Board of Directors

Terry Freeman
Chairperson - Principal, Terry Freeman & Associates

Terry Freeman was the National Director of Affordable Housing Finance for Klein Capital Solutions (an affiliate of Klein Financial Corporation), a developer of multifamily affordable housing projects and a leader in the creation of innovative financial structures to facilitate the development of such projects. Ms. Freeman managed all phases of Klein’s development projects, and works with her developer clients to structure project acquisition, design, equity, financing and accounting to optimize return. She also advised state and federal government agencies on public policy guidelines affecting the multifamily affordable housing industry.

Ms. Freeman has more than 25 years of experience in real estate finance and asset management. Prior to joining Klein Capital Solutions, Ms. Freeman served as Senior Vice President of Savings Associations Mortgage Company (SAMCO), a consortium lender that provided unique financial services to stimulate the revitalization of communities, Chief Asset Officer for San Francisco Federal, Senior Vice President of Great American Asset Management Company, Portfolio Manager for Glenborough Corporation and as a Senior Consultant in the Real Estate Industries Group at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute).

Ms. Freeman is a frequent speaker at real estate industry conferences. Ms. Freeman has authored articles on affordable housing finance for Multifamily Executive, Affordable Housing Finance and Novogradac & Company’s Housing Bond Report.

Ms. Freeman holds a Master of City and Regional Planning, with Distinction, from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Anthropology, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Web site:  

Geoff Brown
Vice Chairperson - President, USA Properties Fund

Geoffrey C. Brown is President of USA Properties Fund. USA Properties Fund develops, through construction or acquisition and rehabilitation, affordable housing for families and seniors, primarily in California and Nevada. In addition, its subsidiary, USA Multifamily Management, manages its own projects in a portfolio consisting of approximately 4,000 units.

Before joining USA in 1989, Mr. Brown was employed at Sanwa Bank California in their Real Estate Industries Division. During his tenure at Sanwa Bank as Vice President and Manager of the Pasadena Real Estate Office, he oversaw the construction lending activity for residential and commercial loans. Mr. Brown earned a BA in Economics from Williamette University and a MBA degree in Finance from the University of Washington. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker and Contractor in California.

Web site: www.usapropfund.com

Jeanne Peterson
Secretary - Principal, The Reznick Group

Ms. Peterson was appointed Executive Director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee by State Treasurer Phil Angelides in March 1999, and has changed the system for tax credit allocation in the state. She came to California from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, where she worked for eighteen years in the delivery of affordable housing, first as a staff attorney, and then as Director of Legal Affairs. She directed a staff of attorneys in bond and multifamily loan closings, was involved in all program and policy decisions of the agency, and had oversight of the low income housing tax credit program since its inception. She has been a frequent speaker and writer on tax credit issues. She envisioned and was instrumental in the creation of the Michigan Capital Fund for Housing, the state equity fund.

Ms. Peterson holds bachelor and master’s degrees in history, as well as a JD. She serves on the board of the California Housing Consortium, and represents Treasurer Angelides on the board of the California Housing Finance Agency.

Web site: www.reznickgroup.com

Jim Kroger
Treasurer - Partner, Novogradac & Company LLP

Jim Kroger is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP.  Mr. Kroger has extensive experience in consulting for affordable housing projects with financing from low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds. He conducts workshops regarding tax credit applications, tax-exempt bond applications and tax credit property compliance; and he has created a training program to help property managers become certified in IRS Section 42 tax credit property compliance. Mr. Kroger is the technical editor of the monthly Property Compliance Report newsletter, which is published to help property managers and owners with IRS Section 42 tax credit property compliance. He is often a speaker at the Housing Credit Conference hosted by the National Council of State Housing Agencies. He received his bachelor’s degree in legal studies from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s from the University of California at Davis. Mr. Kroger is licensed as a certified public accountant in California.

Website: http://www.novoco.com/

Linda Mandolini has served Eden Housing as a Project Developer, as the 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 over $4 million.  She is guided in her work by Eden's active volunteer board of directors.  Linda 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 150 people. 

Linda 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 of the California Housing Consortium, and 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.

Website: http://www.edenhousing.org/

Ken Sauder
Membership Chair - President and CEO, Wakeland Housing & Development Corporation

Ken Sauder is president and CEO of Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation. He was the organization's founding executive director in 1999. Under Mr. Sauder's leadership and assisted by a strong staff and solid board of directors, Wakeland has grown its development portfolio to over 5,500 units in 31 projects throughout California and Washington.

