Leslie Black-Plumeau (she/her) is VHFA’s Research and Community Relations Director. In addition to authoring reports pertaining to community, state and national housing needs, Leslie's works includes helping Vermont towns seeking to improve housing affordability and managing the Vermont Housing Data website. Leslie has 25 years of professional experience in program evaluation and public policy research in the areas of housing, human services, and community development. Although her work for the past 15 years has been focused on Vermont, Leslie has a broad understanding of housing issues and HUD programs as a result of her many years of experience in Washington, DC as a Congressional housing and community development program evaluator. She has a Public Policy master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and a bachelors degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College.