Particle.news

Healey Taps Juana Matias to Lead Housing as Ed Augustus Leaves for UniBank

The planned handoff installs a HUD veteran to steer the state’s housing office after a year of rapid cabinet changes.

Overview

  • Ed Augustus will resign as housing secretary on Feb. 27 to become UniBank’s CEO, replacing the retiring Michael Welch, with a March 2 start expected.
  • Deputy Secretary Jennifer Maddox will serve as interim leader until April 1, when Juana Matias takes office as housing secretary.
  • Matias previously served as HUD’s New England regional administrator, where she managed an $8.47 billion annual budget overseeing major voucher and public housing programs.
  • Augustus is the eighth cabinet secretary to depart since Healey took office in 2023, following Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler’s exit earlier this month.
  • As the first housing secretary in more than three decades, Augustus led the new housing office, advanced a five-year plan and permitting reforms including ADUs, and managed an over-capacity emergency shelter system.