Ray Demers discussed Enterprise's efforts and the power of community development in addressing housing supply challenges. Enterprise is a national nonprofit organization committed to making affordable housing accessible for families in need through strategic investments, policy advocacy, and community development. Since its inception in 1982, Enterprise has invested more than $80.9 billion, creating 1 million homes and strengthening communities across the United States.

At Enterprise, Ray leads the Enterprise Green Communities work and has been instrumental since 2011 in developing the Green Communities Criteria and establishing the original certification process. He also directs efforts to advance equitable decarbonization strategies in affordable housing. As of 2025, Ray heads Power Forward Communities' national outreach, working to decarbonize affordable housing nationwide.

During the event, Ray began by emphasizing housing as a national issue: no zip code in the country has enough housing to meet residential capacity demands. He went on to discuss the evolution of affordable housing, explaining how early government responses were largely focused on public housing, a top-down approach. Today, the housing landscape has become more dynamic, with a mix of public housing and publicly subsidized developments. Tools like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) play a crucial role, incentivizing developers to build affordable housing through tax credits. As a syndicator, Enterprise facilitates the collaboration between investors and developers, helping fund these projects through tax credit allocations.

Highlighted Initiatives

• Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, which sets a standard for designing and building healthy, energy-efficient, and environmentally sustainable affordable housing. It outlines the certification process for new construction, substantial rehab, and moderate rehab.
• Enterprise had recently received $2 billion from the EPA, as part of the Power Forward Communities coalition, to support decarbonization efforts in affordable housing.
• Ray highlighted Enterprise's community development work across the country. He shared a project that transformed an old MBTA bus depot in Roxbury, Boston, into a 350-unit affordable housing building. The space was first re-adapted for community gatherings, bringing people together through art and graffiti, before the area was ultimately reimagined for residential purposes.

Ray and Students Discuss the Townhouse Site

After the talk, Ray participated in an informal architecture critique. Small Cities Lab students were engaged in a project to revitalize two townhouses, owned by the Cathedral of the Nativity, into affordable housing units. Students showcased their charrette work, and Ray offered valuable advice, urging students to integrate traditional architectural plans with diagrams that capture the context of the place.