Over the course of her career, Monique has served as a social enterprise leader, community development practitioner, university lecturer and advocate for next generation leaders. Her 20 years of experience spans the non-profit and public sectors of commercial real estate development, small business and real estate finance, and organizational and talent development. In her current role as Chief Operating Officer for the Better Housing Coalition (BHC), she works with executive leadership to formulate and operationalize the company’s strategic growth goals. In partnership with senior leaders, she oversees the property operations of over $250 million in commercial real estate assets across central Virginia and support services for BHC residents. She also oversees the human resource and organization’s operating functions to develop and/or enhance systems, processes, and controls that improve the company’s overall efficiency. Monique has been recognized nationally as an influential woman in commercial real estate, awarded the Community Leader Award by NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) and inducted into the Virginia Commonwealth University Real Estate Circle of Excellence. In 2020, she was appointed by the Governor to the Virginia Board of Housing and Community Development and serves on other statewide and regional boards designed to strengthen the housing and community development infrastructure. Monique obtained a PhD in Public Policy and Administration, an MBA from the University of Richmond and a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Virginia.

David M. Dworkin is the 17th president and chief executive officer of the National Housing Conference, the nation’s oldest housing coalition, founded in 1931. Prior to joining NHC in 2018, Mr. Dworkin was a senior policy adviser at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he advised Treasury Department officials on matters related to housing and community development. He also served as a member of the President Barack Obama’s Detroit interagency team, where his responsibilities included developing and implementing strategies to assist in the City of Detroit’s revitalization. Previously, he managed the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) at the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund, which disbursed $80 million in grants for economic revitalization and community development through investment in and assistance to community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and nonprofit housing organizations. Prior to joining the Treasury Department, he was CEO and Founder of Affiniti Strategies, a political consulting firm that assisted clients build political relationship capital. Mr. Dworkin served in a number of leadership positions at Fannie Mae. His service in the administration of President George H.W. Bush included the State Department’s acting deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs. As national security advisor to Rep. Rod Chandler of Washington, he was recognized by Secretary of State James A. Baker III for his key role in the negotiation of the Bipartisan Accord on Central America, which led to the end of Nicaragua’s civil war and inauguration of its first democratically elected government. Mr. Dworkin was a freelance foreign correspondent and photographer for The Detroit News, where he covered the war in Afghanistan. In 1984, he was the first Western journalist to cross the Safed Koh mountain range with the rebels fighting in the region known as Tora Bora. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Hayley Hoffman.

Dan Threet is a Research Analyst and Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In recent years, he has been a principal author of The Gap, NLIHC’s annual assessment of the nationwide shortage of affordable and available housing for the lowest-income renters, and Out of Reach, which documents the pervasive gulf between the costs of decent housing and the wages people actually earn.

Christina Plerhoples Stacy is a principal research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she specializes in urban economics, equity, and inclusion. Her work focuses on the intersection of economics and urban spaces and how housing, transportation, local economies, health, and crime interact. Stacy recently led an effort to develop a set of transportation equity metrics for metropolitan regions throughout the US, and she managed an effort to measure inclusion in US cities. She also led an effort to measure the spatial mismatch between job seekers and employers using big data from Snagajob, the largest online job search engine for hourly workers. Stacy is currently studying whether and how local zoning reforms can increase the supply of affordable housing, and she is helping the City of Alexandria, Virginia, develop an accessory dwelling unit regulation. She is also coleading an evaluation of the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and she is part of a team evaluating the Economic Development Administration. Finally, she is leading a randomized controlled trial of an unconditional and conditional cash transfer program coupled with job training aimed at reducing youth violence. Stacy serves on the board of the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation. Before joining the Urban Institute, Stacy earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston College, her master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and her PhD from Michigan State University in agricultural, food, and resource economics.

