Speakers

Jennifer Schwartz serves as the director of tax and housing advocacy at the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), where she manages NCSHA’s policy and legislative activities related to the low-income housing tax credit and tax-exempt private activity housing bonds, including serving as co-chair of the ACTION Campaign. She also works on other NCSHA housing policy priorities, including Fair Housing and HUD program funding and programmatic issues. She rejoined NCSHA in 2014 after previously holding the role of senior legislative and policy associate at the organization from 2001-2005. Prior to returning to NCSHA, Schwartz was the director of policy and programs for the Southern Governors’ Association, where she focused on facilitating bipartisan collaboration on policy areas including economic development, healthcare, trade, workforce development and energy/environment. Earlier in her career, she worked as a counselor and case manager at Women’s Protective Services, a domestic violence shelter and rape crisis counseling center in Massachusetts, and as a project consultant for the Massachusetts Advocacy Center (now Massachusetts Advocates for Children). Schwartz earned a master’s degree in public administration and public policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and holds a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University with a double major in psychology and sociology.

Roy Faerber is a senior vice president, equity production - West Coast, with Boston Financial. Faerber joined Boston Financial in 2011 as senior vice president of originations in the equity production group. He is responsible for originating, structuring and closing LIHTC investments. Prior to joining Boston Financial, Faerber was in equity production at another national syndicator. He has specialized in affordable, multifamily housing for more than 20 years and has invested more than $3 billion in LIHTC equity. Faerber earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance at SUNY Albany and earned his CPA in 1993. He is based in Los Angeles and is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences.

Sarah Garland is the senior managing director for the affordable housing debt and structured finance team at CBRE and is responsible for supporting the origination of affordable and workforce housing debt financing. She leads a company initiative to leverage CBRE’s broad originations platform with the deep expertise of the CBRE affordable housing teams in the regulated multifamily finance market. Garland is one of the foremost industry specialists in affordable housing finance. She is former chair of the MBA FHA Committee and vice-chair of the MBA Multifamily Steering Committee and has participated in both the Low-Income Housing and Workforce Housing Task Forces. Garland previously held the position of senior vice president at PNC Bank, where she was responsible for affordable housing debt production, specifically focused on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA. Prior to PNC, she led Fannie Mae as national director of multifamily affordable housing, where she led the production and management of all multifamily affordable products.

Since 1995, David Gasson has served as the executive director of the Housing Advisory Group, an organization founded in 1993 to educate federal officials and advocate for the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC). Its members constitute some of the largest developers and financiers of affordable housing in the country. Gasson is an original member of the Affordable Housing ACTION Campaign, where he serves on the steering committee. He is a member of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition (AHTCC) and the National Leased Housing Association (NLHA). Gasson also advises the Council of Independent State Housing Associations (CISHA) on policy and advocacy. Over his 25-plus years in the business, Gasson has worked with numerous administrations and Congresses to expand the LIHTC, lift regulatory barriers and educate the public and private sectors on affordable housing.  Prior joining the industry, Gasson worked on Capitol Hill for House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME). In Boston, Gasson sits on the board of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation and The Alliance for Business Leadership. He is also on the Community Advisory Board of WBUR, Boston’s NPR News Station.

Tony Sertich serves as the assistant deputy director of loan closing in the Division of State Financial Assistance at the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).  He assumed this position in January 2023. In this role, he oversees the funding process of HCD’s state funded affordable housing loan programs. His focus at HCD is streamlining funding programs while ensuring the state maximizes the outcomes of its housing investments. Prior to joining HCD, Sertich served as a deputy controller under controller Betty T. Yee, representing the controller on the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) and California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) boards. He also spent 13 years at the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) in various finance and program roles, including director of multifamily programs and director of enterprise risk management and compliance. Sertich received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

With more than 28 years of experience, Rose Eaton has been responsible for due diligence, development, acquisition, credit analysis, management, workout and disposition of more than $1.5 billion of assets for nonprofit, public and private companies. Eaton is the chief credit officer for both the Fallbrook Loan Fund and for Fallbrook Multifamily Investments, tax credit investments made on behalf of Fallbrook's clients. She began her career in real estate focusing on commercial real estate lending and asset management. Throughout the last 20 years, Eaton’s career has focused on affordable housing, both state and federal low-income housing tax credits and historic tax credits.  She has developed investment, asset management, loan servicing, credit risk and disposition protocols for several firms. During her time in private law practice, she represented both purchasers and sellers through all facets of real estate acquisition, financing, development and disposition. Eaton graduated from Montana State University with a bachelor’s degree in communication and Gonzaga University School of Law with a juris doctorate. She is a member of the Woman’s Affordable Housing Network and the American Bar Association.

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.

Anthony Zeto has been with the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) for nearly 19 years and has served as deputy executive director since the end of 2016. As the deputy director, he acts as primary policy advisor to executive director on all program matters and oversees the day-to-day operations of the committee. He has represented CTCAC at local, state and national tax credit events, including CTCAC workshops and public hearings. Zeto received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of California, Davis.

Philip Porter is a senior vice president of acquisitions at Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, an Enterprise Community Partners affiliate. While managing the originations and underwriting team as a whole, he personally originates investments with sponsors based in Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Northern California, Northern Virginia, Oregon and Washington. Since joining Enterprise in 2001, Porter has managed the investment of more than $4.5 billion low-income housing and historic tax credit equity in 416 developments with more than 33,862 homes across 26 states. Porter’s involvement with multifamily housing began in 1992. He managed market-rate housing with Oxford Management Company in California, underwrote HOME loans with the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, and developed and managed affordable housing with Woodland Associates, Inc. in North Carolina. Porter has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and holds master’s degrees in Regional Planning and Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a Housing Credit Certified Professional and is active with the Urban Land Institute and Stanford Professionals in Real Estate (SPIRE).

Tiena Johnson Hall, executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency, is furthering the agency’s mission of investing in diverse communities with financing programs that help more Californians have a place to call home. Through her leadership of CalHFA, the state’s affordable housing lender, she engages mortgage lenders, affordable housing developers, state and local agencies, advocacy organizations, public officials, and private financing markets to work collaboratively to create housing options in reach and accessible for more low- and moderate-income Californians. Prior to her appointment, Johnson Hall served on the CalHFA board of directors from 2014 and was the senior vice president and manager of community development finance for BBVA now a member of PNC Bank. She held various leadership positions for financial, banking and housing organizations such as vice president and community development manager, Bank of the West (2014); senior vice president and relationship manager, U.S. Bank (2005-2013); director of housing, Major Projects Division of the Los Angeles Housing and Investment Department (2004-2005); senior vice president and regional manager, Bank of America Community Lending (1997-2003); finance development officer, Major Projects Division of the Los Angeles Housing and Investment Department (1995-1997); project manager, Abode Communities (1991-1994). She also served on various housing and financial boards and councils. Johnson Hall received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Howard University and master’s degree from the University of Redlands.