Vaughn D. Irons, Chief Executive Officer, M.B.A., C.A.P.S. 

 

Vaughn D. Irons is the Chief Executive Officer of APD Solutions, a national community economic development firm providing Advisory, Program Management and Development Services. In that capacity Irons is responsible for APD's strategic direction, operations, financial performance, and implementation activities. Under his leadership, APDS has been acknowledged with a Pacesetter Award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2012 for Top Privately Held Company in Metro Atlanta, growing APDS by 1193% in his first 3 years. Irons has also been personally Awarded the 2014 CEO of the Year by the Georgia Business Council in conjunction with the Atlanta Business Journal. 

 

Prior to APD Solutions, Mr. Irons served for nearly 12 years at Freddie Mac most recently as National Director of Housing & Community Investment. During that tenure he led a team tasked with assisting Freddie Mac’s customers in developing solutions to their community’s housing finance needs. Mr. Irons was also responsible for the oversight of activities and initiatives that involved minority lending, community development lending, homeownership counseling and Gulf Coast rebuilding activitiespost-Katrina.

 

Previously, Mr. Irons also served as Director of Housing for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta where he established and managed a program, which provided housing counseling services to over 4000 families annually. Before coming to CCCS, Mr. Irons worked for the Fulton County, Georgia Board of Commissioners, often handling real estate development and zoning related concerns. Mr. Irons began his career in Consumer Banking for Syracuse Savings Bank and later for Fleet Bank of New York before he went on to work for the Human Rights Commission of Onondaga County, New York.

 

Mr. Irons is very involved in community-based issues where he serves as Chairman of the Economic Development Authority of DeKalb County, Georgia. Irons is also on the Board of the National Association of Home Builders, Leadership DeKalb, Women's Resource Center Against Domestic Violence, the DeKalb Chamber, the Rockstone Foundation and YMCA of South DeKalb. Previous volunteer and board appointments include multiple terms as President of Atlanta-Fulton-DeKalb Housing Partnership, Vice-chairman for the Fulton County Housing Community Development Corporation, Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Mercy Housing Southeast,and the Neighborhood Development Foundation of New Orleans. 

 

Mr. Irons holds a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Maryland, an undergraduate degree in Urban Policy from Syracuse University, a graduate-level certification in Housing and Community Development also from the University of Maryland College Park, and a certificate from the University of Southern California Ross Minority Program in Real Estate Development. Irons also holds the designation of Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS).