Evelyn Lim and Peter LiFari are the Denver-based Common Sense Institute Terry J. Stevinson fellows, president and CEO Kristin Strohm, said Tuesday morning.

Lim is the policy and research director at the American Cornerstone Institute, founded by Dr. Ben Carson, Housing and Urban Development secretary under President Donald Trump. LiFari is the executive director of Maiker Housing Partners, the housing authority that owns, operates and develops affordable housing communities in Adams County.

The fellowship was established in honor Stevinson, the Colorado auto business leader and a founding board member of CSI. “This fellowship is dedicated to examining a critical issue confronting Colorado and presenting achievable solutions,” the Denver-based think tank said in an announcement.

The fellowship would focus on affordable housing, which Strohm said affects every Coloradan.

“Consider the U.S. News rankings of affordable states,” she said in a statement. “Colorado ranks in the top 10 most expensive places to live and while there are many factors that contribute to the rank, housing is one of the most significant.

“The bottom line is that if people can’t afford to live here, economic development will suffer, jobs will suffer, families will suffer, and our economy will stagnate.”

Lim is the former Region 8 administrator for HUD, overseeing Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. She also is a former senior adviser to Carson and helped coordinate HUD’s coronavirus pandemic response and relief efforts.

Before joining HUD, Lim was the deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. After 9/11, she joined the then-newly created Department of Homeland Security as the George W. Bush administration’s director of transportation security policy. She is an attorney admitted to the bar in Florida and Illinois. Lim clerked in U.S. District Court and worked on predatory lending practices by home mortgage lenders for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Besides serving Adams County, LiFari is a board member for indieDwell, an Idaho company that produces modern modular homes from shipping containers that are safe, environmentally sustainable and to help communities address their affordable housing needs.

He is the regional president of the Mountain Plains region for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, serving Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. LiFari also chairs the Adams County COVID19 Housing Response and Recovery Task Force.

“Evelyn and Peter represent different perspectives of this important issue and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this project,” Strohm stated. “We’re looking forward to releasing their findings later this year.”