Kim Plache (MPA ’05) has served both as a legislator and in the Evers administration working to solve important policy issues. Having served as a state representative and a state senator in both the majority and minority in both houses, she has had plenty of experience working across the aisle to come to consensus.
In 2019, Plache was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), where she has now worked for almost 22 years. When she was appointed to her role, Governor Evers told her that he had heard about the need for expanding affordable housing again and again from people across the state. The fact that there is such momentum and even bipartisan support for addressing housing issues has made Plache hopeful. “Housing is most definitely an area where stakeholders can and recently have come together to find policy that moves the needle towards fitting Wisconsin’s needs,” she says.
Plache’s 14-year tenure in the legislature coupled with 16 years working on the front lines of WHEDA put her in the right place at the right time as demand for more affordable housing was escalating in Wisconsin and legislation was being developed to meet those demands. The legislative relationships she developed during this time enabled a strong partnership between legislators and WHEDA to set these programs up for their best success.
The severe shortage of affordable housing is critical in Wisconsin, and nationwide. The increased demand has resulted in both state and federal legislators introducing legislation to expand resources, including a bipartisan housing legislation package aimed at expanding access to housing for working families in Wisconsin that was introduced in June of 2023. Plache and WHEDA have been integral in promoting legislative solutions, collaborating with legislators and other interested parties, to develop additional affordable housing. New legislation that would expand the federal tax credit and could finance up to an additional 33,000 units across Wisconsin “would substantially increase the number of units that WHEDA can provide and help close the gap,” says Plache.
When she’s able to see the end product of the work and advocacy WHEDA does—seeing customers’ joy when they are able to purchase a home, find an affordable and desirable rental home, or in expanding the diversity and numbers of developer partners through education and training—Plache says her work can be extremely satisfying. “When you see the benefits for the people we touch and use our products and programs, it’s amazing.”
Plache was serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly when she joined the MPA program at the La Follette School. Also a new mother at the time, she says she leaned on her fellow students throughout her time in the program. La Follette helped her become a sophisticated student of fiscal policy, which was especially useful to her when making decisions as a member of the legislature on the Joint Finance Committee. The last class Plache took at La Follette was her favorite class of all: a class on social entrepreneurship. She completed internships for a public bank that promoted economic development and for Forward Wisconsin, which introduced her to the housing development world. “WHEDA is at its core almost like social entrepreneurship,” she says. “We benefit the social good. We also have friends and support from people who can help us get things done.”
Plache says she has the best job in state government. “With housing being in such high demand, I have been on the front lines of new and innovative housing solutions.”
Alumni in the Spotlight
To celebrate La Follette’s 40th anniversary, each month in 2024 we are highlighting alumni who influence policymaking at the highest levels in government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations across the country and abroad. This month, alumni who have risen to leadership positions in Wisconsin state agencies share lessons from their diverse career paths.