Faculty
Faculty
Mel King Institute instructors are academic, consultant, and practitioner experts who provide participants with unique trainings tailored to the learning needs of community organization professions facing local challenges. They range from professors at MIT, to senior staff at government agencies, to national professional trainers, to leading Executive Directors, to private sector specialists. Faculty craft and deliver trainings outside of their full-time careers, enriching courses with their first hand experience and knowledge of current trends and innovations.
Past Instructors:
Alden Suzannee, Grant Expectations, MSA, CFRE
Grantwriting
Suzanne Alden, MSA, CFRE, has a decade of experience in fund development, grantwriting and research, and nonprofit organizational development. As a grantwriting consultant and former director of development for two Rhode Island-based nonprofit organizations, she has raised millions of dollars for a broad array of causes. Suzanne has led over 25 engaging seminars in fundraising and grantwriting for institutions of higher education and nonprofits. As a consultant, Suzanne has provided affordable development planning, grantwriting, and training/coaching services for over 20 organizations since 2005.
Alexandra Barker, US Census Bureau
Introduction to Census Data
Alexandra Barker serves as the Data Dissemination & Media Relations Specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau – New York Regional Office, out of her Massachusetts office. She conducts an average of 20 data access workshops and presentation every month to a variety of organizations, local governments, business, media, universities, etc. Mrs. Barker also worked as Media Specialist during the 2010 Census. She conducted outreach the over 1,000 media outlets, including ethnic media channels, and developed partnership with over 100 community organizations, business, leaders, and government officials. She graduated from PUC-Rio (Brazil) with a BS. in Journalism and earned her Masters of Science in Public Affairs & International Relations from University of Massachusetts Boston.
Barrett Judi, RKG Associates Inc., Professor at Massasoit Community
Planning for Community Development Practitioners: An Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning
Bauer Marjorie, ESC of New England
Messaging
Marjorie Bauer is a former Senior Vice President of Market Research for Fidelity Investments. She has substantial experience using market research that is actionable and results-oriented to help solve strategic business issues. Her expertise includes developing outcomes measurement, strategic planning, brand positioning, and determining key marketplace trends as well as identifying insights into customer needs, wants and expectations. Marjorie has provided consulting services to a number of nonprofit organizations including Centro Latino, Operation A.B.L.E., and NewTV. Ms. Bauer has a Masters in Business Administration from Boston University.
Gena Bean, Mindful Boston
Bypassing Burnout
Gena Bean is a Cambridge-based consultant and instructor with extensive training in stress reduction strategies. Since 2004, she has taught stress reduction techniques through lecture, class and retreat, in service to hundreds of individuals and numerous organizations. Gena teaches participants to address the fundamental causes of stress in the workplace and in life. Her personable teaching style is grounded in experiences from her own meditation practice that began in the mid-1980s. She offers workplace stress reduction, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and yoga.
Noah Berger, MassBudget
State Budget
Noah Berger is president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, an independent research organization that produces non-partisan policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state’s economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. Prior to joining the center, Berger served as counsel and policy director for the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means from 1993 to 1996 and as policy director for the Massachusetts Senate President from 1996 to 2002. Berger's leadership extends to the national arena, where he serves on the advisory board of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the board of directors for Public Works, the EARN advisory group, and the Tax Policy Group of the Asset Funders Network. Berger graduated from Harvard College and has a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Tim Bolding, United Housing
CHAM: The Basic Steps of the Affordable Housing Development Process
Eva Boyce, GLAD
Understanding and Controlling Your Program Finances
Eva has worked as GLAD's Chief Financial Officer since 2005. She has over 25 years of combined experience in public accounting and non-profit financial management, with organizations including Mass Housing Partnership Fund, Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts and Touche Ross & Company (currently Deloitte & Touche). Eva enjoys working with people from a variety of backgrounds, and is committed to sharing her financial and technical knowledge. She holds an Accounting degree from Boston College School of Management, 1977. As President of ENB Financial Management, Eva provides financial services and training to small businesses and non-profits.
