Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the appointment of Lissette Castañeda to serve as Department of Housing (DOH) commissioner and Jose Tirado to serve as the executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC).   
  
Lissette Castañeda comes to the role of DOH commissioner with two decades of experience in affordable housing development, housing services, and organizational leadership. Castañeda will be tasked with streamlining the affordable housing development process as per Mayor Johnson’s recent executive order and expanding homeownership to Chicagoans in historically disinvested communities.   Castañeda has served as the Executive Director for LUCHA, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling agency as well as a Community Housing Development Organization since 2019, overseeing its affordable real estate portfolio and leading implementation of its strategic plan.

Jose Tirado has served as the acting executive director of OEMC since April 2023. During this time, he has led the City’s coordination efforts with County and State partners in securing federal assistance for residents in response to historic flooding on the West Side in July and led planning efforts for the inaugural Chicago NASCAR street race, as well as other large-scale events like the Chicago Marathon and Lollapalooza.  Tirado will be tasked with continuing to manage the humanitarian asylum seeker crisis while ensuring that the City is prepared for the Democratic National Convention in August 2024.