Farewell and Thank You to Julie LaPalme

After 11 years of dedicated service to Cooperative Housing International (CHI), Julie LaPalme is stepping down from her role as Secretary-General. Julie has been a driving force behind CHI’s mission to promote cooperative housing as a practical and sustainable housing solution around the world.

Since joining CHI in 2014, Julie has led CHI through a decade of growth, knowledge sharing, and international collaboration. She championed global exchanges between cooperative housing organizations, built strong relationships with CHI board members, and worked to create better conditions for the development of housing cooperatives across diverse contexts.

Julie brought a strategic approach to communications and marketing, transforming CHI’s digital presence. She spearheaded targeted campaigns, sharpened CHI’s online voice, and expanded its digital audience across platforms to over 16,350 followers. Her ability to communicate the value of the cooperative housing model has helped raise its profile globally.

The CHI community thanks Julie for her commitment, leadership, and the deep cooperative spirit she brought to everything she did. We wish her every success in the next chapter of her journey.

Cooperative Housing International has decided to appoint Housing Europe to take over the day-to-day running of the CHI Secretariat under the supervision and direction of the Executive Committee of the Board of CHI.

This strategic decision by CHI will significantly strengthen the housing cooperative perspective in Europe and worldwide – both for the members of CHI and for the members of Housing Europe.

A high level of expertise, excellent networking with many committees and, last but not least, the office location in Brussels will ensure short distances and even faster reaction times and thus committee decisions in the future.

Introducing Andreea Nacu

Since July 1, Housing Europe has entrusted team member Andreea with the coordination of the activities of Cooperative Housing International, in addition to her Housing Europe dossiers, which include communication and dissemination, networking and membership development.

Andreea has been part of Housing Europe for over three years, contributing to EU-funded projects linking housing with energy efficiency, sustainability, digitalisation, inclusion, and innovation. With a background in languages and experience in the NGO sector, she supports project coordination and communication.

She has worked on cooperative issues in liaison with Cooperatives Europe at the European level and built international contacts through events such as the International Social Housing Festival. Andreea helps make complex topics accessible to diverse audiences. She is dedicated to the sector and believes access to decent housing is a fundamental need.

She speaks English, Romanian, and French, and is happy to connect in any of these languages.