Sonya A. Barnette – Biography

Sonya A. Barnette
Senior Vice President/Deputy Director
Public Housing, Housing Operations and Client Services

Sonya A. Barnette, Deputy Director and Senior Vice President, Housing & Client Services. Barnette also manages the Stop Six Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Fort Worth Housing Solutions and the City of Fort Worth in April 2020.

Barnette joined Fort Worth Housing Solutions in 1993 as a Resident Liaison Coordinator. She previously served as Vice President of Housing Operations and Client Services and was responsible for the oversight of public housing, Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) site conversions, relocations, and multiple grant-funded programs, including Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH), Continuum of Care, Directions Home, Health Community Collaborative, Single Room Occupancy (SRO), Family Self-Sufficiency/Homeownership Program and Resident Services.

During her tenure, Barnette has helped transform public housing through the RAD program, which added 1,625 affordable units to Fort Worth Housing Solutions’ portfolio. She also helped establish one of HUD’s first Family Investment Centers, a Neighborhood Network center and HUD’s first Texas EnVision Center at Fort Worth’s Martin Luther King Community Center on Truman Drive.

Prior to moving to Texas, Barnette served as an assistant director for Northeastern Family Institute and as a program manager for Communities for People, both in Massachusetts. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Suffolk University in Boston.