After an exhaustive search for an executive director that drew applicants from as far away as Baltimore and Chicago, the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority discovered that the best candidate among the forty resumes it received lived right next door. 

Sherman, of Montague Center, was Montague’s planner and conservation agent from 1999 – 2006, and received a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2007. Earlier in her career, she worked for several nonprofit organizations, including American Farmland Trust in Northampton, and the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge.

“Robin’s deep roots in local and regional issues, plus her understanding of the rural infrastructure here will give her a distinct advantage in guiding the Authority’s work,” says Bernstein.  She notes that the new executive director will simultaneously oversee the Shelburne Housing Authority and FCRHRA's sister agency, the non profit Rural Development, Inc. “Robin knows the mechanisms and economics that underpin rural life in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.”

Sherman, who also has a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University, takes over leadership of the Authority and its thirty-six employees from Paul Douglas, who served as executive director from 1987 until his recent retirement. 

“I have admired HRA’s accomplishments for years and I am really honored to have been chosen as the organization’s new director,” said Sherman.  “The hard work of the authority’s staff has made such a positive difference in the lives of Franklin County residents and in the infrastructure of our communities.”  Bernstein calls Robin Sherman “a creative, deliberate, analytical thinker who will work hard for our region.” 

One of the very first projects the new Executive Director will oversee is the completion of RDI’s Wisdom Way Solar Village, 20 condominiums in Greenfield that have near-zero net energy use.  The program is the first of its kind for the Bay State. 

Sherman arrives at FCRHRA from her most recent position as Research Manager at the UMass Donahue Institute.  According to Bernstein, Sherman recently authored a report on the impact of rising oil prices on Bay State residents "that has attracted attention across New England.”  Along with meeting the agency’s three dozen employees, Sherman will have to get up to speed on the Authority’s many programs, including its ongoing work in several communities to build affordable housing, “I’m most excited about her interest in advocating for housing policies that will suit rural Franklin County,” Bernstein says.