Conferences

Ninth Annual Asset Management Conference

April 22-24, 2009 | San Antonio, Texas



Overview | Sponsors | Presentations | CHAMpions | Photo Highlights


CHAMpions

Kristie Blankenship is the Asset Manager for the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership located in Slayton, Minnesota. Ms. Blankenship joined the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership as their Asset Manager in 1999. The Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership is a private non-profit community development corporation that was incorporated in May, 1992 in order to provide direct community development services to local units of government primarily in southern Minnesota. The types of services that are provided by the Partnership include: community development planning services; affordable housing development; land development for housing or business purposes; special needs and supportive housing development; housing preservation including historic renovation, debt restructuring and rehabilitation; homeownership support including: the provision of education services; mortgage counseling; foreclosure counseling; securing and utilizing special mortgage products; and downtown revitalization project development. Ms. Blankenships’ primary focus is the oversight and asset management of the multi-family portfolio of the Partnership which currently consists of 28 properties with a total of 832 affordable housing units. She is also involved in the acquisition and development of new projects and provides direct property management services to four properties within the portfolio.

Ms. Blankenship has twelve years of affordable housing experience. Prior to working for the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership she was a Property Manager for Mid-land Management in Sioux Falls, SD. Ms. Blankenship holds a degree in Business Administration from National American University.

 

Priscilla Call started her professional career as a Research Analyst and then Community Affairs Consultant with the Washington State Office of Economic Opportunity providing training and technical assistance to Community Action Agencies throughout the state of Washington. She then went to work for the City of Seattle working with a number of social service programs initially and then was Program Manager for 4 different housing programs. These different housing management positions combined for over 20 years of experience. The programs included Weatherization, Multifamily Rental Project & Construction Management, Single Family Rehabilitation, Homeownership, and Affordable Housing. Priscilla was surprised when she realized that the years with the state combined with the years with the city added to over 30 years, which meant she could retire. The retirement lasted for just under a year, at which point she went to work for KeyBank as the LIHTC Asset Manager for the bank’s tax credit investments in the Northwest, which was a total of 68 projects. After 3 years at the bank she went to work for a nonprofit community development agency as the Asset Manager. She now works at a different community development corporation, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA), as the Chief Operating Officer. Her responsibilities include asset management, project development, and other overall agency operational tasks.

Priscilla received her BA, with Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa, from Washington State University in Soc Research and Methodology. She also attended the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.

 

Katherine Fleming is an Assistant Vice President-Development Risk Manager for RBC Tax Credit Equity Group in San Francisco, CA. Katherine has over 11 years experience in affordable housing development and asset management. At RBC, Katherine oversees a portfolio of about 25 properties, totaling over 3,000 units representing over $270 million dollars in equity investment for RBC. Prior to joining RBC in 2007, Katherine was Director of Asset Management for Resources for Community Development (RCD) in Berkeley, CA. While at RCD she was responsible for a portfolio of over 1100 units of affordable housing in the Bay Area, performing long term financial analysis of the portfolio, overseeing the property management company, and ensuring compliance with regulatory agreements. She now serves on the Board of Directors for RCD. Katherine has also overseen project management of eight affordable housing projects totaling 562 units, from feasibility analysis through construction completion.

Katherine holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Mount Holyoke College, and has done graduate work in Urban Planning at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

 

Philip Hillman joined Dorchester Bay in June of 2007. Prior to Dorchester Bay he worked for the Polaroid Corporation in Massachusetts. Over his long career he held various assignments within manufacturing operations. In 1990, Phil was appointed General Manager of Inner City, a subsidiary of Polaroid. He held that position until 1992 when he was promoted to Plant Manager Industrial Coatings Division. In 1999 he was promoted to the position of Divisional Vice-President of Health, Safety and Environmental Affairs for Polaroid’s world-wide operations.

His outside affiliations include President of Boston Urban Youth Foundation, Co-Chair of the YMCA Black Achiever’s Board and Board Chair of Children Services of Roxbury.

Phil was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree from Roosevelt University in Chemistry and a MBA from Boston University. He is married with three children.

 

Mike LeCluyse has over 25 years’ experience as a management consultant, working with not-for-profit, public and private-sector clients in the areas of organizational assessment, strategic and business planning, market research, and organizational change and design strategies. He has worked with hundreds of senior management, process improvement and corrective action teams in both nonprofit and for-profit settings, developing practices consistent with High Performance Teams and Organizations.

Prior to joining NeighborWorks® America’s Organizational Assessment Division in 2002, Mike was a senior management consultant for the Center for Management Assistance, a nonprofit consulting firm where he held responsibilities for the Center’s organizational planning, outcomes measurement, fund development and marketing consultations. He also served previously as Director of Consultation and Education for a community mental health center serving a 22-county region, where he supervised a team responsible for community building and organizing, consultations with nonprofit, public and private employers, fund development, community education and media relations.

Mike holds a Masters Degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Kansas with course concentrations in Community and Organization Development. He has held memberships with the Community Development Society and the Institute of Management Consultants. In 1996 he presided as a member of the national Strategic Organization Design Exchange.

