M&T Bank has announced that it has appointed Lopa Kolluri as Head of Affordable Housing Lending. In this new role, Kolluri is responsible for the development, oversight, and day-to-day management of the Affordable Housing vertical within M&T’s Commercial Bank. Kolluri will execute M&T’s affordable housing business strategy and establish operational processes and governance structures to ensure the efficient delivery of first-rate customer service to its affordable housing clients. In addition, she will continue to strengthen M&T’s existing affordable housing relationships, while establishing new regional and national customers to generate additional business opportunities.
“It is an exciting time at M&T Bank as we continue to expand our work in the affordable housing space, leveraging Lopa’s deep expertise in the public and private sectors,” said Timothy Gallagher, M&T Bank’s Head of Commercial Real Estate. “This is a substantial opportunity to build upon our already strong capabilities and it further complements M&T’s forward-thinking approach to supporting clients.”
Previously, Kolluri was SVP within M&T’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Innovation Office, where she led strategy for the bank’s CRE transformation initiatives. Kolluri brings more than 25 years of experience in affordable housing and community and economic development and has extensive knowledge and experience in executive-level management of housing finance policy, operations, and transactions.
Before joining M&T, Kolluri was with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) where she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) overseeing $1.2 trillion in insured mortgages and leading 2,800 employees. She also oversaw HUD’s Office of Housing which includes the Offices of Manufactured Housing, Multifamily Housing, and Housing Counseling.
“I’m looking forward to building out our affordable housing vertical,” said Kolluri. “At M&T Bank, we recognize the need for affordable housing across our footprint. As a trusted advisor, we provide the full range of affordable housing financing solutions to meet the evolving needs of our clients and create meaningful impact in our communities.”
Kolluri’s work will also closely engage with divisions of M&T’s Community Bank and M&T Realty Capital Corporation’s Affordable Housing Platform. She will report directly to Tim Gallagher and will be based in New York City.