Rachel Bratt, Tufts University, School of Environmental and Urban Planning
Introduction to Community Economic Development
Rachel G. Bratt received a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Studies from MIT and a B.A. from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. She has been on the Tufts faculty since 1976; from 1995-2001 and from 2004-2007 she served as chair of the department. Professor Bratt's research is focused on housing and community development, particularly the needs of low-income households and the role of nonprofit community-based organizations. She is the author of Rebuilding a Low-Income Housing Policy and a co-editor of two books: Critical Perspectives on Housing and A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda.
Ann Burke, EDC of Western Massachusetts
Business Improvement Districts
Ann McFarland Burke, has over 25 years experience in planning and economic development. She has served as the Vice President of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts since 1997 and specializes in downtown revitalization and strategic planning including Business Improvement District (BID) development and management, economic development. Ms. Burke co- authored enabling legislation to create BIDs in Massachusetts, authored a Guidebook for forming Business Improvement Districts in Massachusetts, and led the successful development of BIDS in Springfield, Westfield, Amherst and Northampton, MA and has served as a consultant to other communities considering BIDS and other downtown initiatives.
Bahiya Cabral-Johnson, The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians
Reaching & Engaging Immigrant Businesses
Bahiya is the deputy director for the Welcoming Center. She oversees the development and implementation of the Welcoming Center's training programs; acts as liaison with fellow stakeholders in the arenas of higher education, workforce development, and economic development; and identifies new partnership opportunities. Bahiya has more than 20 years of experience in program development, management and evaluation through her work with community-based organizations such as the Community Leadership Institute in Philadelphia, national programs such as Leadership Development in Interethnic Relations, and international organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee.
Regina Celestin, National Development Council
Rental Housing Development Finance
Karolyn Chamberlin, The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians
Reaching & Engaging Immigrant Businesses
Christina Clamp, Southern New Hampshire University
Community Development 101
Dr. Christina Clamp has over 30 years of teaching experience at SNHU, where she is a professor with the School of Arts and Sciences and is the director of Co-operatives and Community Economic Development. She is on the board of directors of the ICA Group (Boston), the Food Cooperative Initiative (MN) and the Allston/Brighton Community Development Corporation (Boston). She also serves on the Steering Committee of the Mel King Institute of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations.
Alma Couverthie, Lawrence Community Works
What is Successful in Community Building
Diane DeMarco, ESC of New England
Fundraising
Diane DeMarco, Principal, founded Marketing @ Work in 2004 with the mission of providing high-quality marketing services to local and regional companies and organizations. Diane has more years of experience than she’s usually willing to admit to, in every facet of marketing and communications: corporate and small business marketing, internal communications, public relations, publications, advertising and marketing. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Marketing Communications for the Frederick-based First Nationwide Mortgage Corporation.
Diana Dunn, The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
Undoing Racism
Diana Dunn is a core trainer and organizer with The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. She has worked with the Institute since its inception in 1980 as one of its founding members.She now devotes her work to her first love, the organizing, training, working with people nationally and internationally and doing curriculum development.She is helping to bring grassroots innovative community organizing projects together with health care providers to understand and develop strategies to address health and health care disparities in the United States.
Jesse Elton, Local Initiatives Support Coalition
Year 15 Transition Strategies
Ms. Elton is responsible for providing technical assistance to LISC’s local offices on lending and program development and overseeing LISC’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) technical assistance delivery. Ms. Elton brings nine years of experience in housing finance, development, and asset management. Her experience includes overseeing property recapitalization activities for non-profit BRIDGE Housing Corporation in San Francisco and consulting to community development financial institutions. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and holds an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School and a B.A. from Haverford College.
Nika Eluguardo, The Midas Collaborative
Best Practices in Evaluation for Small Business Development Programs
Nika Elugardo is the Director of the Massachusetts Financial Education Collaborative (MFEC) and is launching its central office, hosted by the Midas Collaborative. Nika came to the MFEC from the MA State House, where she was the Senior Aide for Policy & Planning for Senator Chang-Díaz. She has been catalyzing entrepreneurial and community initiatives since her college days at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduating and doing consumer protection research, Nika managed the National Consumer Law Center’s statewide Foreclosure Prevention Project, a collaboration between corporations, nonprofits and HUD. Nika also worked with the Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC) for ten years; first in development and consulting, then as the founding Director of EGC Consulting. Nika has a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a J.D. from Boston University.
