Deborah La Franchi is the founder and CEO of SDS Capital Group. SDS is a national leader in impact investing with $1.48 billion of active assets under management in six different fund and product strategies. Ms. La Franchi founded SDS with the express vision of engaging the private sector in the battle against poverty. Each impact fund on SDS’s platform serves a different geography and employs a unique investment strategy, but they all generate positive impacts for low-income communities and people. Each fund – depending on the focus of the specific fund – either targets a risk-adjusted rate-of-return or provides capital at a below-market cost. Ms. La Franchi’s core role is to ensure each fund is supported by a team with the key expertise needed to execute the specific investment strategy. Ms. La Franchi leads the structuring of each fund’s investment strategy, spearheads fundraising, oversees the senior managers of each fund and division, and participates on each fund’s investment committee.

Outside of her work with SDS, Ms. La Franchi is the founder and board chair of Sustainable Communities Fund, which provides capital for small and micro loans to low-income and diverse entrepreneurs. Ms. La Franchi also is on the UCLA Ziman Affordable Housing Advisory Council (AHAC). Before founding SDS, she served as Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s Assistant Deputy Mayor for Economic Development; she then went on to serve as the first CEO of Genesis LA, which launched the Genesis Family of Funds. She is a former director for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater L.A. and Secretary and Director of the National New Market Tax Credit Coalition.

Ms. La Franchi earned a BA in Political Science and History from UCLA, an MBA from UCLA, and an MPP from Georgetown University. She also holds a Series 65 license

Brock Miller is a Managing Director at Turner Impact Capital focused on its Multifamily Housing Initiatives and is responsible for acquisitions underwriting, transaction due diligence, and management of portfolio assets. Prior to joining Turner Impact Capital, Brock was an Associate for Greystar Real Estate Partners, a fully integrated multifamily real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development and property management of rental housing properties globally. Prior to Greystar, Brock was an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs where he focused on acquisitions in the Financial Institutions Group. Brock received a B.S. in Finance from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Shane Taugner is Vice President of Investments at CEI, where he focuses primarily on affordable housing transactions utilizing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) program. He works with sponsors, developers, owners, and operators nationwide to structure and capitalize ground-up and acquisition/rehabilitation deals in an increasingly competitive and complex capital markets environment.

Shane plays a key role in deploying CEI’s institutional partnership capital through programmatic co-GP joint ventures, GP interest acquisitions, portfolio recapitalizations, and scalable development platforms. His work centers on aligning capital with operating partners to unlock pipeline growth, bridge acquisition gaps, and design capital stacks that balance risk, return, and long-term ownership objectives.

Katie Balderrama is the President and Chief Operating Officer for Alliant Community Preservation. Katie leads the company’s investment, asset management and strategic direction. Katie previously served as Executive Vice President of Affordable Equity, Development, and Preservation at Walker & Dunlop where she oversaw LIHTC production, acquisitions, and asset management for the Affordable Equity team. Ms. Balderrama has 19 years of LIHTC and affordable housing experience.

Prior to this role, Ms. Balderrama was Alliant Capital’s General Counsel for nearly nine years, where she and the legal team provided legal support to all of Alliant’s business units, including oversight of the legal integrity of each investment and collaborating with the executive team to design and implement process improvement initiatives.

Before joining Alliant Capital, Ms. Balderrama practiced complex business litigation, including affordable housing, real estate, and securities litigation at international law firms Mayer Brown LLP and Crowell & Moring LLP. Her practice focused on complex financial cases such as securities, corporate, partnership, fiduciary disputes, class actions, and intellectual property litigation.

Ms. Balderrama obtained her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, where she graduated as valedictorian, and her Bachelor of Arts from Loyola Marymount University. She studied classical voice in college and now enjoys singing with community groups such as Loyola Marymount’s Concert Choir and the Los Angeles Cathedral Choir.

