Gail Cardwell Selected As MHI President and CEO

Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) Chairman Barry McCabe announced March 8, 2007 that Gail Cardwell has been selected as the new MHI President and CEO.  Cardwell will join MHI the first week of April.  Gail was introduced to the MHI membership during the 2007 National Congress & Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.  She succeeds MHI President Chris Stinebert who left MHI in October 2006 to become President of the American Financial Services Association.

Most recently, Cardwell served as Senior Vice President of the Commercial/Multifamily Group of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).  In that capacity, she coordinated a thirty member Board and managed all commercial and multifamily industry relations and regulatory affairs.  The Commercial/Multifamily Group deals with a wide range of issues that encompass matters ranging from government regulation to setting “best practices” and industry standards.  She also has worked closely with all sectors of the investment community, including the securitized debt markets and oversaw ten staff members.

The Search Committee went through an extensive process, stretching over three months, looking at over one hundred applicants, narrowing the field to four finalists, and finally deciding on Cardwell.  “We left no stone unturned in this important search,” said Search Committee Chair David Rand. “We were very pleased with the exceptional candidates it generated.”

“We selected Gail primarily for her sterling track record of association management,” McCabe stated, “but she brings the added benefits of over 15 years of Washington public policy experience and financial markets expertise.  Gail is absolutely the perfect choice to lead MHI at this point in the history of manufactured housing.”

Cardwell received her Bachelor of Science degree in International Economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and holds a Masters degree in City and Regional Planning from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. 

Prior to joining MBA in 1991, she held professional positions with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company where she financed and purchased commercial real estate; the Arlington County (Va.) Economic Development Division where she worked on strategies to attract and retain businesses; Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts where she developed and negotiated contracts with health care providers; the City of New York as a senior Medicaid and Homeless Assistance Program policy analyst; and the Washington, D.C. office of the Governor of Connecticut where she managed federal/state relations.

Cardwell was nominated for the MHI position by a special search committee composed of MHI Chairman McCabe of Hometown America Enterprises; Joe Stegmayer of Cavco Industries, Inc.; Ken Cashin of WindStorm Mitigation, Inc.; Dennis Jones of R-Anell Housing Group LLC; Nathan Smith of SSK Communities; and committee chair David Rand of Origen Financial.