Daphne Principe-Griffin
Interim President & CEO, United Way of Massachusetts Bay
Industry experience: 20 years
A career spent in the social impact and human service sectors has impressed upon Daphne Principe-Griffin the central importance of housing in improving residents’ quality of life. As interim president and CEO of United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Principe-Griffin leads a Boston-based organization that’s the lead fundraiser for a key source of financing for affordable housing: the community investment tax credit (CITC). Massachusetts community development corporations rely on the credits to complete financing packages. In the past decade, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay has raised nearly $30 million in donations from individuals, businesses and foundations, including $7.2 million in 2024, toward the CITC. A former chief of human services for the city of Boston during the Menino administration, Principe-Griffin joined the United Way in 2021 and was named interim president and CEO last March.
Q: What are some examples of how the CDC’s in your organization’s 12 focus communities in eastern Massachusetts use CITC funding?
A: One that has leveraged this funding in an interesting way, and has seen exponential growth after getting the CITC funds and applying them toward affordable housing, is The Neighborhood Developers in Chelsea. They increased their housing portfolio by 66 percent over the last five years. Because of the CITC funds, they are expecting to grow their portfolio by another 65 percent in the next five years. Their portfolio has about 700 units, with 100 of those supportive senior housing, and The Neighborhood Developers have also used the unrestricted funding they have gotten from CITC to scale the capacity for some of the diversified housing strategies they have been working on. With the flexible dollars from the CITC, they ended up identifying a big need they have on the real estate side and expanding staffing on that team. Prior to the creation of the CITC, they were producing 10 to 15 units per year. Now they are producing about 80 units per year, so it’s a pretty good jump because of that investment.
Q: What is the focus of the United Way’s philanthropy in the housing sector?
A: Our focus has really been around safe and stable housing. It’s about eliminating homelessness and knowing that the solution to that is safe and stable housing. That is one impact area of our five, and we find agencies that provide a lot of programs or services that help people navigate home ownership and getting a rental space. There are a lot of organizations that we fund, including Citizens Housing and Planning Association and the Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance. And we are putting our funding into public policy. The Affordable Homes Act was a long time in the making and it was exciting. It gave us an opportunity with our partners to focus on the cost-efficient and proven strategies to end chronic homelessness.
Q: What are some examples of housing programs that seem to get the most bang for the buck?
A: The [Affordable Housing Act] with its historic legislation in supportive housing, is where the United Way of Massachusetts Bay has been excited to see that there is some movement. The Affordable Supportive Housing Pool gives us a new approach to streamline and expand the production of housing, plus the services to the individuals and families who would otherwise experience homelessness. It’s not just the buildings or homes, but the pathway to access that opportunity. It gives us flexibility to look at both the production of housing, and the services that go with that. We’ve seen time and time again in other states that combination is important to having long-term success for families and young adults that otherwise would experience homelessness. It’s not just the development of the projects. It’s the things a lot of our partner agencies provide. The Coalition for a Better Acre in Lowell has done a great job as a CITC-funded organization that’s been around for a long time. A lot of their work has been building and renovating homes, but they have a really robust program side. It is focused on folks that already own those homes, and all of their services are free. They do programming in everything: from access to a food pantry to English classes and homework help for the kids. It’s a really well-rounded family support learning and development program that is attached to the work they do around real estate development and investing in the properties.
Q: What financial gaps do you expect United Way will have to fill as the pandemic funding evaporates and under the Trump administration’s policies?
A: The big one is going to continue to tell the opportunity that the CITC has for folks and what the CDC’s have been able to do with that funding. They’ve been able to mobilize those funds. The CDC’s are going to leverage that with other public dollars or private dollars, and that is going to be the catalyst that really builds the internal capacity of the CDC’s and also can offset what we’re seeing with the decline in ARPA. The public-private partnerships are going to be an absolutely critical component as we think of whatever might come from the federal administration. Small business philanthropy is another component. While ARPA might be stepping back, how are we stepping in with support? We don’t do this alone. We don’t work in a vacuum. United Way of Massachusetts Bay relies so much on our partners across the Commonwealth, not just in our region. I want to shout out to Joseph Kriesberg, the former CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations. It really was his work to get this [CITC] moving forward and getting United Way on board so we could provide advocacy 10 years ago. What started off as an idea for a public-private partnership 10 years ago, today we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in investment.
Principe-Griffin’s Five Favorite Breweries and Tasty Treats
- Roundhead Brewing Company in Hyde Park and their chorizo nachos
- Dorchester Brewing Company and M & M BBQ’s dumpster fries
- Cisco Brewery in New Bedford and their Korean fried chicken
- Castle Island in Norwood and Bardo’s dill pickle pizza
- Night Shift Brewing in Everett and Wanderlust’s burrata toast