Mr. Sauder has over 30 years of community development and affordable housing experience, working exclusively for non-profits, both internationally and nationally. He has extensive expertise in working with a variety of funding sources -- tax credit, tax exempt bonds, municipal bonds, HOME funds, CDBG funds, set-aside money and a variety of foundation funds.

He previously held positions as director of community development for South Bay Community Services; founding director of Latin American Program for Habitat for Humanity International; and the first director of Tijuana-San Diego Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Sauder holds a master's degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor's degree in social work from Temple University. He is active in a variety of organizations promoting affordable housing and serves on the board of Directors for the San Diego Housing Federation.

Web site: www.wakelandhdc.com

Elizabeth Bluhm
Immediate Past Chairperson - Senior Managing Director, Red Capital Markets, Inc.

Ms. Bluhm is a member of the Executive Committee of RED CAPITAL GROUP and heads RED’s San Diego office, providing Fannie Mae DUS and FHA mortgages, tax credit equity, construction financing, mezzanine capital, and tax-exempt bond financing. Ms. Bluhm joined RED’s predecessor entity in 1993, and prior to opening the San Diego office in 2001 directed the firm’s low income housing tax credit business. She has more than 20 years of real estate and capital markets experience, with responsibilities in investor relations, project acquisitions and asset management. Previously, Ms. Bluhm was Vice President of First Boston Corp. in institutional sales, specializing in municipal bonds. She serves on the Advisory Council of the USD Real Estate Institute and the Housing Committee of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Bluhm holds a BA in Philosophy from Scripps College and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School.

Web site: www.redcapitalgroup.com

Laura Archuleta
President, Jamboree Housing Corporation

In ten short years, Archuleta has guided Jamboree from a small, Irvine-based local housing developer with 750 units into a statewide provider of affordable housing with more than 6,700 units for families and seniors in 35+ communities.

Archuleta's commitment to enhance the quality of life for residents who live in the communities she serves spans nearly 20 years, resulting in the production/preservation of more than 10,000 housing untis being leased or sold to lower-income familites and/or seniors. She believes long-term solutions to the housing crisis require aggressive action on the part of the non-profit community, public-sector agencies as well as private companies, and has brought those groups together to form innovative partnerships. Archuleta co-chaired the State's Proposition 1 C Campaign Finance Committee in 2006-its passage equating to additional funding to increase affordable housing options for California residents. Since coming to Jamboree, she has growm the company's portfolio to a market value of nearly $2 billion dollars, directly benefiting some 18,000 Californians.

Web site: www.jamboreehousing,com

Assistant Secretary Cabrera joined the National Community Renaissance with an impressive track record in both private and public sectors of the housing industry. Prior to taking the helm at National CORE as its CEO, Assistant Secretary Cabrera was appointed by President George W. Bush as the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. At HUD Assistant Secretary Cabrera managed public housing, Section 8, and tribal housing programs nationwide. 

Assistant Secretary Cabrera has served on various other housing related boards. These include the National Council of State Housing Agencies, National Council of State Housing Boards, Latin Builders Association, abd Dade Venture Capitl Management Company where he serves as Chairman and Director.

In addition to his housing experience, Assistant Secretary Cabrera is an attorney. He was a partner with an international law firm where he practiced in the real estate group. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 from the University of Michigan and his law degree in 1989 from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Web site: www.schdc.org

Rebecca has for 20 years focused on her career entirely on affordable housing and community development issues within the government and nonprofit sectors. In 2009, Rebecca began consulting focusing on helping nonprofits and government achieve thier goals.

Prior to starting this latest venture, she served for 9 years as the President and CEO of National Community Renaissance and Executive Director of Hope Through Housing Foundation, one of the largest full service nonprofit affordable housing providers in the Country providing a affordable apartment home and social services to over 30,000 low income people across the country. Earlier Rebecca served as the Director of Housing Development and Construction Management for the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission serving the 9 million residents in the Los Angeles County jurisdiction. She is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona in Architecture and the Claremont Gradute University Drucker Business School.

President, California Community Reinvestment Corporation

Mary Kaiser is a 30-year financial services executive, specializing in marketing, lending and integrating the delivery of financial products and services.

