NALHFA 2026 Speakers
Additional speaker information will be added to this page on a rolling basis.
Michael J. Sorrell, Ed.D. (Keynote)
President, Paul Quinn College
Dr. Michael Sorrell is the transformative president of Paul Quinn College who, in 2007, chose to forgo a potential NBA executive role to lead a struggling historically Black college on the brink of closure. What began as an interim appointment became one of higher education’s most remarkable turnaround stories. As the longest-tenured president in the college’s history, Dr. Sorrell reimagined Paul Quinn through a bold, values-driven vision centered on entrepreneurship, innovation, and his signature “WE Over Me” philosophy. Under his leadership, the 151-year-old institution achieved financial stability, national recognition, and groundbreaking initiatives like the WE Over Me Farm to address food insecurity in the surrounding community. Named one of Fortune’s “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” and widely recognized for his authenticity and impact, Dr. Sorrell is a powerful storyteller who challenges leaders to embrace purpose, adapt with courage, and leave every organization better than they found it.
Mark Thiele, C-PHM, CME, CMVO, NCC (Keynote)
CEO, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO)
Mark Thiele is a houser who stands in awe of his community. Since 2022, Mark has led NAHRO through record-breaking federal advocacy campaigns, sold-out conferences, new training tools, and expanded industry partnerships. His steadfast belief in the essential work of public housing agencies and the need to invest in them continues to grow as he tirelessly travels the country meeting members and hearing their stories.
Dawn Luke Arnold
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Invest Atlanta
Dawn Luke Arnold serves as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Invest Atlanta, where she oversees Community Development, Finance, IT, Human Resources, Operations, and Investment Services. With nearly two decades at the agency, she has played a central role in expanding Invest Atlanta's mission beyond commercial real estate financing to encompass comprehensive community development, helping generate more than $9 billion in capital investment over the past eight years. Her previous leadership roles included overseeing $650M in affordable housing programs and managing a multifamily and single-family Housing Bond Portfolio of approximately $2 billion and 30,000+ units. Mrs. Arnold holds a B.A. in Economics from Spelman College and an MBA in International Business from Georgia State University. She currently serves as President of the NALHFA Board of Directors, President/Chairwoman of the Atlanta Land Trust, and holds board positions with Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the Enterprise Community Partners Advisory Board, and several other civic organizations. She has been recognized as one of Atlanta Magazine's 500 Most Powerful Leaders (2021-2024) and ULI's Inaugural Women Leadership Initiative Leaders (2020), among other honors.
Jack Ballou
Municipal Advisor, Caine Mitter
Jack Ballou has four years of experience advising HFAs. Mr. Ballou provides a range of financial advisory and quantitative services for both single-family and multifamily housing. He specializes in the best execution strategy for structuring new money and refunding bond issues, bond program development and management, consolidated cash flow projections, capital adequacy studies, and rating agency consultation.
Gloria Boyd
Executive Director, Housing Group, J.P. Morgan
Gloria Boyd, Executive Director, joined J.P. Morgan’s Housing Group in June 2018, after having spent 12 years at New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Gloria is assigned and provides lead account coverage to the following HFA clients: California HFA, Louisiana HC, MassHousing, New York City HDC, Pennsylvania HFA, Rhode Island HMFC, and Vermont HFA. At NYSHCR, Gloria held various positions, including most recently Vice President of Bond Finance. In that role, she managed the structuring, marketing, sale, and issuance of over $18 billion of the Agencies’ single-family, multifamily, local government, and tobacco settlement securitization bond issues. Gloria holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Princeton University.
