​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Jacob R. Day, Secretary​​​​​

Secretary Jacob R. (Jake) Day leads the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and serves as a member of Governor Wes Moore's Cabinet. Secretary Day is the Governor's senior advisor on housing and place-based economic development and Chief Executive Officer of the State's housing finance agency, managing $3 Billion in annual spending, more than $7 Billion in assets, and a team of 500 talented state officials. Under his leadership Maryland has created or preserved more than 10,000 affordable housing units, created $55 Billion in economic impact and 106,000 full time jobs, created the nation's first subcabinet-level division to address the effects of racially-motivated disinvestment and redlining, adopted housing production targets for local jurisdictions, created a housing ombudsman, and supported the reduction of 25% of Baltimore's vacant housing units. Amid America's worst housing crisis, Secretary Day has championed nation-leading changes to housing laws to cut bureaucratic red tape and produce more housing. Those laws also created the country's first statewide right of first refusal for renters to buy their homes and first state renter's bill of rights protecting vulnerable populations. Under Secretary Day's leadership and as chair of the Maryland Interagency Council on Homelessness, Maryland has bucked national trends with reduced veteran, chronic, and overall homelessness.

Prior to his nomination to lead the Department, Secretary Day served as the 28th Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland. Born and raised in Salisbury, he previously served as City Council President. His tenure as Mayor was marked by a resurgent downtown, a groundbreaking housing development program, $650 million in new construction, a crime rate cut by more than 50%, establishment of two youth community centers, a reorganized and data-driven administration, and the creation of a permanent supportive housing program to address chronic homelessness.

Secretary Day previously worked as Director of the Center for Towns utilizing urban design and planning to support vibrant, sustainable cities and towns. He served as national president of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and as editor-in-chief of CRIT, a journal of architecture. He was elected President of the Maryland Municipal League, representing Maryland's 160 cities and towns.

A U.S. Army Major, Secretary Day is currently assigned as Commander, Army Service Component Command of the 110th Information Operations Battalion. He was previously assigned to US Army Special Operations Command as a member of Special Operations Detachment-NATO serving NATO Special Operations Forces Command. He has served as a Cavalry Officer, an Information Operations Officer, and is a Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom where he was deployed as the Special Technical Operations Chief for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya. His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, Army Commendation Medals, Joint Service Achievement Medals, Army Achievement Medals, Chilean Foreign Jump Wings, Basic Parachutist Badge, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and Army Overseas Service Ribbon. He is a graduate of Army Command and General Staff College, Maneuver Captains Career Course, Army Information Operations Qualification Course, Special Operations Forces Introductory Course, and Armor Basic Officer Leader's Course.

Secretary Day earned a Master of Science in Nature, Society & Environmental Policy from Oxford University. He also earned a Master of Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Maryland. He is the proud father of two beautiful daughters: Lilly and Olivia.

Julia Glanz, Deputy Secretary

Julia Glanz serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, and began her post in December 2023. As Deputy Secretary, Glanz supports the Secretary with day-to-day operations, oversees all of DHCD's major divisions and programs, and creates a bold vision for housing policy. Before being named Deputy Secretary, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Strategic Initiatives with DHCD. Prior to joining DHCD, Glanz served as the City Administrator for the City of Salisbury, managing day-to-day operations across all the city's departments since December 2016. She was the youngest, and first female to hold the City Administrator post. She also served as Acting Mayor and led Salisbury forward through challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustices.

A native New Yorker, Glanz moved to Salisbury in 2007 to study at Salisbury University and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and Political Science (2011) and a Master's Degree in Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution (2013). Glanz lives in Greenbelt with her wife, Lindsey, and their four-legged children.

Haley Lemieux, Chief of Staff

​Haley Lemieux joined the Department in 2023 as the inaugural Director of the Office of Policy Development. Prior to joining the Department, Lemieux served in a variety of roles focused on place-based community development within state and local government across the country, including for the State of New Jersey and the City of San Antonio. She holds a Master in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor's in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

In her role at the Department, Lemieux has led the Office of Policy Development in advancing the Moore-Miller Administration's ambitious housing and community development policy agenda, reflecting the State's increased leadership in addressing the housing crisis. She played a central role in the development, passage, and implementation of Governor Moore's 2024 housing legislative package. Lemieux directed the Department's work to implement the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act and oversaw the launch of the Maryland Community Investment Corporation (MCIC), Maryland's first state-sponsored Community Development Entity designed to unlock federal resources and catalyze investment in underserved communities.

