Introducing HUB Director Patricia Moroz

By Patricia Moroz, EMAD Regional Director, Regions 1, 2, 3 and HUB Director, Regions 1-4, 9, 10

Patricia Moroz, EMAD Regional Director, Regions 1, 2, 3 and HUB Director, Regions 1-4, 9, 10.

Hello! I’m Patricia Moroz, and I’ve spent my entire career in the Philadelphia Regional Office with the Economic and Market Analysis Division (EMAD), part of HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). After EMAD’s recent reorganization, I am energized to assume one of the two recently created HUB Director positions — the HUB Director for the East and West Coast regions, informally known as the EMAD Coastal HUB. I will continue my role as EMAD’s regional director for the Northeast, covering HUD Regions I, II, and III, in addition to overseeing HUD Regions IV, IX, and X. The Coastal HUB’s territory seems large considering my EMAD beginnings in Philadelphia 36 years ago, when I covered markets primarily in Delaware and Eastern Pennsylvania. At that time, economists in Baltimore, the District of Columbia, Pittsburgh, and Richmond were responsible for covering markets in the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region; now, however, economists in Philadelphia and Boston analyze housing markets for some of the nation’s largest cities in New England (Region I), New York/New Jersey (Region II), and the Mid-Atlantic (Region III). Currently, economists in the Southeast/Caribbean (Region IV), Pacific (Region IX), and Northwest (Region X) are responsible for analyzing some of the most expensive and rapidly growing housing markets in the nation.

When I reflect on my career with EMAD and how the organization has changed, several milestones come to mind. As the territory assigned to the Philadelphia EMAD office expanded, new areas to tackle emerged. In 2015, I completed a Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis for New York City with senior economist Robert Stephens. Analyzing the housing market for the largest city in the nation and riding the subway to conduct field research were memorable and challenging experiences.

Although I am assuming additional responsibilities in my new role as HUB Director, I have served in leadership positions with EMAD for the past 13 years, working as a team leader, supervisor, and mentor. During this time, I have applied my passion for lifelong learning to developing my leadership skills. In addition to the many training courses I have completed, the Toastmasters International club in the Philadelphia HUD office has helped shape my leadership journey over the past 20 years. Although I have always been an introvert, I have had numerous public speaking opportunities throughout the years. In 2022, Kurt Usowski, deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Economic Affairs, asked me to speak remotely for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international organization that conducts research and shares best practices for addressing social, environmental, and economic issues among member nations, on shrinking cities — urban areas with declining populations. I have also spoken to students at Penn State Behrend, my alma mater, about my experiences as an economist with the federal government.

EMAD embodies an organizational approach to a growth mindset — one that is always seeking ways to improve and adapt — and engaging in this aspect of EMAD’s culture is what I have enjoyed most about my years at HUD. I was with EMAD for a significant portion of the history summarized in the two PD&R at 50 articles about EMAD. Many of the changes EMAD experienced over its history came from individual economists striving for continual improvement in our publications and in the quality of the information we provide within HUD and to the public. In my time at EMAD, I have had the opportunity to work with many talented economists, and I look forward to being part of the office’s new leadership team headed by Erin Browne, director of EMAD, and Sam Young, HUB Director for Regions V through VIII.