Louise Elving, Viva Consulting
Redeveloping Foreclosed Properties in MA
As Partner at VIVA Consulting, Louise Elving offers skills in real estate development, strategic/business planning and public policy. Having created over 4,000 units of housing with a diverse mix of clients, Louise is adept at responding thoughtfully to the sometimes difficult and always intriguing challenges of building homes, communities and organizations.
Jennifer Faigel, Independent Consultant
Commercial Real Estate Development
Mike Feloney, Southwest Boston CDC
Mike brings over 20 years of public and private sector experience in affordable housing and community development to his work at the CDC. He previously worked in senior planning and development positions at the Cambridge Housing Authority and as a Senior Associate with Abt Associates Inc. Mike has a Master in City Planning Degree in from M.I.T. and earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard College.
Lew Finfer, Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Academy
Organizing for Change
Lew Finfer is the co-founder and lead trainer for the Academy. Lew has worked as a community organizer inMassachusettssince 1970 and is the Director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN).
Aida Franquiz, Boston Private Bank & Trust Company
Community Development Mentoring Program
Judy Freiwirth, Nonprofit Solutions Associates
Engaging Constituents for Community Impact
Judy Freiwirth, Psy.D. is nationally known as a leading consultant, trainer, speaker and thought leader in the field of governance and constituent engagement. For over 30 years, she has been training and consulting to nonprofits in organization development, planning, and community organizing, particularly to social change organizations. She is considered one of the leading national trainers and consultants in the area of constituent engagement and nonprofit governance and has been a keynote speaker and trainer at many national and regional conferences.
Jack Geary, Jack Geary Consulting
Asset Management
Jack Geary has over 25 years of housing management experience, both as a property/asset manager, administrator and consultant/trainer, moving between the public, private and nonprofit housing sectors. A former public housing resident, Jack has been a property manager, Regional Manager and Director of Management Operations for the Boston Housing Authority, San Francisco Housing Authority and the Cambridge (MA) Housing Authority. One of our most popular trainers, Jack is a nationally recognized asset management consultant and trainer primarily for LISC and NeighborWorks America. Jack is a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and holds an MS Degree from the University of Massachusetts.
Jennifer Gilbert, VIVA Consulting
Redeveloping Foreclosed Properties in MA
Jennifer Gilbert's, Partner at VIVA Consulting, practice spans doing (project management, TA), thinking (research and policy development) and dreaming (strategic planning, feasibility studies). She aims to match her clients' resourcefulness with her own and draws on 20 years of community development experience to inform and advance their goals.
Ezra Glenn, MIT Urban Planning
Introduction to Census Data
In addition to serving as Special Assistant in the Departmental Headquarters, Ezra is a Lecturer in the Department's Housing, Community, and Economic Development Group, where he teaches on both community development practice and quantitative methods for planning.
Juan Gonzalez, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporations
Introduction to Popular Education
Juan H. González is the Director of Community Organizing at the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation. He is responsible to coordinate organizing efforts to create and preserve affordable housing, support small businesses and promoting equity. He holds a master of science degree in Forest Ecology from the University of Minnesota, and a BS in Agronomy from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.
Diane Gordon, Diane Gordon Consulting
Logic Models
Diane Gordon works with clients to achieve strategic goals, measure results, and create strong, resilient organizations. Diane has over 30 years of experience in nonprofit executive management, leadership, and consulting. She specializes in strategic planning and evaluation, outcome measurement, and leadership development. She works with a broad range of nonprofits and foundations, bringing the unique perspective of manager, consultant, and funder. With roots in community and tenants’ rights organizing, Diane has experience in diverse community- based settings. Having led two nonprofits, Diane has a practical approach to her work, combining a deep understanding of the practices and principles of management with the day-to-day reality of running a nonprofit.