She also shaped policy development for Governor Moore's "Housing Starts Here" executive order, a statewide strategy to accelerate housing production by identifying state-owned land for development, reducing permitting timelines, and establishing coordinated production targets across jurisdictions. This winter, Lemieux'​​s team developed and published the Department's first statewide housing targets in accordance with the executive order. Earlier in 2025, Lemieux's team secured a competitive $6.94 million award​ through HUD's PRO Housing program to cut red tape, expedite permitting processes, and support local housing production strategies across Maryland.

Through Lemieux's direction, the Office of Policy Development has elevated Maryland's role as a national leader in housing policy, advancing data-driven strategies and cross-government collaboration to expand housing opportunities, strengthen community resilience, and make housing more affordable for residents across the state.

Garret King, Chief Operating Officer

​Garret King is DHCD's Chief Operating Officer, who oversees personnel, administrative and system functions of the department and serves​ as the principal deputy and senior advisor for operations and administration. ​King has nearly two decades of public service focusing on community engagement, policy, and constituent services and programming. His expertise in government, project management and agency operations was honed serving as Chief of Staff at the District of Columbia's Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL). During his nine-year tenure at DACL, King was the key advisor to five different directors and managed the daily operations of a complex $66 million operating budget and $17 million capital budget primarily focused on support services for the District's 119,000 older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers. In this role, King helped triple the size of the agency from 42 to 126 employees and doubled the operating budget, drastically increasing capacity and resources to improve the quality of life for DC residents. His proudest achievement at the department was harnessing year-over-year growth and operating excellence to transform the agency from an office into a department, while co-developing the national award-winning Safe at Home Program, which supports more than 6,000 D.C. residents in adding safety adaptations and modifications in and around their homes.

Prior to his time at DACL, King served in various capacities in the Council of the District of Columbia, including roles focused on workforce development, senior issues and working with offices that advocate and serve the diverse population of the District of Columbia.

A graduate of the University of the District of Columbia Law School and the University of Maryland- College Park, Garret resides in Anne Arundel County with his wife Bethany and two sons Crosby and Davis.

Gregory Hare, Assistant Secretary of Community Development Administration​

Gregory Hare serves as Assistant Secretary of the Department's Community Development Administration, overseeing the development finance and housing bond programs. Under his leadership, the Department has experienced record-breaking production in affordable rental housing, homeownership, and small business lending.

Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, he served as the Deputy Director for the Community Development Administration and Director of Multifamily Housing. Before joining the Department, Mr. Hare was an Administrator for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City's Rental and Assisted Housing Division.

Kari Snyder, Assistant Secretary of Neighborhood Revitalization

Kari Snyder is Assistant Secretary for the Division of Neighborhood Revitalization of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The Division invests over $130 million annually in community and economic development projects in Maryland's core communities.

Kari brings more than 15 years of experience leading neighborhood revitalization, housing, and place-based economic development initiatives, primarily in Baltimore City. Before leading the Neighborhood Revitalization division, she was Director of Community and Economic Development Partnerships for DHCD overseeing the department's non-profit technical assistance, placemaking and small business support grants, implementing the Main Street Maryland initiative statewide, and leading Reinvest Baltimore, a coordinated city–state, $3B effort to eliminate vacant properties, restore neighborhood housing markets and build thriving neighborhoods.

Before joining DHCD, Kari spent over a decade at the Southeast Community Development Corporation in Baltimore City, including four years as Executive Director. Under Kari's leadership, Southeast CDC created new green spaces, led the organization's first Placemaking initiative, started five Community School partnerships, created the first youth summer jobs program, expanded Main Street and Arts District programming, began the first eviction prevention program, and launched an ambitious plan to redevelop vacant homes for affordable homeownership.

She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and lives in Baltimore City.

Danielle Meister, Assistant Secretary of Homeless Solutions

Danielle Meister is the Assistant Secretary for Homeless Solutions, overseeing department and interagency strategy, policy, and initiatives to prevent and end homelessness. Prior to this role, Meister served as the Director of the Office of Community Services Programs and Senior Policy Officer for Homeless Initiatives at DHCD, overseeing $550 million in annual and pandemic relief funding for community-based programs focused on preventing and ending homelessness, reducing poverty, and creating economic mobility for low-income households. This work included coordinating the Maryland Interagency Council on Homelessness, a collaborative of state and local government agencies, nonprofits, and Continuums of Care working together to advance policy and funding solutions to end homelessness in Maryland. Additionally, Meister led the formation of the new Maryland Balance of State Continuum of Care, which was established in 2020 and has since expanded to include 9 rural and suburban counties, over a third of the state.

