Sebastiano "Seb" Sterpa, Chairman

Mr. Sterpa founded and operated Sterpa Realty Inc., from 1962 to 1985, and today serves as Chairman of The Sterpa Group, a real estate investment and management firm. Both state and local leaders have appointed him to numerous positions, including the appointment to the office of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California Housing Finance Agency (CHFA). Mr. Sterpa served for 12 years as a director of the SunAmerica Asset Management Corp., a mutual fund company.

Mr. Cashion is an active member of his community and principle of Cashion, Go & Company, LLP and Cashion Consulting, Inc. Together his businesses provide accounting, auditing, review, compilation, business valuation, and litigation support to more than 150 continuing clients and countless more. He is a member of an array of professional associations including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and has been active in more than 20 civic organizations in his community.

Mr. Clingham is a Principal with Woodberry Associates. He assists corporations and not-for-profit organizations such as universities, colleges, municipalities and health care entities in getting their voices heard before the Executive Branch and the United States Congress, with a specific expertise in the area of federal appropriations. Mr. Clingham holds a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from The Catholic University of America. 

Mr. Fauske is the CEO/Executive Director for the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. Mr. Fauske participated on the Alaska Governor's Jobs Cabinet and Rural Sanitation Committee. He was Chair of the Governor's Interagency Council on the Homeless and he currently serves as a Member of the Governor's Gas Pipeline Team. Nationally, Mr. Fauske served as a member of Fannie Mae's National Housing Impact Advisory Council and was appointed as a Commissioner for the Millennial Housing Commission. He is a Board Member of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Seattle .

G. Allan Kingston, Vice Chairman

Mr. Kingston, during his tenure as President & CEO of Century Housing, directed the financing of more than 14,000 affordable housing units in 250 housing developments in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California . While originating more than $450 million in loans, he also initiated “More Than Shelter® Services, Inc.” serving underserved communities with after-school tutoring, job training and placement, transitional housing for homeless veterans, childcare, health and wellness for senior, and two charter middle schools. Mr. Kingston serves as the immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Housing Conference. Last year concluded a 3 year term as Chairman of the Board of the National Housing Conference, the nation's oldest advocacy organization for affordable housing.

Laura Kurtz Kuhns, Director

Ms. Kuhns, President and CEO of Vandalia Heritage Foundation and its sister non-profit organization Vandalia Redevelopment Corporation, has a long history of working in community and economic development. Since 1999, Ms. Kuhns has led Vandalia's efforts to revitalize communities and neighborhoods throughout northern West Virginia , focusing on historic preservation and redevelopment of the built environment. Ms. Kuhns is one of West Virginia 's advisors to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She also serves on the boards of directors for the Mountain Made Foundation, Fairmont Renaissance Corporation and the Institute for Scientific Research (ISR), all non-profits with missions of economic regeneration.

Mr. Lee is Of Counsel in the Los Angeles Office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and a member of the firm's Public Finance and Administrative Law Group and the firm's Structured and Project Finance Group. Mr. Lee has more than 30 years of finance and securities experience. He began his legal career with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington , D.C., where he served in the Division of Corporation Finance and later in the Office of General Counsel. Prior to joining Fulbright & Jaworski, he was a partner in other law firms. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his A.B. from University of Southern California.

Sammi L. Reeves, Director
Mr. Reeves is President of KDG Development & Construction Consulting (KDG). KDG is a 26 year old Construction Management firm based in Pasadena, California that specializes in the development, implementation, and maintenance of complex project/program (cost & schedule) controls systems, as well as general project/construction management services. KDG has over 50 employees and does business in California , Nevada , Utah , Arizona , Idaho , and Wyoming . Mr. Reeves and his company have been honored with several Small Business Administration awards, the Regional Small Business of the Year Award, and the National Minority Business of the Year Award.

Mr. Wright led a prestigious career in real estate development spanning more than 30 years. He served as a partner for Diversified Pacific Development Group and was president of the Inland Empire division of KB Homes. Throughout his real estate career, Mr. Wright focused on developing homes targeted to first-time homebuyers.

Ms. Thomas graduated from California State Polytechnic University , Pomona with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. She received her CPA license while working at Arthur Andersen.

Richard J. Whittingham CPA, CFO
Mr. Whittingham received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from California State University, Long Beach and holds a California Real Estate Broker's License. Mr. Whittingham spent many years in "Big Six" public accounting with Peat, Marwick, and Mitchell & Company, specializing in real estate auditing and taxation. In 1978 Mr. Whittingham left the public sector and has spent the past twenty years involved in real estate development, construction, and management. He served as either Vice President of Finance or Executive Vice President for companies that owned or managed over 6,000 apartments and over one million square feet of commercial/office/industrial space. After serving as a consultant to The National Community Renaissance for over two years, Mr. Whittingham joined the company as Director of Finance and Accounting and is currently the Senior Director. In this position he has overall responsibility for all internal operations, accounting and cash management.

Welton Smith, Sr. VP of Development
Mr. Smith has direct oversight of the three teams that comprise the Development Department of National Community Renaissance: Business Development, Project Management and Construction.  He began a 28-year real estate development and finance career within the consulting practices of two Los Angeles CPA firms, Pannell Kerr Forster and Coopers & Lybrand.  After more than seven years structuring and analyzing residential and commercial real estate deals with these two firms, Mr. Smith went on to spend an additional seven years helping to maximize the value of publicly held real estate for the Community Development Commission of Los Angeles County, the Redevelopment Agency and Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles.  Prior to joining National CORE in July 2001, Mr. Smith spent five years developing, acquiring, structuring ground leases, and managing real estate owned by one of the largest international divisions of American Airlines.  Mr. Smith is an NDC certified Affordable Housing Development Finance Professional and he holds a BA in English and Economics and an MBA with real estate development concentration.

Mr. Ely is a frequent speaker at Lorman Seminars, the Construction Super Conference, for Construction Litigation, and other venues on a wide range of technical and managerial construction and development topics. Mr. Ely holds degrees in Construction Technology and Management, and a Certificate in Advanced Construction Management from the University of Southern California 's Civil Engineering Division.