Our Executive Staff
Chris McCarthy
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chris graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and later earned a masters degree in business administration from Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management. She was the cost accounting manager for Testor Corporation in Rockwood, Ill., before moving back to Nashville in 1978. Following an accounting supervisor position with Maremont Corporation, she joined Werthan Industries in 1980, retiring in 2000 as senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Her retirement was short-lived, as she joined HFH in 2002. She was named CEO of Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity (NAHFH) in 2004 and president and CEO in 2005. Chris was a member of the Leadership Nashville Class of 2005-6 and was selected for the 2006-7 class for logistics leadership. Chris was a member of the Center for Nonprofit Management Salute to Excellence Steering Committee in 2006 and 2007; a member of the Homeless Commission fiscal strategy committee; and founding president of the Habitat for Humanity of Tennessee state support organization board. She also served on the 14-member Habitat for Humanity national strategic planning committee for 2006-2011, representing all 1,600 U.S. affiliates. In 2000 Chris chaired the Downtown YMCA board of directors after heading up its We Build People Campaign. She was also selected as the Downtown Y’s 1996 and 2000 Volunteer of the Year.
Under Chris’s leadership, NAHFH has grown five times in size in eight years of operation and has won the Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) Affiliate of the Year Award in 2003; the Center for Nonprofit Management’s (CNM) Making a Difference Award in 2004; Community Quarter Back Award for Volunteer of the Year in 2004; HFHI’s Clarence Jordan Award in 2005 and 2009; CNM CEO of the Year finalist in 2006 and 2008; finalist in 2005, 2006 and 2007 for the Mary Catherine Strobel Award for Volunteer and Volunteer Group of the Year; and 2007 and 2009 finalist for the CNM Excellence in Communications Award in 2007. NAHFH has been recognized nationally in the top 1 percent of 1,600 U.S. HFHI Affiliates and received Energy Star Certification in 2007. In 2007 Chris was inducted into the YWCA’s Academy for Women of Achievement.
Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity received the Energy Star Partner of the Year Award out of 12,000 builders across the U.S. in 2008 and 2009. Chris was also selected as a finalist for the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 Athena Award. In 2009, Chris was presented with the HOPE Award for Leadership in Washington DC, recognizing an individual who has made a significant difference in championing minority homeownership. Chris is currently serving a three- year term on the advisory council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.
Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity built one of the largest all-Habitat neighborhoods in the U.S. The 43-acre neighborhood Providence Park has a five-acre park with play lots, walking trails and picnic areas and 138 homes that were completed in October 2007, one year ahead of schedule. The agency was selected by Whirlpool Corporation from 1,700 affiliates for the first annual Building Blocks initiative that built 10 homes (a block) in five days in November 2006. This neighborhood has taxable value of $15 million, and homeowners pay more than $150,000 in property taxes annually. In January 2007, NAHFH merged with the Dickson, Tenn. HFH affiliate and has built five homes there.
In June 2007, NAHFH broke ground on the second all-Habitat model affordable housing community, Timberwood (Davidson County). Construction began in March 2008 with a potential 112 homes for more than 375 family members. Timberwood is currently home to more than 200 family members and 66 homes, constructed by more than 16,000 volunteers between March 2008 and October 2009.
On August 5, 2008, NAHFH announced its largest neighborhood project to date, Park Preserve. Park Preserve will become home to more than 1,000 family members and will include a 60-acre park with walking trails, play-lots and picnic areas. Currently more than 1,400 family members live in NAHFH homes in Middle Tennessee. Over 64 percent of these homes have been built during Chris’ eight-year tenure.
Chris is an active member of St. Stephen Catholic Community and a member of the Nashville Exchange Club, CABLE, and Vanderbilt’s Owen Alumni Council. Chris and her husband, John, a CPA and partner who recently retired from Flood, Bumstead, McCready and McCarthy Inc., live in Old Hickory, where they fly fish, hike, and enjoy the outdoors.
Lucile Houseworth
Chief Administrative Officer
Lucile joined Nashville Area Habitat in June 2009. She brought with her nearly three decades of experience in the financial services industry. Previous employers include Renasant Bank, where Lucile served as the corporate director of marketing, and SunTrust Bank, where she held numerous positions in marketing, service quality, risk management, strategic planning and retail delivery during her tenure.
Lucile also has an established history of community involvement, including long service on the board of the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee and as the outreach committee chairman for the Vanderbilt University Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. She also volunteered previously on Nashville’s Friends of the Zoo board and for the Nashville chapter of the American Heart Association.
Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Lucile graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in economics and later from the Harvard Business School. She and her husband, Mark Magnuson, a research scientist at Vanderbilt University, have lived in Nashville for more than 20 years. They have one teenage daughter, Kelsey.
Ralph Knauss
Chief Operating Officer
Ralph Knauss is a seasoned real estate development and construction professional with nearly 30 years of experience. Over the past 13 years, Ralph has been involved in the planning, entitlement, design, development and construction of some 48 retail shopping centers spanning 18 states. These centers included the successful delivery of more than 60 different national tenants totaling in excess of 12 million square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) and approximately $900 million in design and construction costs. In addition to his retail development experience, Ralph also has experience in mixed use, single/multi-family residential and industrial development.
He has successfully overseen federal and state highway improvement projects, site development projects in excess of 200 acres, bridge construction, marina construction, dredging, flood control structures and canals, single story, mid rise and high rise building construction, airport construction, storm water, waterline and sanitary sewer infrastructure improvements, Subtitle D and C&D landfill construction and maximum security prison construction. Ralph has also served in a consultant capacity to owners, developers, contractors and sureties (bonding companies).
Lauren Lane
Vice President, Development
In February of 2007, Lauren joined the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity development staff as Development Manager where she focused on events and grant writing. She brought with her nine years of event coordination experience and 11 years of experience in the non-profit sector where she served as a volunteer for Hands on Nashville, Tomorrow Fund, the Nashville Ballet and Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity, as well. Today, she serves the agency as Vice President of Development.
Lauren is a native Texan who attended Vanderbilt University and graduated with a BA in Spanish. Upon graduation, she spent four years as a customer support consultant for Aspect Communications, where she trained and provided support for their Latin and South American clients. It was after this that she stepped into the event planning role when she returned to Vanderbilt to work in Development and Alumni Relations.