The San Diego Housing Federation Recognizes Lisa Jones as the 2026 Recipient of the John Craven Public Service Memorial Ruby Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2026
Contact: Sarah Buchanan, Executive Vice President
San Diego Housing Federation
918-809-1927
The San Diego Housing Federation Recognizes Lisa Jones as the
2026 Recipient of the John Craven Public Service Memorial Ruby Award
The 36th Annual Ruby Awards Celebrates Leadership, Innovation and Impact in Affordable Housing
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Housing Federation will honor Lisa Jones, President & CEO of the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), with the 2026 John Craven Public Service Memorial Award at its upcoming Ruby Awards ceremony on June 4, 2026.
As SDHC’s President & CEO, Lisa Jones leads an agency with approximately 350 employees and an annual budget of approximately $700 million to provide crucial housing assistance for families with lower income or experiencing homelessness in the City of San Diego. In her more than 20 years of service in the areas of affordable housing and homelessness, she has developed and implemented housing assistance approaches that focus on the unique needs of the people being served. She has adhered to the additional values of building relationships, collaborating with community organizations, and promoting transparency in government.
Lisa Jones has centered her leadership on expanding access and opportunity for the individuals and families SDHC serves. She is committed to strengthening SDHC’s connection to the community as a trusted, collaborative partner—one that people can rely on to help build a vibrant community where people can live and thrive.
For example, in January 2024, in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic floods that displaced hundreds of San Diego families from their homes, Lisa Jones led SDHC to provide emergency hotel placements for City of San Diego households. A property SDHC had acquired just days after the January 22, 2024, floods to convert into affordable housing was also immediately repurposed to provide emergency temporary lodging for displaced families. These efforts provided a bridge of assistance until County of San Diego emergency resources became available.
Her additional initiatives as SDHC’s President & CEO have also included establishing a Community-Based Organizations Advisory Group, expanding the use of SDHC’s public engagement online platform to obtain comments and feedback from the community, completing a new Strategic Plan to guide SDHC through Fiscal Year 2030, advancing efforts to preserve existing affordable rental homes, continuing to collaborate with developers to create new affordable rental housing, and continuing utilization of state Homekey and Homekey+ funds to create additional affordable housing units with supportive services for unhoused San Diegans.
She previously served as SDHC’s Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. In that position, she oversaw key strategic and policy initiatives across agency divisions, including SDHC’s Strategic Plan, SDHC’s Moving to Work designation, and homelessness initiatives.
Before joining SDHC in 2017, she worked for seven years for the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino in the positions of Operations Manager, Director of Housing Administration, and Vice President of Housing Services. Concurrently, for several years, she also acted as Executive Director of Knowledge and Education for Your Success, a nonprofit affiliate of the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino.
SDHC is an award-winning public housing agency in the City of San Diego that provides innovative housing assistance programs for households with low income or experiencing homelessness. The San Diego City Council, in its role as the Housing Authority of the City of San Diego, oversees SDHC. SDHC helps approximately 17,000 households with low income pay for their rental housing annually; is a leader in collaborative efforts to address homelessness, such as the Community Action Plan on Homelessness for the City of San Diego; and creates and preserves affordable rental housing, with more than 27,000 affordable units in service in the City today with SDHC’s participation, of which SDHC owns or manages more than 4,100 affordable rental housing units.
“Lisa Jones exemplifies what this award represents,” said Stephen Russell, President and CEO of the San Diego Housing Federation. “She leads with integrity, clarity, and purpose, and she consistently shows what it means to serve the public with both excellence and care. Her work has had a lasting impact on our region and on the lives of thousands of San Diegans.”
The Ruby Awards is the nation’s largest affordable housing recognition event, honoring the people, projects, and partnerships that are shaping stronger, more equitable communities. The 36th Annual Ruby Awards will take place on June 4, 2026, from 6 pm – 10 pm at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay. Tickets are available. For more information on the 2026 Ruby Awards, please visit https://www.housingsandiego.org/events-2/annual-ruby-awards-2026.
The additional Ruby Awards categories include: Outstanding Resident Leader Award, Outstanding Service to Residents Award, Voice of Lived Experience Award, Distinguished Mentor for Emerging Leaders Collaborative Excellence Award, Exemplary Public Service Award, Supportive Housing Award, Rich Juarez Advocate Award, Project of the Year Award – Rehabilitation, Project of the Year Award - New Construction, and Housing Champion Award.
San Diego Housing Federation
The San Diego Housing Federation is the region’s voice for affordable housing. The Federation is committed to increasing the supply of housing for San Diego’s most vulnerable families, seniors, veterans, and those living with disabilities. For more information visit, www.housingsandiego.org.
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