 months I’ve served as Acting Director have been the most rewarding of my career,” said MOHCD Acting Director, Dan Adams. “It’s been an incredible honor to have been of service to Mayor Breed, to MOHCD, and to the City of San Francisco.”
Dan Adams was appointed Acting Director by Mayor Breed in summer 2019. During Acting Director Adams’s tenure, he advanced MOHCD’s activities across its multiple program areas including new construction, acquisition and preservation, homeownership, and community development. Under his leadership, MOHCD supported the stabilization of operations at the San Francisco Housing Authority, completed construction on the first public housing replacement homes at Sunnydale, and created its first internal Racial Equity Action Plan.