MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason has been elected president of the board of directors of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA).

NCSHA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization created by the nation’s state housing finance agencies to coordinate and leverage their federal advocacy efforts for affordable housing. NCSHA represents its members in Washington before Congress, the administration and other federal agencies concerned with housing, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture and the Treasury.

Gleason’s career in affordable housing spans more than 36 years. He has been executive director of MassHousing since 2001 and has previously served as vice president and secretary/treasurer of the NCSHA board of directors. He and received an Impact Award from NCSHA in 2008 for his work on an affinity agreement with Fannie Mae.

Gleason is a member of Fannie Mae’s National Customer Advisory Board and a former member of Fannie Mae’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council. He also serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. and is a member of the Mortgage Roundtable of the National Association of Home Builders.

Gleason was elected president at NCSHA’s Annual Conference in Boston.

"I am honored to be elected by my fellow directors as president of this highly effective national organization,” Gleason said in a statement. "We will be working closely with the federal government and our elected officials to develop and incorporate new and innovative ways to finance single-family and multifamily housing in these changing financial times.”