2024 Speakers

Breakfast Keynote – Angela Brooks, FAICP

Angela Brooks, FAICP

 

Angela Brooks is the Director of the Illinois office of the Corporation for Supportive Housing. She currently serves on the Chicago Board of Zoning Appeals, the Illinois Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, and is co-chair of the national Housing Supply Accelerator helping communities meet the housing needs of residents. Brooks is a native of Seattle and a graduate of Jackson State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, and the University of New Orleans, where she received a Master of Urban and Regional Planning. An active member of APA since graduate school, Brooks has held numerous leadership positions in the Housing and Community Development Division, Planning and the Black Community Division, Diversity Task Force, Washington Chapter, and co-chair of the Housing Policy Guide. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Incorporated. 

 

Urban Insights: Exploring Successful Downtown Housing Models Beyond New Orleans

Michael G. Sherman, Sherman Strategies

Michael G. Sherman is the founder of Sherman Strategies, LLC. Sherman Strategies, LLC is a project-based law firm that thrives at the intersection of law, real estate, and government relations. The firm’s client base includes Fortune 500 companies, real estate developers, and local non-profit organizations, all of whom rely on the firm at each stage of the development process, from inception to completion.

Mr. Sherman previously served as Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s Executive Counsel and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. As Executive Counsel, Mr. Sherman was the legal advisor in the Mayor’s office. As Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Sherman was responsible for developing and implementing the city’s strategy to interact with governmental bodies. This included producing and analyzing legislation, proposals, and initiatives to achieve the city’s policy goals, as well as serving as the focal point of coordination for the city with state and federal governments in addition to the legislative branch of New Orleans city government and the 162 boards and commissions in the city.

Mr. Sherman is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tulane University, teaching courses on American government and the political system of New Orleans. In addition to his teaching, Mr. Sherman is the FOX8 political analyst for WVUE New Orleans, where he covers local and national politics.

Mr. Sherman received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and his undergraduate degree from Tulane University.

Randy Rhoads, Cushing Terrell

Randy is an Architect and prior to joining Cushing Terrell in June 2021, he was a VP of Design and Construction for one of the largest mixed income/affordable rental housing developers in the country, McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS). MBS was a client of his for 6 years prior to his 17 years working internally at MBS. Over those 23 years, he was responsible for the design of over 6000 apartment units, in 14 different cities which totaled over 1 Billion in development cost. His pioneering design efforts include the first multi-family, mixed-income building in the U.S. to incorporate Universal Design features in every unit, one of the first affordable housing developments to be certified under the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, and one of the first mixed-income rental developments to achieve LEED for Homes certification and LEED for Neighborhood Development certification. Randy has a unique depth of experience with design, finance, construction, and property management issues that can only come from guiding the design and construction process of over 30 Low Income Housing Tax Credit financed neighborhoods from initial concept through resident lease up and on into decades of ongoing successful operation.

Randy holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Kansas State University, is a Registered Architect in the State of California, is a member of American Institute of Architects, and Urban Land Institute.

Randy is currently leading Cushing Terrell’s effort on the 11 acre, $400MM ,277-unit, Lumberyard Affordable Housing neighborhood in Aspen, Colorado. Along with ongoing affordable housing work in Denver, Aspen, Telluride, and Salida, Colorado, Cushing Terrell currently has conceptual design efforts underway on over 1200 affordable rental and affordable workforce for sale units in Bozeman, Big Sky, and Livingston, Montana.

As Executive Director of Affordable Housing at Cushing Terrell, Randy wants to be a resource for clients and communities to help create connected thriving neighborhoods that provide attainable and affordable housing for folks from all walks of life.

Making it Pencil: Unpacking the Economics of Local Affordable Housing Initiatives in New Orleans

Kathy Laborde, President and CEO, Gulf Coast Housing Partnership

As Gulf Coast Housing Partnership’s President and CEO Kathy Laborde provides overall leadership to GCHP, overseeing the organization’s project pipeline, financing, construction, asset management, and property management activities. Over the course of her career, Ms. Laborde has developed more than 7,000 affordable and market-rate homes and commercial and community facilities both directly and in partnership with local non-profits, city and state government, and the private sector. Prior to joining Gulf Coast Housing Partnership in 2006, Ms. Laborde operated Kaliope, LLC, a real estate development and consulting company that she established in 1999. Previously, she was founder and executive director of the first bank-owned community development corporation in Louisiana. Before settling in Louisiana, Ms. Laborde held a variety of management positions with private-sector real estate developers in Missouri and North Carolina. Ms. Laborde holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and an MBA from Tulane University. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Housing Partnership Network, Louisiana Land Trust, Regional Community Finance, Mississippi Association of Affordable Housing Providers, the Louisiana Association of Affordable Housing Providers, and the Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge. She is a 2018 recipient of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s 300 for 300 New Orleans Tricentennial “12 Icons for New Orleans” Award and a past recipient of the YWCA’s Role Model Award.