Adam is a Partner and Senior Vice President of Development and Construction at Cityview and oversees all aspects of the company’s multifamily, mixed-use, and industrial development across Cityview’s portfolio in California, Colorado, Arizona, and Washington. Adam has overseen the development of approximately 4,000 apartment units, exceeding $2.1 billion in cost and has also developed approximately 2 million square feet of commercial, office and industrial projects. Prior to joining Cityview, Adam worked at CIM Group as an Associate Vice President of Development overseeing ground up retail, office, and mixed-use developments. Adam holds a BA Degree in Political Science and History from UCLA, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Alex Valente serves as a Senior Vice President for the Los Angeles Business Unit of Trammell Crow Company. Alex focuses on all multifamily opportunities within Greater Los Angeles for High Street Residential, TCC's residential subsidiary. In his role, Alex is responsible for identifying new development and investment opportunities, debt and equity partnerships, entitlements and community outreach, design, construction and leasing.

Prior to joining TCC, Alex worked for The Ratkovich Company, a Los Angeles-based developer. Alex focused his time working on three Ratkovich assets: The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista, a 28-acre 530,000-square-foot creative office and studio campus, 5900 Wilshire, a 30-story 491,000-square-foot office building in Miracle Mile, and The Alhambra, a 1,000,000-square-foot office campus.

Prior to The Ratkovich Company, Alex worked for Thomas Safran & Associates, a Los Angeles-based affordable housing developer. Alex focused his efforts on the development of The Renaissance at City Center, a 150-unit multifamily project in Carson, California and Canyon Creek, a 75-unit tax-credit, senior multifamily project in Calabasas, CA.

Tyler Johnson is responsible for securing financing for multifamily properties throughout the country. With over ten years in the industry, Tyler has extensive experience arranging permanent, bridge and construction loans with all types of lenders, including CMBS, commercial banks, insurance companies and debt funds.

Prior to joining IPA Capital Markets in 2022, Tyler was responsible for national business development and transaction coordination in connection with the financing of commercial real estate investments. Tyler holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Chapman University.

Tim Reimers leads Sheppard’s Healthcare Real Estate practice and advises many of the nation's leading healthcare systems, providers, investors, and developers on their most significant real estate and finance transactions. With deep experience across hospitals, behavioral health, senior housing, and other healthcare assets, Tim is widely recognized for helping clients navigate complex legal, regulatory, and business challenges at the intersection of healthcare and real estate. He counsels clients on acquisitions, development projects, joint ventures, financing transactions, sale-leasebacks, public-private partnerships, and other strategic initiatives, bringing a practical approach shaped by decades of experience in the healthcare sector.

In her role as VP of Development, Emily oversees all development activities for Goldrich Kest, managing the full lifecycle from entitlement through lease-up. Her expertise spans working closely with government and local stakeholders to secure entitlements, overseeing design and planning, and ensuring successful underwriting, construction, and lease-up phases. Emily’s strategic leadership has been instrumental in the delivery of high-profile, ground-up developments and large-scale capital projects. Most recently, Emily has spearheaded the joint venture for an Affordable housing asset, successfully securing tax credits, bond financing, and negotiating amended agreements with HUD.

Prior to founding The Max Collaborative, Kevin ran Forest City Realty Trust’s Los Angeles office, where he’d been employed since 1998. During his career, he was extensively involved in the entitlement, development, rehabilitation, and repositioning of over 10 million square feet of real estate, including over 3,000 apartment units. He developed market rate, affordable, and high-density urban housing, both new and through the adaptive re-use of preexisting structures. Additionally, Kevin oversaw several mixed-use developments focused on placemaking and today’s innovation economy; as a result, he has significant expertise in revitalizing urban neighborhoods.

Kevin has spent the majority of his professional career working in California and is deeply embedded in its civic community. He is currently on the Board of Directors for SCI-Arc and The Hammer Museum.

His past involvement includes serving on the LA Conservancy Board, the Board of Directors for the Center for Creative Land Recycling, as an Advisory Board Member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, and membership in the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Leadership Council.

Kevin graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BA degree and holds a Masters in Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.

