Shaun Donovan

Shaun Lawrence Sarda Donovan is an American public‑service professional who has spent more than two decades working on housing policy and federal budgeting. Born in 1966, he served as the fifteenth United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2014 under President Barack Obama and later directed the Office of Management and Budget from 2014 to 2017. After leaving the White House, Donovan continued to influence housing strategy through academic advisory roles, a mayoral campaign in New York City, and executive leadership at a national nonprofit.

Early life and career

Shaun Lawrence Sarda Donovan was born on January 24, 1966, in New York City. He grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with three siblings and attended the Dalton School before enrolling at Harvard University. At Harvard College he earned an A.B. in engineering sciences in 1987. He returned to Harvard for graduate study, completing a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1995 and a Master of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design later that same year.

Donovan’s family background includes his father, Michael Donovan, who founded and chairs Mediaocean, an advertising software company. Michael Donovan was born in Panama to parents of mixed Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish heritage; his own father was Irish and his mother was Jewish. Shaun Donovan has three siblings and was raised in a household that emphasized both academic achievement and community engagement.

From 1995 to 1998 Donovan worked with the Community Preservation Corporation, a nonprofit lender and developer focused on affordable housing in New York City. In that period he served as Special Assistant/Assistant Director of Development and helped faith‑based groups launch the Nehemiah project, which produced approximately five thousand new housing units and revitalized some of the city’s most disinvested neighborhoods.

During the Clinton administration (1998–2001) Donovan was Special Assistant/Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also acted as Federal Housing Administration Commissioner during that time. After leaving federal service, he advised on private‑sector financing for affordable housing and conducted research on the preservation of federally assisted homes as a visiting scholar at New York University. Between 2002 and 2004 he served as managing director of FHA lending and affordable housing investments at Prudential Mortgage Capital.

In 2004 Donovan was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The department operated a $1 billion budget and employed about 2,700 staff members. As commissioner he introduced the department’s Marketplace Plan, a strategy that aimed to build and preserve more than 160,000 affordable homes—an effort described as the largest city‑sponsored affordable housing plan in U.S. history. His tenure at HPD also involved overseeing large‑scale construction projects, negotiating with developers, and coordinating public‑private partnerships to expand the city’s affordable housing stock.

Cabinet tenure

During Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008, Donovan contributed to the campaign’s policy work. On December 13, 2008 President‑elect Obama announced his intention to appoint Donovan to the cabinet. The Senate confirmed him as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by unanimous consent on January 22, 2009; he was sworn into office on January 26, 2009.

As HUD secretary, Donovan oversaw the rapid distribution of federal funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Within one week of the act’s passage, 75 percent of HUD’s share of ARRA resources had been allocated. He also served as the designated survivor for President Obama’s State of the Union address in 2010. On July 28, 2014, Donovan was succeeded by Julian Castro.

Shortly after leaving HUD, Donovan was nominated to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). President Obama announced his nomination on May 22, 2014. The Senate confirmed him on July 10, 2014 with a vote of 75–22; he was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on August 5, 2014. Donovan directed OMB until the end of the Obama administration in 2017.

Legacy

Shaun Donovan’s career has centered on expanding access to affordable housing and managing federal resources efficiently. His work at HPD established a large‑scale plan for building and preserving homes that set a benchmark for city‑level affordable housing initiatives. As HUD secretary, he managed the swift deployment of ARRA funds, ensuring that a substantial portion of the agency’s share reached communities in need during a period of economic recovery. In his role as OMB director, Donovan oversaw federal budgeting processes, contributing to the fiscal management of the executive branch.

After leaving government service, Donovan continued to influence housing policy through advisory positions and nonprofit leadership. In 2017 he joined Harvard University as Senior Strategist and Advisor to the President on Allston and Campus Development. He entered the political arena again in February 2020 by filing paperwork for a mayoral campaign in New York City; the primary election in 2021 resulted in a loss, with Donovan receiving approximately 2.5 percent of the vote. In 2023 he became President and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing.

On a personal level, Donovan is married to Elizabeth “Liza” Eastman Gilbert, a landscape designer. The couple resides in Brooklyn, New York City, and has two sons. Their family life reflects the urban environment that has shaped much of Donovan’s professional focus.