Amanda is responsible for identifying, structuring and preliminary underwriting prospective federal/state HTC and NMTC investments. Prior to joining NTCIC, Amanda spent nine years at AEGON USA Realty Advisors in their Community Investment group where most recently she was an associate director originating, structuring and closing LIHTC and HTC transactions. She previously worked in their asset management department overseeing over 70 tax credit investments, representing approximately $1 billion in equity. Amanda earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Northern Iowa and is currently pursuing a Master of Science Degree in Real Estate and Infrastructure from Johns Hopkins University.

As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs, Mr. Bush oversees affordable housing and community development programs, including the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), the HOME Investment Partnerships program, the Housing Trust Fund, and CDBG Disaster Recovery funds, in addition to Department-wide energy and environmental policy. Previously, he served as Washington, DC’s first Chief Resilience Officer, where he led efforts to prepare the nation’s capital for climate change, technological disruption, and a changing economy. He also served as the Chief of Resilience and Emergency Preparedness at the District’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency during the District's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bush also served on President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Not a stranger to HUD, Mr. Bush previously served in the Office of Field Policy and Management, Office of Community Planning and Development, and Office of the Secretary. He has also been both a Presidential Management Fellow and City of Chicago Mayoral Fellow. Bush holds a Master’s of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Business from Michigan State University.

Polly Donaldson has served as the Director of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) since January 2, 2015. As Director, she oversees 180+ employees, 14 program areas and manages an operating budget of over $250 million to preserve and produce rental and homeownership opportunities for District residents while leading the charge of revitalizing underserved neighborhoods.

The Director is well-known in DC affordable housing circles and has had great influence throughout the city. Her nonprofit career spans over 27 years, with senior management experience in homelessness, affordable housing and international community development.

Prior to joining DHCD, Donaldson served as the Executive Director of the Transitional Housing Corporation (THC) for over 10 years and THC Affordable Housing, Inc., since its founding in June 2005. Under Donaldson’s leadership, THC was on the front lines addressing the city’s housing crunch, working with churches, charities and other nonprofit groups to produce and support affordable units for the formerly homeless.

Donaldson served on the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness in 2009 and was re-appointed in 2013. She is the former board president of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, an umbrella group of affordable housing developers. In 2012, she also served on the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force assembled by former Mayor Gray. In 2014, Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser named Donaldson as the co-chair of the Transition Team’s Affordable Housing Committee. Donaldson served as the chair of Mayor Bowser’s Affordable Housing Preservation Strike Force.

Donaldson has lived in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood in Ward 1 for over 24 years. In the late 1990s, she was elected and served as the chair of the Mt. Pleasant Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1-E. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Brian McLaughlin is CEO of Enterprise Community Development, Inc and President of Enterprise Community investment’s Communities Division. Brian is charged with leading the overall strategic direction of both organizations, as well as Enterprise Residential – the company’s property management company. ECD is an owner, operator and developer of housing and with almost 13,000 units serving more than 20,000 residents the company stands among the country’s 10 largest nonprofit affordable housing providers. Brian oversees a team serving the Mid-Atlantic region with expertise in community planning, land development, design, construction, asset management, property management and resident services.

Brian has 24 years of diverse experience managing real estate business lines across the nonprofit, public and for-profit sectors. He began his career working in the nonprofit community development field in Boston and later in York, Pennsylvania. His real estate work spans development of market rate, workforce, historic tax credit and LIHTC supported housing. Brian has also served as assistant secretary of Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development where he led the state’s largest and primary division of government responsible for neighborhood revitalization programs and investments.

In addition, Brian has held various positions at Fannie Mae over the span of a decade in roles ranging from multifamily underwriting, to leading the company’s short sale product line, to directing the executive office as special assistant to the company’s president and CEO. He is also the founding CEO of Lantian Development, a Maryland-based private equity, real estate investment and development company. In that role Brian led evaluation, underwriting and negotiations for more than $1.2B in prospective investments ultimately closing seven transactions within 18 months creating a 1.4 million square foot portfolio across 403 acres in the Washington, DC metropolitan region.

An honors graduate of Duke University, Brian also holds a master’s degree in City Planning from MIT and a master’s degree in Economics from American University.

Robert A. Goldman has been President of Montgomery Housing Partnership (MHP)

since 2001. He also has worked in housing policy at the federal and local levels. He is a

recognized expert in affordable housing and in 2017 was selected as Practitioner of the

Year by the National NeighborWorks® Association.

