EASTHAMPTON —With a new executive director and a return to independent operations, the Easthampton Housing Authority is entering a new chapter this month. Lindsi Sekula has taken the helm as the agency ends a three-year service-sharing contract with Northampton.
“I’m coming in at a critical time and my top three priorities are really to stabilize the organization, rebuild trust and then get us to a place where the Housing Authority feels confident that we’re carrying out the mission of providing fair, equitable and affordable housing,” Sekula said during an interview at the Marigold Café last week.
The Easthampton Housing Authority’s (EHA) Board of Commissioners appointed Sekula as executive director in a 3-1 vote, with one abstention, during their March 17 meeting.
Housing authorities are funded by the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC). Executive directors such as Sekula oversee a budget funded by the state, managerial responsibilities and daily operations. Her official start date is April 13 and her contract will run for almost two years — to the end of the state fiscal year 2027 — with a salary of approximately $100,000, based on determinations from the EOHLC for the size of the Easthampton authority.
Sekula previously served for more than seven years as the mayoral executive assistant from 2017 to 2025 and previously lived in public housing.
“Stepping into this role, I get to look at it from that perspective as well, not just as I’ve worked in government,” Sekula said. “I’ve worked on budgets, I know the numbers and I know how to make things happen.”
Following her run for mayor last election cycle, Sekula said she wanted to stay involved locally. She said that she interviewed for several positions, but when the time to make a decision came, she was always leaned toward this role.
“We decided to find a more local person,” said Mary Church, chair of the Easthampton Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners. “It’s so perfect that Lindsi is from Easthampton and knows the area, knows the people and understands what the specific needs are to run it more locally.”
Church, who lives in public housing in Easthampton, said there are years of effort that have led to hiring Sekula, adding that she comes in at a time when the EHA needs stability and a leader who can rebuild trust and show up for tenants.
In the summer of 2023, Easthampton entered a three-year contract with the Northampton Housing Authority (NHA) to take managerial responsibilities of the smaller neighboring community. Hatfield was also part of the contract but will stay under Northampton’s purview, after the contract concludes at the end of April.
While the search for a new executive director has long been on the EHA’s radar, Church said efforts increased after former NHA Executive Director Cara Leiper was placed on paid administrative leave in March of 2025, resigning months later. Sharon Kimble stepped in to serve as acting executive director in the meantime.
Church said the open position in Easthampton received more than 130 applications that were whittled down to six finalists, with Sekula ultimately chosen. The EHA is headquartered at Cliffview Manor, located at 112 Holyoke St., and oversees 188 units — mainly one-bedroom apartments along with several single-family homes — across upward of 50 buildings citywide.
Before the merger with Northampton, the previous EHA executive director was Deborah Walker, who was hired to lead the authority in October 2014. She announced her resignation in June 2023, shortly before the contract started.
While Sekula’s roots in Easthampton and her experience working with residents stood out, Church said board members also saw her ability to build relationships and see the “whole picture” as crucial traits.
“This is a full-circle moment for me,” Sekula said. “I’m really honored to be in the position because I lived in subsidized housing in the Northampton Housing Authority for a decade with my boys, and I’ve looked at it from the tenant perspective too.”
On top of that, Sekula said during her time in the mayor’s office, residents would often come with concerns and complaints about the housing authority. “What I was hearing was that there was a lack of understanding and empathy,” she said.
Historically, people living in affordable, subsidized and public housing have been underrepresented, Sekula said. “I think it’s a pretty common thing for people — and I’m speaking from that tenant perspective — in (public) housing to feel unheard.”
Beyond bringing more stability to the authority, Sekula wants to realign priorities between herself and the board. She added, however, that while it is her job to advise the board, policy decisions are ultimately made by the commissioners.
Sekula also wants to help revive the Easthampton Tenants Organization, a group of public housing tenants that meet regularly. Church said the organization was previously formed to give public housing tenants a more organized and collective body, but lost momentum and membership in recent years.
That organization is distinctly separate from the Easthampton Tenants Union, which is a group of tenants under private landlords which formed last year.
Sekula and Church added that public housing production, which is state-funded, is currently stagnant. With high demand for affordable housing, Sekula hopes to be an advocate for further public housing production in her new role.
More importantly, Sekula said that once she starts, her job is to listen, learn and use those insights while adjusting to the position.
“It’s going to be less about what I’m coming in thinking about and more about having these focus listening sessions with tenants,” Sekula said. “Give me your laundry list now and then, give me time, and we’ll work through everything to the best of our ability.”
