MACIE HOUSTON NAMED HUD GREAT PLAINS REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that Macie L. Houston, from Overland
Park, Kansas, has been named as Regional Representative for the four states in HUD's Great Plains Region, based in Kansas City, Kansas.

In this position Ms. Houston is HUD's liaison to mayors, city managers, elected representatives, state and local officials, Congressional delegations, stakeholders and customers in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. She will oversee the delivery of HUD programs and services to communities, and evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness. Houston is one of ten regional representatives in the U.S.

Since 1996, Ms. Houston has been a Regional Director for Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. In this role, she represented the Senator throughout a 22-county area. Her responsibilities included all oversight of the office operations and supervision of staff, public speaking engagements on legislative and public policy issues; developing positive relationships and working with city and county elected officials, state legislators, party leaders, business leaders, faith-based community organizations, community development leaders federal agencies and the media on a variety of local issues. In addition, she organized and managed special projects such as the historic Underground Railroad movement in Kansas and the Kansas-U.S. Ambassador's Tour.

Prior to her position with Senator Brownback, Ms. Houston served as a Business Training Specialist for American Business Women's Association developing professional business women training programs and teaching leadership, strategic planning, effective communication and team building. In addition, she has served as a consultant to company executives and managers on issues such as staff development, labor relations and employee performance programs.

Ms. Houston has extensive public speaking experience and has, throughout her career, spoken at various
conferences, educational institutions, public forums, town hall meetings and legislative hearings.

Ms. Houston has been and continues to be very active in community affairs. She is a member of the Board of Trustees, Saint Mary's College; a member of the State Executive Board, Kansas Republican Party; member of the Board of Directors, Outreach Ministries Education Foundation; Board Member, Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance; Volunteer Executive Trainer, Junior Achievement; and, Volunteer Speaker, Reality 101 Program (school to work educational training) Former Chairwoman of the Kansas Black Republican Council. She is the former Commissioner and Chair of the Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women; Past Chair of the American Business Women's Association; the Past Vice-Chair of the Black Women's Network; and, former Board Member, Topeka Youth Project.

Ms. Houston holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Saint Mary College in Leavenworth, Kansas and has completed hours towards a Masters Degree in Public

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