Changemaker: Rodger Hara
Throughout his decades-long career in the affordable housing industry, Rodger Hara has held many titles and worn many hats. When he tells the story, a common theme emerges from the many chapters in his career: Rodger is a teacher. He has a gift for sharing his knowledge and experience with others to train the next generation of affordable housing changemakers.
Shortly after graduating from the University of Denver in 1968, Rodger apprenticed with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Early in his career, Rodger learned the ins and outs of residential appraisals, gleaning knowledge from a mix of classroom and real-world experience, rotating to each position in the office and learning what every division did. He held several roles at HUD, serving at the Washington, D.C., headquarters for a stint before returning to Denver to serve on the staff of the HUD Training Center. During his nine years at HUD, Rodger performed appraisals, conducted training, wrote regulations and administrative procedures, and managed loan review and production processes.
Following a decade of public-sector service, Rodger accepted a position with Colorado National Mortgage. Part of his role entailed originating FHA-insured loans with Section 8 contracts from CHFA. The move to the private sector opened new opportunities for Rodger to volunteer on various boards and get involved in the local community. He served on the Board of Commissioners for the Lakewood Housing Authority, eventually becoming Chair, and was one of the founding members of Senior Housing Options, a nonprofit organization that provides residential communities and supportive services for older adults in Colorado.
In 1986, Rodger participated in the Denver Community Leadership Program created by the University of Colorado Denver. Rodger recalls that CHFA Executive Director David Herlinger had taken part in the program’s inaugural cohort in 1983. “The goal of the program was to create a critical mass of critically thinking leaders in the community,” he explained. “It led to a lot of changes in me personally and professionally.”
Part of the program involved a weeklong leadership development course at the Colorado Outward Bound School’s base camp near Leadville. “When you spend a week in the woods with people, it breaks down a lot of barriers,” Rodger said. “It taught me a lot about myself, about others, and about how others see me.”
Rock climbing at Camp Hale, where the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division trained, played a central role in the curriculum. Following the course, former U.S. Senator Mark Udall, the school’s Executive Director at the time, asked Rodger if he’d like to become an Outward Bound instructor, mentoring aspiring leaders and conducting back-country expeditions. Rodger became an instructor in 1987 and led Outward Bound courses for more than 20 years.
In 1992, Rodger accepted a role at CHFA as Assistant Director within the Rental Housing Division, administering the Housing Tax Credit program and originating loans to support multifamily rental housing developments. A few years later, he became the Director of CHFA’s Home Finance Division, where he spearheaded efforts to expand CHFA’s homebuyer education efforts.
“We had homebuyer education video tapes made in both English and Spanish,” Rodger recalled. “We had enough copies duplicated that tapes were sent to every CHFA correspondent in the state, every public library in the state, and every home counseling agency.”
In the late 90s, Rodger accepted a role as Vice President at GMAC Commercial Mortgage, where he originated HUD-insured loans to support affordable housing. After nine years in this role, Rodger would go on to establish an independent consulting firm, leveraging the knowledge and experience he’d accumulated to work across the housing continuum supporting a variety of clients in the development of affordable housing.
As a consultant, Rodger observed an increasing need to offer educational opportunities for affordable housing professionals in Colorado. He soon began offering workshops on affordable housing fundamentals at Housing Colorado’s annual conference.
“People would come up to me after the workshop and ask me where they could go to get more training, and at that time, there just wasn’t much being offered,” he recalled. “There were enough people asking for more training beyond what I could offer at a conference that I began to develop my own course and curriculum.”
The first year he offered the course, Rodger convened a dozen people at the conference room at Shaw Construction in Denver. The cohort met each week, hearing from guest speakers on construction, compliance, financing, and various types of affordable housing. In 2024, the 17th cohort graduated from Rodger’s affordable housing course. He points to the collaborative, friendly culture of Colorado’s affordable housing industry as being integral to the success of the course. “We like each other, and we share information,” said Rodger. “If one of us has a problem, chances are someone else has faced the same issue, and we offer one another help and advice.”
Following the passage of Proposition 123 by Colorado voters in 2022, Metro State University (MSU) saw an increasing need to train skilled workers to enter the affordable housing industry, and to establish curriculum that caters specifically to Colorado’s local regulations and policies. As MSU explored the possibility of establishing a workforce training program, a member of MSU’s real estate committee, who happened to be a graduate of Rodger’s affordable housing course, suggested that Rodger be brought in to consult on the curriculum development.
Rodger played a key role in shaping and developing a plan presented to the MSU faculty to establish the MSU Affordable Housing Institute. The cross-departmental institute seeks to bridge the education gap in Colorado’s affordable housing industry, contributing to building the next generation of skilled workers in property and asset management, finance, and supportive services through curriculum, experiential learning, and collaboration with industry professionals. The Institute will leverage investment from CHFA and other partners to catalyze these objectives.
Rodger’s legacy as a changemaker is rooted in his passion for sharing knowledge, creating opportunities for learning, and mentoring others who share in his contagious dedication and passion for Colorado’s affordable housing industry.