Meet Oliver Platts-Mills, Board Member

Oliver Platts-Mills served on Piedmont Housing Alliance’s board of directors from 2011 to 2014, and rejoined the board early in 2016 following a year of overseas travel. Oliver grew up in the Charlottesville area, attending Albemarle County public schools. After college, he returned to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Virginia. Oliver currently works in various aspects of real estate — development, renovation, and property management.  When Oliver was in graduate school, he and his wife renovated their first house together, which grew into his current business.

Oliver first learned of the Piedmont Housing Alliance when he and his wife received housing counseling prior to purchasing their first home. “The advice we received from Piedmont Housing was excellent,” he says, “and helped us make sensible decisions around a major decision in our lives.”  Developing and managing rental properties in the city has exposed Oliver to the lack of affordable housing options in Charlottesville, as well as the intense pressure being placed upon existing options. He believes that, as a community, “we ought to be unsatisfied until all of our fellow residents are able to thrive.  Housing security is often the bedrock of how struggling families find ways to regain their footing.” Serving on Piedmont Housing’s board has enabled Oliver to support the provision of these essential services.

Oliver enjoys that his work on Piedmont Housing’s board informs his daily work in real estate, and vice-versa. He is a graduate of Western Albemarle High School, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, and a master’s degree, in Systems Engineering, from the University of Virginia.