Mark Christian Colón is an American attorney and housing official who currently serves as th

at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. He was previously a nominee fo
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development
at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

Early life and education

Colón received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, where he was managing editor of the ''

Yale Law & Policy Review The ''Yale Law & Policy Review'' (''YLPR'') is a biannual student-run law review founded in 1982 at the Yale Law School. ''YLPR'' publishes scholarship at the intersection of law and policy authored by lawmakers, judges, practitioners, academics, ...

''.

Career

Following law school, Colón was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge

Julio M. Fuentes Julio Manuel Fuentes (born February 16, 1946) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Fuentes is the first Hispanic judge to serve on the Third Circuit. Early life and education Fu ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

. He later practiced law at

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions and private equity, with approximately 1,500 attorneys in 1 ...

and

Dechert LLP Dechert LLP (; ) is a multinational American law firm of more than 900 lawyers with practices in corporate and securities, complex litigation, finance and real estate, financial services, asset management, and private equity. In 2021, the firm r ...

."President Biden Announces Key Administration Nominations", White House, April 27, 2021
/ref> In 2015, Colón was appointed President of the Office of Housing Preservation a
New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR)
In this capacity, he oversaw one of the largest, most diverse affordable housing portfolios in the country, with more than 450,000 units in 3,200 developments across New York. Previously, Colón served as HCR's acting "Disaster Recovery" Counsel, helping to lead post-

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

housing recovery efforts. Colón has served as the chairperson of El Puente de Williamsburg and a board member of th
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
On April 27, 2021, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

announced Colón as the nominee for HUD's Assistant Secretary for community planning and development. On April 28, 2021, his nomination was sent to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. On January 3, 2022, his nomination was returned to the President. In March 2024, Colón was appointe
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Housing
at

. In his capacity, he provides executive leadership for all U.S. military housing worldwide, including approximately 250,000 homes and one million permanent party bed spaces.

Personal life

Colón is a native New Yorker and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Gina Kim, and their son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colon, Mark Living people 21st-century American lawyers Hunter College alumni New York (state) lawyers People from New York (state) Yale Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)