Episode 88 | Part One: Grace Ruiz-Stepter Director, Housing and Community Development, City of Anaheim

ChangeMakers with Katie Goar

This week's ChangeMaker podcast features Grace Ruiz-Stepter, Director of the Housing and Community Development Department for the City of Anaheim. Katie welcomes Grace, a highly accomplished housing program manager with over 20 years of experience overseeing federal and local initiatives to provide affordable housing and spur community development. Before joining Anaheim, Grace held leadership roles managing critical housing programs at the Housing Authority of Los Angeles County. Throughout her career, she has helped expand access to affordable housing and empowered communities through her tireless advocacy and skilled leadership. On the show, Grace and Katie will have an inspiring conversation about Grace’s journey to leadership and her vision for creating more affordable, equitable housing solutions. Grace shares the challenges that drive her in this work, the creative strategies she’s leading in Anaheim, and advice for other systems changers looking to make an impact in their cities. Tune in for an insightful and uplifting discussion about how Grace and others are creating meaningful change from within government agencies. You’ll come away motivated and equipped to create change in your community.
About Grace Ruiz-Stepter: Ms. Ruiz-Stepter has over twenty-eight years of experience managing various housing and community development programs. Currently, she holds the dual role of Director of Housing and Community Development for the City of Anaheim and Executive Director of the Anaheim Housing Authority.Her responsibilities include overseeing all affordable housing development programs for Anaheim, including the Housing Choice Voucher program which provides rental subsidies to over 6,800 in Anaheim, oversight of the Workforce Development program and federal entitlement programs including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and the HOME Investment Partnership Program. These programs provide valuable financial resources needed to address varying housing and community needs and can be leveraged with other public and private resources to address community needs.Under her leadership, the Anaheim Housing Authority has produced over 500 new units of affordable housing in the past five years and is on track to produce another 500 to 800 units in the next five years, building on a rich history of affordable housing production in Anaheim. Her work has involved working collaboratively with Anaheim City Department to adopt creative land use policies, engaging in extensive community revitalization initiatives to address distressed neighborhoods.Ms. Stepter also oversees Anaheim’s Homeless Response System of Care.In this role, she manages a committed team of professionals who work collaboratively with City Departments to address individual, business, and community needs. Her team oversees street outreach engagement, shelter operations and funding to social services providers. With her team, she is engaged in securing new ideas and resources to support the homelessness system of care. She is also actively engaged in regional and State efforts to identify and implement proven best practices.Ms. Stepter began her professional career at the Los Angeles County Housing and Community Development Agency, where she advanced from front line work into leadership positions. She held the position of Housing Choice Voucher Manager and later Intergovernmental Relations and Public Information for the Agency. She joined Quadel Consulting Corporation in 2001. Quadel is a leading consulting agency that provides program management, training, and consulting to the affordable housing industry. At Quadel, she served as the Housing Choice Voucher Director for the Memphis Housing Authority. She is credited with transforming a long standing troubled MHA program to high-performing in just two years.In addition to her work in Anaheim, Ms. Stepter is involved with and has held leadership positions in various professional associations including the California Association of Housing Authorities (CAHA), the Statewide organization that represents all Public Agencies in California. She currently serves on the United Way of Orange County, United to End Homelessness Leadership Council and is Co-Chair of the Orange County Continuum of Care Housing Committee. She was also just sworn in (October 2023) as that National Chair for Community and Revitalization for NAHRO, the largest national affordable housing organization representing more than 17,000 individual members and associates and 2,500 agency members (including housing authorities, CD departments, redevelopment agencies)