Mary joined the California Community Reinvestment Corporation in 1995 as President and CEO, since increasing net worth of the company by $14 million while evolving the product lines to meet the increasing needs of membership as well as the low-income communities served. CCRC provides permanent mortgages, tax-exempt private placement bonds, acquisition/rehabilitation/permanent financing, and equity for the development of affordable rental and for-sale housing, extending in excess of $800 million in new loan commitments, funding of over $500 million in loans.  They represent over $400 million in lines of credit from member bank and insurance company investors. Active loan sales in the secondary market are approaching $280 million in multi-family affordable housing mortgages and bonds.

Mary serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Economic Development Council, Executive Committee of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, Board of Trustees of Community Reinvestment Fund, Board of Directors of California Environmental Redevelopment Fund, Advisory Board of the Ventura County Community Foundation, Pepperdine’s Seaver College Board of Visitors, Pepperdine Career Coach, and the Low Income Investment Fund Loan Committee.

She received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from San Diego State and an MBA from California Lutheran University.

Web site: www.e-ccrc.org

Mary Ellen Shay

Legislative Advocate, CAL-ALHFA and President, ME Shay Co.

Mary Ellen Shay began her career as a VISTA volunteer in 1970. She worked in Shasta County and founded the Self Help Home Improvement Project with her VISTA colleagues. SHHIP just celebrated its 30th Anniversary. She has worked at the local, state and federal level in developing affordable housing and has had a private consulting business since 1986. She has prepared over 300 market studies for affordable housing and serves as program liaison to over 20 HOME projects. She has assisted in the preparation of numerous tax credit and bond applications, as well as other affordable housing programs.

As a legislative advocate, she represents the California Housing Authorities Association and the California Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies. She serves on the Board of Directors of the California Housing Consortium and is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program Advisory Committee.

Web sites: www.calalhfa.org and www.meshayco.com

John Shirey

Executive Director, California Redevelopment Association

John Shirey has over 30 years of experience from a variety of government positions. He has proven expertise in all areas of general management, including human resources, finance, budgeting, organizational development, policy-setting, program implementation, and government relations. Throughout his career he has set high standards of integrity and professionalism.

Mr. Shirey is currently the Executive Director of the California Redevelopment Association (CRA). Based in Sacramento, CRA serves over 350 redevelopment agencies and over 300 private and non-profit organizations engaged in redevelopment activities. Mr. Shirey is responsible for overseeing legislative advocacy, professional training and development, and public information services provided by CRA to its members.

Mr. Shirey is actively involved in professional associations such as the American Society for Public Administration, California Association for Local Economic Development, the International City/County Management Association, the Urban Land Institute and International Council of Shopping Centers. He is a master official with USA Track & Field and officiated at the 1996 Olympic Games and four Olympic Trials.

Web site: www.calredevelop.org

Jim Silverwood
President & CEO,Affirmed Housing Group

James Silverwood founded Affirmed Housing Group, a for-profit affordable housing development corporation, in 1990. Mr. Silverwood has over 27 years experience in residential development, including land acquisition, engineering, architecture, finance, construction management, marketing, and asset management. 

Mr. Silverwood has been active in regional and statewide legislative issues in California and servied on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Building Industry Association North County Division from 1989 to 1992, including serving as President in 1991. Mr. Silverwood was appointed to the California State Treasurer's Housing Finance Advisory Commitee in 1996 and served through 1998. He has also served as a Boardmember of the Local Initiative Support Coalition and the Non-Profit Housing Federation of San Diego County.

Web site: www.affirmedhousing.com

Dianne Spaulding
Executive Director, Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California

Dianne Spaulding is in her tenth year as the Executive Director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. NPH is a 500 plus membership association representing housing practitioners and the developers of affordable housing primarily in the nine counties around the San Francisco Bay area. In 2003 Dianne was recognized in Northern California with the Catherine A. Bauer Leadership Awards and in 2002 with the Housing Genius Award. 

Dianne is a graduate of the University of California and for over twenty-five years has dedicated her work in the non-profit sector. She has held numerous positions including tenure as the Regional Director for the Bay Area Information and Retrieval System, Director of Governmental Affairs and Transportation for the Fresno City and County Chamber of Commerce and as Deputy Director for the Older Americans Organizations, a large multi-service agency serving the frail elderly in Central California. 

