Chrystal Kornegay

Biography: Chrystal Kornegay is a mission-driven problem solver whose career is defined by repositioning organizations to grow their impact. She combines listening, instinct, and opportunity to create strategies that advance critical community development goals. Chrystal is passionate about assembling high functioning teams that achieve significant results. Her data-informed, laser focus on outcomes has led to increases in state investments in affordable housing, growth in affordable housing portfolios and the launch of nationally recognized programs to address the racial homeownership gap. For more than a decade, Chrystal has held leadership positions in the nonprofit and government sectors including serving as the CEO of Urban Edge, a nationally recognized community developer, and as Undersecretary of the Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of MassHousing, a quasi-public financial investment institution that lends over $1 billion annually to produce and preserve affordable rental housing and create homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income borrowers. Since Chrystal joined the agency in 2018, MassHousing has served exponentially more people, increased its net asset position by 23% and secured over $500M in federal and state funds to create and expand housing production and preservation programs. Chrystal lends her fun-loving spirit to the industry having served on the boards of community development nonprofits, government agencies and CDFIs. She currently is on the board of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) and the National Housing Trust (NHT). Chrystal holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Hunter College.