Prior to joining DHCD, Meister was the Deputy Director of Homeless Services for Baltimore City, securing over $14 million in new annual federal and state funding to support local programs, launching the City's first Youth Action Board, implementing a new Medicaid 1115 Waiver project to create new permanent supportive housing for 200 families, and successfully led a community-wide campaign to reduce veteran homelessness by over 30% in 3 years. Prior to working in government, Meister oversaw direct services to people experiencing homelessness as a family shelter director, case manager, and street outreach worker.

Meister holds a Masters in Public Affairs from Indiana University and Bachelor of Arts from Gonzaga University, and was recognized as one of the Top 100 Maryland Women by the Daily Record. Danielle resides in Baltimore City with her husband Andrew and two wonderful kids.

Scott Gottbreht, Assistant Secretary of Policy

Scott Gottbreht joined Maryland DHCD as Assistant Secretary of Policy, overseeing the Division of Policy, Strategy and Research, in August 2023, bringing with him nearly two decades of expertise in the areas of policy advocacy, community organizing, academic research, and housing program management.

Prior to coming to Maryland DHCD, Gottbreht worked at United Way of Central Maryland, where he worked for 10 years to help build a diverse portfolio of innovative housing stability programs and led a team of 40 staff. While at United Way, Scott worked with partners to co-create a new model for eviction prevention (the STEP Program) that distributed more than $100 million in rental assistance to keep more than 10,000 avoid eviction during the pandemic.

In 2015, Gottbreht received the Innovator of the Year Award for Nonprofits in Maryland from the Daily Record, and in 2018, he received his PhD from the Department of Comparative Thought at Johns Hopkins University, where he championed interdisciplinary approaches to homelessness and housing insecurity.

Cat Goughnour, Assistant Secretary of Just Communities

Cat Goughnour will serve as the Department's Assistant Secretary for Just Communities. Previously, she served on the Racial Wealth Divide Initiative, headed the Racial Wealth Equity Strategy team, and was Racial Wealth Equity Fello​w at Prosperity Now, a 45-year old national nonprofit focused on asset-building for low- and moderate-income people. In addition to building capacity to design, develop, operationalize, and evaluate multi-stakeholder human-centered solutions, she has a background in social science, community economic development, design thinking, and public health.

Before joining the department, she served as both a human rights consultant, specializing in technical assistance, human and civil rights strategies and system change expertise to support placemaking and positive economic mobility for communities and individuals. She established Right 2 Root, a community-centered system for equitable development for which she received awards from the American Planning Association and the City of Portland's Human Rights Commission.

Goughnour is originally from Oregon where she served as Housing Committee Chair of the Oregon Chapter of the NAACP and trainer at the Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference five years running. She worked in coalitions to revise the City of Portland's Comprehensive Plan, establish and design the N/NE Housing Strategy, including its Community Benefits Agreement and Preference Policy, while concurrently serving on the Metro Regional Government's Equitable Housing Advisory Committee and Equitable Framework Advisory Group.

Brad Fallon, Assistant Secretary of Business Development

Brad Fallon serves as the Assistant Secretary of Business Development, overseeing department strategy to strategically support Maryland's economy by providing place-based assistance and financing to small businesses and projects that are undersupported by the private sector. The Division of Business Development provides flexible financing to businesses to expand access to capital; partners with organizations to multiply investments and maximize impact; maintains a robust support network for Maryland small businesses; and develops and revitalizes priority communities across the state. This includes leading Maryland's nearly $200 million State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) allocation, the Neighborhood Business Development Program, fresh food access initiatives, the Opportunity Zone program, and other direct business supports.

Fallon most recently served as Deputy Legislative Officer to Governor Wes Moore where he primarily focused on economic development, housing and community development, business regulation, technology, cannabis, and workforce policy. In this capacity, he served as staff lead on 14 of Governor Moore's legislative agenda items, including the Governor's 2024 Housing Package which was composed of three bills, each of which focused on a different impact of the housing shortage and affordability crisis. In addition to policy and government affairs roles in the Governor's Office, Fallon served as the Executive Director of the Government Efficiency Commission which reviews and provides oversight of state licensing and permitting processes to drive improvement. In 2023, he served as the State's co-lead in implementing the adult-use cannabis industry and its three jurisdictional state agencies.

Prior to joining the Moore-Miller Administration, Fallon worked in and around the Maryland General Assembly, most recently as Chief of Staff to the House Majority Leader. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and lives in Baltimore City