Dedicated community leader brings more than 20 years of experience to lead 300-person Program, Policy, Advisory and Capacity-Building portfolio in support of Enterprise’s mission.
Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise), following a nationwide search, named Jacqueline Waggoner president of its Solutions division, which operates 11 market offices across the country and delivers policy, program, advisory and capacity-building support at the national, state and local level. As Enterprise embarks on an ambitious new five-year strategic plan, Waggoner will be a critical leader in leveraging all of the Solutions division’s capabilities to drive the organization’s three major priorities of increasing housing supply, advancing racial equity and building resilience and upward mobility.
Waggoner will remain headquartered in Enterprise’s Southern California office in Los Angeles, where she previously served as vice president and Southern California market leader. This will be the first time in Enterprise’s nearly 40-year history that it has a bicoastal team of senior executive leaders.
“Jacqueline is a natural leader and as passionate, creative and thoughtful an advocate for affordable housing as there is. As we execute on our new strategic plan, Jacqueline brings the ideal on-the-ground experience to design and then rigorously implement systemic change at a time when Enterprise needs to push for nothing less,” said Priscilla Almodovar, chief executive officer, Enterprise. “Jacqueline will join the presidents of our Capital division and Communities division to deliver Enterprise’s unique end-to-end approach to address our nation’s housing challenges from every angle.”
Waggoner has 20 years of experience in affordable housing with a unique mix of program design, policy advocacy, community lending and housing finance. She joined Enterprise in 2005 as a senior lender for Enterprise’s Community Development Financial Institution, where she doubled production and built relationships with partners that endure today. Promoted to deputy director of our Southern California market, she spearheaded the New Generation Fund that preserved 2,700 affordable homes in Los Angeles.
As Market Leader for Southern California, Waggoner secured additional resources for affordable housing, advanced historic state and local policy wins, and established Enterprise as a leading voice on homelessness and racial disparities, especially during Covid-19. She advocated for the passage of the Affordable Housing Linkage Fee, the City of Los Angeles’ first permanent subsidy for affordable housing. She also co-led advocacy efforts to support the passage of Proposition HHH and Measure H, which provided housing and services to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County.
“Our country and communities face an intersection of crises: a pandemic, a recession and a long-overdue reckoning with racial justice. Enterprise has the perspective and expertise to help all of us come out stronger on the other side. I’m both humbled and energized to help lead that effort,” said Waggoner. “I look forward to bringing the strength of our people, our partners and the communities we serve to bear as we move forward together.”
In 2019, she was a Bisnow Los Angeles Power Woman honoree and the recipient of the Community Impact Award from the Los Angeles Business Council, which also named her the Tim O’Connell Philanthropic Partner of the Year.
She currently serves as commissioner and vice chair of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Prior to joining Enterprise, Waggoner served as vice president of Wells Fargo’s Community Banking Real Estate Group.
A Los Angeles native, Waggoner holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles.
