Sharon Legenza

Executive Director

Sharon K. Legenza (she/her) is the Executive Director of Housing Action Illinois, a statewide coalition formed to protect and expand the availability of quality, affordable, accessible housing throughout Illinois. As Housing Action’s Executive Director since 2008, Ms. Legenza has built partnerships and fostered connections among housing counseling agencies, homeless and supportive service providers, affordable housing developers, fair housing groups, and other housing practitioners, all of which unite as Housing Action members and supporters. She routinely presents on a variety of affordable housing and homeless prevention topics and engages with state and federal decision makers and with financial institutions to promote equitable community development policies and initiatives. Prior to Housing Action, Ms. Legenza worked for both private and non-profit law firms where she successfully litigated numerous civil rights and constitutional law cases.

Ms. Legenza is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Investment Advisory Council, the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Commission, and the Cook County Economic Development Advisory Council, where she co-chairs its Community Development Sub-Committee. She is a past Chair for the National Alliance of Community and Economic Development Associations (NACEDA), a past President of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, and has served in leadership roles on numerous other nonprofit boards and public sector committees. Ms. Legenza is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and the University of Chicago.