Executive Committee | Board of Governors | Board of Trustees

Helen R. Kanovsky is the chief operating officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT). She previously served as executive vice president of administration and finance and general counsel of the HIT. Ms. Kanovsky also served as chief of staff to United State Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and as executive vice president and general counsel of GE Capital Asset Corporation and its predecessor company, Skyline Financial Services Corporation. She was in private law practice, and also served as special assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and as associate executive secretary to the Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Kanovsky has a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Daniel A. Nissenbaum is the senior vice president of HSBC Bank, USA, N.A. Previously, he served as a director in the Merrill Lynch Community Development Company (CDC). At Merrill Lynch, he managed a number of programs, including real estate construction lending, private equity financings, other CDFI financings, and grant-making (NYC). In addition, he oversaw CDC technology operations. Mr. Nissenbaum has worked in the field of community development finance for 14 years, primarily with the Chase Community Development Corporation and later the J.P. Morgan Community Development Corporation. While at Chase he managed a team of real estate construction lenders. Mr. Nissenbaum began his career with the International City Management Association, followed by two years in Chemical Bank’s Real Estate Department. Mr. Nissenbaum received a Bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College and a Master’s of Business Administration from Columbia Business School. Mr. Nissenbaum is currently a board member of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders and Small Business Investors Alliance, and sits on advisory/loan committees for the Low Income Investment Fund, the New York Community Investment Company, the Housing Partnership Fund Network and The Community Preservation Corporation. Mr. Nissenbaum has been a member of NHC since 1996 and a member of the Board of Governors (and its predecessor) since 2000.

Conrad Egan became the president and chief executive officer of the National Housing Conference (NHC) in 2003, after serving for five years as NHC's director of policy. During 2001 and 2002, Mr. Egan was on a leave of absence from NHC so that he could serve as executive director of the Millennial Housing Commission. Mr. Egan's involvement in community development and housing dates back to 1965, when he worked on local housing activities in Detroit, Michigan. In 1969, Mr. Egan joined the staff of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), serving in a variety of Headquarters and field assignments, including serving as director of the Office of Multifamily Housing Management. He later rejoined HUD staff as a special assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Programs and then as a special assistant to former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. From 1986 to 1993, Mr. Egan was executive vice president of NHP Inc., at the time one of the nation's largest multifamily property owners and managers. Mr. Egan's commitment to housing issues extends beyond the workplace into community service. He is currently serving as the chairman of the Fairfax County, VA, Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Shekar Narasimhan is managing partner for Beekman Advisors, Inc. 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.

John L. Kelly is a partner with Nixon Peabody LLP in the 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.

G. Allan Kingston, named one of the twelve most influential people in housing in 2004 by MultiHousing News, is president and CEO of Century Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing lender based in Los Angeles. In addition to serving as a member of the Century Board of Directors, Mr. Kingston also 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. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and is a Navy veteran.

Elizabeth B. Bluhm, senior managing director, is a member of the executive committee of Red Capital Group and heads Red Capital’s San Diego office, which provides a full range of debt and equity products for multifamily housing, including Fannie Mae DUS and FHA loans and credit enhancement, tax credit equity and construction financing for affordable housing projects, mezzanine capital, and tax-exempt bond financing. Ms. Bluhm joined Banc One Capital, the predecessor entity of Red Capital, in 1993, and directed the firm’s low income housing tax credit business until relocating to San Diego to open Red Capital’s office there in 2001. She has more than 20 years of real estate and capital markets experience, with responsibilities having encompassed investor relations, project acquisitions and asset management. Previously, Ms. Bluhm was a Vice President in institutional sales at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York and Los Angeles, specializing in municipal bonds. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the California Housing Consortium and as a member of the Housing Committee of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Bluhm was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Scripps College with a BA in Philosophy and holds an MBA in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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.

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.

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.