The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s board of commissioners today unanimously approved a resolution appointing Ivory Mathews, a longtime public housing leader, as the agency’s new executive director. 

Mathews, who did not attend the meeting in person, will start on Oct. 1. 

Except for a question regarding the spelling of Mathews name in the agenda, the board’s commissioners did not engage in any discussion ahead of their vote. 

After the unanimous approval, however, board Chair Wasi Mohamed thanked Caster Binion for his service and his fellow commissioners for their work in searching for a new executive director. 

Regarding Mathews, he said: “We’re all very confident in Ivory Mathews’ ability to take the reins here, to take the next step.” 

Binion, who has served as HACP’s executive director for 13 years, will retire from his role on Sept. 30. 

“Since Mr. Caster came, we also developed the resident advisory board,” said Commissioner Janet Evans, referencing the group of tenants who advise the authority on its annual plan. “So we have projects that we all moved with his leadership … I’m really proud of him, and I’m sure everyone else is, too.”

The board had been on the search for a new executive director since at least last year, as first reported by WESA. The search ultimately came down to four candidates, and Mohamed said Mathews’ decadeslong experience leading public housing agencies, paired with her experience running a Moving to Work agency with special financial flexibility in line with Pittsburgh’s authority, made her a good fit for the role. 

“Finding someone who is day one ready is extremely difficult,” Mohamed said. “But she is someone who is day one ready — has the experience, has a national profile, and we think it’s a home-run hire.”

Mathews will be coming to Pittsburgh from Oregon, where she led the Portland-based Home Forward public housing agency since 2022. Shortly after her resignation in May, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission opened an investigation into Mathews’ travel activities. 

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Economy & Housing

Pittsburgh’s public housing agency poised to pick director from Portland

Ivory Mathews left the Home Forward agency in Oregon after a probe of her business travel. She is set to replace Caster Binion, who has led the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh for 13 years.

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Mohamed said the board was aware of the ongoing investigation while it conducted its interviews, but stopped short of saying what the board would do if the findings of that investigation showed that Mathews committed unethical behavior during her previous role. 

As for how HACP and its board of commissioners approve travel expenditures, he said “our processes I’m not concerned about. We have a lot of internal checks and balances” involving staff and the board. 

Mia Hollie is the economic development and housing reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at mia@publicsource.org. 

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New leader of Pittsburgh Housing Authority to start next week

by Mia Hollie, Pittsburgh's Public Source
September 24, 2026

<h1>New leader of Pittsburgh Housing Authority to start next week</h1> <p class="byline">by Mia Hollie, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />September 24, 2026</p> <p>The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s board of commissioners today unanimously approved a resolution appointing Ivory Mathews, a longtime public housing leader, as the agency’s new executive director.&nbsp;</p> <p>Mathews, who did not attend the meeting in person, will start on Oct. 1. </p> <p>Except for a question regarding the spelling of Mathews name in the agenda, the board’s commissioners did not engage in any discussion ahead of their vote.&nbsp;</p> <p>After the unanimous approval, however, board Chair Wasi Mohamed thanked Caster Binion for his service and his fellow commissioners for their work in searching for a new executive director. </p> <p>Regarding Mathews, he said: “We’re all very confident in Ivory Mathews’ ability to take the reins here, to take the next step.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Binion, who has served as HACP’s executive director for 13 years, will retire from his role on Sept. 30.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/20260924-HACP-Vote-01.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1337639" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Caster Binion, center, executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh for 13 years, listens at a HACP board meeting on Sept. 24, in Downtown. Binion, who announced earlier this year he was ready to retire, will be replaced by Ivory Mathews, who will come to the city from Oregon. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <p>“Since Mr. Caster came, we also developed the resident advisory board,” said Commissioner Janet Evans, referencing the group of tenants who advise the authority on its annual plan. “So we have projects that we all moved with his leadership … I’m really proud of him, and I’m sure everyone else is, too.”</p> <p>The board had been on the search for a new executive director since at least last year, as first reported by <a href="https://www.wesanews.org/politics-government/2025-09-23/emails-show-ongoing-effort-replace-pittsburgh-housing-authority-director">WESA</a>. The search ultimately came down to four candidates, and Mohamed said Mathews’ decadeslong experience leading public housing agencies, paired with her experience running a <a href="https://www.hud.gov/helping-americans/public-indian-housing/mtw">Moving to Work</a> agency with special financial flexibility in line with Pittsburgh’s authority, made her a good fit for the role. </p> <p>“Finding someone who is day one ready is extremely difficult,” Mohamed said. “But she is someone who is day one ready — has the experience, has a national profile, and we think it’s a home-run hire.”</p> <p>Mathews will be <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/hacp-executive-director-ivory-mathews/">coming to Pittsburgh from Oregon</a>, where she led the Portland-based Home Forward public housing agency since 2022. Shortly after her resignation in May, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission opened an investigation into Mathews’ travel activities.&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-block-group"> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" /> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" /> </div> <p>Mohamed said the board was aware of the ongoing investigation while it conducted its interviews, but stopped short of saying what the board would do if the findings of that investigation showed that Mathews committed unethical behavior during her previous role.&nbsp;</p> <p>As for how HACP and its board of commissioners approve travel expenditures, he said “our processes I’m not concerned about. We have a lot of internal checks and balances” involving staff and the board.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Mia Hollie is the economic development and housing reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at</em> <a href="mailto:mia@publicsource.org"><em>mia@publicsource.org</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/hacp-ivory-mathews-appointment-approved/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1337637&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/hacp-ivory-mathews-appointment-approved/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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