Josh Brandwein
Director of Government Affairs, NALHFA
As the Director of Government Affairs for NALHFA, Josh manages the association’s legislative and regulatory portfolios. Over the course of his career, Josh has had the opportunity to work in the policy sectors of housing, community development, tax, education, and broadband. Josh looks forward to engaging with NALHFA members on providing viewpoints of HFA advocacy at the federal level. Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Old Dominion University and spent his upbringing in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Damian Busch
Senior Vice President, Jefferies
Damian is a senior vice president in Jefferies public finance housing and real estate group. Damian has 20 years of housing finance experience, having senior managed over $20 billion of affordable housing financings over his career. Prior to joining Jefferies, he spent ten years at Barclays and three years at Citi, both in the affordable housing space, preceded by 5 years at the quantitative advisory firm cfX Inc., focused on structuring, cash flows, and numerical analyses for a variety of State HFAs. Damian received his BS in Finance from Loyola University Chicago, and his MSc in Financial Markets from Illinois Institute of Technology. Damian also serves as adjunct faculty at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where he advises research projects involving municipal policy and affordable housing.
Paul Cackler
Chief Information Officer, NYCHDC
Paul Cackler is the Chief Information Officer at the New York City Housing Development Corporation. HDC seeks to increase the supply of multi-family housing, stimulate economic growth and revitalize neighborhoods by financing the creation and preservation of affordable housing for low-, moderate-, and middle-income New Yorkers. HDC is charged with helping to finance the creation and preservation of affordable housing for New Yorkers and also serve as the key financing partner in the rehabilitation of our city’s public housing stock under the NYCHA Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative. As the nation’s largest municipal Housing Finance Agency, HDC consistently ranks among the nation’s top issuers of mortgage revenue bonds for affordable multi-family housing.
Ansel Caine
President, Caine Mitter
Ansel Caine is the President of Caine Mitter. Mr. Caine has 20 years of public finance experience, including 18 years of advising HFAs. He is active in all the firm’s single and multifamily-housing finance activities and has provided advisory services to over 30 HFAs. Mr. Caine is an expert in the mortgage revenue bond, TBA, and derivative markets. He has worked on over $75 billion in municipal bond issues and over $6 billion in municipal derivatives transactions. Prior to joining Caine Mitter, Mr. Caine worked at UBS Investment Bank on the municipal derivatives desk and with the public finance quantitative group. He graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy.
Josh Cannan
Senior Vice President, Originations, Merchants Capital
Joshua Canan serves as Senior Vice President of Originations at Merchants Capital, a leading national multifamily financing firm that has originated over $50 billion in FHA, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and balance sheet debt, along with more than $2.8 billion in tax credit equity financing. In this role, he is responsible for originating and structuring debt executions for acquisitions, refinances, bridge loans, re-syndications, construction, and permanent loans, including both tax-exempt and taxable bond transactions.
Before transitioning to Production in 2024, Mr. Canan spent over five years as the Deputy Chief Underwriter for Merchants Capital’s Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae debt platform. Since joining the firm in 2018, he has been directly involved in more than $4 billion in debt production and underwriting.
Prior to Merchants Capital, Mr. Canan held various positions at Merchants Bank of Indiana and First Merchants Bank, where he specialized in real estate underwriting, affordable housing, and preservation.
Katie Coleman
Director of Communications, Nevada Rural Housing
Katie brings a blend of private and public agency experience to the NRHA table. She has a wide portfolio of leadership experience ranging from small tech startups to government agencies, publicly traded corporations and highly regulated industries. With her experience comes a passion she shares with NRH’s team and its partners: connecting Nevadans with the tools and resources they need to live happy, healthy and safe lives.
Lauren Connors
Senior Vice President, Development, NYCHDC
Lauren Connors is Senior Vice President for Development at the New York City Housing Development Corporation where she oversees the corporation's new construction and preservation financing programs. Before joining NYCHDC, Lauren held various positions at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, including Assistant Commissioner of New Construction where she oversaw New York City's new construction finance programs. Prior to that she held various positions in the real estate and banking sectors. Ms. Connors holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College of the City University of New York.
Sue Denihan
Vice President, eHousingPlus
Sue Denihan is one of the founding members of eHousingPlus. Sue's current role is Vice President of Services and Program Administration for eHousingPlus. She oversees the team that manages the day-to-day operations and staff, heading the onboarding and training staff for the Program Administration Group. She has led the division for 27 years and is the co-creator of the HFA program administration and compliance services model. Sue also works with the client relationship team, managing relationships with the federal, state and local agencies eHousingPlus collaborates with throughout the country.