Janet Grogan, The Mediation Group
Supervisors' Seminar
Janet Grogan (BA, Simmons) joined the staff of The Mediation Group after many years of collaboration. She has over fifteen years of human resources and organizational development experience dealing with a range of issues such as benefits, and internal work place conflicts. She has developed policy, conducted training, facilitated and implemented strategic planning and has a track record of mediating disputes and creating effective solutions for internal resolution. Janet most recently spent five years as the Director of Human Resources at The Community Builders, Inc., a nationally recognized multi-state nonprofit developer and manager of affordable housing.
James Johnson, NeighborWorks America
Building Leaders Building Communities
Kevin Johnson, Madison Park Development Corporation
Basics of Community Organizing
Henry Joseph, Henry Joseph and Associates
LISC Project Manager Seminar
Henry Joseph has been working as a housing and community development consultant for more than twenty-five years, specializing in supporting the creation and preservation of affordable housing in inner-city neighborhoods in the greater Boston area. His work has been concentrated in two areas: providing project specific development consulting services to community-based housing development organizations and resident associations and helping to enhance the capacity of these organizations through training and technical assistance.
Angela Kelly, Madison Park Development Corporation
Community Organizing Basics
Angela Kelly is a Director of Resident Leadership and Services at Madison Park CDC and a member of the Mel King Institute's Steering Committee. She has served on Peace Action’s national staff in Washington and Mass Peace Action’s staff and board, and in leadership roles with the National Youth & Student Peace Coalition, Think Outside the Bomb Network, and other coalitions. Angela has
helped organize and spoken at many conferences, forums, and rallies, and coordinated media coverage of several peace movement events.
Judith Kidd, ESC of New England
ESC Fundraising
Judith Kidd has extensive experience managing nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. At ESC Judith is a consultant and faculty member for ESC’s Governance Training for new consultants. Her experience includes work for Harvard College, City Year Inc, The Boston Foundation, and Bank Boston; teaching graduate level courses in Boston, and serving on several nonprofit boards.
Mel King, South End Technology Center
Melvin H. 'Mel' King (born 1928) is an American politician, community organizer, writer, and past Adjunct Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). King has been active in creating community programs and institutions for low-income people in Boston and is the founder and current director of the South End Technology Center.
Hyung Lee, Teen Empowerment
Group Facilitation
Maria Letona, Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts
Engaging Constituents for Community Impact
Elena Letona is a native of El Salvador and is Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts’ Executive Director. Elena brings 25 years of experience working and serving the nonprofit sector as director, administrator, organizer, activist, and volunteer. Her areas of expertise include community organizing, leadership development, program development, implementation and evaluation; organizational development, and immigration policy analysis. Elena is the Board Chair of Political Research Associates and is a Trustee of the Hyams Foundation. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts.
Dan Mendelson, Chesapeake Community Advisors
Judy Meredith, Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Academy
Organizing for Change
Margaret Miley, The Midas Collaborative
Finances for Entrepreneurs and their Families
Margaret Miley has a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MS in business. She helped form the Midas Collaborative, and now serves as its Executive Director. Margaret was Commissioner on the Massachusetts Asset Development Commission, has spoken nationally on the topics of community-based economic development and asset-building, and is the author of a number of publications on financial education and asset-building. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Financial Education Collaborative, the Advisory Council for Private Occupational Schools for Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation, and represents Massachusetts in the Assets & Opportunity Scorecard partnership of the Corporation for Enterprise Development in Washington, DC.
Dana Nottingham, Independent Consultant
Leadership Works: A Youth Development Workshop
Dana Nottingham is an independent management consultant and leadership advisor with thirty years of real estate, economic development and community building experience. He was formerly a development executive with The Rouse Company, The Walt Disney Company and the Miami Downtown Development Authority. Drawing upon his private, public and community experiences, he has created a leadership development workshop series that showcases the mindset, skills and tools of successful leaders. He is a graduate of Hampton University (architecture) and MIT (city planning).
Stephanie O'Leary, Accounting Management Solutions
What's in the Numbers? Demystifying CDC Financial Statements
Stephanie O’Leary, Senior Consultant, has over 16 years of financial and accounting experience, the majority of which has been in the nonprofit sector. She worked with Senior Management team and Board of Directors to put together a multi-year business plan and budget and to identify key metrics to implement a dashboard report. Stephanie is highly skilled in a number of financial software packages which include Peachtree, QuickBooks, MIP and Financial Edge. She earned a B.A degree from the University of Rhode Island and an M.P.A. in Finance and Human Resources from Suffolk University. Stephanie is AMS certified for the Rapid Diagnostic™.
