Photo courtesy of CHAPA
Eric Shupin is leaving his job as one of the Healey administration’s top housing policy minds and returning to the advocacy organization he once worked for.
Shupin will take over as CEO of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, or CHAPA, on June 15. He’ll succeed longtime CEO Rachel Heller in the permanent role, after she was hired by the quasi-public Massachusetts Housing Partnership finance and policy agency.
Shupin was the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ first deputy chief of staff for policy under its first secretary, Ed Augustus, and helped build out the agency after it was established by Gov. Maura Healey in 2023.
“Eric was one of the first staff to join HLC, and over the past three years his knowledge, expertise and positive attitude have helped turn great ideas into impactful policies that are now working to deliver more homes, faster,” Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Juana Matias said in a statement provided by CHAPA. “We are immensely proud as he steps up to lead CHAPA and grateful that his voice and vision will continue to guide housing policy here in Massachusetts for years to come.”
In his role at EOHLC, Shupin has been credited with being a major shaping force behind several of the Healey administration’s housing wins.
“CHAPA has been an incredible partner to our administration. They were instrumental in the development of our Affordable Homes Act and in our continuing efforts to build more housing across Massachusetts,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement provided by CHAPA. “Eric has been at the helm of those efforts for our administration, advancing our state’s housing policy and driving our commitment to more affordable and more accessible housing. We’re thrilled to support him in this new chapter as CEO of CHAPA.”
In her own statement provided by CHAPA, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll credited Shupin with “leadership” that “led to the passing of our landmark housing legislation and to thousands of new homes being built across our state.”
CHAPA, a nonprofit advocacy group, is one of the state’s oldest and most prominent housing advocacy groups. Shupin was its top state housing policy lobbyist from 2016 until he left to take the policy role in the Healey administration.
“I’m honored to return to CHAPA at such an important moment for housing in Massachusetts,” Shupin said in a statement. “For decades, CHAPA has brought people together to drive meaningful progress on the commonwealth’s most pressing housing challenges, and I’m excited to build on that legacy. I look forward to working with the team and our partners statewide to take on the challenges ahead and continue delivering results for residents and communities across the commonwealth.”