Tanya Dempsey
Principal, CSG Advisors
Tanya Dempsey is a Principal at CSG Advisors with more than 15 years of public sector experience advising housing authorities on strategic planning, real estate transactions, and operational and financial transformation. Since joining CSG in 2015, she has guided agencies across the country, including Chicago, Sacramento, Minneapolis, Hartford, Delaware, and Philadelphia, on long-term portfolio strategies, RAD conversions, and complex affordable housing financings involving 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, conventional financing, and other federal mortgage tools. Tanya has closed more than 45 projects totaling approximately 5,300 units and over $50 million in financings, generating significant value for public housing clients. She previously served as Interim Chief Financial Officer for the Indianapolis Housing Agency and held senior leadership roles at the New York City Housing Authority, where she contributed to one of the nation’s largest tax credit transactions. Deeply committed to strengthening public agencies and expanding affordable housing access, Tanya brings a practical, results-driven approach to ensuring long-term sustainability and impact.
Kathryn Driver
Executive Director, HFA of Pinellas County, Florida
Kathryn Driver has been the Executive Director since March 2014. Ms. Driver is responsible for all aspects and transactions of the HFA to assist in accomplishing the HFA's mission of alleviating a shortage of affordable housing in Pinellas County through the issuance of single-family mortgage revenue bonds and down payment assistance for low- to moderate-income first-time homebuyers and also through the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable multifamily bonds to help finance the new construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of multifamily developments for very low-, low- and moderate-income renters. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, Ms. Driver served as Vice President at RBC Capital Markets (and William R. Hough & Co. prior to its merger with RBC). She has over 30 years of experience in the municipal finance and housing finance field. Ms. Driver serves as President of the Florida Association of Local Housing Finance Authorities, is a Board Member of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Authorities, and is a member of the Florida Housing Coalition, the National chapter of Women in Public Finance, and is Past-President of the Florida chapter of Women in Public Finance.
Aaron Eaquinto is a seasoned real estate professional who has worked in all aspects of the multifamily industry. He earned masters degrees in both landscape architecture and real estate development at Texas A&M University prior to entering the workforce. He held positions at HFF, Fairfield Residential, and Berkadia before delving into the affordable industry in 2020. Since then, he has served as General Manager of both the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation and the Dallas Public Facility Corporation to help grow their presence in the city of Dallas. Under his management, the combined portfolio has grown to roughly 15,000 units either in operation or under construction. Aaron is a member of NALHFA, TAAHP, and TALHFA where he currently serves as Vice President.
Helen Feinberg
Manager of Multifamily Originations, RBC Capital Markets
Helen Hough Feinberg serves as manager of RBC Capital Markets Multifamily Tax-Exempt Bond originations nationally. Ms. Feinberg has over 35 years of experience in the affordable housing sector, having served as underwriter or placement agent on a wide range of single-family and multifamily transactions, including low-income housing tax credit, workforce, housing authority, and 501(c)(3) financings. Her client base includes state and local housing finance agencies, public housing authorities, developers, and non-profits. 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 Municipal Securities Principal, Municipal Advisor Principal, and General Securities Principal. Ms. Feinberg currently serves as an advisory council member for the Florida Housing Coalition and a board member of the Coalition of Affordable Housing Providers. Ms. Feinberg has served as a past Chair of the Florida Affordable Housing Study Commission appointed by Governor Jeb Bush and member of Fannie Mae's National Advisory Council.
Joslyn Hatfield-Eng
Vice President of Digital Engagement, National Multifamily Housing Council
Joslyn Hatfield-Eng is Vice President of Digital Engagement at the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), where she oversees strategy and execution across the organization's digital channels. Through these efforts, she helps ensure the digital initiatives of both NMHC and its affiliate organization, the Real Estate Technology & Transformation Center (RETTC), align with their respective missions and advocacy goals. Before joining NMHC, Joslyn held various media-related positions, including most recently at U.S. News & World Report.
