New leader selected for HUD's Office of Native American Programs

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The Office of Native American Programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is getting a new leader.

Heidi J. Frechette, who is Menominee, Brothertown and Stockbridge-Munsee, has more than 20 years of experience in Indian law and policy. She worked on Indian housing issues for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and most recently served as a director in HUD's budget office.

Frechette's new position is effective May 31, according to an internal HUD email. She was selected for the job after an eight-month recruitment process.

"In this capacity, Heidi will manage a budget of more than $700 million and lead a team of approximately 140 professional employees in Washington, DC, and across the nation," Lourdes Castro Ramirez, who serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, wrote in the message on Wednesday.

"This team works closely with 567 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities, to provide quality affordable housing, improve housing infrastructure, expand self-sufficiency initiatives, increase homeownership opportunities, and develop thriving economies," Castro Ramirez said.

Frechette succeeds Randy Akers, who has been serving as acting deputy assistant secretary for ONAP. He will return to his position at the Northern Plains Office.

"During his eight months in the Acting DAS position, we launched Tribal HUD-VASH, advanced environmental streamlining, and made significant progress on the Indian Housing Block Grant Formula Negotiated Rulemaking process," Ramirez said of Akers, who is a member of the Comanche Nation.

The full text of Ramirez's message follows:

May 25, 2016
Dear Colleagues,
Last fall, we began an extensive recruitment process for the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) of the Office of Native American Programs (ONAP). I am pleased to announce that we selected Heidi J. Frechette to serve in this position, effective Tuesday, May 31, 2016.
In this capacity, Heidi will manage a budget of more than $700 million and lead a team of approximately 140 professional employees in Washington, DC, and across the nation. This team works closely with 567 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities, to provide quality affordable housing, improve housing infrastructure, expand self-sufficiency initiatives, increase homeownership opportunities, and develop thriving economies.
Heidi (Menominee/Brothertown) has over 20 years of experience in Native American law, policy and legislative affairs, including at HUD. She began with the Department in the Office of Native American Programs as the Director of Performance and Planning. More recently, Heidi has served in HUD’s Budget Office as Director of the Appropriations Liaison Division, where she coordinated timely and accurate responses to complex questions regarding HUD’s $47 billion annual budget.
Prior to joining HUD, she provided legal counsel, advice, and representation to tribal, federal, and state governmental leaders and the private sector. As Senior Counsel to the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, she drafted and managed passage of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act (NAHASDA) of 2008. She also worked with Senate Appropriations staff to secure federal funding for Indian housing and health care budgets.
Heidi earned her law degree in 2003 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where at the same time she earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Throughout the recruitment process, I have had the privilege of working with Randy Akers, ONAP’s Acting DAS and Northern Plains Administrator, where he will continue after May 31. I would like to sincerely thank Randy for his willingness to serve in this capacity and for his over 30 years of dedicated service to HUD. During his eight months in the Acting DAS position, we launched Tribal HUD-VASH, advanced environmental streamlining, and made significant progress on the Indian Housing Block Grant Formula Negotiated Rulemaking process.
As Heidi joins the Office of Public and Indian Housing to head our ONAP office, I am confident that her leadership, coupled with the commitment and dedication of the ONAP team, will result in continued successes in our important work throughout Indian Country. Please join me in welcoming Heidi!
With much appreciation,
Lourdes Castro Ramírez