Speakers

Amy Hook is the chief social impact officer and leads the social impact office at Novogradac. The social impact office advises the firm’s executive committee on ways to deploy labor and capital consistent with Novogradac’s commitments to continuous improvement, positive change within the firm, the professions in which the firm works and within the communities Novogradac serves. The social impact office is responsible for defining environmental and social risks and opportunities and creating a living social impact strategy to address those risks and opportunities. Hook also works with clients to build out their social impact programming including strategy creation and goal setting, impact measurement and evaluation, and reporting. 

With over 15 years of experience in the social impact realm, Hook has worked in different market sectors including public, non-profit and private organizations. Prior to joining Novogradac, Hook led environmental, social and governance (ESG) at Regions Bank where she worked on impact reporting; stakeholder engagement; diversity, equity and inclusion; environmental sustainability and environmental and social risk management.  Prior to leading ESG efforts for Regions Bank, she worked on environmental sustainability at SunTrust as the first corporate sustainability leader the company hired. 

Before leading social impact programming in the banking industry, Hook focused on the capacity building of community development organizations throughout the United States, including affordable housing developers, community development service providers and government entities. Working in this arena for over 7 years at both ICF International and Enterprise Community Partners, she led initiatives partnering with HUD, DOE and others to create strategies, trainings, tool(kit)s, communications, and policies and procedures to improve affordable housing and community development delivery.  Most notably, Hook led the multifamily sector of the Better Buildings Challenge and HUD’s first renewable energy technical assistance program, Renew300. 
 

Ann Hered has more than 15 years’ experience in federal tax law. She has represented financial institutions, community development entities and qualified borrowers in complex transactions combining one or more of the following:  federal and state new markets tax credits, investment tax credits for historic rehabilitations and renewable energy projects, bond financing (including gulf opportunity zone bonds and qualified school construction bonds, qualified zone academy bonds) and various state tax incentives. More recently, she has worked on transactions combining opportunity zones investments with historic tax credits. She obtained a LL.M. in taxation from the University of Denver, a LL.M. in trade regulation from New York University, and a J.D. from Cornell University. She is admitted to the Colorado, New York and California State Bars.

Elizabeth Feldmeir is a nationally known community development and tax credit advisor. For more than a decade, she has worked directly on several billion dollars in tax credit transactions and represents lenders, investors, community development entities and developers. She is recognized for her ability to collaborate with parties in a transaction and her understanding of her clients’ businesses and their priorities. With an advanced degree in tax law, Ms. Feldmeir draws on her knowledge to provide clients with comprehensive advice on the best approaches for structuring federal and state low-income housing tax credit, new markets tax credit and historic tax credits, as well as renewable tax credit transactions. Feldmeir combines traditional financing with tax incentives in order to finance the expansion of operating businesses and the development of mixed-use real estate, charter schools, manufacturing facilities, protective shelter facilities, hotels, theatres, health care facilities, and retail and commercial developments. She has also represents clients during the acquisition, development, construction, sale and management of commercial and multifamily residential property.

John Murphy is the director of business development for Octagon Finance LLC, the largest private lender in the historic tax credit (HTC) marketplace. Murphy joined the Octagon team in 2018 and is responsible for originating, structuring and closing tax credit loans nationwide. Prior to Octagon, he spent six years at a broker and syndicator of tax credit transactions, developing a subject matter expertise in HTCs. Over the past 10 years, Murphy has participated in more than $3.5 billion in transactions using tax credits. He received his bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey and his law degree from Seton Hall School of Law.

Alex Aydin is a senior manager in the Cleveland office of Novogradac. She joined Novogradac in 2012 and specializes in the preparation of financial forecasts for multi-layered, complex community development projects. Her expertise includes New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), historic tax credit, and opportunity zone transactions, many of which consist of public/private partnerships with diverse capital stacks. Ms. Aydin has consulted on and prepared financial models for more than 200 transactions, many including combining state and local grants/loans, tax increment financing, PACE, federal subsidies with various tax credit programs. She has advised clients on all aspects of NMTC and HTC compliance and provided onsite training. Her experience includes providing audit, tax, compliance consulting and various attestation services within the tax credit real estate industry. Ms. Aydin received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Miami University.

Michael Novogradac is the managing partner of Novogradac, which has been in business since 1989. He specializes in affordable housing, community development, historic preservation and renewable energy. Mr. Novogradac’s focus is in real estate taxation and accounting. He is the author of numerous real estate-related tax and accounting articles and books, including the Novogradac Opportunity Zones Handbook, the New Markets Tax Credit Handbook and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Handbook. A frequent speaker at tax incentive conferences and forums throughout the country, Mr. Novogradac also broadcasts a weekly podcast, Tax Credit Tuesday. As a leading industry expert, he is frequently quoted in national media, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNBC News, NBC News, National Public Radio and Crain’s New York Business.  Mr. Novogradac is active in advocating for the inclusion of affordable housing, historic preservation, community development and renewable energy incentives in federal and state tax policy, and serves as advisor on industry and governmental affairs for the NMTC Working Group, LIHTC Working Group and the Opportunity Zones Working Group. Mr. Novogradac provides input to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and other federal and state agencies as well as members of Congress, including testimony before the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. Mr. Novogradac also serves on the executive committee of the Housing Advisory Group and the boards of directors of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, the National Housing Conference, the NMTC Coalition and Historic Tax Credit Coalition. In 2016, Mr. Novogradac was inducted into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame. He also received The Affordable Housing Visionary Award from The NHP Foundation in 2018, in recognition of his contributions to the affordable housing community and in 2020 was honored as one of the top 25 OZ Influencers through Opportunity Zone Magazine. Mr. Novogradac graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He is licensed in California, Oregon, Maryland and Texas as a certified public accountant. You can follow Mr. Novogradac on twitter @novogradac and on his blog at www.novoco.com/blog or listen to his weekly podcast at www.novoco.com/podcast.