With 25 years of experience in complex risk insurance brokerage, Matthew serves as the Real Estate Practice Leader at Heffernan Insurance Brokers (HIB). In this role, he designs insurance programs for both commercial and residential developments, encompassing projects under construction as well as completed real estate portfolios. HIB's real estate clientele includes nationwide developers, lenders, REITs, and family offices. Additionally, HIB maintains a London operation, facilitating efficient access to the Lloyd's insurance market.

As Vice President of Construction of the Multifamily Group, Eric oversees the

development and construction for all residential projects at KPRS, including market-rate, senior living, senior assisted and affordable residential.

For the past 35 years, Eric has solely focused his career on the multifamily market, having constructed over 20,000 units. His narrowed insight and expertise have made him a sought-after builder by clients throughout the west coast.

Eric’s dynamic leadership has allowed him to grow and expand numerous teams and their capabilities throughout his tenure at KPRS. With a focus on quality, craftsmanship and technical applications, each unit he builds is given the attention of an individual home.

Eric received his B.S. in Construction Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Winston Chang, AIA has spearheaded the design and execution of award winning regional and international projects throughout his 35+ year career including Mixed Use-Multifamily Communities, Transit-Oriented Developments, Premier Destination Retail Locations, Historic Preservation/Adaptive-Reuse Landmarks, and Campus/Student Living Environments.

Winston takes a “hands on” approach and directly applies his knowledge of architecture, urban design, building technology/construction costs, and community politics to navigate challenging entitlements and economic conditions to optimize project impact. Winston believes that “listening” is fundamental to project success: listening to Clients, Communities and Cities and providing thoughtful solutions that create opportunities out of constraints. The success of this approach is demonstrated by repeat clientele as well as city recommendations and referrals to developers for sensitive community projects.

From his perspective as a former partner at three leading architectural firms in Metropolitan Los Angeles, Winston has brought the best of each of these firms together in Next Architecture.

A native Angeleno, Mr. Chang is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and is a California registered architect. He served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Palos Verdes Estates for over 10 years.

Fernando Villa has significant land use, regulatory, real estate and litigation experience helping clients secure entitlements while mitigating development risk. He advises clients on entitlements and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for complex development projects and on reducing exposure to environmental liabilities.

Fernando’s entitlement work spans industrial, mixed-use, residential, commercial and retail developments. He is particularly experienced with Brownfield redevelopment, merging his knowledge of real estate development with a deep understanding of environmental regulation to help clients complete projects while mitigating environmental risks.

Managing Director: Head of Portfolio Management and Co-Head of Investments for Veritas Investments and has over 20 years of industry experience. Mr. Reuter focuses on multifamily portfolio management and investment activities for the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining Veritas, Mr. Reuter held senior positions at Swift Real Estate Partners, The Green Cities Company, and Prologis.

Mr. Reuter holds a BA from UCLA and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Dan brings more than 15 years of real estate experience spanning business development, multifamily brokerage, and law, with professional experience across the Los Angeles and Las Vegas markets. His deep understanding of multifamily and hospitality development—covering acquisition, entitlements, design, and project completion—strongly aligns with MVE’s vision. With an engaging personality and a well-established industry network, Dan offers valuable insight and strategic guidance that benefits both current and future clients throughout every stage of the development process.

Bob Lisauskas serves as Principal in the firm’s placemaking studio. He offers more than two decades of experience with noteworthy master planning and mixed-use architecture projects in California and across the world. Bob has dedicated his time to working with clients who are focused on creating mixed-use residential districts and the re-imagining of cities. Current work includes the development of three multifamily residential projects in Downtown San Diego. Their basis of design includes an exploration of experiential placemaking opportunities, biophilia, and the integration of health and wellness initiatives. Holding degrees in both architecture and urban design, Bob is passionate about working at various project scales. In his local LA neighborhood, Bob has served as a board member of the Silver Lake Urban Design and Preservation Committee for the past ten years and acts as a student mentor at USC.

Before joining RDC, Lisauskas served for seven years as senior associate, vice president at CallisonRTKL, and before that as project design director at RDC’s predecessor firm, P+R Architects.

