The Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) has appointed James Arthur Jemison as its new executive director. Jemison, who goes by Arthur, is a seasoned leader in planning, development, and affordable housing.
Jemison brings nearly three decades of experience and leadership to the commission.
“I am honored to have the DHC board’s trust to implement the changes needed at the Housing Commission,” Jemison says. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with our tenants and the commission’s staff and partners like HUD to improve the quality of life in Detroit and for all the people and communities we impact.”
Jemison is a public-private development leader with 30 years of planning, development, and affordable housing expertise. He has worked with community members to create equitable places in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Prior to his new role, Jemison served as the chief of planning for the city of Boston and director of the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
Before that, Jemison was President Joe Biden’s nominee to be assistant secretary of Public and Indian Housing in 2021 and served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), leading the Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) in 2021and 2022.
Jemison’s experience includes a notable tenure with the city of Detroit, where he was founding director of the Housing and Revitalization Department, chief of services and infrastructure, and later became group executive for planning, housing, and development.
Jemison holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a recipient of a 2021 Spirit of Detroit Award, the 2016 Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence Award, and the 2013 Robert Larson Public Policy Award for Workforce Housing from the Urban Land Institute.
 has appointed James Arthur Jemison as its new executive director. Jemison, who goes by Arthur, is a seasoned leader in planning, development, and affordable housing.){kind=link}