Nicole Johnson
Program Lead, Tucson Industrial Development Authority
Nicole Johnson is an emerging leader in affordable housing finance, recognized for her innovation and commitment to expanding homeownership opportunities for underserved communities. As the lead for all housing programs at the Tucson Industrial Development Authority (TIDA), she has played a pivotal role in transforming and scaling the organization’s impact. Over the past three years, she has secured more than $3 million in down payment assistance funding, supporting initiatives such as the Arizona is Home Down Payment Assistance Program and the Essential Workers Housing Fund. Through her leadership, these programs have opened doors for families historically excluded from traditional financial systems, creating new pathways to stability and wealth-building.
Her work has earned both local and national recognition. Programs under her direction, including the Essential Workers Housing Fund and the Lighthouse Down Payment Assistance Program, have received Housing Innovation Awards, reflecting her ability to design solutions grounded in real community needs. She has also strengthened program accessibility by expanding lender partnerships and launching a housing education series that equips first-time buyers with the tools to navigate the homebuying process confidently.
Susan Jun
Senior Housing Banker, Raymond James
Susan is a senior housing banker in Raymond James’ National Housing Group. She joined the firm in March 2024 from Citi, where she served as lead banker to several major state housing finance agencies across the country. She brings more than 30 years of municipal investment banking experience encompassing not only affordable housing finance in both single-family and multifamily, but also derivatives and quantitative expertise in other municipal sectors. Susan is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and she served as the past President of Women in Public Finance.
Benjamin Killion
Executive Director, Wells Fargo Public Finance Group
Ben Killion is an Executive Director in Wells Fargo’s Public Finance Group and has ten years of experience in the affordable housing industry. Mr. Killion provides a wide range of services to state and local housing finance agencies, residential developers, and direct lenders. These services include bond structuring, rating agency analysis, consolidated cash flows, and tax law yield computations. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, he worked at Caine Mitter & Associates Incorporated, serving as a municipal advisor and quantitative consultant to over 20 state HFAs. Mr. Killion graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics.
Mark Kudlowitz
Senior Policy Director, LISC
Mark is a Senior Policy Director and advocates for federal policies that support LISC’s national priorities, including affordable housing, rural development, community development financial institutions, and sustainable development. Before LISC, Mark worked as the Policy Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs and also worked for over seven years at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Mark managed affordable housing and community development programs at the District of Columbia’s Department of Housing and Community Development and held multiple positions at the Housing Assistance Council, a national rural affordable housing organization. Mark earned his B.A. from the University of Florida and master’s degree from the University of Michigan.
Annie Lee
Director, BofA Securities
Annie Lee provides investment banking coverage and transaction execution to state and local housing finance agencies nationwide, including cash flow modeling and bond structuring. Annie joined BofA Securities Housing Finance Group in 2022 after being at J.P. Morgan/Bear Stearns since 2000, where she focused on structuring cash flow projections for single and multifamily transactions. Annie has worked with numerous housing finance agencies in her tenure including Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York City HDC, New York State HFA, Ohio, Rhode Island, SONYMA, and Vermont. Annie received her B.A. from Smith College with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Economics.
Tinru Lin
Senior Vice President, Capital Markets
Tinru Lin is a Senior Vice President in the Capital Markets group at New York City Housing Development Corporation, the largest multi-family housing bond issuer in the nation. She joined HDC in 2009 after completing her graduate degree from The Milano School of Urban Policy and Management at New School University. At HDC, Tinru focuses on program design, transaction structuring, and quantitative analysis for efficient and effective financing solutions to address the City’s affordable housing challenges. Prior to HDC, Tinru received a Bachelor of Laws degree from National Taiwan University and worked at the law firm LCS & Partners in areas including securitization and project finance.
