Executive Committee
Chairman - Dan Nissenbaum is the chief operating officer of the Urban Investment Group, a division of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, with responsibility for overseeing Production, Portfolio Management and Operations/Finance. Mr. Nissenbaum manages a team providing community development loans and investments across a range of products which fulfill the Bank's Community Reinvestment Act obligations. He has worked in the field of real estate and community development finance for 21 years with positions at Chemical Bank, Chase Manhattan Bank CDC, JPMorgan CDC, Merrill Lynch CDC and HSBC Bank. Mr. Nissenbaum also has overseen CRA regulatory compliance, philanthropy and outreach programs. He holds positions on several boards which include: the Low Income Investment Fund, the Center for Housing Policy, The Center for NYC Neighborhoods, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Foundation. Mr. Nissenbaum earned a Bachelor's Degree from Grinnell College, and a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.
Vice Chairman - John L. Kelly is a partner with Nixon Peabody LLP in the affordable housing group of the firm’s real estate department, and serves as the co-chair of the New York Housing Conference. He is also former president of the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association. Mr. Kelly serves on New York City Mayor Bloomberg's Neighborhood Investment Advisory Panel. He started his legal career as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Kelly has extensive experience representing both for-profit and nonprofit developers, owners and operators in complex real estate transactions. He has developed specific expertise in federal, state and local housing programs. He has a Bachelor's degree from Ithaca College and a JD with honors from University of Connecticut School of Law.
NHC President and Chief Executive Officer - Maureen Friar became president and CEO of NHC in February 2010. A recognized and respected industry expert, Ms. Friar has more than 25 years of extensive experience in housing advocacy, policy analysis, fundraising and non-profit management. As executive director for 14 years, she grew the Supportive Housing Network of New York from an ad hoc coalition into a vibrant and effective statewide advocacy association representing 34,000 units of affordable rental housing linked to services for homeless and special needs populations. Prior to joining NHC, Ms. Friar served as a marketing consultant to the National Equity Fund, the largest nonprofit investor in federal low-income housing tax credits, and as a fundraising and management consultant to Community Access, a New York nonprofit agency that provides supportive housing, employment training and advocacy for persons with psychiatric disabilities. Her many achievements were recognized by the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, which honored her with the 2006 Advocate of the Year Award for Excellence. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University, a Master’s degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, and was a Charles H. Revson Fellow on the Future of the City of New York at Columbia University.
Chairman of the Audit Committee - Ted S. Chandler is a founding board member and director emeritus of the California Housing Consortium, a regional affiliate of the National Housing Conference. Mr. Chandler currently serves as the chief operating officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. He was previously vice president at Fannie Mae, where he worked in housing and community development in the Boston partnership office. Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Mr. Chandler was the deputy executive director at the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency and served as the chief executive and chief of staff at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Mr. Chandler received his law degree from Stanford University and Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College.
Secretary - Shekar Narasimhan is managing partner for Beekman Advisors, Inc. and CEO of Beekman Helix India Partners, a real estate merchant bank. Previously, he was managing director for agency and funds management at Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. Prior to that, he was chairman & CEO of The WMF Group, Ltd., a publicly traded commercial mortgage financial services company which was acquired by Prudential in 2000. Mr. Narasimhan built WMF to a position recognized as a leader in providing multifamily and commercial real estate financing in the United States. Mr. Narasimhan has served on the Boards of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), National Multi Housing Council (NMHC), Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and Cooperative Development Foundation. He has chaired and moderated numerous forums on multifamily and affordable housing, commercial securitization and technology for the MBA, NMHC, NHC, Fannie Mae and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. Mr. Narasimhan has a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.
