Introducing our 2016 Travois Superhero Awards winners: Sharie Benson (Part 1 of 5)

Sharie Benson and Elizabeth Glynn

For the second year in a row at our annual conference, we recognized clients doing incredible work in Indian Country. You can read about last year’s Superhero Awards winners here. We will be featuring each awardee on the blog in the coming weeks.

Sharie Benson, executive director of Yavapai-Apache Nation Tribal Housing, is highlighted this week. She was awarded the Housing Professional of the Year Award! She was honored for representing the highest professional standards and bringing new ideas and a fresh perspective to the task of providing affordable housing.

As I told the audience during the award ceremony, Sharie is someone who has made a big impact on affordable housing in Indian Country in a relatively short amount of time. She is always thinking outside of the box and creating a strategy for success.

She is frequently asked to speak at industry events because of her expertise and friendly nature. She is always willing to go the extra mile and frequently hosts visitors to explain how she and her team have been successful and helps her guests learn more about affordable housing and the LIHTC program. (Read about YANTH’s five LIHTC projects here: #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5.)

Sharie has worked her way up in her organization proving herself each step of the way. She started as an accountant, then controller and now executive director! Sharie blends both finance and heart and is motivated by creating a better community for those around her.

Sharie showed another example of her extraordinary leadership at our 16th Annual Conference. She hosted a round table discussion to talk about issues facing tribal housing authorities.

And while she didn’t take to the podium during the ceremony to give a speech, she did share this with us: “It was truly an honor to be recognized by an organization like Travois,” Sharie said. “All of the employees show the highest standard of professionalism and a get-it-done attitude. I think that’s why Travois and Yavapai-Apache work so well together. I am constantly challenging them to find a way, and they always respond with the path to get us there. The greatest obstacle we have in business is finding partners who make us better at what we do by doing what they do. With Travois, we have found that partner.”

Congratulations, Sharie! We are proud to work with you and Yavapai-Apache Nation Tribal Housing.