Yolanda McCutchen
Vice President of Public Relations, DCHFA
Yolanda McCutchen joined the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) in July 2015. She serves as the Vice President of Public Relations and is responsible for all internal and external communications, including social media management, advertising, and marketing. For her work at DCHFA, McCutchen has been awarded the National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award for best PR/Marketing Campaign-Government in 2019 and 2020 and Magazine Specialty in 2022. Additionally, she received the 2018 Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals MarCom Awards – Platinum Award in Strategic in Communications and Media Relations/Publicity and Gold Award in Print Media. In 2024, she received a gold MarCom award for the production of DCHFA’s. Prior to joining DCHFA, McCutchen was an independent media consultant, professor at Claflin University and Howard University, as well as a producer at NBC News. During her tenure at Howard, she was selected for the Back in the Newsroom Fellowship by the International Center for Journalists and was assigned to The Washington Post. Her work at NBC garnered the Edward R. Murrow, Clarion, Gracie, and National Headliner awards. McCutchen was an RTNDF Fellow in the German Study Program for American Journalists. McCutchen served on the Executive Board of the Washington Association of Black Journalists as an at-large member from 2021 to 2024, where she co-chaired the Special Honors and Scholarship Gala. She is a member of Women of Color in Community Development, where she served on the Board of Directors and chaired the communications committee from 2019-2024. Currently, McCutchen is a member of the Epps McGill Farmhouse Advisory Board.
Robert J. (R.J.) McGrail
Director, ACI, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
R.J. is principal investigator and director of the Lincoln Institute project Accelerating Community Investment: Bringing New Partners to the Community Investment System (ACI). The project seeks to increase the efficacy and benefits of philanthropic impact investing portfolios and their connectivity to local community investment ecosystems through a combination of field research and convening leaders in the community investment system, with particular focus on housing and economic development finance authorities, development of potential investment opportunities for mission investors, and collaboration with other Lincoln Institute program areas.
Before joining the Lincoln Institute in 2019, R.J. served as policy and program impact officer for MassDevelopment, Massachusetts’s quasi-public economic and housing development authority. In this role, he led priority organizational development, strategic planning, program impact, and policy development strategies, enabling collaborations among non-traditional state and regional capital providers, philanthropic partners, and national thought leaders in community and economic development. Prior to his work at MassDevelopment, he served in numerous roles in the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick, including as a policy adviser to the governor and to the Commonwealth’s secretary of labor. R.J. also serves as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Working Cities Challenge steering committee, as a board member of the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets Public Finance Advisory Council, and as an invited lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and holds an MA in public administration from Suffolk University in Boston.
Bio coming soon.
Tiffany Mobley
Partner, Novogradac
Tiffany Mobley is a partner in the Austin, Texas, office of Novogradac, where she specializes in affordable housing and provides audit, tax, and consulting services for affordable housing owners and developers. She has extensive experience in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and tax-exempt bond financed transactions, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and nonprofit organizations, including those subject to the requirements of OMB Uniform Guidance. Her consulting experience includes the preparation of LIHTC cost certifications, as well as mortgagers and contractors cost certifications for HUD. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Texas State University and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Texas.
Elizabeth Moya
Executive Director, El Paso Housing Finance Corporation
Elizabeth Anne Moya is Executive Director of the El Paso Housing Finance Corporation (EPHFC), where she leads strategy, financial oversight, and housing program development for a public nonprofit serving the City of El Paso, Texas. Since 2015, she has overseen single-family and multifamily housing initiatives, including private activity bond issuances and down payment assistance programs. She created the Mi Casa Homebuyer Grant Program, a $25 million initiative expanding access to homeownership. Her work has also supported the rehabilitation of more than 800 affordable housing units and accelerated rental assistance delivery to over 400 households. Prior to her current role, Elizabeth held positions at Ernst & Young, United Bank of El Paso, TVO Development, and the YWCA Paso Del Norte Region, building expertise across public finance, real estate development, and nonprofit housing programs. She currently serves as a Board Member for Workforce Solutions Borderplex. Elizabeth holds an MBA in International Business, summa cum laude, and a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at El Paso, and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Tim Nelson
Senior Managing Director, Hilltop Securities Inc.
Mr. Nelson has been a leader in the affordable housing arena for over 40 years. He has worked as an investment banker, a financial advisor, and as an issuer at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Mr. Nelson's work includes representing many issuers as a Financial Advisor on both single and multifamily transactions. Currently, Mr. Nelson is employed by Hilltop Securities Inc. as a Senior Managing Director and Affordable Housing Manager in Austin, Texas.
