Brenda O’Connell joins the OPEH team as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA). O’Connell has twenty-five years of experience working in nonprofits and the government, where she has focused on homelessness, affordable housing and other anti-poverty work. Most recently, as Community Development Administrator in Lake County, O’Connell managed million investment in food, homeless sheltering and rental assistance for families impacted by COVID-related financial challenges.

Annually, O’Connell oversaw the investment of over million in government funding to address the needs of low-income residents of Lake County, Illinois. In 2019, O’Connell was instrumental in effectively ending homelessness among U.S. military veterans in Lake County, Illinois by developing an innovative collaboration among numerous nonprofits, medical facilities and government agencies. O’Connell served on the Illinois Community Advisory Council on Homelessness and has consulted with communities across the country on their goals to end homelessness. O’Connell lives in Libertyville, Illinois, with her husband Patrick and their two children.