Maureen Markham is a senior Housing Development Specialist for the Arlington County Department of Community Planning Housing & Development. She works with both for-profit and non-profit developers to promote the preservation of affordable housing units in Arlington as well as the construction of new affordable units. Before coming to Arlington in 2005 Ms. Markham held a variety of positions in the community development and affordable housing field from hands-on practitioner to consultant and national trainer. Early in her career she was a houseparent in one of the first community group homes for adults with developmental disabilities. She later served as Executive Director for three community-based non-profit organizations, including Aberdeen Neighborhood Housing Services. In the 1990’s she worked with the Washington State Housing Trust Fund Program where she created and managed the Housing Resource Team, a technical assistance program that helped plan and finance thousands of affordable housing units throughout the state. When Washington State initiated their Comprehensive Planning program, Ms. Markham worked with local communities to develop and implement the Housing Elements of their comp plans. Many of these were small local jurisdictions who were considering for the first time the linkages between land use and housing in their communities. Ms. Markham holds a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Master’s degree in Child Development from the University of Delaware.

AB O’Brien is a principal with O’Brien and O’Brien Consultants and provides services to cities and nonprofits in various areas of technical, environmental and legal issues. For more than 20 years, she has provided city departments and county and federal government agencies with invaluable insight into federal regulation compliance as it pertains to nonprofit housing development and neighborhood revitalization. O’Brien is a resourceful practitioner, mixing her real life experiences with humor, to make complicated federal regulations understandable to any participant.

Amy Wright is the Director of Development for the Cathedral Square Corporation in Burlington, VT.

Carla Mannings is a Commercial Loan Officer for Community Housing Capital in Decatur, GA.

Louise Elving has 30 years experience in the development of housing, community revitalization and administration of organizations. She provides development advice on affordable and mixed-income housing and community facilities, as well as capacity-building services to profit and nonprofit organizations. She also assists these organizations with program design in such areas as homeownership support, lending and real estate development. This work includes research on best practices and benchmarking activities. In addition, she gives organizational and strategic planning services to community-based organizations. She also works on large-scale community revitalization programs. Elving and three colleagues formed VIVA Consulting LLC in 2002 to provide housing, development and management solutions to public agencies, private businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Previously, for 21 years, Elving was vice president for housing development at The Community Builders, Inc., a $35 million nonprofit firm that offers a full range of professional real estate services in property development and management, planning, human services and law. She supervised 40 real estate projects creating new homes for 3,700 households serving families with children, the elderly, people with special needs, and homeless individuals. She also managed comprehensive community rebuilding programs that leveraged large-scale residential redevelopment to improve social services, schools, recreation and public facilities. She also provided real estate development advice to public agencies and nonprofit organizations. Elving also designed and implemented financing programs linking public and private investors in community redevelopment programs. She has consulted internationally on the design and implementation of the US/China Housing Demonstration Programs in Shanghai and Beijing and on mixed-income housing programs in Botswana, Africa. She lectures regularly on real estate development and affordable housing at universities and professional institutes. She serves on the Board of Directors of Citizens Housing and Planning Association in Boston and Homeowners Rehab, Inc. in Cambridge, MA. She has an MCP from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MA from University of Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.

Barbara Conover has been the Executive Director of Three Rivers Housing Corporation since its creation in 1992. Her experience in housing includes rehab, new construction, rental and home ownership including housing for special needs and other low income households. Barbara has developed and delivered training for nonprofit and government affordable housing organizations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Georgia on topics including Housing Development and Financing, Davis-Bacon Requirements, Environmental Reviews, Lead-based Paint, and Homebuyer Education. She is a licensed Lead Risk Assessor and Contractor and an expert in home ownership for people with disabilities.

Protip Biswas is the Executive director for the Regional Commission of Homelessness in Atlanta and is on the staff of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. In his current position, he ensures the coordination and implementation of the strategies identified in the Blueprint to end homelessness. The Regional Commission on Homelessness (RCOH) has been the catalyst in creating over 2000 units of supportive housing, creating 1200 jobs for homeless persons, reunified over 12,000 persons and raising over $50 million for homeless projects. The RCOH has engaged 7 counties in the region to take on projects for homeless persons. He is also the Vice President for Opportunity Zones for the United Way and provides leadership to United Way’s place based initiatives. This is a new area of work for the organization. Prior to his current position he has been active in the field of community development, affordable housing, community building and economic development. He has worked with organizations in neighborhoods in Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina. He has also worked for Enterprise foundation, a national intermediary in affordable housing. He continues to be active in the community development field through his service on the boards of several community development corporations in Atlanta. He has a masters degree in architecture from University of Cincinnati and another in construction management from SPA, Delhi, India. He also completed his coursework for his doctoral studies in Urban Planning at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. His research interest includes affordable housing finance, community economic development and social capital.

Kristin Faust has an extensive background in affordable housing development. Prior to her present role as a development consultant, Ms. Faust served as President of the Enterprise Community Loan Fund where she led a 250 million dollar development fund. Prior to that she worked as Director of Real Estate and Community Development with the Nehemiah Corporation of California where she helped develop 11 low income housing tax credit project. She also has served as Chief Deputy Treasurer with the California State Treasurer's Office.

Jeffery Stern is the Principal at Riverside Advisors, LLC in Baltimore, MD.

Louise Elving has 30 years experience in the development of housing, community revitalization and administration of organizations. She provides development advice on affordable and mixed-income housing and community facilities, as well as capacity-building services to profit and nonprofit organizations. She also assists these organizations with program design in such areas as homeownership support, lending and real estate development. This work includes research on best practices and benchmarking activities. In addition, she gives organizational and strategic planning services to community-based organizations. She also works on large-scale community revitalization programs. Elving and three colleagues formed VIVA Consulting LLC in 2002 to provide housing, development and management solutions to public agencies, private businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Previously, for 21 years, Elving was vice president for housing development at The Community Builders, Inc., a $35 million nonprofit firm that offers a full range of professional real estate services in property development and management, planning, human services and law. She supervised 40 real estate projects creating new homes for 3,700 households serving families with children, the elderly, people with special needs, and homeless individuals. She also managed comprehensive community rebuilding programs that leveraged large-scale residential redevelopment to improve social services, schools, recreation and public facilities. She also provided real estate development advice to public agencies and nonprofit organizations. Elving also designed and implemented financing programs linking public and private investors in community redevelopment programs. She has consulted internationally on the design and implementation of the US/China Housing Demonstration Programs in Shanghai and Beijing and on mixed-income housing programs in Botswana, Africa. She lectures regularly on real estate development and affordable housing at universities and professional institutes. She serves on the Board of Directors of Citizens Housing and Planning Association in Boston and Homeowners Rehab, Inc. in Cambridge, MA. She has an MCP from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MA from University of Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.