Zack specializes in designing insurance strategies for large-scale real estate owners, developers, and property management firms across the U.S. His team represents portfolios between 5,000–20,000 units.

With a background rooted in analytics and advocacy, Zack focuses on solving problems most brokers don’t touch – valuation alignment, risk engineering, and portfolio leveraging that directly protects NOI and investor outcomes. As part of IOA’s national real estate practice, he helps institutional and middle-market firms navigate today’s volatile insurance landscape with the precision needed to actually close deals and protect returns.

Zack’s team operates under the philosophy of SPA – Speed, Professionalism, and Accuracy – a standard that drives every client relationship. It’s how they cut through the noise and deliver measurable results in an industry that too often moves at half-speed.

Narek Ekmekjyan is the Vice President of Optimum Seismic, Inc., a leading California design-build firm specializing in seismic and structural retrofits. He leads the company’s business development and project delivery operations, helping property owners and stakeholders navigate complex retrofit and construction projects.

With more than 20 years of experience in engineering and construction, Narek has worked on a wide range of multifamily residential, commercial, and public projects. He is particularly experienced in seismic retrofit programs and regulatory compliance across California jurisdictions.

He holds an MBA from the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Riverside, and a B.A. in Economics from Yerevan State University in Armenia.

Danilo oversees growth within Chargie’s major markets, ensuring that projects are completed in a timely and cost-effective manner. He also serves as General Manager of Chargie’s partnership with Southern California Edison (SCE) and the utility’s $436-million Charge Ready program. Prior to joining Chargie, he served as the Director of Partner and Customer Experience at PCS Energy, leading customer engagement and service strategies. Danilo holds a B.S. from California State University – East Bay.

Jaymie Beckett, a seasoned leader in real estate investments, development, and private equity, currently serves as the CEO of Housing on Merit (“HoM”). Her role is to lead and manage all aspects of HoM, one of the premier non-profit affordable housing providers in the United States. Jaymie is responsible for strategic planning, fundraising, program development, financial management, staff management and overall organizational leadership. As CEO, Jaymie plays a pivotal role in leading HoM’s organization and driving its mission forward, merging her extensive real estate experience with a heartfelt desire to tackle the affordable housing crisis. This position is not just a job for her, but the culmination of a lifelong goal to blend professional skills with meaningful, mission-driven work. Jaymie strongly believes that everyone has a right to a safe and stable place to call home that supports well-being and provides new opportunities. She is excited to honor Housing on Merit’s legacy while propelling the organization towards new horizons.

Jaymie’s career spans more than two decades, featuring roles in both institutional organizations and entrepreneurial ventures. She began her career at Deutsche Bank in Real Estate investment banking, later transitioning to a role at Related Capital, an affordable-housing financier specializing in LIHTC bond originations and tax-credit equity syndications. During her tenure at Related Capital, Jaymie focused on strategy and capital raising initiatives, playing a pivotal role in transforming the company into a more well-known, institutionally owned, publicly traded company.

Following her time at Related Capital, Jaymie attended UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she was awarded the prestigious ULI Kenneth M. Good Graduate Student Fellowship. After graduating with an MBA, Jaymie co-founded AJ Capital Partners, a real estate operating business with a focus on the hospitality sector. Under her leadership, the business completed over $500 million in acquisitions of unique hospitality assets between 2009 and 2012.

Expanding her focus beyond hospitality, Jaymie became the Head of Acquisition at Blatteis & Schnur, where she made significant contributions to retail development projects, including At Mateo in Downtown LA and the transformative redevelopment of the Macy Men’s Store in San Francisco’s Union Square.

Most recently, Jaymie founded the Calderly Group, an investment and advisory firm. Calderly created successful joint ventures in which it acquired, redeveloped, and sold a portfolio of 700 workforce housing units in Salt Lake City, in addition to consulting on various real estate projects.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Jaymie dedicates herself to her community. Her involvement with the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors, Cayton Children’s Museum Women’s Philanthropy Circle, and UCLA REAG Endowment Circle underscores her commitment to societal betterment. She is a proud alumna of Middlebury College and UCLA Anderson School of Management. Jaymie resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.