Immediate Past Chairman - G. Allan Kingston is vice chairman of National Community Renaissance, a nonprofit organization providing affordable housing and services to families and seniors. Mr. Kingston also is the immediate past chair of the National Housing Conference. Previously, he was president and CEO of Century Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing lender based in Los Angeles. Mr. Kingston is a board member of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, the National Housing Development Corporation, the Center for Housing Policy, The Campaign for Affordable Housing and LA Family Housing, and he is the former chairman of the California Housing Consortium. He also served on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and Housing California. Prior to joining Century, Mr. Kingston directed the private real estate development activities and projects of large corporations for several years, and was a partner in several commercial real estate and residential projects in California, Hawaii and the Midwest. His focus on housing issues began with public service, where he served as executive director of the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, as Deputy Director of the Oakland Redevelopment Agency, and with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its predecessor agency. In 2004, Mr. Kingston was named one of the twelve most influential people in housing by MultiHousing News. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and is a Navy veteran.
Regional Affiliate Representative (NY) - Carol Lamberg has been the executive director of the Settlement Housing Fund Inc. (SHF) in New York since 1983 and staff director of the New York Housing Conference since 1976. Ms. Lamberg has been with SHF since 1975, when she joined the staff as associate director. Prior to this, she was vice president of Roger Schafer Associates, working as a consultant on housing issues. Ms. Lamberg also worked as a research assistant at Harvard University.
Regional Affiliate Representative (CA) - Linda Mandolini has served Eden Housing as a Project Developer, as Director of Real Estate Development, and since 2001, as Executive Director. She oversees all the affordable housing production, resident support services and property management components of the organization, and their combined annual operating budget of $40 million. She is guided in her work by Eden's active volunteer board of directors. Ms. Mandolini is ultimately responsible for Eden's housing development pipeline which consists of up to 15 projects at any given time, Eden's growing property management portfolio, and a staff of 200 people. To date, Eden Housing has developed 5,349 units of housing. Ms. Mandolini held various community development positions in Boston prior to moving to California in 1996. She served as Director of Transportation and Land Use Development at the Silicon Valley Manufacturing group in Silicon Valley. Linda received her BA degree from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and earned an MBA at Boston University. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, a Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the California Housing Consortium, and she recently served as President of the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California. In 2008, Linda was named a Woman of Distinction by the East Bay Business Times.
Chairman of the Center for Housing Policy - John K. McIlwain is a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute and holds the ULI/J. Ronald Terwilliger Chair for Housing. Prior to joining ULI, Mr. McIlwain served as senior managing director of the American Communities Fund for Fannie Mae, and was president and CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation. Before joining Fannie Mae, he was a partner in the law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer and Murphy. He served as executive assistant to the assistant secretary for housing at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and began his career at the Maine State Housing Authority. Mr. McIlwain has a Bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a JD from New York University.
Executive Director fo the Center for Housing Policy - Jeffrey Lubell became executive director of the Center for Housing Policy in 2006 and is a recognized expert in housing and community development policy. Prior to becoming head of the Center, Lubell worked as an independent consultant specializing in analyzing and developing recommendations for strengthening national, state and local housing and community development policy. From 2000 to 2003, he served as director of the policy development division of the Office of Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also worked from 1998 to 2000 as a housing policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit organization that is one of the leading independent authorities on programs affecting low-income families. Lubell is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College.
Members
Elizabeth Blake currently serves as senior vice president of Advocacy, Government Affairs & General Counsel of Habitat for Humanity International Inc., a nonprofit organization that through local partnerships seeks to build affordable housing for families in need in 93 countries around the world. In her corporate career, Ms. Blake served as Vice President and Chief of Staff at Cinergy Corp and subsequently as Vice President and General Counsel of GE Power Systems. Thereafter, she served as Senior Vice President of Trizec Properties, a publicly traded real estate investment trust and later as Executive Vice President of US Airways. Ms. Blake was a Partner of the firm of Frost & Jacobs prior to joining Cinergy and had begun her career at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Ms. Blake currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of BioFuel Energy Corp. and is an active member of the System Board of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In addition, she has served on numerous charitable and civic boards, chaired the development of a $92 million performing arts center and was appointed by the Governor of Ohio to the Ohio Board of Regents of which she served as the first woman chair. She received her JD from Columbia University School of Law as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and her BA with honors from Smith College.