Sapna Padte, Teen Empowerment
Group Faciliation: Bring Community Meetings to Life
Sapna Padte, Director of Consulting and Training at Teen Empowerment, has extensive background in group facilitation, youth development and community organizing.
Jennifer Pinck, Pinck & Co.
Best Practices for Hiring General Contractors
President Jennifer Pinck has 34 years of experience in the Massachusetts design and construction industry. Jennifer started from the ground floor and has worked her way through every aspect of the building trades, from construction to design to project management. Prior to founding Pinck & Co., Jennifer served in key roles on both of the region’s recent mega-projects: The Boston Harbor Project and The Central Artery Tunnel.
Jennifer Raitt, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Group Faciliation: Bring Community Meetings to Life
Jennifer Raitt serves as Assistant Director of Land Use Planning and the Chief Housing Planner at MAPC. She has been at MAPC since 2007 providing direct housing and planning technical assistance to municipalities and engaging in regional and statewide housing policy initiatives. She co-manages the Land Use staff and coordinates the eight coordinators of MAPC’s Subregional Councils.
Maria Reinat-Pumajero, The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
Undoing Racism
Henry Robyn, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Community Reinvestment Act Today
Robyn is joining the NCRC team having recently graduated from The University of MD with her master's degree. Robyn has applied her skills in advocacy, research, and community organizing at Health Care for the Homeless and the Baltimore County Department of Planning. In the past, she has focused on poverty and homelessness, gender equality, marriage equality, and supporting a rigorous democracy.
Elisa Scully, Downtown Taunton
Business Improvement Districts
Barry Seltser, ESC of New England
Strategic Decision Making for Community Based Organizations: Nonprofit Conference
Barry Seltser, Ph. D. Yale University, has 30 years of experience as a consultant, evaluator, manager, teacher and facilitator. He is currently a Consultant and Workshop Presenter for nonprofit organizations at ESC of New England.
Sarah Ann Shaw, former WBZ TV4 Reporter
Media Strategies for Community Development Practitioners
In 1969, Shaw was hired by WBZ-TV 4 as Boston’s first African American reporter; she remained a news reporter at WBZ TV 4 for more than thirty years. As a civil rights organizer and human services advocate, Shaw demonstrated a rare ability to unite Boston residents and tackle big picture issues. At WBZ, Shaw anchored another black oriented public affairs program, Mzizi Roots.
Joshua Silver, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Community Reinvestment Act Today
Josh Silver is a proud father of a beautiful and sweet daughter. He hopes that when his daughter is a young adult, lending discrimination and redlining will be eradicated. Short of that ambitious goal, he hopes that the NCRC succeeds in our quest to significantly increase access to credit and capital for traditionally underserved communities. As Vice President of Research and Policy, Josh produces various research studies and develops NCRC policy positions on fair lending matters under the direction of NCRC’s Board and membership. His work is devoted to the maxim that socializing knowledge is the key to the democratization of wealth and power.
Ann Silverman, Ann Silverman Consulting
Careers in Community Development
Exploring the Crossroads of Community Development and Public Schools: Where Do We Fit In?
Ann L. Silverman provides organizational development, nonprofit management, community development and affordable housing consulting services. Ann has worked with nonprofits, foundations, public agencies and residents of affordable housing for more than thirty years. Ann’s experiences as a founding Executive Director, project manager, and funder make her particularly well suited to address the challenges and opportunities that small to mid-sized organizations face.
Harry Smith, Dudley Square Neighborhood Initiative
Community Organizing Basics; Community Land Trusts
Media Strategies for Community Development Practitioners
Harry started working at DSNI in 2011 and is the Director of Sustainable and Economic Development as well as the Director of Dudley Neighbors, Inc. His favorite location on The Dudley Village Campus is El Paraiso Restaurant. Harry’s favorite DSNI memory is the 2013 Dudley Neighbors Inc. Annual Meeting where he enjoyed “great food, great turnout, and lively conversation with land trust homeowners.”