Amy Barrett has been the Executive Director of ULI South Carolina since September 2016. She is responsible for directing the South Carolina District Council’s program of work, retaining and expanding membership and sponsorships and fostering opportunities to promote industry best practices that positively impact local and regional land use policies. Before joining ULI, Amy served as the Director of Business and Neighborhood Services for the City Charleston where she headed various economic development initiatives under former Mayor Joe Riley and current Mayor John Tecklenburg. Prior to her work at the City, Amy directed research and feasibility studies for a variety of high profile projects and clients throughout the southeast, both as an independent consultant and as Vice President at Permar Inc., a real estate advisory services firm located in Charleston, South Carolina. Amy has over 20 years of experience in land use planning and real estate development. She has master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Urban Studies from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. She has served on several ULI advisory services panels both locally and nationally, has held positions on various boards and nonprofits and is a former Peace Corps volunteer. She currently serves on the board of the Charleston Local Development Corporation and on the Deans Advisory Panel at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Kelsey Oesmann is an architect and the Senior Manager of Design & Development with Urban Housing Solutions, Nashville’s leading nonprofit provider of affordable housing. Kelsey came to Nashville in 2017 as an Enterprise Rose Fellow, and has since contributed to the development of more than 500 affordable apartments. She is an advocate for authentic community engagement and policies that create more equitable cities, including efforts to advance transit, public health, and environmental justice. During her fellowship, Kelsey was jointly hosted by Urban Housing Solutions and the Nashville Civic Design Center, where she authored the “Affordable Housing 101” report. To further combat harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about affordable housing, Kelsey created The Game of Rent community teaching tool. This board game-style teaching tool leverages local data and the luck of the draw to build awareness and empathy for the issue, and is currently available for 26 unique cities and towns. Kelsey currently chairs the AIA Middle Tennessee Government Relations Committee and is co-chair of the ULI Nashville Housing Action Council. She also serves as the Board Secretary for Poverty and the Arts (POVA), a social enterprise nonprofit working with artists impacted by homelessness, and is a current Fellow with the New Leaders Council. In 2021, Kelsey served on the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Task Force. Prior to moving to Nashville, Kelsey designed mixed-use and multifamily projects with an architecture firm in the Washington, DC area. In 2016, she biked from Virginia to Oregon with the nonprofit Bike & Build to raise funds and awareness for affordable housing. A native of New Jersey, Kelsey earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech in 2014 and is a licensed architect in Tennessee.

Paul A. Young currently serves as the Director of the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development (HCD). HCD is responsible for coordinating community and economic development projects and initiatives throughout the City of Memphis. The agency has an annual budget of over $16 million, as it is the agency that receives federal entitlement funds on behalf of the City. With over 80 employees, Mr. Young helps to direct the programs and services of the agency and serves as the point person for major development initiatives for the City. Accomplished professional with over 10 years of experience in urban planning, government affairs, and real estate finance. Successfully led initiatives and programs that have made a significant impact in the community, including regional planning for green spaces and transportation, sustainability programs, affordable housing developments, and legislative initiatives to name a few. Diverse background having worked in private, nonprofit and government sectors, providing a unique perspective and skill set. Solution oriented leader that uses effective communication and consensus building to achieve positive outcomes. Previously, Mr. Young served as Director of Legislative Affairs in the Mayor’s Office of Shelby County Government (TN). In this role, he was responsible for advocating the county’s interest on the federal, state and local level by communicating the strategic priorities and policy direction of Shelby County Government to the Tennessee Congressional and State Legislative delegations as well as local regional entities. He also served as the Administrator for the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Sustainability, which is charged with the implementation and oversight of a strategic framework for action on green initiatives in the City of Memphis and Shelby County. Other positions that Mr. Young has held include: Legislative Liaison for the Shelby County Office of Legislative Affairs; Financial Analyst with Community Capital (Memphis, TN); Assistant Program Officer for Local Initiatives Support Corporation (New York, NY); and Associate Planner for the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development. Mr. Young holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a Masters of City and Regional Planning and Masters of Science in Business Administration from the University of Memphis.