Goldman is a past president and current member of the Housing Association of

Nonprofit Developers (HAND), as well as a member of the Community Development

Network of Maryland. He has served on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Washington

Housing Initiative Council, the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission, the Wheaton

Redevelopment Steering Committee, and the Long Branch Task Force.

Prior to joining MHP, Goldman worked as a Senior Development Officer at the

Enterprise Social Investment Corporation (ESIC) where he was involved in syndicating

low-income housing tax credit projects. He received his Juris Doctorate from UCLA Law

School, his master’s degree in Real Estate from Johns Hopkins University, and his

bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University.

A native Washingtonian, Goldman lives in Montgomery County, Md., with his wife and

daughter.

Winell Belfonte is a partner in CohnReznick’s Affordable Housing and Not-for-Profit and Education Industry

practices. She serves as the partner in charge of the Firm's New York office affordable housing practice. In this

capacity, she is the lead service provider and business advisor to her clients and accountable for the

dissemination and implementation of technical issues for affordable housing and not-for-profit clients.

Winell has 30 years of experience providing services to a broad range of clients. Her extensive experience

comes in the areas of audit, accounting, and tax for not-for-profit and for-profit clients including real estate

developers, investors, syndicators, contractors, and property managers, as well as charities and foundations.

Her business advisory expertise includes strategic planning, the design and implementation of internal control

structures, financial analysis, budgets, regulatory compliance, and investor requirements.

As a frequent speaker, Winell has become well known for her technical expertise. She has spoken to many

not-for-profit and affordable housing audiences and graduated from a nine-month community leadership

program with Leadership of Greater Washington in 2010.

As Managing Partner, Brett Meringoff’s responsibilities include leading the company’s acquisitions and development activities, with a focus on large-scale redevelopment and mixed-income housing, as well as the strategic direction of the company.

Prior to joining Fairstead, Brett was Senior Vice President and development partner at WinnDevelopment, one of the oldest and largest affordable housing developers in the country. Under Brett’s leadership, projects entitled, in development and completed, totaled more than 4,900 units in 19 properties. At the time of his departure, there were 5 projects totaling nearly 1,000 units in the predevelopment pipeline.

In 2019, Brett was appointed by Governor Northam to the Board of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. He also currently serves on the Board of the Latin American Youth Center in Washington DC, which has been providing educational and recreational programs for youths in the DC metropolitan area for nearly 50 years. Brett previously served on the Green/Energy Committee of the National Leased Housing Association, the Young Leaders Education Committee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), DC Real Estate Group, the Executive Committee of the University of Pennsylvania Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Board (MARAB), and as a ULI Mentor. Brett received a Bachelor Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

EDUCATION AND AWARDS

• B.S. Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park

• Master of Architecture / Urban Design Concentration, University of Maryland, College Park

• LEED Accredited Professional

• Bisnow’s “35 Under 35: Washington’s Rising Stars of Commercial Real Estate” in 2011

• Young Leaders in Affordable Housing by Affordable Housing Finance in 2013

PROFILE

Mr. Powell has over eleven (11) years of experience overseeing the full life-cycle of the preservation and

development of affordable and mixed-income communities – both homeownership and rental – for families and

seniors. His responsibilities include structuring multi-layered financing, coordinating design and construction,

managing the entitlement and public approval processes, overseeing marketing, leasing and sales, and oversight of the

preparation and implementation of operating budgets. Prior to joining Dantes Partners, Mr. Powell was a senior

development manager for the development arm of a national organization whose mission was to increase the supply of

high-quality, sustainable housing and communities for people from all walks of life. During that time, Mr. Powell

completed developments in the District of Columbia as well as multiple jurisdictions in Maryland. Mr. Powell has

served as a guest speaker for the University of Maryland’s and Howard University’s architecture programs; numerous

industry-focused panels including ULI, HAND and MAHC; serves as the chairman of the Board of Directors of

AAREP DC; and serves as a gubernatorial appointee on the Maryland Department of Housing and Community

Development’s Housing Finance Review Committee.

