Leadership Team

Kelly McDermott believes housing is a basic human right, and has dedicated her professional career to advocating for and creating housing opportunities for individuals and families.

She is a passionate, thoughtful, results driven leader in the housing and community development field, with a track record of success in directing and managing administrative and operational departments, including managing financial assets, physical assets and human capital.

Kelly has demonstrated expertise in effecting change in complex and underperforming programs as well as driving successful implementation of projects funded by a federal, state, and local funding sources. In 2015 Kelly was named Developer of Year by the CT Housing Coalition.

Kelly has served in the positions of Interim Managing Director of Multifamily Housing at the CT Housing Finance Authority; Executive Director at the Wallingford Housing Authority; Director of Planning & Modernization at the East Hartford Housing Authority; and a number of leadership positions at the City of Bridgeport and Town of Stratford.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Central CT State University where she graduated with Honors and also served as the Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter President and was recognized by the College as Volunteer of the year.

Outside of her career, Kelly enjoys hiking, and has summited some of the largest mountains in the US, the Incan Trail and Mount Kilimanjaro this July. Beyond that, you can find her spending time quilting, singing with the Greater Middletown Chorale and volunteering in her community.