School of Architecture

Audrey Spencer-Horsley

Audrey Spencer-Horsley received her bachelor’s degree in City Planning from the University of Virginia in 1975. While at UVA, she helped to establish organizations that are still vibrant and making a difference today; she was a founding member of the Black Voices Choir and the UVA Theta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a historic national and international sorority over 100 years old committed to community service. She was also one of the student volunteers during the first years of Madison House, a student-led and -managed network of volunteers providing needed services in partnership with the CharlottesvilleAlbemarle community.

Following her graduation from UVA, Ms. Spencer-Horsley went on to receive her master’s in public administration from The George Washington University. She is a certified public manager through the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Institute for Regional Excellence and The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Municipal Management. Among other certifications and accomplishments, Ms. Spencer-Horsley is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional by the National Development Council and certified Housing Manager and Housing Finance Specialist through the National Center for Housing Management.

The UVA School of Architecture established a newly named scholarship focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion named in honor of Ms. Spencer-Horsley in spring 2020. Associate Professor of Architectural History Sheila Crane said, “We are delighted to recognize Audrey Spencer-Horsley’s extraordinary achievements, beginning with her path-breaking experience in the School of Architecture. Her commitment to engaging residents in planning and community design processes, as well as her persistent efforts to expand access to strong, viable neighborhoods and affordable housing, provide a powerful model for our students, who likewise aspire to imagine and contribute to the collective work of building more equitable and inclusive communities.

Her path-breaking experience as the first African American woman to graduate from UVA’s School of Architecture continued over the course of her highly accomplished career in planning, focused especially on community development and affordable housing for municipalities and county governments in Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland.

She worked for over twenty years for Fairfax County in Virginia, administering federal, state and locally funded community development and affordable housing programs, notably serving as Chief Planner, and later, Associate Director, in the Housing & Community Development Department. In 2015, she was named the Director of the Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department in Orange County, North Carolina. In these positions, Ms. Spencer-Horsley emerged as a leading expert in community planning and development, homeownership and rental housing programs, particularly for households with low and moderate incomes, persons with disabilities and for homeless and elderly populations.

Her efforts for affordable housing have ranged widely, from preservation and development to rehabilitation programs for transitional housing, shelters, and supportive housing to meet the needs of diverse populations.

Among other organizations, Ms. Spencer-Horsley is also an active member of the American Planning Association (APA) and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) whose missions, in general, are community engagement in strong, vibrant, well-planned and -developed, inclusive communities, and access to safe, decent, stable, affordable housing for individuals and families with low to moderate incomes.

Ms. Spencer-Horsley continues to work professionally and as a community volunteer for access, equity and inclusion. Throughout her career, she has consistently provided internships and mentoring opportunities to many high school and college students. She described, “A commitment to excellence in service is very important to me and has been a major part of my career and life. This does not mean everyone always sees your vision or that you do everything perfectly, but that you are always striving to share the best of who you are, with integrity, to encourage and help others to have a better quality of life.”

Spency-Horsley developed and implemented community plans for public improvements and housing rehabilitation in neglected deteriorating neighborhoods. Her accomplishments while working for Fairfax County included leading and collaborating with staff of other departments and the community at-large to develop a small and minority business loan program and a competitive citizen driven consolidated community funding pool (CCFP) of over 10 million dollars. The CCFP was recognized as a model program at the national level and across the country. She led the development of a new comprehensive affordable housing plan for Orange County to replace one that had not been updated in over 10 years. She supported the community in requesting and receiving over five million dollars in local bond funding for affordable housing, while encouraging all segments of the community to participate in the process.

Ms. Spencer-Horsley is a member of The National Housing Conference (NHC) which “has been defending the American Home since 1931”—believing that everyone should have equal opportunity to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community.

Sources:

For more information about the DEI Scholarship named on behalf of Ms. Spencer-Horsley, visit:
https://www.arch.virginia.edu/resources/dei-scholarships

https://www.arch.virginia.edu/gallery/doc/Bio-A.S-Horsley-Mar2020.pdf