HOME ABOUT US UPCOMING EVENTS NAHRO ACCESS ALLIANCE NAHRO e-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM PARTNERS
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HOME ABOUT US UPCOMING EVENTS NAHRO ACCESS ALLIANCE NAHRO e-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM PARTNERS |
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Transpire Leadership Snapshots |
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Board Chair
Executive Director Opelika (Ala.) Housing Authority Akinola (Nola) Popoola is executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Opelika. Nola holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Houston and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Texas A & M University. He began his housing career at the Houston Housing Authority, and later worked for the Corpus Christi and Austin Housing Authorities. While in Texas, Nola served on several Texas NAHRO committees, and was active in the Southwest Regional Council (SWRC) of NAHRO. He is past president of the Alabama Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. In addition, he served on the Alabama Association of Housing and Redevelopment Authorities Board, and chaired several committees. He is also past president of both the Lee County Habitat for Humanity, and the Corpus Christi Black Chamber of Commerce. In 1998, Nola assumed his current position in Opelika, Alabama. During his tenure at Opelika, he has expanded the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and Family Self Sufficiency Programs. Nola has leveraged the agency funds and enhanced the authority's assets through various partnerships, bond financing, low income tax credits, and utilities savings program. He has partnered with the city government to improve physical condition and safety environment of public housing developments, and to integrate public housing and their residents into the larger community. Currently, he serves as NAHRO's Senior Vice President. Nola serves on the Advisory Board for the Lee County Boys and Girls Club and Alabama Housing Authorities Risk Management, Inc., as well as other civic and governmental committees in the city of Opelika.
Board Secretary/Treasurer
Executive Director National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials Mr. Ramirez brings a great deal of housing and community development experience to NAHRO. He came to NAHRO from Greystone and Co., a leading financial services and trading company located in New York City that provides debt and equity financing for the development, rehabilitation, acquisition and refinancing of multi-family and economic development projects. His primary duty at the Bethesda, MD office was as a mortgage banker. He served as HUD’s Deputy Secretary from 1998 to January 2001. He also served as HUD’s Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development in 1997-1998. Prior to his tenure at HUD, he was Mayor of the City of Laredo from 1990-1997. He used housing and community development programs as tools to encourage the major growth and development of Laredo. He was a city council member in Laredo from 1982-90. Mr. Ramirez has 20 years experience as an insurance industry executive in Texas and served as a Board member of the Texas Municipal League Inter-government Risk Pool with, over $300 million in assets.
Executive Director District of Columbia Housing Authority Michael P. Kelly is the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA). He assumed this post in September 2000. Prior to his unanimous appointment by the DCHA Board of Commissioners, Mr. Kelly served as the authority’s Chief Executive Officer. Before joining DCHA, Mr. Kelly was the Executive Director of the New Orleans Housing Authority (HANO) from 1995 to 2000 where, among other achievements, he was successful in removing the agency from HUD’s Troubled Housing Agency list. Prior to his tenure at HANO, Mr. Kelly spent 10 years at the San Francisco Housing Authority where he served in several capacities, including the authority’s Acting Executive Director. Mr. Kelly is an active professional in the affordable housing industry. He has served on several task forces and committees, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Troubled Housing Recovery Team and the negotiating committee for the Public Housing Operating Subsidy. He also served as an advisor to the congressionally chartered Millennial Housing Commission. Mr. Kelly is the only registered architect to head a large public housing agency, and is the former Harvey-Wadsworth Professor of Urban Affairs at Tulane University’s School of Architecture. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the National Organization of Minority Architects, and the American Planning Association. He is an Executive Board member of the Council for Large Public Housing Authorities, a Board Member of the National Housing Conference, and a member of the national Housing Committee for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. Mr. Kelly also serves on the Board and is a founding member of the National Organization of African Americans in Housing. Mr. Kelly received his BA in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University. He received a Master’s in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s in Education from San Francisco State University.
Director, Tax Credit Division Washington State Housing Finance Commission Steve Walker is the Director of the Tax Credit Division for the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC). He has been with the WSHFC since 1996. Steve has been involved with affordable housing for nearly 20 years. His experience spans from the public sector, including City of New York, Department of Housing, Preservation and Development; City of San Francisco, Department of City Planning; and City of Seattle, Department of Housing and Human Services; to the private and charitable sectors, including various non-profit housing agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Steve worked on his first tax credit deal in 1990, in
Oakland, California. He serves on a number of statewide policy advisory
and credit committees. He holds a Master Urban Planning degree from University
of Washington and a Bachelor Degree in Urban Studies from Columbia University
in New York.
Executive Director Livonia (MI) Housing Commission James M. Inglis is the Executive Director of the Livonia, Michigan Housing Commission. He assumed this position in November 1977. Prior to serving the Housing Commission Mr. Inglis served as an Administrative Assistant to the Mayor of Livonia and as the Community Development Coordinator overseeing neighborhood revitalization initiatives. Mr. Inglis has served on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Troubled Housing Recovery Team and has assisted other housing agencies with agency and strategic planning.
The Livonia Housing Commission is a combined housing and community development agency serving over 1,400 families through conventional low rent public housing, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, Section 8 New Construction, municipal bond financed housing, homeownership initiatives and the Community Development Block Grant program.
Mr. Inglis is the immediate past President of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials and a member of the NAHRO Board of Governors, Past Chair of the NAHRO Budget and Administration Committee, Past President of the North Central Regional Council and Michigan Chapter of NAHRO. Mr. Inglis possesses a Bachelors of Science degree in Public Administration from Ferris State College and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Eastern Michigan University.