Jonathan Paine
Executive Director, NALHFA
Michelle Pernicek
Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
Michelle Pernicek is a partner in the Omaha office of Kutak Rock LLP and a member of the firm’s public finance group. Ms. Pernicek practices in the area of public finance and affordable housing financing. She primarily serves as bond counsel and bond purchaser’s counsel in multifamily housing financings across the country. Prior to joining Kutak Rock, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Frankie J. Moore of the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Ms. Pernicek earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and her J.D., with distinction, from the University of Nebraska College of Law. She is admitted to practice in California and Nebraska.
Ferdinand Perrault
Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Moody's
Ferdinand Perrault is a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer in Moody's Public Finance Housing & State Revolving Funds Team. He serves as a tenured member and rating committee chair for housing, state revolving funds and infrastructure finance credits with over 20 years of experience. He is also the lead analyst for state and local housing finance agency single and multifamily bond programs, as well as for clean water and drinking water revolving funds. In addition, he maintains a portfolio of project finance credits within the housing sector. He is also the Public Finance Outreach Lead, overseeing issuer and investor outreach. He also serves as the Surveillance coordinator, overseeing the process of ensuring timely reviews of the team's credit portfolio.
Jimmy Pokorny
Principal, Novogradac
Jimmy Pokorny is a principal with Novogradac & Company LLP in the Austin, Texas, office. Jimmy joined the company in 2013. He has significant experience in providing audit and tax services in the real estate industry. In addition, he specializes in assisting development owners with compliance of various U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs, as well as preparing cost certifications and other various HUD/low-income housing tax credit engagements. Jimmy received his bachelor’s degree with a concentration in accounting from Sam Houston State University and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Texas.
Vickey Roberts
Vice President of Multifamily Housing, Invest Atlanta
Vickey Roberts, Vice President of Multifamily Housing at Invest Atlanta, provides strategic guidance and technical assistance to developers pursuing multifamily housing developments utilizing tax-exempt bond financing with 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, as well as other financing tools, including the HOB Multifamily and Beltline Affordable Housing TAD programs. With over 31 years of experience in the affordable housing industry, she brings extensive expertise in structuring and closing complex transactions that create and preserve affordable housing. Since 2017, Ms. Roberts has been instrumental in the creation and preservation of more than 10,000 affordable housing units, supporting over $2.8 billion in total capital investment. She manages Invest Atlanta’s URFA budget of $5 million and collaborates closely with the Compliance team in overseeing the agency’s multifamily housing bond portfolio, which includes approximately $2 billion in assets and more than 25,000 units of housing. Ms. Roberts holds certifications as a Housing Finance Development Professional (HFDP) and a Housing Credit Certified Professional (HCCP). She also led the nomination efforts that resulted in Invest Atlanta receiving the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (NALHFA) Multifamily Excellence Award in 2022, 2024, and 2025. She is a graduate of the 2023 ULI Center for Leadership Program.
Angel Romero
HFA Relationship Manager, Down Payment Resource
Angel Romero is a housing finance agency relationship manager at Down Payment Resource (DPR). A skilled communicator and strategic thinker, Romero wields a decade of mortgage industry experience as she builds and maintains DPR's relationships with hundreds of local housing finance agencies nationwide. Romero has developed a strong reputation in the housing finance ecosystem for her dedication to developing partnerships and strategies that make down payment and homebuyer assistance more accessible to the underserved communities that need them most. Prior to joining DPR, Romero served as AVP, post-closing manager, and resident housing program expert at Cherry Creek Mortgage, where she helped drive the company's expansion into new markets with the help of DPR's robust DPA Directory.
Melissa Taphorn
Executive Director, Washington County Community Development Agency
Melissa Taphorn is the Executive Director of the Washington County Community Development Agency in Minnesota, the public housing agency and local housing finance agency. The CDA provides both single-family and multifamily programming in addition to economic development and redevelopment assistance to its 33 municipalities in a Twin Cities suburban county. With more than 30 years of affordable housing and community development experience, Melissa is dedicated to developing local strategies and resources for long-term housing affordability and vibrant neighborhoods. She oversees a $37 million annual budget, a staff of 38, and a portfolio of 1,150 units. Her work includes structuring and administering affordable housing financing as a sub-allocator of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bond issuer, and local gap financing lender. Her dedication and work in the industry is nationally recognized as NAHRO’s 2025 Outstanding Professional of the Year. Melissa currently serves as Secretary on the NALHFA Board of Directors.
