Claudia Cappio, is the Executive Director of the California Housing Finance Agency. Prior to her appointment to this position in 2011 by Governor Brown, she was the managing principal of Sparticles, LLC a planning and development consulting firm she founded in 2008. Ms. Cappio was the city of Oakland’s director of planning, building, major projects and the Oakland Base Reuse Authority from 2000 to 2007. She was the planning and building director for the city of Emeryville from 1995 to 2000, the planning director for the city of Albany from 1985 to 1995, and an assistant and associate planner for the Town of Corte Madera from 1980 to 1985. In 2007, Cappio was inducted into Lambda Alpha Phi, an international honor society for the advancement of land economics.

Linn Warren serves as Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) which operates under the aegis of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (Agency) in Sacramento. Director Warren’s position includes oversight for administration of the Department’s housing finance, rehabilitation, and community development programs; the State’s housing policy, planning and code-setting processes, and regulating manufactured housing and mobilehome parks. The Director leads the administration of $2.1 billion in Proposition 46 and $2.85 billion in Proposition 1C bond funds for affordable housing. Prior to joining HCD, Linn held various positions at the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA). From 1995 to 2005, he was the Director of Multifamily Programs and led numerous program and policy initiatives. During his tenure, the Multifamily Division developed a groundbreaking special needs lending program with subsidized financing targeted specifically to projects housing homeless and developmentally disabled residents. The Division also developed a preservation program utilizing non-profit related bond issues leveraging locality based rental assistance. Both of these programs were awarded recognition for excellence from the National Council of Housing Finance Agencies. Also while at CalHFA, Linn developed an innovative program for preservation of federally assisted projects. In 1996, in conjunction with HUD, he developed the first 236 decoupling in the country. In 2000, Linn again led an effort with HUD, private developers and the City of San Jose, to recapitalize a large LIHPRHA assisted project. Linn also directed preservation efforts aimed at revitalizing the aging portfolio at CalHFA, by recapitalizing of numerous projects to ensure long term affordability. These efforts included some of the earliest debt leveraging of project based housing voucher assistance, a lending technique replicated by other affordable housing lenders. With the introduction of the MHP Program at HCD, Linn and his staff developed the first construction lending program at CalHFA in 20 years. During his 10 years as CalHFA's Multifamily Programs Director, the Division funded 270 projects with loans totaling $1.7 billion. Prior to joining State service, Linn was a senior manager in the private sector with several financial institutions and commercial real estate development firms. He was active in the resolution of the thrift crisis in the 1980’s as an asset and loan workout manager for both commercial and single-family loans. Linn received a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Business Economics and holds the Mortgage Bankers Association designation as a Commercial Certified Mortgage Banker.

Mr. Parkinson is the Director of the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department, the agency responsible for all aspects of permitting and land use planning in unincorporated Sonoma County. With a full time staff of 100, PRMD is a consolidated development services and planning agency responsible for all aspects of development and construction permitting, land use planning and code enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County. Mr. Parkinson graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has been a professional planner for over 28 years. He served as President of the California County Planning Director’s Association in 2005-06 and as Vice-President for Policy and Legislation for the American Planning Association California Chapter from 2005 to 2010. In 2009, Mr. Parkinson was appointed by the California Air Resources Board to serve on the Regional Targets Advisory Commission to advise the ARB on setting regional greenhouse gas reduction targets. Mr. Parkinson is active in state legislative efforts, including representing CSAC on Housing Element Working Groups in 2004 and 2012. This group developed significant improvements to the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process that were ultimately signed into law.

Jeffrey Levin is the Manager of Housing Policy and Programs for the City of Oakland’s Department of Housing and Community Development. In his 25+ years with the City, he has overseen the development of a wide range of affordable housing projects, including multifamily rental housing, homeownership, mixed-use, and single room occupancy hotels. Mr. Levin has designed and administered a variety of local housing programs. He has managed the City’s HOME Program since its inception in 1992, and also managed the Oakland Redevelopment Agency’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. He has worked on numerous policy studies and housing plans for the City, including the last two Housing Element updates. He has worked closely with many public and private organizations dealing with housing policy issues at the local, regional, state and national level. He was recently appointed to the Oversight Committee for the Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency as the employee representative. Mr. Levin holds a Masters Degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Masters Degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.

Amie, Executive Director of East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) has almost 20 years of experience in the affordable housing and community development field. Since joining EBHO in August 2006, she has initiated two major affordable housing advocacy campaigns with broad based community coalitions, developed over seven strong membership committees, initiated a resident organizing program, deepened EBHO's work throughout Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and grown EBHO’s membership by over 100%. From 1994-2004, Amie worked at Mission Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) in the Mission District of San Francisco as the Director of Supportive Housing. In this capacity, she directed MHDC’s supportive housing programs and community organizing collaborations for homeless and formerly homeless adults and families. She also spearheaded various policy and electoral initiatives, and grassroots community campaigns. Immediately prior to coming to EBHO, she was a Dean’s Scholar at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, and received her MPA in public policy analysis with a focus on affordable housing and community development. Her Master’s thesis was the culmination of many years of work and study on grassroots anti-displacement strategies and the potential of non-profit community development corporations to strengthen neighborhood movements.