Cambridge Housing Authority Names Clara Fraden as First Female CEO

The Cambridge Housing Authority named Clara Fraden, its former director of planning, to lead the agency as its longtime chief steps down at the end of March.

After a unanimous vote by the Board of Commissioners, Fraden will take over on March 30, becoming the first woman to lead the authority — and the first to hold the title of chief executive officer.

She succeeds Michael J. Johnston, who is retiring after 34 years with the CHA, including the last nine as executive director.

Fraden brings eight years of experience at the agency. As director of planning and previously as a project manager, she helped advance the development and preservation of more than 1,200 housing units across Cambridge.

CHA Board Chair Elaine DeRosa praised Fraden’s experience leading community development, writing in a press release that Fraden “brings more than a decade of community development and organizational leadership experience” along with “a deep understanding of Cambridge and our communities.”

The leadership transition comes as demand for affordable housing continues to climb. The CHA serves more than 13,500 residents, with waitlists for units and rental assistance stretching into the thousands.

Fraden said her early focus will be executing a strategic plan shaped with residents, staff, and partners.

“In many ways, my job now is to implement that plan,” Fraden said in a Tuesday interview, “and we prepared that plan together with colleagues, partners, CHA residents, participants in our housing programs — we all drafted that plan together.”

The CHA assists low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities through its public housing and voucher programs. But Fraden said that the way the CHA interacts with residents is just as important as the work itself.

“The priorities for the housing authority, as I see them, really combine tangible goals with cultural goals,” she said.

The tangible goals — what Fraden called the agency’s “bread and butter” — include ambitious plans laid out by her predecessor. She pointed to the CHA’s effort to preserve 500 affordable homes and build an additional 500 new ones by 2030.

But Fraden said the cultural goals, centered on how the CHA interacts with residents, were the agency’s “heart and soul.”

“We want to make sure we are reaching our tangible goals in a way that fosters a work environment that’s rooted in respect and collaboration with a growth mindset for our staff, ways that increase resident choice in a meaningful way so that they really have more influence on their home and community,” she said.

Her appointment has drawn optimism from tenant advocates. Duane Callender, voucher co-chair of the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants, said Fraden’s internal experience could help navigate an increasingly complex housing landscape.

“It’s good to have somebody who has experience with the situation here and how complex it is,” he said.

Fraden said her leadership will be guided by three values: community, integrity, and hope.

“Community is all about building bridges, both internally and externally, remembering that we’re all in this together. None of us can do this work alone,” she said.

Even amid rising uncertainty, she added, the work demands optimism.

“Hope is really all about showing up every day, recognizing that it’s a true privilege that we are at an agency where we can make a positive impact,” she said.

—Staff writer Adelaide L. D. Roger can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @adelaidelrg.