SAN FRANCISCO, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is pleased to announce the appointment of to its Affordable Housing Advisory Council (AHAC) and the reappointment of current AHAC members Diana Yazzie Devine, Donald Falk, and Douglas Shoemaker to new three-year terms.
The 15-member AHAC provides the Bank with expert guidance on affordable housing and economic development issues and helps shape the Bank’s community grant and credit programs.
New AHAC members are:
Holly Benson – Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Abode Communities, Los Angeles, CA
Holly Benson is responsible for providing executive oversight of Abode Communities’ professional real estate and property management services, as well as the organization’s mission-critical resident services. In this role, she oversees the production of new affordable housing, creation of new business opportunities, management of existing real estate assets, and financial and operational performance of Abode Communities’ real estate portfolio and resident services program, Beyond Homes. Benson serves an integral role in operationalizing the organization’s strategic plan to ensure the organization meets and exceeds its strategic goals.
A 21-year veteran in the affordable housing industry, Ms. Benson’s depth of experience is underscored by her contributions to the development of more than 1,000 affordable homes and the procurement of $300 million in loans, grants, and equity from both private and public sources. Ms. Benson is a past president of the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing.
Ms. Benson received a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Hilary Lopez, Ph.D. – Senior Associate, Praxis Consulting Group, Reno, NV
Hilary Lopez works with clients to structure and assemble public and private financing for affordable housing developments and manages the due diligence process through financial closing. She has successfully closed financing on projects using 4% and 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program funds, HOME funds, State and National Housing Trust Funds, HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program, and conventional sources.
Prior to joining Praxis Consulting Group in 2013, Dr. Lopez served as the Chief of Housing Programs for the State of Nevada Housing Division. In this role, she administered the State’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and served as lead underwriter for multifamily projects. Her team was responsible for regulatory compliance of over 25,000 units located in assisted properties throughout Nevada.
Dr. Lopez holds an M.A. in Applied Economics from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a Doctorate in Geography, with a concentration in Urban Geography and Planning, from the University of Denver.
Takao Suzuki – Director of Community Economic Development, Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
Takao Suzuki manages a department that consists of Real Estate Development, Asset & Property Management, Community Organizing & Planning, and Little Tokyo Small Business Assistance for Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation (LTSC CDC). He began his tenure at LTSC CDC in 2000 as a community organizer through the AmeriCorps program, and joined the Real Estate Development Department in 2004, where he oversaw the completion of nine projects consisting of approximately 300 housing units, along with the Little Tokyo development of the California Japantowns projects.
Mr. Suzuki currently serves on the board of the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing, Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, and Mercado la Paloma, Inc. He also serves as the District 1 appointed Housing Commissioner for the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles.
Mr. Suzuki holds a B.A. in Social Work from the California State University of Los Angeles and an M.A. in Urban Planning from the University of California of Los Angeles.
Reappointed AHAC members are:
Diana Yazzie Devine – President and CEO, Native American Connections, Phoenix, AZ
Diana Yazzie Devine has been working with Native American urban and tribal entities since 1972 and has served as CEO of Native American Connections (NAC) since 1979. NAC is a Native American-operated nonprofit corporation that provides comprehensive behavioral health, affordable housing, and community development services to all populations, with a targeted mission to serve Native Americans living both in the Phoenix urban area and in tribal communities. Ms. Devine is a founding board member of Native Home Capital and People of Color Network and currently serves on the advisory boards of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Maricopa Integrated Health System Audit and Compliance, City of Mesa Housing, and Arizona State University Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation.
Ms. Devine has an MBA from Arizona State University and holds international and state licenses for substance abuse counseling.
Donald S. Falk – Chief Executive Officer, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Donald S. Falk leads the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC), a community-based, nonprofit housing development, management, and social services agency with nearly 325 employees. TNDC has 33 properties that contain about 3,000 homes and house approximately 3,600 people, nearly 25 percent of whom came to the organization out of homelessness. From 1982 to 1994, Mr. Falk held a variety of positions with Jubilee West, a neighborhood-based nonprofit that provides services and housing in West Oakland. He chairs the Community Leadership Council and serves on the Boards of Directors of Enterprise Community Partners and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. He also serves on the advisory boards of NeighborWorks America and the St. Francis Memorial Hospital Foundation and is the past president of the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, where he served on the board for seven years.
Mr. Falk has an M.A. in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a B.A. with honors in Economics and Urban Studies from Oberlin College.
Douglas Shoemaker – President, Mercy Housing California, San Francisco, CA
Douglas Shoemaker is President of Mercy Housing California (MHC), the largest division of Mercy Housing, Inc. Under his leadership, MHC has developed 128 rental properties across 36 California counties to serve low- and very low-income families, seniors, and individuals, and developed more than 10,000 affordable rental and homeownership units. Currently, over 3,000 affordable homes are in development in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Sacramento Valley.
He has served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing, San Francisco’s housing finance and community development agency, and has led key mayoral initiatives, including the launch of HOPE SF, San Francisco’s groundbreaking effort to revitalize five distressed public housing sites into mixed income communities. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for California Housing Consortium, the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), and the Northern California Leadership Council for Enterprise Community Partners.
Mr. Shoemaker received a B.A. in Comparative Area Studies from the Duke University and has done studies towards a Ph.D. in Latin American History at the University of California at Berkeley.
Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco delivers low-cost funding and other services that help member financial institutions make home mortgages to people of all income levels and provide credit that supports neighborhoods and communities. The Bank also funds community programs that help members create affordable housing and promote community economic development. The Bank’s members are headquartered in Arizona, California, and Nevada and include commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions.
Contact:
Mary Long, 415-572-6717
longm@fhlbsf.com