PROJECT EXPERIENCE

• Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, Washington, DC

• 770 C Street, Washington, DC

• West End (Square 50), Washington, DC

• Girard Street Apartments, Washington, DC

• Capitol Vista, Washington, DC

• Fortitude at Delta Towers, Washington, DC

Ms. Cancel is a seasoned Project Management Professional with 15 years of experience developing a wide range of Commercial and Residential real estate including but not limited to Public-Private partnerships and Market Rate & Affordable Developments. Since starting with the firm in 2014 as a Development manager, Michaela has since expanded her responsibilities to encompass all of NDC Operations, Accounting & Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Asset management, as well as shared responsibility for the Portfolio management of all Company Developments. Prior to joining NDC, Michaela was with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank where she was responsible for the management of Design and Construction projects for Capital One Bank. Michaela holds an BA from the University of West Florida as well as her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. Michaela is an active member of the Forbes Real Estate Council, PMI, ULI, DCBIA & CREW.

A founding member and owner of SCG Development and its affiliated company Stratford Capital Group

(the “Company”), Steve is responsible for the management and oversight of the Company’s property

development activities. Committed to developing high quality affordable and workforce housing to

support healthy, diverse communities, the Company has participated in the capitalization and

development of over 290 properties comprising 35,000 apartment units across 45 states. SCG

Development has active development projects in 12 states and maintains offices in Tysons, Virginia and

Peabody, Massachusetts.

Steve is a frequent panelist at industry events and guest lecturer at various colleges and universities. He

is a graduate of the University of Richmond with a bachelor’s degree in finance and holds an MBA from

The George Washington University. Steve is a 35-year resident of northern Virginia and currently lives in

Vienna with his wife, 3 kids and a dog.

Senior Vice President and Managing Director John Gilmore brings more than a decade of commercial real estate experience to Walker & Dunlop’s Multifamily Finance Group. Mr. Gilmore is focused on the affordable multifamily space and has extensive experience sourcing loans for execution through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Mr. Gilmore is also highly experienced in complex deal structures including structured credit facilities, tax-exempt bonds, and federal and state tax credits.

Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Gilmore was a Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager in the Community Development and Investment group within KeyBank Real Estate Capital. While at KeyBank, he was a member of the management team tasked with expanding the bank’s affordable housing activity to all 50 states. He originated almost $1 billion of new mortgage debt in this position. Mr. Gilmore served many additional functions throughout his career at KeyBank, including working in the bank’s Income Property Group, Asset Recovery Group, and Private Equity Group. Mr. Gilmore began his career in the commercial real estate industry at Hartford Mezzanine Investors, LLC, where he was responsible for structuring real estate investment transactions for various levels of the capital structure with a primary focus on mezzanine positions.

Mr. Gilmore attended Morehouse College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in finance and a minor in economics with cum laude honors. Beyond the company, he is active in industry associations and is a member of the MBA’s Affordable Rental Housing Advisory Council as well as the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Affordable & Workforce Housing Product Council. Mr. Gilmore also serves on the board of Bridge Street Development Corporation and the steering committee of the Real Estate Associates Program.

Chris Marshall is responsible for leading affordable housing development in DC, Maryland, and Virginia for The NRP Group, one of the most prolific multifamily developers and builders in the U.S. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the affordable housing development process with a focus on site acquisitions, entitlements and funding applications.

Prior to joining NRP, Chris served as a Project Manager with Wesley Housing, a leading nonprofit affordable housing developer in the DC region. During this time, he was involved in a full range of development activities, from sourcing new projects to leading rezoning processes. He was also responsible for initiating funding applications and collaborating with apartment residents for in-place renovations and complete redevelopments.

In previous roles, Chris worked at the U.S. Green Building Council to develop criteria for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Following that, at the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, he implemented the District’s Inclusionary Zoning and Affordable Dwelling Unit housing programs.

He holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in social policy from Michigan State University.

Joseph LeMense is the managing director of community development & nonprofit banking at United Bank, the largest headquartered community bank in Greater Washington. With over 40 years of experience, LeMense guides the Bank’s nonprofit business development and lending initiatives throughout the Bank’s markets in eight states and the District. He focuses on providing personalized financial solutions to mission-based organizations involved in community development, affordable housing, education, social services and trade associations. LeMense joined United Bank in 2004, most recently serving as a senior vice president of commercial banking. In this role, he developed and managed long-term lending relationships, primarily in the nonprofit, biotech and government contracting industries. LeMense’s areas of expertise include tax exempt bond finance, tax increment finance, Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) financing and Low Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) and New Market Tax Credit (“NMTC”) financing. A fifth-generation Washingtonian and fourth-generation graduate of Georgetown University, LeMense is a board member of the Jubilee Housing Advisory Board and a former mayoral appointee to the D.C. Public Charter School Credit Enhancement Fund Committee. He is an active volunteer and advisor with the Georgetown University Alumni Club of Washington, D.C. as well as a guest lecturer at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. A 2015 graduate of Leadership Montgomery, Joe was also a charter member and past president of the Metro Bethesda Rotary Club.