Michael Bodaken serves both as president of the National Housing Trust and of the National Housing Trust/Enterprise Preservation Corporation. The Trust engages in preservation policy, affordable housing development and lending. He has been largely responsible for growing the organization in becoming a leader in the field of affordable housing preservation. The Trust urges state and federal governments to devote sufficient resources to save existing housing, with a particular emphasis on preserving housing in communities of opportunity. Much of the current policy work concerns saving housing that is accessible to mass transit. The Trust has financed and preserved over 20,000 apartments throughout the nation, involving over $1 billion in financing. Mr. Bodaken serves as president of NHT/Enterprise, an organization founded by the Trust which owns and operates 3,000 affordable apartments in eight states and the District of Columbia. The Trust’s CDFI, NHT Community Development Fund, provides low interest loans to preservation developers across the U.S. Mr. Bodaken is the convener of the National Preservation Working Group, a member of the Advisory Board of the Housing Development Reporter. He serves on the board of directors of Homes for America, Housing Preservation Project, Urban Vision, Fairfax and Montgomery County Housing Tax Forces, and Stewards for Affordable Housing (SAHF). He is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist at affordable housing industry events.
Corey Carlisle is the director of Federal Policy and Government Affairs for the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF). Mr. Carlisle joined LIIF in 2008 as director of LIIF’s Federal Policy Office in Washington, DC and is responsible for LIIF’s efforts in advancing national legislation and programs in the field of poverty alleviation and community capital. Prior to joining LIIF, he was the associate vice president of Governmental Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mr. Carlisle began his career as the legislative assistant to Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) and went on to work with several large financial institutions and banks including: Freddie Mac, National City, and Countrywide. During his time at Countrywide, he was the First Vice President of Public Policy and Industry Affairs. Mr. Carlisle holds a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Minnesota.
Kent Colton is president of K Colton, LLC, a housing consultation service. He also has served as Senior Scholar in housing studies and the Jacob Wertheim Research Fellow for the Betterment of Industrial Relations at the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University. Prior to this, Dr. Colton was the Executive Vice President and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders. He also served as Executive Vice President of Policy, Planning and Economic Research at Freddie Mac. Dr. Colton was a member of the Millennial Housing Commission, and was appointed Staff Director of the President's Commission on Housing by President Ronald Reagan. In June 2003, he published a book entitled Housing in the Twenty-First Century: Achieving Common Ground. He received his Master's degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University and his Ph.D. in Urban Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sheila Crowley became the president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition in 1998. She was the Social Work Congressional Fellow from 1996 to 1997, serving on the Democratic staff of the Housing Subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee. From 1984 to 1992, she was the executive director of the Daily Planet, a multipurpose homeless service and advocacy agency in Richmond, Virginia. Ms. Crowley has her Bachelor's degree, Master's degree and Ph.D. from the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University. She serves as adjunct faculty at the George Mason University Master of Social Work program where she teaches Legislative Advocacy.
Eldridge Edgecombe is a senior vice president of the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank, the head of its Community Investment Group, the chairman of the Bank’s Credit and Collateral Committee, and a member of the Bank’s Management Committee. The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank is a $90 billion cooperative wholesale bank with approximately 820 members chartered within either Illinois or Wisconsin. Previously, he was a vice president and the chief operating officer for the Cincinnati Federal Home Loan Bank’s Department of Housing and Community Investment. Mr. Edgecombe has more than 25 years of affordable housing and community development experience. In addition to his Federal Home Loan Bank tenure, he served a three-year term as the chief executive officer of an affordable housing real estate developer in Columbus, Ohio; a four-year term as the director of the state of Ohio’s Community Development Division; and an eight-year term as a controller/commissioner for the city of Toledo, OH’s Department of Neighborhoods. Mr. Edgecombe also possesses 13 years of private industry experience as an accounting policy analyst, auditor, and staff accountant. Mr. Edgecombe is an Ohio Certified Public Accountant who earned a MBA in Finance from the University of Toledo and a BSBA in Accounting from Franklin University in Columbus, OH. In addition to completing the John F Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government, he has also completed the Graduate School of Banking Program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI.
