Kathryn Almberg: Kathryn is the director of The Housing Company. In this capacity, she oversees all aspects of the company’s affordable housing development and property management operations and leads a team of 70 employees. She has been with IHFA and The Housing Company for 19 years and has more than 30 years of experience in finance and real estate development in Idaho, California and Nevada. She is an Idaho native with a passion for building and maintaining high-quality sustainable housing and for improving housing options for Idahoans.

Carol Barkes: Carol is a certified professional mediator, neuro peak performance specialist and best-selling author. She serves as the mediation services coordinator for the Idaho Fourth District Court, is a lecturer at Boise State University, and runs a private practice both mediating and consulting. She has spoken at the United Nations and has been seen on Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Chris Bent: Chris has 34 years of experience with a variety of government housing programs including LIHTC, HOME, Section 8 and Rural Development. Chris retired from Tomlinson and Associates as vice president of affordable housing in 2019. She also served on the board of directors for Boise Housing Corporation from 1996 to 2019. In May 2019, Chris accepted the position of executive director for Northwest Integrity Housing.

Diane Bevan: Diane is the executive director of the Idaho Women’s Business Center and CEO of the Idaho Hispanic Foundation. Diane has built her career on making connections and building businesses. As the first CEO of the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2017, she has made it her mission to bridge cultures and communities. In 2018, she founded the Idaho Hispanic Foundation. In 2019, she was awarded the Women Business Center grant from the SBA and now serves as the executive director bringing education, training and business development to women across Idaho.

Heather Bowman: Heather is the National Homebuyer Education Program Manager for Idaho Housing and Finance Association. She directs homebuyer education and housing counseling efforts in Idaho and nationally through Idaho Housing’s network of housing counselors. She also oversees the Finally Home!® Homebuyer Education program, an industry-leading online course that helps first-time buyers navigate the home-buying process and become successful homeowners.

Maureen Brewer: Maureen has served as the Our Path Home administrator for three years, working to evolve the level of sophistication of the partnership dedicated to ending homelessness in Ada County and accelerate outcomes. Before joining the homeless services field, Maureen worked in a nonpartisan office of the Idaho Legislature for eight years and at the Center for Health Policy at Boise State University for two years. In those positions, Maureen was responsible for conducting performance and policy evaluations on a variety of complex systems, including the emergency medical system, the K-12 and higher education systems, and the Medicaid claims processing system.

Stephanie Budnik: Stephanie is a program specialist in the MGIC marketing department. She works with the team to develop marketing strategies to support MGIC’s field sales team as well as customers. Stephanie has 10 years of sales experience and 14 years of training experience. Her background in education allows her to utilize those skills to deliver messaging that meets diverse learning and working styles.

Nancy Buffington: Nancy is a former English professor turned public speaking coach and trainer. She uses psychological, physical and practical approaches she developed at Stanford to help clients find their voices and share their stories. She helped start TEDxBoise and was its speaking coach for five years. Nancy co-founded Next Level Women Leaders, which offers intensive training for professional women. Her recent work has been published in Forbes.com, Sheryl Sandberg’s OptionB.org website, and She Rises.

Bart Cochran: Bart is the founder and executive director of LEAP Charities, a local Idaho nonprofit devoted to creative affordable housing solutions. He is a licensed REALTOR® and CEO of Property People, a local real estate company. His experience has been instrumental in the launch of Welcome Housing, a transitional housing program for refugees; Yes You Can, a program focused on homebuyers with barriers to homeownership; and Windy Court, the first net zero affordable housing development in Idaho built from shipping containers through a partnership with indieDwell and LEAP Charities.

Bud Compher: Bud is the chief executive officer and director of Real Estate Development for NeighborWorks® Boise, which develops “Pocket Neighborhood ™” projects on infill sites for compact, single-family homes . He has 30 years of construction experience, including 24 years of direct project management and 20 years in the nonprofit sector. His diverse experience includes raw land development, advanced construction methods and partnering with local, state and federal housing programs to provide both urban and rural housing options in Idaho.

Chase Craig: A native of Boise, Chase has sold real estate in the Treasure Valley since 2005 and has been a part of more than 3,000 transactions. In 2011, Chase was named top 30 under 30 by the National Association of REALTOR^®. In 2014, he was named REALTOR^® of the Year and became Boise Regional REALTOR^® youngest REALTOR^® of the Year to date.

