The Fund

• Who We Are
  • Partners
  • Board
  • Executive Committee
  • Capacity Building Advisory Committee
  • Leadership and Staffing
  • Fund Fact Sheet (pdf)
  • HECA Fact Sheet (pdf)
  • Benefits of Participation in HECA and the Fund
  • History
• What We Do
• Purpose
• Current Projects and Grants
• What's New
• Housing and Community Development Resources

Michele Jenkins-Utomi, Chief Executive Officer

Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama

A native of Huntsville, AL, Michele Jenkins-Utomi has devoted much of her professional career to addressing the need for safe, decent, affordable housing.

Since April 2003, she has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama (HECA), and its related charitable foundation, the Housing Fund of Central Alabama.

Prior to her work at HECA, Ms. Jenkins-Utomi worked 10 years at one of the nation's largest community building organizations, the Local Initiatives Support Corp., in Washington D.C., serving as senior program officer when she left in 2002. Prior to that, she was the program manager at the University Legal Services, a community-based development organization in Washington D.C., and also was Deputy Director at the Peoples Involvement Corp., a Community Development Corporation in D.C. She also has worked as a business analyst for Dunn and Bradstreet.

Ms. Jenkins-Utomi attended the Howard University Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, where she graduated in 1983 with a Master's Degree in Business Administration. Her undergraduate degree in biology is from Hampton University in Virginia.

Ms. Jenkins-Utomi serves as the City of Birmingham's representative on the Board of the Birmingham Center for Affordable Housing, Inc., which operates the Birmingham Homeownership Center. She also is a member of the President's Advisory Council at Birmingham-Southern College.