Celia Smoot, Local Initiatives Support Coalition
Year 15 Transition Strategies
Ms. Smoot joined LISC in 2009. She provides technical assistanceto nonprofit entities managing and operating subsidized affordable multifamily housing. Ms. Smoot has a real estate financing background, specializing in affordable housing and community development projects. Prior to joining LISC, she was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hessel, Aluise, and Neun, P.C., a private national law firm with an affordable housing focus, and Kutak Rock, LLP, a tax credit practice. She received a J.D. from George Washington University and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Mike Stauff, ESC of New England
Strategic Decision Making for Community Based Organizations: Nonprofit Conference
Mr. Stauff, an ESC consultant since October 2001, has been involved with non-profit organizations in education, health care, community development and other services, specifically in strategic management and board development efforts. Mike serves on the Board at ESC as well as at Julie's Family Learning Program. Mike is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for TranSwitch Corporation. He has great experience in creating and managing systems and controls necessary to support rapidly growing organizations at both public and private companies. Mike has been involved in growing two successful start-up companies to substantial sizes.
Donna Stoddard, Entrepreneurship Advantage Inc
An Advanced Training Program for Technical Assistance Providers
Donna Stoddard is Associate Professor and Chair of the Technology, Operations and Information Management (TOIM) Division at Babson College. Dr. Stoddard teaches undergraduate, graduate, and executive education courses related to management information systems and business strategy. Before joining the Babson faculty, Dr. Stoddard was on the faculty at Harvard Business School where she taught in the MBA and executive education programs.
Sandra Storey, The Mission Hill Gazette & Jamaica Plain Gazette
Media Strategies for Community Development Practitioners
Sandra Storey is the Founder, Publisher and Editor of the Jamaica Plain Gazette and Mission Hill Gazette. She has many years experience in advising individuals and organizations involved with local issues on strategies for attracting media attention. She has also taught Introduction to Journalism classes at Roxbury Community College as well as media workshops for artists at the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts. Co-author of Women in Citizen Advocacy: Stories of 28 Shapers of Public Policy, she has also been a panelist at a number of conferences on community journalism and public access to the media.
Robert Sweet, National Development Council
Economic Development Credit Analysis
As a member of NDC’s East Team, Robert Sweet works primarily in the northeastern U.S. providing technical assistance to client communities including operational analyses of proposed client projects to structuring financing packages which include Historic Rehabilitation and New Markets Tax Credits. Bud teaches four courses in NDC’s Economic Development Finance Certification Program: ED101 – Economic Development Finance, ED201 – Business Credit Analysis, ED202 – Real Estate Finance and ED300 – The Art of Deal Structuring. He is also an underwriter for NDC’s SBA 7 (a) loan fund program: NDC Grow America Fund.
Mathew Thall, Local Initiatives Support Coalition
Real Estate Development Seminar; Real Estate for Board Members
Mathew Thall is presently a housing and community development consultant. As a consultant he has served as interim Executive Director and Interim senior manager at a number of CDCs in Boston; he has also assisted CDCs in assembling project financing, developing community support for projects and developing policies and procedures for managing their real estate development activity. Mathew has served as the Executive Director of Boston LISC from 1991 to 2006 and Executive Director of Fenway CDC for 10 years. He has previously held a number of positions with local housing authorities, university policy research programs and HUD.
Elizabeth Thorton, Entrepreneurship Advantage Inc
Small Business Financial Analysis: A New Tool for Small Business Technical Assistance Providers
Elizabeth Thornton is a Professor of Management Practice, Babson Executive Education and an Adjunct Lecturer in Entrepreneurship. She was Babson’s first Chief Diversity Officer. Thornton is the founder and CEO of Entrepreneurship Advantage, Inc., a training and consulting firm that provides resources and tools to help businesses increase profitability. She has over 15 years of corporate experience with institutions such as American Express and Bank One and more than 15 years of consulting/entrepreneurial experience with such clients as the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Clinton ’92/The White House, and a global beverage company.