Vanessa Crossgrove Fry: Vanessa is research director and assistant research professor at the Idaho Policy Institute at Boise State University. She also serves as adjunct faculty member at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. Vanessa has focused her work and education on utilizing multisector, evidenced-based solutions to address persistent social, environmental, and economic issues. At IPI Vanessa has led projects focusing on a number of issues including education, workforce development, transportation, and housing and homelessness.

Mark Dahlquist: Mark has served as executive director of NeighborWorks® Pocatello for the past 13 years. He is past president of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Southeast Idaho, is a board member for the national NeighborWorks Association and is active in many local community organizations, including the Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce and Portneuf Valley Partners. He is a graduate of Idaho State University with a BBA in management organization.

Dina Denney: Dina is an Idaho native and a trauma specialist. Before starting her own therapy practice, Dina started and operated a crisis counseling center at FACES of Hope. Dina is passionate about educating individuals on the impact of trauma and how to recover from these experiences.

Scott Flynn: Scott is the cofounder of indieDwell. He and his partner Pete Gombert founded the company in 2016. Their vision with indieDwell was to disrupt the building industry by offering factory built, high quality, sustainable, healthy homes to underserved communities. Scott has a degree in Chemical Engineering and more than 25 years of experience in the construction industry, which has provided him with a definite advantage in understanding how buildings interact with their occupants and surroundings. Scott believes that energy conscious buildings not only protect the health of their occupants, but also the health of the community and environments in which they operate. Scott and Pete founded indieDwell as a Public Benefit Corporation and is dedicated to making healthy homes the standard for affordable housing everywhere.

Lt. Chuck Gentry: Lt. Gentry is a 22-year veteran of the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office. He currently serves as a detective lieutenant in the agency’s criminal investigation division. Prior to that, Lt. Gentry spent 15 years in the narcotics unit working to keep drugs off of our streets.

Penelope Hansen: Penelope is the mental health coordinator for the Boise Police Department. Before coming to BPD, she worked at the Idaho Department of Health Welfare monitoring the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan contract. She has worked as the director of psychological health for the Idaho Army National Guard and for IDHW on the crisis response team in Region 3 as a designated examiner. Penelope graduated from University of Montana in 2001 with her undergraduate degree in psychology and from Eastern Washington University in 2003 with a master’s degree in mental health counseling. She is a licensed clinical professional counselor.

Kate Holgate: Kate has more than 20 years of experience in the marketing world. She dove into the ad world, gaining experience that now spans broad industries. From healthcare to pet care. From financial institutions to science centers. From outdoor rec to manufactured wood products, and even the essentials like toilet paper and more. No matter the need, Kate believes that at the end of the day, communicating like a human being creates a stronger connection.

Carolyn Holly: A longtime and active member of the Treasure Valley, Carolyn Holly currently serves as vice president of Idaho Business for Education. In her role, she is an instrumental part of developing meaningful relationships with business leaders statewide to create a highly educated and skilled workforce. Carolyn enjoyed a 33-year career at KTVB Channel 7 television, where she became one of Idaho’s most experienced and best known television personalities. Carolyn has acted as an important representative and volunteer for many organizations, including Smart Women Smart Money, Boise Public Schools Foundation, Idaho Youth Sports Commission, the Saint Alphonsus Foundation, FUNDSY, the Boise Police Chiefs Citizen Advisory panel and the president of the FACES Foundation.

Katherine Johnson: Katherine, the director of brand strategy for Stoltz Marketing Group, has more than 15 years of experience in marketing research, brand strategy, high-level marketing and media planning, as well writing brand content for many different industries. While coming up in her career, Katherine had a front-row view on the evolution of social media. She respects and understands the powerful platform it is today and loves helping brands of all shapes and sizes realize the impact it can have on company goals … when done well and in a way that is sustainable!

Mark Lavin: Mark is the Planning and Development Services director at the City of Boise, serving in this capacity since May 2019. Before this, Mark spent 30 years in retail real estate development with WinCo Foods, Albertsons, and Supervalu, working in most major markets in the United States. He is a licensed civil engineer and his experience includes site location and acquisition work for stores and distribution centers and leadership of development groups.