 

Melissa Rinehimer is the Asset Management Coordinator for Human Solutions, a non-profit Community Development Corporation in Portland, Oregon. Melissa is responsible for 539 units of affordable housing, working with three third party property management firms to manage 14 properties and self-managing one small property of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless families with a disabled adult in the household. She is responsible for overseeing regulatory compliance and ensuring the long-term financial and physical sustainability of the Human Solutions portfolio. She has eight years of experience in asset management of affordable housing.

Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University, with certificates in Public Finance and Money and Banking and a Master of Public Administration degree from Portland State University with a concentration in Housing and Community Development.

 

Molly Rogers is the Asset Management Program Manager at the Housing Development Center in Portland, Oregon. Molly provides direct consulting services to over a dozen non-profit housing owners in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, and Colorado. Her work in Asset Management has captured over $1.5 million for non-profit clients and has helped reposition 25 properties to secure financial and physical viability for the long-term. In addition, she oversees the risk mitigation fund, advocates for changes in city and state-level asset management policies, and facilitates an award-winning peer network of asset managers in the Portland region. Prior to HDC, Molly worked for the Cities of New York and Portland, managing over $4M in programs related to rental subsidies, helping to write the City of Portland's 10-year Plan to End Homelessness, implementing a web-based information system for four jurisdictions, and writing major portions of the McKinney Continuum of Care, which brought millions in grants to local nonprofit organizations. In Molly 's personal life, she manages a rental property and served as President of a Homeowner's Association for a mixed-use, mixed-income community where she oversaw a $2M reconstruction project. She serves on the Oregon Opportunity Network's statewide policy council. Molly has a master's degree from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs where she received the 'Voice of Conscience' Award in 2001 for her leadership as the first Executive Director of a student-managed non-profit organization working on economic development efforts in Harlem.

 

Jacalyn Slemmer joined Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) in March 2004 as an Asset Manager. In this position, she monitors affordable housing projects to assure performance standards and expectations are being met regarding the financial and physical conditions of the properties, as well as regulatory and statutory compliance and reporting. Before joining OCCH, Ms. Slemmer managed the new property inspection process and training at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and continues to provide tax credit compliance training to industry professionals. Ms. Slemmer is a licensed real estate agent and is certified as an Assisted Housing Manager, Fair Housing Coordinator, and Housing Credit Certified Professional.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Franklin University.

 

Luz Soto, originally from Mexico, joined the CEDC team in September 2005 as their Property and Asset Management Director. Luz oversees the asset and property management operations for 15 affordable housing communities soon to be 17 due to the construction of 2 more properties brining 140 more to the current rental portfolio of 553 units. All properties are in the County of Ventura, California.

Luz’s primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the direct and indirect supervision of approximately 20 employees; The development and implementation of policies and procedures, compliance to Regulatory Agreements and ensuring that properties maintain a sound financial and physical condition.

Luz brought to CEDC 17 years of property management experience which started at a for-profit Management Company as a part-time on-site resident manager in 1988 and worked through the ranks of Trainer, Occupancy Specialist, Property Supervisor, Assistant Property Management Director and up to the Director of Property Management overseeing the operations of a portfolio of approximately 8,000 affordable units and the supervision of 300 employees that ranged from Maintenance, administration , on-site resident managers, Property Supervisors and Sr. Property Supervisors.

Luz’s strong property management background, her ability to supervise large portfolios and staff, and her knowledge and experience in Compliance with the various affordable programs, strong leadership, planning and organizing and excellent interpersonal and communication skills are an asset to the Property & Asset Management Division to ensure high quality and sound management practices at CEDC’s housing communities.

Luz is experienced and knowledgeable on programs such as LIHTC, HOME, Project Based Section 8, USDA-RD, HUD 236, and 202. Related education includes a designation as a National Assisted Housing Professional, NAHP, from NAHMA; A Certification of Occupancy Professional, CPO; Fair Housing/504 Certification, a LIHTC Certification, and Certification of Housing Asset Manager, CHAM.

 

Denise Taub is the Director of Properties/Asset Manager for Primavera Foundation, Inc. located in Tucson, Arizona. Primavera Foundation is a non-profit social service organization that provides a continuum of programs and services to over 10,000 low income individuals and families per year.

Employed by Primavera for over ten years, Denise oversees the Properties Department which encompasses Facilities Management, Property Management and Asset Management. Denise’s responsibilities include oversight, coordination and implementation of property grants, building rehab, budgeting, reporting, compliance monitoring, staff development, and the acquisition, management, maintenance and disposition of properties and vehicles. She also serves on Primavera’s Senior Leadership Team, participating in the development and implementation of agency policy.

Denise holds a bachelors degree in Business Management from Kent State University in Ohio. She is an ordained minister and an advocate of social and economic justice.

 

Interested in becoming a CHAMpion?
Complete the following six courses, along with a special asset management project report applying your skills, evaluated and approved by CHAM board specialists. All courses are available through Neighborworks® Training Institute.