Amrit Gill completed his undergraduate studies in history and archaeology while attending St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, India. In 1988, he came to Washington University in St. Louis to pursue a master’s degree. During his studies, Gill realized the convergence of two passions: his love of historic and architecturally significant properties and his mathematical analysis skills. It was during this time that he met Amy Harris who was to become his wife and business partner. During his career, Gill has earned a reputation as a vanguard of urban renewal while compiling an impressive roster of redevelopment projects throughout metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, Davenport and Sioux City, Iowa.

Brian Hern’s practice focuses on representing financial institutions, developers, and other entities in transactions involving state and federal tax credits and other tax incentives.  Brian also has experience advising buyers, sellers, and investors on tax aspects of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, and advising nonprofit corporations on governance and tax exemption matters.

In the tax credit and incentive space, Brian has represented investors, lenders, community development entities (CDEs), and developers in dozens of new markets tax credit transactions, including transactions twinned with other economic incentives.  He also has expertise in historic rehabilitation tax credits (HTCs), having closed several transactions utilizing federal HTCs, as well as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Ohio HTCs, among others.  He has assisted clients in structuring transactions to facilitate the use of low-income housing tax credits, renewable energy tax credits, and opportunity zone incentives.

Brian also has advised public companies, private equity firms, hedge funds, hospital systems, and strategic investors on partnership tax issues, executive compensation matters and the tax aspects of real estate investments (including the use of REITs), taxable stock and asset sales and purchases, and tax-free reorganizations.  Brian has an active pro bono practice, having assisted several entities with obtaining 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.  

Nick Irmen is a transactional tax attorney at Jones Walker LLP whose practice involves representation of equity investors, syndication funds and developers in transactions involving federal and state historic tax credits, renewable energy tax credits and low-income housing tax credits. Many of the transactions Nick has worked on involve the use of “twinned” tax credit structures, including the use of lease-passthrough and leveraged equity structures. Nick’s knowledge of the tax laws governing these incentives gives him an informed perspective in helping clients maximize their return while mitigating potential tax and structuring risks.

Amanda has extensive experience with historic rehabilitation and new markets tax credits (NMTC), as well as community development and redevelopment financing, renewable energy tax credits, and impact lending and investing. She works with investors, lenders, community development entities, developers, and government agencies to develop innovative and practical solutions for structuring and closing transactions. Additionally, Amanda regularly assists nonprofit organizations with participation in tax credit transactions, including advising them in connection with their formation and application for tax-exempt status.

Along with her federal tax credit acumen, Amanda is deeply familiar with a multitude of state tax credit programs, having advised clients in structuring and closing transactions involving over 25 state historic and redevelopment tax programs, as well as multiple state new markets tax credit and rural jobs programs.

Mr. Brubaker is the Director of Acquisitions for Foss & Company. He joined Foss & Company in 2005 and became a shareholder in 2012. He oversees the Acquisitions team and is a member of the Foss Investment Committee. In addition, he is the lead originator for Foss’ state credit funds in Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and South Carolina and in the past sixteen years he has sourced over $1.5 billion in tax credits. He has a series 7 and 63 securities registration and works out of the Charlotte, N.C. office of Foss & Company.

As an Acquisitions Manager, Kathleen is responsible for identifying, structuring and preliminary underwriting prospective federal/state HTC and NMTC investments. She also manages the closing process for Historic Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit investments. Kathleen has been with NTCIC for 11 years, originally joining the team as an Asset Manager. Prior to this, she served as a Real Estate Development Manager for a financial advisory firm. In this role, Kathleen managed the commercial and residential real estate portfolio and collaborated with urban planners, researchers, builders and other professionals during the development stages of mixed-use real estate developments in Texas and Louisiana. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas, McCombs School of Business, focused on Real Estate Finance.

Jonathan is an experienced real estate professional with over 16 years in the financial services industry. In 2013, he joined PNC’s Tax Credit Investment Group where he has focused on structuring and placing Federal and State historic tax credit equity nationwide. He has experience navigating complex capital arrangements in all real estate asset types including multifamily, office and hospitality.

Prior to 2013, he served as an Assistant Vice President within PNC’s Asset Resolution Team for two years. There he was responsible for managing a book of distressed real estate assets and developing viable turnaround solutions. In addition, Jon spent over four years working in various capacities such as underwriting and commercial lending.

Jon is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business, with a concentration in Finance.