Christina Lords: Christina is a proud fifth-generation Idahoan who has served as editor of the Idaho Statesman since December 2018. She graduated from the University of Idaho in 2009 with a journalism degree and has also worked for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, the Post Register in Idaho Falls and the Idaho Press in Nampa.

Kendra Lutes: Kendra has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Gonzaga University and is a licensed clinical professional counselor. She is an associate behavioral health director at Terry Reilly Health Services, a federally qualified health center with multiple locations in Ada, Canyon and Owyhee counties. From 2012 to 2015 she was program manager for a federally funded grant program that provided wrap-around support and housing assistance to people experiencing homelessness. Kendra works with the Assertive Community Treatment team that provides on-site support to the residents of New Path Community Housing in Boise.

Hans Madsen: Hans is the owner and the operator of Custom Bedbug Inc. He works with various housing authorities, property managers, and pest control companies to help them reduce costs that are associated with bedbug infestations. Hans has secured Seattle’s King and Renton County’s Housing Authority contracts as well as Washington state Department of Social and Health Services. He has been in the pest control industry since 2012 and has owned and operated Custom Bedbug Inc., a specialized company that focuses on advanced bedbug remediation services since 2014.

Jerry Miller: Jerry is an economic development specialist with the Idaho Department of Commerce. He has 27 years of experience in community and economic development. His responsibilities at the department include director of the Northwest Community Development Institute and manager of the Idaho Gem Grant and Idaho Main Street programs. He also administers the Rural Idaho Economic Development Professionals program and is the Opportunity Zone coordinator for Idaho. He is best known for the department’s “Show Me the Money” newsletter and for his service on the Idaho Rural Partnership’s Community Review steering committee.

Terri Molyneaux: Terri is a Project and Impact Specialist in the Office of Community Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Her area of focus is the Your Money, Your Goals initiative which provides financial tools for special populations e.g. persons with disabilities, Native American, and reentry populations. Prior to the Office of Community Affairs, Terri served in the Office of Legislative Affairs and Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending. Terri came to the Bureau from a local nonprofit (Byte Back) in the Washington metropolitan area that served the technical learning needs of persons with low-income and the Sprint Corporation Office of Legal and Government Affairs. She is a graduate of The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Jeff Nishita: Jeff is a partner in the San Francisco office of Novogradac & Company LLP and is a co-founder of the firm’s LIHTC working group and two of the subgroups for the firm’s Opportunity Zone working group, membership organizations that addresses technical issues in their respective industries. Jeff provides numerous services in the real estate industry, including audit and tax services, consulting/structuring, forecasting, LIHTC and tax-exempt bond application assistance, and training. He is a certified public accountant.

Orla O’Connor: A tax principal based in San Francisco, Orla leads KPMG’s Bay Area Real Estate Tax practice and co-leads KPMG’s national leadership team for Qualified Opportunity Zones. Prior to KPMG, in addition to law firm experience, Orla was Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief Counsel (Technical) at the Internal Revenue Service, and internal tax counsel to Goldman Sachs and The Carlyle Group. Orla earned her law degree from Columbia University and her undergraduate degree in foreign service from Georgetown University, and previously worked as a foreign service officer in Mumbai, India.

Jennifer Palagi: Jennifer is vice president, community health and well-being for Saint Alphonsus Health System, Idaho – Oregon Region. Jennifer has served at Saint Alphonsus for more than 15 years. Before her role as SAHS CHWB VP, she was the director of mission integration and community health and well-being for Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. She is also a culture change engagement executive sponsor and facilitator.

David Penny: David is a graduate of Boise State University and Gonzaga University School of Low. He has more than 30 years of experience representing owners of conventional and subsidized multifamily housing as well as the management companies operating those properties. His work has included advising housing providers on fair housing compliance and defended housing providers against fair housing violation claims and lawsuits. More recently, David has worked with the housing industry to develop best practices for fair housing compliance and to train managers at every level. He just recently started a new adventure as general counsel for Tomlinson & Associates and has enjoyed learning the operations side of the profession from an industry leader.

Brian Points: Brian is president of Points Consulting, a consultancy in Moscow, Idaho, that is focused on workforce and economic topics. He has contributed to more than 100 consulting projects over the past 13 years, and recently served as project lead on the Palouse Regional Housing Assessment for the Moscow/Pullman area.