Renée Lewis Glover joined the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) as CEO in September 1994. Since that time, she has been widely acknowledged for her business leadership and strategic approach to community redevelopment. At AHA, Ms. Glover pioneered master-planned, mixed-finance, mixed-income residential development where families of all socio-economic profiles live next to each other in the same amenity-rich community. Ms. Glover has been nationally recognized for her role in transforming U.S. urban policy. By introducing mixed-income communities into our cities, she has improved not only housing, but also public schools, transit access and employment opportunities. In fact, the model Ms. Glover created at AHA is now used as the redevelopment blueprint by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In July 2003, Ms. Glover was chosen by the Atlanta History Center as one of Atlanta’s Defining Women. She was named Public Official of the Year 2002 by Governing Magazine. In June 2002, a collaboration among the Center for American Women and Politics, the Ford Foundation and the Council for Excellence in Government recognized Ms. Glover as one of the top ten American women in government. Ms. Glover has also been featured in Atlanta Women Speak, an anthology of speeches from Atlanta’s political and corporate leadership. Prior to joining the Atlanta Housing Authority, Ms. Glover was a corporate finance attorney in Atlanta and New York City. She received her JD from Boston University, her Master’s degree from Yale University and her Bachelor of Arts from Fisk University.
Carl R. Greene is the executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a position he assumed in 1998. Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Mr. Greene served as the executive director of the Detroit Housing Commission. He also worked at the Washington, DC, and Atlanta, GA, housing authorities. Mr. Greene holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland and Master's degree in Information Systems Technology from George Washington University.
Jeffery R. Hayward is Fannie Mae's senior vice president for Community Lending and Development. Mr. Hayward also manages the company’s overall relationship with the Housing Finance Agencies and works closely with the National Council of State Housing Agencies and its members. Mr. Hayward oversees Fannie Mae staff across the country who work to bring capital to underserved communities, create housing for the homeless, invest in rural and Native American communities, and rebuild along the Gulf Coast. Prior to that, he was senior vice president for the Single-Family National Business Center and has served as the company's senior Mortgage Backed-Securities negotiator, director of Marketing, director of Quality Control, vice president of Single-Family Risk Management in Washington, DC, vice president of Single-Family Operations in the Northeastern Regional Office, and vice president for Single-Family Mortgage Business. Previously, Mr. Hayward was vice president of production at Star States Mortgage Corporation, and he was assistant vice president of residential lending at Germantown Savings Bank. Mr. Hayward has a bachelor of science in business management from Widener University.
Kimberly Jackson is the executive director of the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation where she manages all aspects of the foundations operations. Over 12 years, the foundation ' s grants and loans of $180 million have leveraged over $3 billion in affordable housing assets nationwide. Ms. Jackson also serves on the executive management team leading Wells Fargo’s local and national foreclosure mitigation strategies. Ms. Jackson created Wells Fargo's Real Estate Owned (REO) programs, which donates or discounts REO assets to localities in an effort to assist in with community stabilization . She also create the Team M ember Volunteer Program. Under her leadership, Wells Fargo has become the largest supplier of volunteer resources in the nation to Habitat for Humanity. Prior to Wells Fargo, Ms. Jackson was director of product development at GMAC/RFC , creating mortgage and junior lien products for their network of correspondent lenders and before that a servicing acquisitions manager. Her various affiliations include member of the Urban Financial Services Coalition and National Council on Foundations, as well as the Wells Fargo Community Revitalization Committee. In 2007, Ms. Jackson was awarded the 2007 Wells Fargo Management Excellence Award. Ms. Jackson holds an accounting degree from University of St. Thomas, Minnesota.
Leslye Krutko is the director of housing for the City of San Jose. Since she joined the City in 1991, the Department, a public-purpose lender, has financed the construction of more than 17,500 affordable housing units, leveraging more than $2.3 billion in private and public capital with $580 million in City loans and grants. In addition to multi-family housing production, the City has assisted more than 1,650 homebuyers to purchase their first home, including over 650 public school teachers. From 1981 to 1990, Ms. Krutko worked for the California Department of Housing and Community Development and was responsible for the daily oversight of the State’s housing loan and grant programs, including the administration of the State’s first affordable housing bond initiatives that made $600 million available for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing throughout the State. Ms. Krutko is a member of the Board of Governors for the California Housing Consortium, an NHC affiliate that she helped found in 1997.