Web site:   www.nonprofithousing.org

Ronne Lynn Thielen

Managing Director, Affordable Housing, Centerline Capital Group

Ronne is responsible for acquiring tax-credit and bond-financed properties in the western region of the United States. She also serves as a liaison on behalf of Centerline to national, state and local associations regarding affordable housing issues. Ronne is the current president of both the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition and the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association. Ronne has extensive experience in multifamily housing finance and has specialized in the low-income housing tax credit program since its inception in 1986. Before coming to Centerline in 1994, she served as executive director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee from 1991 to 1994. Prior to that she was deputy director for program and policy development at the National Council of State Housing Agencies and, before that, she served at the Vermont Housing Finance Agency in the areas of multifamily finance and asset management.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.

Web site: www.centerline.com

Percival Vaz
President/Chief Executive Officer, AMCAL Multi-Housing, Inc.

 With more than 29 years of industry experience, AMCAL Multi-Housing Inc.'s President and Chief Executive Officer Percival Vaz is an expert in single and multi-family developments, construction, property management and real estate investment.

After founding AMCAL in 1978, Vaz successfully transformed the company into one of the industry's leading builders by planning, developing, building and managing projects valued at more than $350,000,000 throughout California. In 1996, due to market demand, AMCAL shifted its focus primarily on affordable housing. With more than $216 million awarded in tax credits since 2003, AMCAL continues to develop high-quality urban multi-family housing that provides architecturally attractive, meticulously constructed and environmentally smart opportunities for affordable family living in both for-sale and rental properties.

Born in Bombay, India, Vaz immigrated to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles with a master's degree in electronics and a minor in business, Vaz worked within the aerospace and electronics industries before obtaining his contractor's license in 1979 and building his first apartment building.

Vaz is on the Board of Directors for the California Housing Consortium, an organization dedicated to advancing affordable housing and community development issues throughout California. He is also a member of the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH), the California Redevelopment Association and the Building Industry Association (BIA). A recognized leader in the affordable housing industry, Vaz has been invited to speak about urban redevelopment for several forums, including the Urban Land Institute, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, National Housing Conference, BIA, the University of Southern California and SCANPH.

A recipient of the West Angeles Community Development Corporation's Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award, Vaz also received the William F. McKenna Award for leadership in the field of affordable housing by LINC Housing Corporation.

In addition to his participation within the real estate industry, Vaz is an active member of the community, previously serving on the Board of Directors for The Wellness Community in Westlake Village, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing free emotional support, education and hope for people with cancer and their loved ones. He is also the co-founder of the Sonaz Peace Foundation, an organization that has funded over 6,000 cataract surgeries for people in rural India. Vaz is a benefactor of the Civic Arts Plaza and St. Maximilian Kolbe Church, both located in his home city of Thousand Oaks.

Web site: www.amcalhousing.com

Ex-Officio Members

Lynn L. Jacobs 
Director, California Department of Housing and Community Development

Lynn L. Jacobs was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as the Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that operates under the aegis of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency in Sacramento effective April 2006.

Jacob's position includes oversight for administering the state's housing finance, rehabilitation, and community development programs; oversight of the state's housing policy, planning and code-setting processes, and regulating manufactured housing and mobile home parks. Jacobs leads the administration of Proposition 46 $2.1 Billion in Bond Funds for affordable housing. Since January 2004, those funds will have incentivized or created more than tens of thousands of affordable homes and shelter spaces for Californians.

Lynn is a native Californian who has resided in Ventura since 1979. She is married to Gary Jacobs, a local attorney, and has one adult son, Matthew. A product of Los Angeles public schools, Lynn graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College/Harvard University.

Prior to assuming the Presidency of Ventura Affordable Homes, Lynn served as President of Affordable Communities Inc, and has been responsible for the construction of over 400 homes affordable to first time buyers in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. She has written numerous articles for publications and received many awards including the National Building Innovations in Affordable Housing Award in 1997. Lynn began her career in banking with Citibank in Los Angeles and has worked for Wells Fargo Bank in Ventura and Humboldt Counties.

Besides being a leader in producing affordable housing in California, Lynn has been extremely active in the building industry. She has served as President of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, as a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the California Building Industry Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Homebuilders. She currently is a member of SCANPH, the Southern California Association of Non Profit Housing Developers.

Community service has been an integral part of Lynn's career. She served 9 years on the city of Ventura's Planning Commission, with 2 years as Chair. She has been President of the American Cancer Society in Ventura County, President of Soroptimist International of Ventura, and h as worked closely with Ventura's schools in various capacities, currently serving on their Bond Oversight Committee. She has served as Chair of Ventura County's Workforce Investment Board, a public/private entity that manages workforce programs and training dollars countywide. At the State level, she has served on the Loan and Grant Committee of the Department of Housing and Community Development and is honored to have been appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to be a member of the Board of Directors of the California Housing Partnership Corporation.

