A Team You Can Count On

At Alaska Housing Finance Corporation’s Anchorage headquarters, an experienced, reliable accounting team works quietly behind the scenes to make sure that bills are paid, the corporation’s work gets done and every transaction is accounted for.

The department is comprised of 16 professionals, split between the accountants and accounts payable team, who make this critical work possible.

Aireen, controller, has led the department for more than four years: “We have a really reliable team and we always help each other,” she says. “As a manager, it’s a win-win situation because you learn from them and they learn from you.”

Many of Aireen’s team describe themselves as introverts, saying they enjoy the behind-the-scenes nature of their jobs. But they describe their work and the culture of their department as fun, dynamic, innovative and ultimately crucial in supporting the shared mission of providing Alaskans access to safe, quality, affordable housing.

A team culture built on community

With career longevity at AHFC ranging between 5 and 14 years, many of the department managers and supervisors interviewed and trained each other and now make it a priority to support one another as teammates.  

“​​The people around me make me proud to work at AHFC,” says Stephanie, accounts payable manager. “We all get along and we all have differences, but we have grown to accept each other's differences. This has been the easiest 13 years of my life because of the culture of this team. We've built something that works.”

The team describes how they remember each other’s birthdays, bring in treats to share every Wednesday and try to organize potlucks during their lunch break once a month. “We don’t have to, but we all just want to be together,” says Danielle, accounts payable supervisor.

That sense of community and enjoying each other’s company is the result of the trust they’ve built after many years working alongside each other in support of AHFC’s mission. It’s a department with minimal turnover, they say, as people who are a good fit for their team culture tend to stick around.

“Between our two teams, what one does affects the other,” says Stephanie. “We all work together and we do things together as much as possible. We work as one big team to assist other departments and make sure everybody has their needs met.”

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 "The people I work with make it the best place I have ever worked!" – Danielle, accounts payable supervisor

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Pride in their work

As a service department whose work touches every other department within the corporation, Aireen says that their goal is to be easy to work with and that flexibility and accountability are key to their success.

“We're here to help departments succeed,” Stephanie agrees.

There’s a steep learning curve involved in their work, requiring new team members to learn about the wide variety of work that takes place across the corporation, from mortgages, to administering homeless assistance grant programs, to public housing.

Lisa, financial accounting manager, explains, “You need to be flexible and it’s a lot to learn. You need to be able to compartmentalize all the different programs and puzzle things together.”

Juggling their work in support of each unique department and program requires a lot of flexibility and skill, but the team takes pride in knowing they do their jobs well.

“Our audits are accurate and clean,” says Lisa.

“We are always looking for the best and most efficient way to do what we do,” Stephanie adds. “Back in July, accounts payable went almost 100% paperless. There's always a drive to do better and we are given the freedom to explore those better ways, experiment with them and find the ones that work. That's exciting for me, knowing that in my job there’s always growth and we're always learning.”

Supporting the mission

Across the department, a common theme shines through: they were all drawn to AHFC because of their shared belief in the corporation’s mission.

Anne, financial accounting manager, is an excellent example.

Anne says she wasn’t even looking for a job when she attended an AHFC homebuyer education class. She says she was struck by the “out of this world” energy of the instructor and their passion for AHFC. “I thought it would be nice to be part of the organization providing such great information. I’m a geek in relation to homebuying and I wanted to be part of that process for people, at least in the background.”                                                                                                             

Elements of her AHFC origin story are echoed by the other accounting department leaders.

“When I decided to go back to work after raising my kids, I knew I wanted to do something that was going to make a difference and I knew that I liked numbers. That led me here,” Danielle says. “These other amazing women basically brought me up in my role.

Aireen says she worked for the TNHA Housing Authority in Utqiagvik before moving to Anchorage and knew she wanted to continue working in the housing space, “in a job that has a positive impact in the community.”

Stephanie says she always heard about AHFC, having grown up in Anchorage, but didn't know much about what the corporation does until she started working there: “Almost 14 years later, the more I learn, the more amazed I am at the reach of Alaska Housing – the seniors we serve, the people leaving incarceration and needing assistance to find safe housing. It's exciting to see all the different areas where we help. In our team, we're not the ones dealing directly with homeowners or tenants, but we make sure the maintenance teams are able to pay for their tools.”

A place to grow a career

Surrounded by a supportive team, mentally engaged in their work and powered by a shared, meaningful mission, Aireen and her team agree that they are proud to have worked hard to build a strong team culture and found a career where they can have longevity and opportunities to learn and grow.

When asked what advice would give to someone considering applying for a job at AHFC, the team echoed each other in saying “Do it!”

“Once you’re in the door, you’ll learn about all the work that goes on across departments and you can apply to other roles and move around,” Lisa says.

“A lot of people have done that,” Aireen agrees. “There are lots of opportunities.”

“If you get the chance, apply to work at AHFC,” Danielle says. “When I first started, I remember walking through the door and a maintenance guy said, ‘Welcome! Congratulations, you made it.’ That stuck with me for years. And now I understand it.”