Molly Porter: Molly is senior vice president and co-head of community relations at Wells Fargo. Molly leads a diverse team of 130-plus members responsible for corporate philanthropy, community outreach, stakeholder engagement, and reputation risk in all 50 states. Molly manages a corporate philanthropy budget in excess of $150 million, with a focus on affordable housing, small business and financial health investments made at the local level.

Enrique Rivera: Enrique is the chairman, president and CEO for the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Enrique has a true passion for giving back to the community. In his leadership role, he has provided many resources to Hispanic-owned businesses throughout the Treasure Valley.

Wyatt Schroeder: Wyatt is the director of community partnership for the City of Boise, working to stand up and sustain public-private collaborations that improve the health, housing stability, and inclusion of the city’s most vulnerable populations. He has spent the last eleven years working to end homelessness in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Boise through organizations like Doorways for Women and Families, Project HOME, and CATCH. He believes to his core that we all deserve a safe and stable home.

Jennifer Seamons: Jennifer is the senior vice president and national originations manager of Key Community Development Corporation for KeyBank. In this position, she is responsible for leading origination efforts of low-income housing tax credits, new markets tax credits and historic tax credits through both direct investment as well as syndicator platforms throughout KeyCorp’s 15-state footprint to support Key’s Community Reinvestment Act investment efforts. She has been with Key for almost 20 years, with 15 years spent in Community Development Finance.

Cassandra Skidanov: Cassandra supports both sales and lending partners to develop and execute seller plans for meeting affordable lending, community outreach and CRA goals. After building a 15-year career in mortgage, real estate, and community relations, Cassandra joined Freddie Mac in 2018 to continue her dedication of supporting democracy in housing and increasing production and sourcing in at risk areas including multicultural and low-to-moderate-income segments.

Michael Stanton: Michael is the information technology manager at the Ada County Highway District. Before joining ACHD, Michael was the program chair for the School of Information Technology at the Boise campus of ITT Technical Institute. Michael’s passion is in the areas of infrastructure security, data security, and compliance. A long-time member of the Information Systems Security Association, an international cybersecurity organization, Michael was one of five members of ISSA who were inducted into the ISSA International Fellows class of 2019.

Lisa Steele: Lisa is the manager of Homelessness Programs for Idaho Housing and Finance Association. She and her team work with the Idaho Balance of State Continuum of Care, which includes providers and stakeholders throughout the state, to address the needs of Idahoans experiencing housing crises and homelessness. Lisa previously worked with the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority and NeighborWorks, focusing on affordable housing issues and solutions.

BJ Stensland: BJ has served as the executive director for Aid For Friends for the past 12 years and is responsible for all operational, financial and management activities for the organization. She has been employed with Aid For Friends for 21 years and is knowledgeable about the programs that the organization offers to the community. She has a master’s degree in business administration degree from Boise State University and a bachelor’s degree psychology from Baylor University.

Bill Truax: Bill is president and CEO of Galena Opportunity Inc. Galena is focused on impact investing in Opportunity Zones in high growth markets throughout the Mountain States and Pacific NW. Galena Fund’s core strategy is residentially-anchored mixed-use real estate redevelopment, including workforce housing. Bill leverages Galena’s redevelopment efforts through his extensive program knowledge of federal, state and municipal financing arrangements utilizing LIHTC and tax-exempt bonds and state/muni/federal funds in various states.

Erin Quinn: Erin is the director of HFA engagement in the Affordable Lending and Access to Credit organization, where she spearheads Freddie Mac’s partnership, strategy and engagement efforts with state and local housing finance agencies. She serves as a primary resource for HFAs, their business partners, and internal and external stakeholders. Before joining Freddie Mac, Erin worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as the Director of the Hardest Hit Fund.

Benjamin Wright: Ben Wright is the director of operations at MoFi, a nonprofit financing company that helps people and projects that are unable to access traditional bank financing. He joined the organization in 2015, and in 2017, he relocated from the Missoula office to open MoFi’s first Idaho office, in downtown Boise. In his current role, Ben oversees MoFi’s financial covenants and reporting for MoFi and its borrowers.