Lynn actively supports sensible solutions to California's growing housing crisis.

Web site: www.hcd.ca.gov

Sean Spear

Executive Director, California Debt Limit Allocation Committee

Steve Spear is currently the Executive Director of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC), which administers the private activity bond program annually for California.

 Web site: www.treasurer.ca.gov/cdlac/

L. Steven Spears

Acting Executive Director, California Housing Finance Agency

Chief Deputy Director since December 2006, and serving as Acting Executive Director since December 2008. Previously, Steve was the principle consultant of the SAER Group (2003-2005), Managing Director for Metropolitan West Financial and Strategic Services (1998-2003), and Deputy State Treasurer to former State Treasurer Matthew Fong (1995-1998). Education: B.S., Accounting, Southern Missionary College – Collegedale, Tennessee. M.B.A., Finance, University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Tennessee. Juris Doctor, University of the Pacific; McGeorge School of Law – Sacramento, California. Pacific Law Journal: Comment Staff, Assistant Managing Editor.

Web site: www.calhfa.ca.gov

William Pavao 

Executive Director, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee

State Treasurer Phil Angelides appointed William Pavão as the Executive Director to the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) in August 2005. Mr. Pavão came to TCAC from the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) where he was serving as Deputy Director over the Division of Financial Assistance Division. Bill had been heading up the Department’s programs division since March 1997.

Since coming to TCAC, Mr. Pavão has initiated an effort to operate a more transparent, participatory program. His efforts have included clarifying and streamlining regulatory changes, greater disclosure of decision-making and greater use of TCAC’s website for disseminating information. In addition, Mr. Pavão is now holding monthly Southern California office hours out of the Treasurer’s downtown Los Angeles office.

Mr. Pavão has both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Social Welfare program planning and administration. His undergraduate career included an internship with the East Bay Gray Panthers’ housing committee; a directorship of a nonprofit renters organization; and an internship with the City of Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board. Before entering graduate school, Mr. Pavão spent a year as a VISTA neighborhood organizer in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Pavão was born in Southern California’s Inland Empire, raised in the Central Valley, and educated in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Web site: www.treasurer.ca.gov/ctcac/

Emeritus Directors

Theodore Chandler

AFLCIO

Ted Chandler is Fannie Mae’s Vice President of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for the Western United States. He is responsible for Fannie Mae's community lending and community development business in the region, as well as communications and public affairs. Based in Pasadena, California, he manages Fannie Mae’s regional HCD staff, and nine Partnership Offices throughout the West.

Before assuming his current position, Chandler was director of Fannie Mae's Boston Partnership Office. Prior to joining Fannie Mae, he served as the Deputy Director, CFO, and General Counsel of the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency (MIFA). He began his career with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, where he served as Acting Director and Chief of Staff.

Web site: www.fanniemae.com

Will N. Cooper, Sr.

Chairman & Director, WNC & Associates, Inc.

Wilfred N. Cooper, Sr. co-founder and Director of the California Housing Consortium, is also the founder, Chairman and a Director of WNC & Associates, Inc. WNC is a specialist in affordable housing and owner of over 150 affordable rental properties (over 7,000 units) in the state of California. Mr. Cooper is a recognized leader in the affordable housing industry. He has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and the House about affordable housing issues. He is a Life Director of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), a National Trustee for NAHB’s Political Action Committee and the 2003/2004 Chairman of NAHB’s Multifamily Council. Mr. Cooper is also a Director of the National Housing Conference (NHC), and a member of NHC’s Board of Governors.

Web site: www.wncinc.com

Janet Falk 

VP for Real Estate, Mercy Housing Corporation

Janet Falk has extensive experience in the development and financing of nonprofit housing. She is Vice President for Real Estate Development for Mercy Housing California (MHC), where she oversees all of MHC’s development activities statewide. She is responsible for underwriting risk and return, as well as evaluation of new business opportunities. She also serves as part of MHC’s senior management team.

Ms. Falk has extensive experience in the financing and development of affordable housing, including new construction, rehabilitation, special needs housing, mobile home parks, tenant purchase of rental properties, and artists’ live/work space. She is particularly knowledgeable in utilizing the low income housing tax credit and tax-exempt bonds for nonprofit projects and in the ways in which local and state governments can most effectively assist in the development and preservation of affordable housing.

