Lea Henry is the Interim Vice President & Director of Housing Equity Initiatives at the Institute of Minority Economic Development, Research, Policy & Impact Center, where she leads a multiyear effort to improve the ecosystem that produces affordable homeownership opportunities in Durham and engages in cross-cutting policy development and advocacy with nonprofits, policy makers, and community leaders to increase economic opportunity. She is also the President of Two Rivers Development Partners, LLC, which provided TA to local governments in a five-county region on housing development and compliance for American Rescue Plan funds and created a strategic plan for a Council of Governments to build a regional housing practice to serve 350,000 rural residents in five economically distressed counties. Henry is an economic development professional with 30 years of experience as a manager and thought leader with established community, economic, and workforce development organizations. She has a comprehensive knowledge of community economic development, affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, workforce development, nonprofit management, and government compliance. Her previous experience includes President of the Rocky Mount Housing and Revitalization Initiative, LLC and Community Development Manager of the Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments. She received a B.A. in History from Columbia University and a Master in Public policy from Harvard University.