Managing Director RBC Capital Markets Ms. Feinberg has been employed by RBC Capital Markets (and William R. Hough & Co. prior to the firm's acquisition by RBC) for 20 years. She presently serves as the manager of the firm's Housing Finance Sector which includes 16 bankers located in various offices across the country. Her affordable housing practice includes both single family and multifamily finance involving public housing authorities, developers and non-profits. Ms. Feinberg is responsible for developing a variety of innovative financing structures used in homeownership programs including down payment assistance products, buy down structures and internally hedged variable rate products. In the multifamily field of finance, she has worked on virtually every type of issue including private activity bonds with 4% housing credits, 501(c)(3) bonds, guarantee fund issues, letter of credit secured issues, FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financings, as well as unenhanced and investment grade rated financings. One of Ms. Feinberg's innovations was the development of an open indenture structure that has allowed community based organizations to finance multiple properties using a pooled approach. Ms. Feinberg graduated from Wake Forest University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in both Economics and Spanish. She is a licensed General Securities Representative as well as a Municipal Securities Principal.
Executive Director Dakota County (MN) Community Development Agency Mark Ulfers has been the Executive Director of the Dakota County CDA since 1986 and has been with the CDA since 1977. Before becoming Executive Director he held a number of positions at the CDA including seven years as the Deputy Director. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Studies and Political Science from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s of Public Administration degree from Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Ulfers is responsible for oversight, direction and implementation of all programs and policies of the CDA. He supervises all agency department heads and works directly with the senior and family housing development programs, the tax forfeiture development program and the single-family/multi-family housing finance programs. Since 1986, he has been responsible for 12 Family Housing Partnerships, with a combined total of 364 units and 18 Senior Housing developments that total 1,016 units. Within the Housing Assistance Department, there are approximately 7,000 household members served through various programs. Additionally, the Dakota County CDA has assisted over 4500 first time homebuyers.
Chief Executive Officer Corpus Christi (TX) Housing Authority Over the span of 45 years, Richard Franco has carved out a distinguished career in federal housing assistance programs, urban issues, economic development, and commercial real estate financing. Mr. Franco currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Authority of the City of Corpus Christi, which he joined in 2001. Prior to Corpus Christi, Mr. Franco served simultaneously as Chief Executive Officer of the Denton, Frisco, Bridge Port Housing Authorities and the Section 8 Program for the City of Louisville. He has also been president of Franco American Enterprises since 1990. In 1990, Mr. Franco retired as a senior executive with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where he had developed a track record of performance and success administering federal housing assistance and community development programs throughout the country. Mr. Franco directed HUD programs in California, Texas, Wisconsin and Louisiana, and served as manager of HUD offices in New Orleans, Milwaukee and as deputy manager in Dallas and Los Angeles. Prior to joining HUD, Mr. Franco served in various executive capacities with several agencies and companies throughout California active in economic development, management services, training, education and youth activities. Mr. Franco is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, a member emeritus of HUD’s prestigious Senior Executive Service and a graduate of the executive seminars at the Brookings Institute and the University of California at Berkley. He attended San Francisco State University and graduated from Oceanside College. Mr. Franco currently serves as President of Texas NAHRO and is a trustee of the Housing-Renewal and Local Agency Retirement Plan.
Senior Vice
President Idaho Housing and Finance Association Ms. Williams has over twenty-five years' experience in the financial services industry, serving in executive positions in the savings and loan, credit union and banking industries, focusing in real estate and consumer lending, and retail and institutional investment sales. She was educated at the University of Southern California and San Diego State University, and has been a quasi-native resident of Idaho since 1978, where she has raised two children and currently enjoys being the grandmother of four. Julie has served as Senior Vice President at IHFA since 2006. Prior, since 1992, she was the Vice President of Community Housing Services at IHFA. She is responsible for oversight of the acquisition and administration of grants supporting various affordable housing activities ranging from Homeless Shelter operations, tenant-based rental assistance vouchers, and affordable housing development and rehabilitation financing with HUD HOME funds, to asset management and compliance auditing of 1800+ units of project-based affordable rental housing statewide. She and her staff are involved in many community collaborations and joint projects aimed at increasing affordable housing awareness, such as researching and reporting on housing needs and action plans, and producing planning documents identifying and prioritizing Idaho's housing and community development needs, including data on Idaho's homeless population and services. Julie also has experience managing product development and customer services in the fields of banking, credit unions, and investment services. She has served as the President of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council
of the National Association Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO),
and currently serves on NAHRO's national Board of Governors, as Chairman
of NAHRO's Budget and Administration Committee.
Executive Director Denver (Colo.) Housing Authority After a nationwide search, the Board of Commissioners selected Ismael Guerrero as the new executive director of the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver (DHA), in June 2007. The DHA has a portfolio of 3500 public housing and Section 8 rental units, and an annual operating budget of over $100MM. Prior to joining the DHA, Guerrero was Vice President and Business Development
Officer for U.S. Bank Community Development Corporation. At USB CDC, Guerrero
was responsible for structuring equity investments in Low Income Housing
Tax Credit partnerships. Guerrero has over 12 years of experience in affordable
housing development and finance, including senior positions at Mercy Housing
Southwest, Rocky Mountain Mutual Housing, and The Resurrection Project.
Guerrero has an engineering degree from the University of Illinois and
an MBA from the University of Chicago. Current board affiliations include
the Denver Department of Human Services, Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
West Colfax Partnership, and the Mile High Housing Fund. |