Mary Tittman, MassBudget
Minimum Wage
Mary Tittmann is Director of Outreach at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. She also focuses on environmental and housing issues in the state budget. Before joining MassBudget Mary worked with State Senator Jarrett T. Barrios first as his legislative director and then as chief of staff. Mary came to Beacon Hill through her work in local politics in Cambridge. Prior to moving to Massachusetts, Mary worked for the Economic Development Commission in the City of Chicago and spent ten years working on Capitol Hill in the US House of Representatives and the Office of Technology Assessment. Mary has a B.A. from Connecticut College and an M.A. in International Political Economy from the University of Chicago.
Emily Torres, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
ILEAD
Emily Torres-Cullinane provides support in the implementation of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s smart growth plan, “MetroFuture: Making a Greater Boston Region”. Ms. Torres-Cullinane garners constituent involvement and spreads awareness on the various campaigns and activities involved in the plan.Prior to joining MAPC, Ms. Torres-Cullinane was a Partnership Specialist for the 2010 Census working in community outreach and public awareness. Specifically, she worked with local community organizations and college students in the New England Region. Before that she worked as a Meetings/Event Planner and Program Coordinator for the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University.
David Trevesani, National Development Council
New Market Tax Credits
David Trevisani is a Director for the National Development Council. David is the Operations Manager for NDC’s New Markets Tax Credit program, a $704 million initiative responsible for raising and investing debt and equity capital in community development projects nationwide. He has also provided technical assistance, training, financing and development assistance to municipal and not for profit clients in the eastern region of the US over the past 18 years. His training expertise is in commercial and residential real estate. David also acts as chief underwriter for NDC’s development subsidiary, NDC Housing and Economic Development Corp., with over $1 billion in assets.
Vinnie Viola, Birch Island Real Estate Consulting, LLC
Multifamily Asset Management Series
Vinnie Viola, MPA, HCCP, is Principal of Birch Island Real Estate Consulting, LLC, located in Milton, MA. Founded in 2013, Birch Island provides customized asset management consulting services and trainings to owners, developers, operators and investors of multifamily housing, with expertise in LIHTC program. With nearly three decades’ experience, Vinnie has worked in for-profit, government and not-for-profit organizations that invest in, manage and regulate affordable housing. His career includes nearly 15 years in various leadership roles at Boston Financial Investment Management, Boston Capital and WinnResidential, through which he gained expertise with asset and property management best practices. In his tax credit syndicator roles, Vinnie proactively managed thousands of rental units in hundreds of investment partnerships, comprising over $1 BN in investor contributed equity. Vinnie received his Bachelor of Arts in Geography with concentration in urban planning from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas Dallas. He is an active member of NH & RA's Asset Management Council, a peer network that convenes affordable housing executives from multifamily development firms as well as syndicators, tax credit investors and lenders, to develop operational best practices.
Judy Weber, NeighborWorks America
New Market Tax Credits
Judy Weber is a principal of VIVA Consulting and has 30 years experience in the management and administration of affordable housing. She currently provides affordable property management capacity-building services to profit and not-for-profit organizations, property and asset management instruction and training in a variety of academic and institutional settings, as well as technical assistance and research in various national studies on the operations of affordable housing. She provides organizational and process design services to affordable housing organizations as well.
Comma Williams, Pinck & Co.
Best Practices for Hiring General Contractors
Comma Williams has been in the Training & Organization Development field for 20 years. She has been an independent consultant since 1999, designing, delivering and facilitating a variety of interventions including diversity training, leadership development, team development and web-based training. From 1989-1999, she was an Organization Development Consultant at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC).
Debra Yanofsky, ESC of New England
Messaging
Debra Yanofsky is an ESC consultant with extensive experience in the areas of marketing, governance, and fundraising. She has been with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies as Chair of the Elder Services and Teen Planning Committees, Cochair of the Acharai Leadership Development Program, and was the recipient of the CJP 2011 Circle of Excellence Leadership Award. Debra worked as a Marketing Consultant and Marketing Director with Fidelity Investments, Director, Product Marketing with Harvard Community Health Plan, and Brand Manager with The Quaker Oats Company.