Steve O'Connor is senior vice president of Government Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). As the head of MBA's Government Affairs department, he is responsible for managing MBA's policy development, legislative, regulatory, and political activities. He directs MBA’s overall advocacy strategies, including outreach to Congress, the Administration, and other key stakeholders. Mr. O’Connor has appeared on numerous national news broadcasts, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and NPR radio. He is frequently quoted in major print publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. He is a frequent guest speaker on industry issues. Mr. O'Connor joined MBA in 1996. Previously he worked in government affairs for the National Association of Realtors and Freddie Mac. He also worked for Skyline Financial Services Corp. Mr. O'Connor holds a Bachelor's degree in political science from Marquette University and a Master's degree in political science from American University.
Christine M.J. Oliver is the president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Dwellings Association (CDA), the oldest not-for-profit housing development corporation in Chicago. Prior to joining CDA in 1991, Ms. Oliver served as the director of development and special housing programs for the Chicago Housing Authority. From 1983 to 1989, she held several senior level policy positions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, DC. From 1993 to 1998, Ms. Oliver served as the first woman chair of the National Housing Conference, and from 1998 to 2003 she served as regional vice president. In 1996, the Low Income Housing Coalition honored Ms. Oliver for her leadership in affordable housing. Ms. Oliver is a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Housing Policy. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Enterprise Mortgage Investment Corporation, and she serves on the Board of the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities.
J. Michael Pitchford presently serves as the president and CEO of Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC). In this role, he is responsible for the company’s strategic direction and the leadership of the real estate development, asset management and resident services functions which create and support CPDC’s 25 affordable housing communities. Previously Mr. Pitchford led the Community Development Equity Group at Bank of America Corporation in Charlotte, NC. The Group developed or rehabilitated 23,000 units of affordable housing and increased equity commitments 3,000% to $3 Billion, during his ten years leading the organization. Mr. Pitchford also has participated in or led associations, workshops, conferences, and forums on housing policy, community development, and the sharing of best practices. He has served in leadership roles with the National Housing Conference, the National Equity Fund, the Urban Land Institute, the Washington Area Housing Partnership, the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Maryland Building Industry Associations, and the Old Dominion University Board of Visitors. Mr. Pitchford is a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Boards of the National Equity Fund, the National Housing Conference, the Housing Partnership Network and the Center for Housing Policy. He is a past chairman of the Affordable Housing Council of ULI and is a past chairman of the National Housing Conference. He presently serves as the chairman of the ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing/DC. Mr. Pitchford earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Old Dominion University.
Saul N. Ramirez, Jr. is executive director of National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). Previously, he was with Greystone and Co., a leading financial services and trading company that provides debt and equity financing for the development, rehabilitation, acquisition and refinancing of multifamily and other projects. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Ramirez served as the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). From 1997 to 1998, he was HUD's assistant secretary of community planning and development. Prior to his tenure at HUD, he was Mayor of the City of Laredo from 1990 to 1997 and was a city council member in Laredo from 1982 to 1990. Mr. Ramirez also has 20 years of experience as an insurance industry executive and partner in Texas companies and served as a member of the Board of the Texas Municipal League Inter-Government Risk Pool.
Benson "Buzz" Roberts is senior vice president for policy and program development at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), where he directs LISC's public policy and government relations activities. He has been involved in the creation of such policies as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit and the HOME housing development program. Prior to joining LISC in 1988, Mr. Roberts was an associate at James Pickman & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm. Mr. Roberts has a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Harvard University.
Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, is a leading national voice on the issue of homelessness. The Alliance is a public education, advocacy and capacity-building organization with over 10,000 nonprofit and public sector member agencies and corporate partners around the country. Under her leadership, the Alliance has developed a pragmatic plan to end homelessness within ten years. To implement this plan, Ms. Roman works closely with members of Congress and the Administration, as well as with cities and states across the nation. She collaborates with Alliance members to educate the public about the real nature of homelessness and successful solutions. She has researched and written on the issue, is frequently interviewed by the press, and regularly speaks at events around the country. Her unique perspective on homelessness and its solutions comes from over twenty-five years of local and national experience in the areas of poverty and community-based organization. Ms. Roman received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois.
Ann Schnare is a partner at Empiris LLC, a consulting company that provides expert economic, financial, statistical, and management consulting services to clients engaged in litigation, regulatory proceedings, public policy debates, and strategic planning. She also serves as the immediate past chair of the Center for Housing Policy. Previously, Dr. Schnare was senior vice president for Corporate Relations and vice president for Financial Research and Housing Economics at Freddie Mac. Dr. Schnare has held a number of senior management positions in the consulting industry, including director of the Center for Public Finance and Housing at the Urban Institute. She holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and a BA, summa cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dianne Spaulding has been the executive director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (more commonly referred to as NPH) for the past sixteen years. After thirty years since it was founded in 1979, NPH supports over 750 members representing housing practitioners and the developers of affordable housing primarily in the nine counties around the San Francisco Bay Area. NPH works to advance affordable housing as the foundation for thriving individuals, families and neighborhoods. During Ms. Spaulding’s tenure NPH has gained a national reputation for many of its capacity building initiatives and leadership in the housing policy arena. This includes the areas of inclusionary zoning, housing element campaigns, community acceptance strategies planning and other groundbreaking approaches to boosting the supply of affordable housing production. Ms. Spaulding and the organization have played key leadership roles at all levels in securing landmark legislative achievements for pro-housing policies and in securing several of the largest appropriations of funding for affordable housing in the country from the State of California (over $6 billlion dollars).
Monica Hilton Sussman is a partner and helps run the affordable housing practice in the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP. A former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) executive with nearly 20 years of experience in real estate and housing law, Ms. Sussman concentrates her practice in all types of real estate transactions and affordable housing and community development law. Prior to joining Nixon Peabody, she held the position of deputy general counsel at HUD, where she oversaw the Office of Insured Housing, the Office of Legislation and Regulations, and the Office of Finance and Regulatory Enforcement. Before her HUD appointment, Ms. Sussman practiced law with several Washington, DC law firms. Ms. Sussman has a Bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and a JD from Hofstra University School of Law.
Barbara J. Thompson is executive director of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), a national, nonprofit, Washington-based organization that represents the affordable housing interests of state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) before Congress and the Administration. NCSHA’s members are the HFAs of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ms. Thompson oversees NCSHA’s advocacy, education, and communications efforts, as well as the day-to-day operations of the association. Before becoming executive director in 2001, Ms. Thompson served as NCSHA’s director of policy and government affairs for 13 years. Before joining NCSHA in 1988, Ms. Thompson was vice president of the National Cooperative Business Association, where she concentrated on housing and tax policy and legislative advocacy. Prior to that, she served in the New Jersey Governor's Washington Office, under two Administrations, as a senior housing lobbyist. She began her career in the office of former Congressman Andrew Maguire (D-NJ).
Brian Tracey is National Tax Credit Investments Executive for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, leading a team of real estate professionals in making equity investments through the use of federal and state tax credit programs, including historic, low-income, New Markets and solar tax credits. Mr. Tracey’s team works with other associates across the company as part of providing integrated financial solutions to Bank of America clients. With offices from coast-to-coast, Bank of America is the largest provider of commercial real estate financial services in the country. Mr. Tracey joined Bank of America in 1984 after graduating from the University of Maryland with a master of business administration degree with a concentration in finance.