Aman Patel is a leader in manufacturing and engineering for modular construction, with a decade

of experience designing products, setting up factories, and implementing systems that enable

large-scale, eƯicient, and high-quality housing production.

He currently serves as Vice President of Engineering at Model/Z, where he was the first employee

and played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s vision and operational framework. From day

one, Aman laid the foundation for success along with defining the product and manufacturing

strategies. He oversaw the selection and fit-out of the company’s first factory, ensuring it met

stringent manufacturing requirements for capacity, layout, equipment, and supplier proximity.

At Model/Z, Aman has led the development of a highly optimized 1-bedroom modular unit through

the application of Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles, achieving significant weight

reductions and eƯiciency gains. He established the company’s CAD, PDM, and PLM systems, built

high-performing products and manufacturing engineering teams. His leadership extends to product

validation, process optimization, and the design of assembly line to further increase throughput

and reduce labor costs. Aman is also leading the creation of a first-of-its-kind software tool

designed to streamline the entire cradle-to-grave process of housing development—from

property identification and design to permitting, manufacturing, and installation. This platform has

the potential to unlock the true scalability of modular housing by removing key bottlenecks in

development, dramatically reducing costs and accelerating project timelines from years to

months.

Before Model/Z, Aman held senior manufacturing and engineering roles at multiple modular

startups, including CRATE Modular, Impact Housing, Universal Standard Housing, and RAD

Urban. In these positions, he developed end-to-end manufacturing strategies, optimized plant

layouts, implemented Lean and Six Sigma practices, transitioned companies from 2D to 3D CAD

workflows, and integrated digital MES/QMS solutions to replace paper-based processes. His eƯorts

consistently resulted in measurable gains in productivity, quality, and cost-eƯiciency.

Aman holds a Master’s in Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering from North Carolina

State University and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.

Passionate about transforming how housing is built, Aman’s work has directly contributed to the

manufacturing of over 2,500 modular units in California. His blend of technical expertise,

operational leadership, and innovative problem-solving positions him at the forefront of

industrialized construction—bridging the gap between cutting-edge design, scalable

manufacturing, and end-to-end development solutions.

Tima Bell, Founding Principal of Bell Design Group, brings extensive experience and leadership to the studio. Born in NYC and raised in both Venice Beach and Peaks Island, Maine, Tima’s artistic passion led him to architecture, exploring three-dimensional space through his paintings, but now does primarily watercolors. He studied at Rice University and the Southern California Institute for Architecture. In addition to his American studies, Tima spent considerable time studying throughout Europe. He also completed a one-year artist-in-residency in Israel. Through Bell Design Group, Tima continues to explore the intersection of art and architecture through his work, designing across widely varying typologies ranging from studios and tech, to residential, hospitality, housing, commercial, civic, and institutional spaces.

Tima was an adjunct professor at Woodbury University and acts as a guest juror for universities and awards. He is an AIA Associate and has received an AIA scholarship as well as two AIA Hospitality Design awards. Additionally, he is the recipient of both the Individual Boutique 18 Design Award and the Boutique 18 Design Restaurant Award. Tima has been a speaker on numerous industry panels and podcasts, as well as featured in several publications. He currently serves as Secretary on the Venice Neighborhood Council Board of Officers.

Alex Toth is Vice President of Growth at Villa, a next-generation homebuilding platform that leverages offsite construction and technology to efficiently deliver much-needed housing. He leads revenue growth, sales, marketing, and partnerships for the company, which in 2024 became California’s largest retailer of manufactured homes on permanent foundations. Villa specializes in infill and “missing middle” housing and is a leading builder of detached ADUs.

Prior to Villa, Alex spent a decade at Opendoor in leadership roles spanning business development and homebuilder partnerships, and helped grow the company from early-stage startup to a public real estate platform with over 270,000 transactions. He began his career in management roles at Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Alex was named to Pro Builder’s “40 Under 40” list in 2022 and recognized by HousingWire as a 2024 Insider for his operational leadership. He holds a BSBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from Washington University in St. Louis.