Biography of Secretary Skinner
Raymond A. Skinner is Secretary of the Maryland Department
of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), where he manages the state’s housing
finance, mortgage revenue bond, mortgage insurance, asset management, community
development, and building code programs. He was appointed to the position in 2007
by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. He previously held this position from 1999-2003,
during the administration of Governor Parris Glendening. Mr. Skinner has more than
35 years of experience in a variety of positions including executive management
at the highest levels of state and local government. His areas of expertise include
urban planning, affordable housing finance and development, strategic planning,
public policy development and analysis, community/economic development, and small
business finance. He is a seasoned public administrator with a demonstrated track
record in developing and executing business strategies and managing people and resources
to achieve organizational objectives.
Between his tours of duty at DHCD, Mr. Skinner was President of The Skinner Group,
LLC, a consulting firm providing services in housing policy analysis, housing finance
and development, community revitalization, and economic development. Before joining
DHCD, Mr. Skinner held the positions of Director of Housing and Executive Director
of the Housing Authority in Prince George’s County, MD where he was responsible
for the county’s public housing, community development block grant, housing rehabilitation,
and housing development finance programs. Between 1987 and 1990 he held the positions
of Executive Director of the D.C. Office of Business and Economic Development and
Special Assistant to the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. During this period
he served as project manager for a number of high impact District government assisted
development projects involving both housing and downtown commercial uses.
He has also worked as a City Planner for Baltimore, MD and Philadelphia, PA, and
as a Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr.
Skinner also has had direct experience as a small business owner, having owned and
operated two “Subway” sandwich shops for over ten years.
Mr. Skinner is well known in the public administration arena, particularly in the
housing and community development field and is active in a number of professional
and civic organizations. He has held leadership positions with the Council on Urban
Economic Development, the National Housing Conference, the Council of State Community
Development Agencies and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.
He was also a member of the Community Development Advisory Council of the Federal
Reserve Bank of Richmond and currently serves as a volunteer board member of the
Penn State Outreach Advisory Board, and of Progressive Life Center, a non-profit
human services firm.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University and a Master
of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has completed
the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University;
he holds a certificate in Real Estate Development from Harvard University; and he
completed the Minority Developers Executive Program at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.