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Chester Housing Authority

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Executive Staff

Steven A. Fischer

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Steven Fischer brings over 30 years of housing management and development experience to the Chester Housing Authority. Prior to his arrival in 2005, he headed the Housing Authority in Kingston, New York for 17 years. Before that, he worked for the City of New York, the Department of Housing & Urban Development and served in the Peace Corps for three years in the Central African Republic.

Fischer has held a seat on the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association's Board of Trustees since 2002, where his service as Chair of the Legislative Committee has placed him among industry leaders in the advocacy of affordable housing. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida.

Maria M. Zissimos

GENERAL COUNSEL

Maria Zissimos joined the Chester Housing Authority in 1999 to serve as the agency's General Counsel while overseeing a massive reorganizational initiative; she is now the Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Secretary overseeing the housing authority's Legal Affairs, Human Resources, and Financial and Risk Management Departments

Before joining the Chester Housing Authority, Ms. Zissimos was Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company, now known as LandAmerica. She also spent two years at CIGNA, where she wrote the first terrorist exclusion for its property and casualty insurance lines.

She holds a Juris Doctor from the Beasley School of Law and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court of Pennsylvania. Ms. Zissimos is a member of the American Bar Association, the ABA Forum of Affordable Housing and Community and Development Law, the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section, the Delaware County Bar Association, and the Housing Development Law Institute.

She holds multiple positions of responsibility, including Director of the Housing Development Law Institute, Chair of the Swarthmore Borough Authority, and member of various committees such as the Finance Committee, the Investment Sub-Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee of the HAI Group. Additionally, she has served as Vice President and Director of the Hellenic University Club of Philadelphia and as a Rotarian. Ms. Zissimos was recognized for her achievements as an extraordinary Greek American woman by the Greek American Heritage Society, AXIA, in 2019.

Mary M. Militello

DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM

Mary Militello has directed CHA's Housing Choice Voucher Program since 2003, where she is responsible for more than 1,500 households with rental subsidies. Militello adds nearly 30 years of housing advocacy experience to the CHA team, having begun her career in 1984 with the Federal Interagency Task Force on Food and Shelter for the Homeless in Washington, DC.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from St. Francis University and completed graduate studies in Business Administration from St. Bonaventure University.

Rodney M. O'Neill

CHIEF OF POLICE

Rodney O'Neill joined CHA in 2001, elevating to his current rank of Police Chief in 2002. He brings nearly four decades of law enforcement experience, having begun his career in the U.S Navy and retired as a Detective with the Norristown Police Department. In addition to his law enforcement responsibilities, he also directs the CHA's Information Technologies department.

Chief O'Neill has attended numerous schools over the course of his law enforcement career and has received extensive executive management training at Penn State and Princeton Universities.

Roman Kubas

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Roman Kubas has served as the CHA's Chief Financial Officer since 2011, overseeing all financial operations and the accounting and procurement departments. In addition Kubas also supports CHA's energy performance contracting, ensuring that the utility consumption baseline is fairly and accurately normalized. Prior to joining the team, he spent nearly 25 years' as a consultant assisting housing agencies on an array of financial, fiscal and management issues.

Kubas is a magna cum laude graduate from Spring Garden College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

Quineice Harris

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Quineice Harris joined CHA in 2016. She brings over 15 years of Executive level support experience in the legal and real estate fields. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Strayer University.