Joseph M. Ventrone is vice president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Regulatory and Industry Relations Department. Mr. Ventrone oversees all of NAR’s regulatory advocacy initiatives and the Real Estate Services Program. Mr. Ventrone’s expertise in housing issues spans nearly 30 years and includes stints in the private sector, top federal agencies and on Capitol Hill during both the Democratic and Republican administrations. Prior to joining the NAR in 2003, Mr. Ventrone was a senior policy advisor at the Federal Housing Finance Board. Mr. Ventrone was a member of the Bush/Cheney Transition Team at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He then served as a special advisor to Secretary Mel Martinez, focusing on housing policy and congressional relations. Mr. Ventrone joined the United States House of Representatives as a professional staff member in 1983 and worked in various positions include as deputy staff director for the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services (now the Committee on Financial Services). Before joining the House, Mr. Ventrone was a loan realty officer and housing program specialist for the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1974 to 1983. Mr. Ventrone began his career as a research analyst with the Housing Opportunities Council of Metropolitan Washington in 1972. Mr. Ventrone graduated from Curry College with a B.A. degree in 1971. He earned his Master’s degree in Public Administration (Urban Affairs) from American University in 1973.
Kenneth D. Wade is executive director of NeighborWorks America, overseeing its multimillion-dollar grant programs and training activities in support of the national NeighborWorks® network of affordable housing and community development organizations. Mr. Wade, who joined Neighborhood Reinvestment in 1990, has over 25 years of experience in community development. He most recently served for five years as Neighborhood Reinvestment’s Director of National Programs, Initiatives and Research. Prior to joining Neighborhood Reinvestment, Mr. Wade worked for nine years with Boston’s United South End Settlements. He participated in the development of the “Community Investment Plan” in Boston, established by local banks and the Community Investment Coalition in 1990. He has served as a community board member of the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (a consortium of banks that provides financing for affordable housing development) and as the state attorney general’s representative on the Home Improvement Contractor Advisory Panel for the State of Massachusetts. In addition, Mr. Wade has served on the Advisory Committee for the Affordable Housing Program of the Boston Federal Home Loan Bank and on the Boston Federal Reserve Bank Community Development Advisory Committee. Mr. Wade studied at Springfield College and University of Massachusetts College of Public and Community Service.
Paul Norris Weech is senior vice president for policy at Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future. Previously, he was a Principal at Innovative Housing Strategies, LLC. Mr. Weech served is many roles at Fannie Mae, including vice president for Analytics and Policy in the Office of Corporate Strategy where he managed a team that provided competitive analysis and public policy analysis in support of Fannie Mae’s strategic planning; vice president for Housing Goals Policy and Analytics; and director, Market Research and Policy Development – National Community Lending Center (NCLC). Before joining Fannie Mae, Weech was chief of staff/senior advisor for Policy and Planning at United States Small Business Administration (SBA). Before that, he was staff director/professional staff member for the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. States Senate. Previously, Weech was senior analyst for Housing and Credit, Committee on Budget, U.S. Senate; regional group manager for West Africa, Group Management Division, American International Group (AIG); budget examiner, Housing and Banking Branch, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB); and a research associate doing anthropological fieldwork in Cote d’Ivoire. Weech has a master of public policy from the Institute for Public Policy Studies University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts in political science from Duke University.
Barry Zigas is director of Housing Policy at Consumer Federation of America, and principal at Zigas and Associates LLC, based in Washington, DC, where he assists private and not-for-profit organizations with product, program and policy development, strategic planning and organizational development. From 1995 until 2006, Mr. Zigas was a senior vice president at Fannie Mae, where he led the National Community Lending Center. His work there focused on specialized mortgage product development to increase homeownership opportunities, broader engagements with nontraditional partners and CDFIs, and regulatory relations with HUD. Mr. Zigas joined Fannie Mae in July 1993 as vice president for Housing Impact Policy and retired from the company in June, 2006. Mr. Zigas was president of the National Low Income Coalition from 1984-93, and assistant executive director and project staff director at the US Conference of Mayors from 1976-84. He was a reporter at Housing and Development Reporter from 1973-76. Mr. Zigas is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Grinnell College, in Grinnell, IA, and graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, in 1997. Mr. Zigas serves as a Trustee of Enterprise Community Partners and on the boards of Mercy Housing, Inc., the National Housing Trust, and the Avalon Theater Project in Washington, DC.