Marlena Gibson is the Director of Policy & Planning at the Delaware State Housing Authority, the state’s Housing Finance Agency (HFA), housing and community development agency, and Public Housing Authority (PHA) for Kent and Sussex Counties.

In this capacity, Marlena leads a team of Planners who support all divisions of DSHA in policy analysis, program development and evaluation, and managing key state and local government partnerships. She leads the agency’s legislative and budget advocacy, manages key state and local government partnerships, and special initiatives such as the successful Delaware Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness. Most recently, she has led implementation of the COVID-19 emergency rental assistance program Delaware Housing Assistance Program (DEHAP), which has delivered over $15 million in rental assistance to over 4,000 households since April 2020 and recently relaunched with $200 million in new federal funding.

Before taking on this role in 2014, Marlena served the agency as a Planner responsible for research, policy and program analysis, and strategic planning. Prior to joining DSHA, she has also worked with the Delaware Housing Coalition (now Housing Alliance Delaware), the state’s affordable housing advocacy organization, and with a local Community Development Corporation (CDC) and Community Land Trust (CLT). Marlena is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.