Catherine Colyer Named New Story's Chief Executive Officer

Today, we're proud to announce that Catherine Colyer is joining New Story as our new Chief Executive Officer.

After 11 years of leading New Story from a bold idea into one of the most innovative forces in housing access for underserved families, our Co-founder and CEO Brett Hagler is transitioning onto the board of directors. Catherine, who has served on New Story's board for the past two years, is stepping into the CEO role at exactly the right moment.

"It's a dream come true to know that New Story is in the hands of a leader of Catherine's caliber." — Brett

Catherine comes to New Story from WaterEquity, where she served as COO and helped build one of the world's leading impact investment organizations from the ground up. When she joined WaterEquity, it was just an idea and a $9 million friends-and-family fund. Over the next decade, she helped scale it to over $450 million in assets under management, reaching more than eight million people who lacked access to clean water. The through line? Market-based solutions designed to reach the families most overlooked by traditional systems.

That is exactly the work New Story is doing in housing.

As a board member, Catherine has spent the past two years close to our strategy, our team, and the families we serve. She understands where we've been and has helped shape where we're going. This isn't a handoff. It's a continuation with deep experience, fresh perspective, and the exact expertise this moment calls for.

"New Story is poised to be the most innovative, catalytic mover in the housing market for underserved families. I couldn't pass that up." — Catherine

Brett isn't going far. As a board director, he remains deeply invested in New Story's mission and will continue to support the organization's growth and relationships. What this transition represents isn't an ending. It's an inflection point, the kind that only happens when a strong foundation meets the right next leader.

“We want to express our deepest gratitude to Brett for his tremendous leadership these past 11 years. New Story wouldn’t exist nor have been able to impact thousands of vulnerable families with life-changing housing without Brett’s deep commitment, hard work, and vision.” — Matthew Marshall, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer

New Story's priorities remain unchanged. We will continue to invest in R&D, deploy capital, unlock access to land and homeownership for working families, and share what we learn with the broader market. We believe the housing crisis is solvable. We believe the families waiting for solutions can't afford for us to move slowly. And we believe this next chapter is the one where everything we've built starts to scale.