Prior to joining Mercy Housing, Ms. Falk served as Executive Director of the California Housing Partnership Corporation from 1999 to 2002. At CHPC, she specialized in the refinancing of federally assisted projects and the policy issues involved in the preservation of at-risk housing. Prior to joining CHPC, Ms. Falk was the Co-Director of Community Economics, Inc. for 19 years. She also worked for five years as a housing and community development specialist for local government agencies in the Bay Area. She received a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University.

Web site: www.mercyhousing.org 

G. Allan Kingston 

Vice Chairman of the Board, National Community Renaissance Corporation

Allan recently joined the board of National CORE, the non-profit successor to SoCal Housing and the National Housing Development Corporation.  Previously, for 18 years as the President/CEO of Century Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing lender, Allan helped create more than 11,000 units of affordable housing in 220 developments, located in 66 communities throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

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.

Web site: www.nationalcore.org

Nancy McLaughlin

private consultant & former CHC Executive Director

Nancy McLaughlin, Community Development Consultant – formerly the Managing Director, National Lending & Housing Programs for the Low Income Investment Fund, a national community development financial institution that invests capital in housing, child care, education, and other community-building initiatives.  Previously, Nancy served as Executive Director of the California Housing Consortium, a statewide education and advocacy organization representing all the varied interests in the affordable housing industry.  Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President and National Affordable Housing Project Executive for Bank of America, providing strategic, production and loan management direction to lenders in offices covering 25 states and originating loans for both single-family and multi-family affordable housing at an annual rate of $1 billion.  She also has extensive experience in government, where she served as Chief of Housing Policy Development for the California Department of Housing and Community Development and held several positions within the California State Legislature. Nancy has served on many local, state and national boards and commissions.  She majored in English Literature at the University of Oregon, and is a graduate of University of Michigan’s School of Business Administration Executive Program.  Nancy is a past recipient of the Fair Housing Award, presented by the Sacramento Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission.

Alex Sanchez
Executive Director, Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara

Alex Sanchez is the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara. The Housing Authority is Silicon Valley’s housing services agency serving lower and moderate income households in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.

The Housing Authority has received a Standard & Poor’s rating of “Strong Performer”, the highest

designation given to public agencies. This distinguished designation considers all aspects of the agency’s operations, including quality of developments, asset management and budgeting practices.

Prior to his recent appointment, Alex Sanchez was Director of Housing for the City of San Jose. In San Jose, the center of Silicon Valley where the median home price exceeds $600,000, Mr. Sanchez developed one of the most comprehensive and ambitious housing programs in the nation. Since 1988, the City of San Jose has assisted in the development of more than 10,000 housing units. Using local redevelopment funds, the City has provided more than $290 million and leveraged more than $1.1 billion of private and public capital for the construction or rehabilitation of housing serving lower and moderate-income households.

Mr. Sanchez has worked in the public sector for the past 25 years for various California communities. His primary expertise is in housing finance, community development and redevelopment. Prior to assuming his duties in the City of San Jose and the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara, Mr. Sanchez served as Director of Housing for the City of Santa Ana and Deputy City Manager and Assistant Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Bell Gardens. Alex Sanchez completed his undergraduate work at Pomona College in Claremont, California.

Mr. Sanchez is an active participant with a number of national and state housing policy organizations.

Web site: www.hacsc.org

Johrita Solari 

President & Founder, Solari Enterprises, Inc.

Johrita Solari: President and Founder of Solari Enterprises, Inc. a full service property management company specializing in the management of affordable multifamily housing. Mrs. Solari has 28 years experience in property management with a portfolio consisting of more than 3,500 affordable multifamily housing units in 53 locations and commercial properties throughout the United States.

She is the former vice-chair of the California Housing Consortium Board of Directors, immediate past chair of the NAHMA & NAHB Housing Credit Certified Professional Board of Governors, Past President and Founding Member of National Affordable Housing Management Association and serves on Board of Directors of various industry and community associations. Mrs. Solari holds a variety of designations and certifications among those are a certified National Affordable Housing Management Professional-Executive, and Housing Credit Certified Professional. She holds an active Real Estate license, serves on the Advisory Board of the Assisted Housing Management Insider and Tax Credit Housing Management Insider.

Web site: www.solari-ent.com