Ron Abad
Ron Abad
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director
Ron joined Community Housing Innovations in March 2021 to serve as the second Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director in the organization’s 30-year history, after founding ED/CEO Alec Roberts.
With a personal mission and passion to strengthen individuals and families and move them from poverty to self-sufficiency, Ron Abad has more than 25 years of executive-level leadership in government and nonprofit organizations in the fields of homeless shelters, supportive housing, and community-based health care.
Previously, Ron served as the Senior Vice President for Acacia Network Housing, one of New York City’s largest homeless providers, serving 2,250 homeless families and 2,000 single adults. He oversaw a broad network of homeless shelters, with a mandate to provide and support every individual and family with transitional housing and supportive services like primary care and behavioral health.
Before that, Ron was Chief Operating Officer of Urban Pathways, providing street outreach, safe havens, and supportive housing to homeless individuals. He oversaw programs, supportive housing development, operations, facilities/property management, low-income housing tax credit compliance, HR, information technology, budget/contract management, and risk/crisis oversight.
Ron also served as Assistant Commissioner for Capacity Planning and Development for Families with Children shelters for the New York City Department of Homeless Services. In this role, Ron was responsible for Families with Children homeless shelter capacity, planning and development, shelter procurement, contracts management and budget negotiations. In addition, he oversaw HERO (Housing Emergency Referral Operations), New York City’s 24/7 unit for homeless families, shelter placements, and vacancy control. Ron had previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Budget, Procurement and Administration of Families with Children shelters.
Before his stint working for the City of New York, Ron was the Vice President of Operations for Housing Works. In this capacity, he was responsible for overseeing budget, contracts, operations, and residential services for a Health Services department, including three Article 28 health centers. He’s also held various management positions with the Morris Heights Health Center and Hunts Point Multi-Service Center, Inc., where he began his career.
Ron Abad holds a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School and a Bachelor’s degree from Howard University. He completed Executive Education and certificate programs at the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation for Senior Executives, the John F. Kennedy School of Government on Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations, New York University’s Real Estate Institute for Real Estate Development, Construction Management from the New York Real Estate Institute, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Compliance from Quardel. Ron is also a certified John Maxwell Professional Speaker and Coach.
He serves on the Board of Trustees of his church and is a member of the Board of Directors of the William George Agency, one of New York State’s oldest and largest organizations providing residential care for at-risk youth and young adults. Ron is a proud father of three daughters and five grandchildren. Ron enjoys sports, particularly Yankees baseball, working on house projects, reading biographies and leadership development books.