Staples appointed HousingWorks RI interim director

RICHARD STAPLES JR. has been appointed interim director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY
RICHARD STAPLES JR. has been appointed interim director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY

BRISTOL – Richard Staples Jr. has been appointed to serve as interim director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University, while a search begins for a permanent leader.

Staples, who has served on the policy group’s advisory board since 2004 and was named chairman in July, takes over for Nicole Lagace, who left the executive director position this month.

According to the university, Staples has more than 25 years experience working in the financial-services and mortgage industries. For nearly 13 years, he served as a community-development and lending specialist with mortgage-loan company Fannie Mae. He also was senior vice president for community reinvestment and regulatory compliance at Peoples Savings Bank of Brockton (now Webster Bank), and held leadership roles at Fleet Financial Group and Bank of New England.

Staples, who started the interim role on Dec. 8, said he is excited to work with the HousingWorks RI team.
“HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University has made huge strides in advancing housing affordability as a public-policy priority in Rhode Island,” he said in a statement. “I know that we will continue to drive the organization forward and advance policy discussions in our state around housing affordability and the economy.”

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Staples has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Colorado College.
HousingWorks RI began in 2004 as a campaign to educate the public and business community about a rapidly emerging economic-development problem: the lack of affordable-housing options for the state’s workforce.

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