Andrea Bell
Executive Director
Andrea Bell is the Executive Director of Oregon Housing and Community Services, where she oversees the strategic direction, vision and growth of the state agency responsible for providing stable and affordable housing across Oregon. In her previous role with OHCS, she served as Director of Housing Stabilization, where she led the implementation of a wide range of homeless services, energy and weatherization assistance, rental assistance programs and policy initiatives.
Bell’s extensive leadership across the housing continuum has led her to hold pivotal leadership positions in the public sector. Most recently she served as the Housing Director within the Medicaid system where she directed the operations and expansion of state-funded Permanent Supportive Housing programs, as well as deployed sustainable solutions to end homelessness and align funding and policy at the intersection of health and housing. During her tenure, she spearheaded the state’s first tax credit project using Housing Trust Fund resources and led the Governor’s Housing and Health initiative aimed to provide long-term housing opportunities for people experiencing homelessness with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders.
Bell grew up spending her time between the Dominican Republic and California providing her with a lens of how policies and place impact life determinants including health and housing outcomes. This first-hand combination of urban and rural upbringing fueled her belief that all people regardless of their zip code or where they come from, deserve safe, stable and affordable housing. Bell holds a master’s degree in Public Health from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree from California State University Northridge.