Building Bridges: Exploring Policy Pathways for Affordable Housing

Damon Burns, Finance New Orleans

Damon Burns is an executive leader and entrepreneur with experience spanning the areas of investment banking, affordable housing, economic development, climate sustainability, and financial technology. His professional career began in 2004 and includes time as a banker serving public agencies, launching a financial technology startup, and public sector leadership. Since July 2016, he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Finance New Orleans, a quasi-governmental green financial institution with a mission to invest in climate resilient affordable housing and economic development projects that physically transform New Orleans.

Councilmember Lesli D. Harris, New Orleans City Council, District B

District ‘B’ Councilmember Lesli Harris is a nationally recognized lawyer and expert in intellectual property. Before serving as an elected official, Cm. Harris served as the chief of staff and executive counsel to Tania Tetlow, Loyola University’s first woman president, where she took an instrumental role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and the school’s finances. Before joining Loyola, she was the second Black woman named partner at Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann L.L.C. She has taught as an adjunct law professor at Tulane Law School and speaks frequently about cyber security, copyright, trademark, and entertainment law topics. A native of rural Ohio, Councilmember Harris received her LL.M in Trade Regulation, with a concentration in Intellectual Property, from New York University School of Law. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law, and her B.A. from the University of Virginia. She is licensed to practice law in Louisiana and New York. Cm. Harris was named the 2018 Sports and Entertainment Lawyer of the Year by the National Bar Association for her work with the New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, National Football Association, and the National Basketball Association. She is an accomplished intellectual property and entertainment lawyer, representing clients like NBCUniversal, Grambling State University, and HANO. She also argued for equal rights for everyone, representing the Forum for Equality and couples seeking to strike down Louisiana’s anti-gay marriage laws. In addition to serving as District B’s City Councilmember, she is of Counsel at Kelly, Hart, Pitre practicing, Intellectual Property, Entertainment Law and other civil litigation.

Bob Rivers, New Orleans Planning Commission

Bob Rivers has over 30 years of experience in urban and regional planning, architecture, historic preservation, and law. He has been the Planning Director of the New Orleans City Planning Commission since 2013, and was Deputy City Attorney in the City’s Law Department from 2010 – 2013.  During his tenure as Planning Director, Rivers has supervised the complete rewrite of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, major revisions to the City’s Master Plan, and numerous land use studies on such varied topics as Short Term Rentals, Inclusionary Housing, Canal Street Revitalization, the Riverfront Overlay District, Billboards, Adult Live Entertainment, Main Street Resilience, Small Box Retail, and Neighborhood Participation. He is currently directing a Housing Opportunities Study, at the request of the Mayor, to explore ways in which zoning and land use policies can facilitate the construction and protection of affordable housing throughout the City.

 

Prior to joining City Hall, Rivers was an attorney at Jones Walker specializing in real estate from 2003 to 2010. He also served as the Administrator of the Nantucket Historic District Commission in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he led and supervised design review and enforcement of historic preservation regulations for a National Historic Landmark district consisting of over 10,000 structures.

 

Rivers holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Princeton University, a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from George Washington University, and graduated cum laude from the Tulane University School of Law.

Closing Lunch Keynote – Marjorianna Willman

Marjorianna Willman, Executive Director, Louisiana Housing Corporation

Marjorianna Willman is the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) Executive Director, having been appointed in February 2024. She oversees the LHC staff of 150 men and women focused on increasing and creating affordable, safe, and energy-efficient housing across Louisiana. Ms. Willman supervises over 20 LHC programs that deliver more than $1 billion in impact. Prior to being appointed Executive Director, Ms. Willman served as the Interim-Executive Director from October 2023 to February 2024, and previously served as the Chief Operating and Legal Officer. Ms. Willman previously served as the Director of the Office of Housing Policy and Community Development in the City of New Orleans. During her time there, Ms. Willman led the City to be named one of seven High Performing Grantees by the U.S. Treasury. She created an eviction diversion program in partnership with the local courts that received the 2021 Innovation Award from the Louisiana Bar Association. Ms. Willman has almost 20 years of experience working in the affordable housing industry, including the administration of Federal, State, and local funding for the development of affordable housing and homelessness solutions.

 

Ms. Willman is a licensed attorney and earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from the Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center. She also earned a certificate in Executive Education Leading in an Era of Complexity from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. Ms. Willman was featured as a Legal Leader in the Spring 2023 Issue of Affordable Housing News.