As Head of Community Development, Catherine Buell is

responsible for long-term and innovative programs that

address civic priorities in the communities where Amazon

employees live and work. Catherine helped launch and

oversees Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2

billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000

affordable housing units in Washington State’s Puget

Sound region; Arlington, Virginia; and Nashville,

Tennessee—three communities where the company has or

expects to have at least 5,000 employees each in the

coming years. Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund will help

preserve existing housing and help create inclusive housing

developments through below-market loans and grants to

housing partners, traditional and non-traditional public

agencies, and minority-led organizations.

Catherine previously served as the President and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority (d/b/a “Atlanta

Housing” or “AH”) where she led the agency’s strategic, financial and operational efforts by providing

housing to more than 23,000 of Atlanta’s low-and extremely low-income households. While at Atlanta

Housing, Catherine led the development of the agency’s five year plan, called “Vision 2022” (Live, Work,

Thrive), aimed at increasing the number of households served, increasing investments in family self-

sufficiency efforts and agency fiscal responsibility. During her tenure, she advanced major real estate

efforts including partnerships with the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. to develop affordable housing near the

popular BeltLine and also work with Invest Atlanta to purchase the 19-acre Civic Center site in

downtown Atlanta. She also served as Vice President of Policy and Programs for the Greater

Washington Partnership, a first-of-its-kind civic alliance of CEOs in the Washington D.C. region, where

she focused on a range of issues include regional housing policy issues.

Prior to her time in Atlanta, Catherine served as the executive director of St. Elizabeth’s East, one of the

District of Columbia’s largest mixed-use redevelopment projects. As a result of her tenure, St. Elizabeths

East became home to the District’s Entertainment and Sports Arena which hosts the Washington

Mystic’s performance arena and Wizards practice facility, the Residences at St. Elizabeths (a mixed-

income multi-family housing development), the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center and Gateway D.C. Ms.

Buell also served as the Chair of the Washington D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board and earned a

number of awards for her revitalization efforts – the Built by Women DC Award and Historic

Preservation Review Board Chair’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation among them.

Catherine also serves on a number of boards, including Venture Philanthropy Partners, Community of

Hope (DC), Greater Greater Washington and the Anacostia Coordinating Council. She started her career

as an attorney with Patton Boggs LLP where she counseled institutional investors on real estate assets

and private equity funds in the United States, South America, and Europe. She is a cum laude graduate

of Spelman College and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Arlington County Board Vice-Chair Katie Cristol is a community advocate and public

policy professional. She was elected to the Board in November 2015. Katie is the Co-

Chair of Arlington’s Project PEACE, an interagency collaboration to address domestic

and sexual violence in our community. Ms. Cristol served as Chair of the County Board

in 2018.

Regionally, Ms. Cristol represents Arlington as the Chair of the Northern Virginia

Transportation Commission, Chair of the Virginia Municipal League Urban Section, and

as Past Chair of the Operations Board of The Virginia Railway Express. Ms. Cristol also

represents Arlington on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

Ms. Cristol has been an advocate for women’s issues, including reproductive health,

political representation, and support for survivors of sexual assault, for over a decade.

She was appointed to the Arlington Commission on the Status of Women by the County

Board in 2012 and supported the Commission’s efforts to garner attention for critical

issues such as women’s professional advancement and childcare affordability and to

recognize the achievements of women in the community.

She is a volunteer member of the Randolph Elementary School community. A reading

buddy since 2011, she was appointed by the School Board and the Randolph PTA to

serve as the school’s liaison to the Arlington Public Schools Advisory Council on

Instruction.

Ms. Cristol is an education policy advisor, partnering with districts, states, and nonprofits

across the U.S. on strategic planning, resource allocation, and community

engagement.  She holds a public policy master’s degree from Princeton University, a

bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, and is a 2012 graduate of Arlington

Neighborhood College. She and her husband, Steve, and their son Cary, live off

Columbia Pike, one of the most diverse corridors both in the County and the

metropolitan region.

Social Media

Follow on Facebook @katiecristolforarlington and Twitter @kcristol