The Missing Middle Housing Fund is fortunate to have a growing and diverse group of business and community leaders working together to create more workforce housing solutions. Our hope is that you will learn a little bit more about each of us - our backgrounds, interests, and passions – and how we are united by a shared sense of purpose and commitment to creating more affordable workforce housing.
Meet Amy Snyder, MMHF’s Marketing and Communications Lead
Four years ago, Amy Snyder was working as a brand strategy consultant at PulteGroup, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, when she learned she might be moving to Portland. Her husband, Paul, had just been offered an Executive leadership role at Tillamook after 15+ years working in Atlanta with Intercontinental Hotels Group. For Snyder, the cross-country move represented both a chance to return to her roots in the Pacific Northwest, where she attended high school in Corvallis, and to explore what might be next in her career journey. She and her family of 4, including her two girls, decided to go for it and head west.
Snyder began her career in brand management after graduating from business school at Cornell University. For 20 years she worked as a marketing practitioner and consultant in various roles for companies like Nabisco, Hasbro, and The Coca-Cola Company. After working in big-company environments, Snyder was excited to shift gears and tap into some of the more entrepreneurial and mission-driven organizations that Portland is known to incubate.
Soon after arriving in Portland, a mutual connection led her to an introduction over coffee with MMHF’s Co-Founder and CEO, Nate Wildfire. At that meeting, she learned more about MMHF’s mission to create more workforce housing in Oregon so that people, economies, and communities can thrive. The need to think differently about how workforce housing can be built faster and at a lower cost was of particular interest. She had just spent five years working in market rate housing and wanted to learn more about how product design and operations innovations can impact the missing middle target. She agreed at that meeting to join the MMHF as Marketing and Communications Lead.
Get to know more about Amy:
Why were you drawn to the Missing Middle Housing Fund?
When I first met with Nate over coffee, and subsequently the MMHF Board, it was clear that the MMHF was on a trajectory to accomplish important things for Oregon. I was inspired by the idea of doing meaningful work that would make such a tremendous impact on the lives of people and our local communities. Creating more affordable workforce housing is a mission that most everyone can get behind, and it has been so gratifying to see the support from business and community leaders. Getting to build these working relationships with collaborative organizations has been my favorite part of working with the MMHF.
What role do you play on the team?
As the Marketing and Communications Lead, I wear many hats. In addition to managing and facilitating some of our key projects with the Newberg Workforce Housing Consortium and the Workforce Housing Solutions Summit in Bend, I also am responsible for developing our brand. Some of these key initiatives include developing a refreshed website, which we launched this past October, creating our quarterly newsletter, and developing content for our blog in partnership with my teammates.
What are some of your interests and passions?
I love living in Oregon and taking advantage of the amazing outdoor activities and culture. Most weekends, I am hiking through Forest Park or walking our Goldendoodle around the neighborhood. I am also a lifelong tennis player. I played competitively in college but now just enjoy casual games with friends or my family. Learning new things is also a hobby. I am currently taking a class on Buddhism, which has taught me the importance of loving kindness, something that has particular relevance to our mission at MMHF to create more affordable workforce housing. My best times are spent with my husband and two teenage girls cooking in the kitchen or watching our favorite TV shows like the Amazing Race.
Why is the development of more workforce housing so important to you?
Having worked in the homebuilding industry for many years, I saw the tremendous impact that home ownership can have. I want more people to be able to experience that sense of security and comfort so that they can thrive in their personal and work lives. Having spent many years in Corvallis, and now in Portland with my own family, I feel a strong sense of commitment to Oregon. I am excited that the MMHF is tackling an issue that will make a difference in the lives of so many people who are contributing to our economy and ultimately making our state a better place to live for all.