Nicole White Forrest

As Executive Director of the San Diego Housing Fund, Nicole leads investments in new housing opportunities. She is responsible for developing partnerships and deploying resources to enable expanded access to affordable, workforce, and market rate housing. Together with nonprofits, corporations, and government agencies, Nicole creates stable, equitable, and resilient communities in our region.

Nicole has been a real estate developer and investor for more than 20 years, specializing in strategic partnerships and joint ventures. She has managed development deals from inception through completion, with valuations ranging from $3 million to $300 million and spanning the very low income to ultra-luxury markets. As founder of White Forrest, she consulted private equity, development and construction companies in Washington D.C., New York City, Boston and Southern California. She was previously a Managing Partner at Manhattan-based Genesis Companies and a Development Executive at Clark Realty Capital, an affiliate of Clark Construction, where she incubated an international housing finance company and led bids for military housing privatization.

Deeply committed to advancements in placemaking, Nicole conducted research on new cities with Harvard Business School’s Business, Government, and the International Economy department. She currently teaches at the University of San Diego with a focus on housing innovation. She is a past member of the Town of Brookline Planning Board and Trustee for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Nicole earned a degree in political economy from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University.