Ruth Ann Norton

Ruth Ann Norton, President and CEO of Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, is a renowned national expert on health-based housing. Ms. Norton has led GHHI’s innovative work to use housing as a platform for improved health, economic and social outcomes for America’s children and seniors. She was the architect for Maryland’s 98% reduction in childhood lead poisoning and has authored 28 pieces of healthy housing legislation. In addition, she has crafted successful federal policy initiatives and her groundbreaking work has advanced the role of Medicaid as well as energy efficiency, education and philanthropic sectors in supporting investments in healthy housing in our nation’s lowest income neighborhoods. An economist by training, Ms. Norton is a sought after speaker on the moral and business case of creating healthier housing to improve outcomes for children, seniors and communities. Her work on healthy housing’s cost benefit analysis led GHHI to establish its Pay for Success practice to scale evidenced-based interventions to create healthy, safe and energy efficient housing.  She has served on numerous Commissions on Lead Poisoning, Asthma, Environmental Health and Medicaid. A Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leader and Weinberg Foundation Fellow, Ms. Norton was awarded the Tony Woods Award by the Building Performance Industry and named one of the Top 100 Maryland Women by the Daily Record. In 2016, NHS Staten Island named her the Social Innovator of the Year Award. She serves on the Board of Directors of Groundswell and is a Healthy Homes advisor for the National Environmental Health Association.