NPH’s Bay Area Housing Internship Program (BAHIP) launched in late 2017 in support of our goals to recruit and incorporate talented individuals from diverse communities into the affordable housing industry. BAHIP builds on NPH’s history of commitment to addressing diversity in the affordable housing field. In 1993, under the leadership of Dianne J. Spaulding, NPH launched the Fellowship Program for People of Color in Non-Profit Housing Development, which conducted two 18-month training cycles and placed twelve fellows. NPH continues to work towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in the affordable housing industry through BAHIP and other initiatives.

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In the development of our BAHIP program, we’ve had the good fortune to be able to model our program after the highly successful Rural West Internship Program of the California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH). Since 1998, this program has graduated 170 interns, more than half of whom have stayed in the housing field. Our BAHIP interns also train together with the Rural West interns at their Summer Training Institute and Mid-Winter retreats.

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BAHIP is part of a larger strategy NPH is pursuing to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry. NPH has hosted several dialogues and programs with the eventual goal of creating and implementing a sector-wide action plan to increase racial equity in our organizations and in our work.

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