WHEDA: Altoro gains national appointment on advisory board of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

MADISON – Joaquín Altoro, CEO of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, has been appointed to serve on the Consumer Advisory Board of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Consumer Advisory Board is mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to advise and consult with the bureau on a variety of consumer financial issues. Altoro said the appointment by Bureau Director Kathleen L. Kraninger provides a unique opportunity to elevate the financial concerns of underserved communities at the national level.

“While WHEDA’s work continues in Wisconsin, it’s an honor to serve at the national level and bring renewed attention to the very real challenges facing communities of color as well as rural communities,” Altoro said. “Sustainable and resilient economic growth requires equitable workforce participation, including the removal of exclusionary barriers, and new tools for diverse consumers to take control of their financial lives. Our innovative efforts at WHEDA to expand affordable housing and economic opportunity go hand in hand with the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”

Altoro’s appointment follows efforts by Kraninger to strengthen the advisory committee’s charter and expand its focus to cover broad policy matters. Altoro’s term runs for two years.

Altoro brings some 30 years of experience to the board, including leadership of WHEDA, a mission-based lender and state housing finance authority with $2.8 billion in assets and 160 employees. A former vice president of commercial banking for Town Bank in Milwaukee and a thought leader in economic development for underserved communities, Altoro is a member of the Governor’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, president of the WHEDA Foundation, a board member for the National Council of State Housing Agencies and a member of the Community Investment Advisory Council for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau helps consumer finance markets work by identifying and addressing outdated, unnecessary or unduly burdensome regulations, by making rules more effective, by consistently enforcing federal consumer financial laws and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives.

For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.

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