William Wilcox
Bond Program Manager, San Francisco MOHCD
William Wilcox joined the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) in 2022 as the bond program manager. He oversees all conduit bond issuance, the development of new housing finance tools, state and federal housing finance policy advocacy, and provides in-house technical expertise across multi-family development at MOHCD. William earned his Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California Berkeley’s Goldman School with a focus on housing policy. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.
Tim Wranovix
Director, Raymond James
Tim is a member of the firm’s National Housing Group and has 15 years of housing finance experience, structuring a variety of single-family and multifamily housing issues. He is responsible for creating and maintaining the group’s proprietary models. Tim has primary account coverage of numerous local housing finance authority clients throughout Florida and the country and supports senior bankers in their coverage of state housing clients. In addition, Tim works on every conduit, affordable and workforce multifamily housing financing the Firm prices and closes. Since joining Raymond James, he has also been actively involved in the firm’s investment of bond proceeds practice. Tim received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He holds Series 7, 50, 53, 63, and 79 securities licenses.
Valerie White
Head of National Strategic Initiatives, LISC
Valerie White serves as the Head of National Housing Strategic Initiatives, where she leads the national effort to manage and grow over $30 billion in affordable housing investments across the One LISC enterprise--which includes LISC, the National Equity Fund, Loan Fund Management, Broadstreet, and LISC Green. In her role, Valerie develops and implements plans to achieve capital growth and investment through innovative financing structures aimed at increasing access to capital for affordable housing development to brings a cohesive suite of products to local markets across the country. She also spearheads the expansion of the One LISC pipeline to enhance housing unit production through collaborative strategies and execution within LISC and its affiliates. Valerie designs strategies to extend the reach of proven programs throughout LISC’s geography, establishes LISC's position as a national leader and expert voice on affordable housing, and grows partnerships among key national stakeholders. In addition, Valerie continues to serve as Senior Executive Director of LISC NY, where she leads the strategic expansion of investments to enhance LISC's statewide efforts in creating an economic and community development ecosystem across the state of New York.
With over 30 years of experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, Valerie joined LISC NY in April 2020 after serving as the Executive Vice President at Empire State Development (ESD) and as the Executive Director of the New York State Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development. Prior to that, she held the position of Vice President at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and spent over 17 years at Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) as Managing Director, where she led the municipal finance structure, securities, and housing finance analytics division. In addition to her extensive professional background, Valerie is actively engaged in civic and community service. In December 2024, she was appointed to the New York City 2025 Charter Revision Commission, focusing on housing. Additionally, she serves on the New York State Department of Financial Services Financial Innovation Advisory Board. Valerie is also an inaugural board member of Embrace Partners, an advisory board member for the Fordham Urban Law Center, and a Fordham Law Alumni Association director. Valerie holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Law Degree from Fordham University, as well as a Master of Science and a Certificate in Organization Development from The New School.
Alex Zeltser
Partner, Tiber Hudson
Alex Zeltser is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Tiber Hudson LLC, where his practice is focused on public finance in the affordable multifamily housing development space. He represents institutional lenders, underwriters and bond purchasers in a range of tax-exempt and taxable housing financings throughout the United States, including public offerings of rated bonds credit-enhanced by FHA, Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as private placements of unrated bonds and loans. Alex advises his clients on the structuring and federal income tax aspects of tax-exempt debt transactions, maintains an in-depth understanding of credit rating agency criteria, and prepares cashflow projections and a variety of calculations required under the Internal Revenue Code. Alex presents frequently at industry conferences and panels, where he speaks about affordable housing finance topics, tax issues, market trends and solutions. Prior to joining Tiber Hudson, Alex was a transactional tax associate with Ernst & Young LLP, where he provided technical tax advice with respect to the federal income tax treatment of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and internal restructurings.
