#NatCon25 Update: Awards and Celebrations!

On September 30, at NAHRO’s recently concluded National Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona NAHRO President Sean Gilbert and NAHRO Senior Vice President Ivory Mathews took their oaths of office. Congratulations to President Gilbert, Senior Vice President Mathews and the rest of the 2025-2027 leadership team! 

We also celebrated: 

• 187 Awards of Merit winners and 17 Awards of Excellence winners; 
• 12 What Home Means to Me poster calendar contest winners, including grand prize winner Rafael; 
• 8 NAHRO Merit Scholars, including 3 NAHRO LDG Scholars; 
• Four new NAHRO Fellows:
  • Sharon Carlson, Executive Director of the Belding Housing Commission;
  • Lisa Garcia, Chief Operating Officer of the Housing Authority of the City of Austin;
  • Tonya Mabry, Executive Director of the Tangipahoa Parish Government Section 8 Housing, and
  • Patty Webster, CEO/Executive Director of Home Forward; 
• Three Outstanding Professionals of the Year:
  • Charity Saweikis, Resident Service Coordinator for the Frostburg Housing Authority,
  • Jerome D. Ryans, President and CEO of the Tampa Housing Authority, and
  • Melissa Taphorn, Executive Director of the Washington County Community Development Agency; 
• Commissioner of the Year Phil Bernal of Housing Connect; and 
• Emerging Leader Award-winner Melissa Green, Deputy Director of the Briston Housing Authority. 

You can read more about our honorees on the NAHRO website. 

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for NAHRO’s 2026 conferences: 

• Washington Conference, March 9-11
• Summer Symposium, July 17-18
• National Conference and Exhibition, September 28-30