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Thomas Callahan. Photo courtesy of MCBC.
Thomas Callahan, the longtime executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, has been named the next executive director of the Massachusetts Community and Banking Council.
The MCBC said in a statement today that Callahan would begin his new position on Jan. 5. MAHA had announced in June that Callahan would retire from that organization at the end of the year.
“We are thrilled that Tom has accepted this opportunity and we look forward to working with him to execute our collective vision for MCBC’s future,” MCBC Board Chair Karl Renney, of Eastern Bank, said in the statement.
Callahan was a founding board member of MCBC, which was established in 1990 to provide a forum for Massachusetts financial institutions and community organizations to help underserved communities access credit and financial services.
“I’m excited to get started,” Callahan said in the statement. “MCBC has such a unique voice where community groups and financial institutions grapple with complex issues and act together to improve the financial futures of low and moderate income households in Massachusetts.”
MCBC produces annual reports on mortgage lending and small business lending patterns, sponsors a low-cost Basic Banking account program, and launched the “Don’t Borrow Trouble” campaign to warn consumers about the dangers of predatory lending.
The organization said it plans to expand its research in the coming years to include the impact of broader financial services on lower-income households. MCBC also said it plans to more actively engage in public policy initiatives at the local, state and federal level.
MCBC noted several community campaigns Callahan guided during his tenure at MAHA, including the nation’s longest running Community Reinvestment Act mortgage program serving over 23,000 homebuyers; an education-based property insurance discount plan for homeowners; a first-in-the-nation matched savings program for first-generation homebuyers; and the expansion of state-level CRA coverage to independent mortgage companies.
Callahan is chair of the steering committee of the Community Preservation Coalition and on the executive committee of the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association. He was previously a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners from 2017-20 and on the board of trustees of The Appraisal Foundation from 2010-15.
