Affordable housing bond program

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Committee members

Kira Cador

Kira Cador, raised in Portland, is the president of Rembold, a privately owned local development company. Since 1990, she has managed the development of market rate and income restricted multi-family projects throughout Oregon and California, senior housing projects in Portland metro area, and flex/office and retail projects throughout Oregon and Washington.

Prior to joining Rembold, Kira was in front office management and sales with Marriott Hotels and Resorts in Southern California and Portland. Kira has a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Washington State University. She also serves as Vice President of the KairosPDX board and is a loan committee member of Community Housing Fund in Washington County. She has served on multiple technical advisory groups related to multi-family housing development and was the Board President of Fruit and Flower Childcare Development Center, Vice President of Philanthropy for the Portland chapter of National Charity League and on other philanthropic boards. Kira is married, with two grown children and has coached youth sports. She is a passionate Trailblazers fan.

Brandon Culbertson

Brandon Culbertson is from the Northern Arapaho Nation (Wyoming) and Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes (Montana). He is the Native Education Development and Coordination teacher of special assignment (TOSA) for the Beaverton School District.

Currently, he serves as a Sergeant in the Oregon Army National Guard, Vice Chair of the Oregon Department of Education’s American Indian/Alaska Native Education Advisory Committee, and a Five Oaks Museum Executive Board Member, and he is a recent appointee to the Governor’s Racial Justice Council. In these spaces and in conjunction with community, Brandon advocates for, elevates and amplifies Native/Indigenous/POC/marginalized and underserved community needs and concerns in a way that translates to policy change and positive outcomes for quality of life. While an undergraduate, Brandon worked through housing instability, which in turn, opened his eyes to issues that, until seen up close, go unseen by many. He got by with a little help from his friends.

Brandon currently holds an Associates of Arts in Arapaho Studies from the Wind River Tribal College and a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Oregon, and he is currently near completion of a Master of Science in Teaching and Learning from Colorado State University.

Melissa Erlbaum

Melissa Erlbaum is the Executive Director of Clackamas Women’s Services (CWS), the most comprehensive service provider in Oregon serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence, elder and vulnerable adult abuse, trafficking and sexual exploitation, and stalking.

Melissa has worked in the field of public safety, criminal justice, victim services and homeless services for over 20 years, beginning as a volunteer at St. Luke’s Rape Crisis Center in New York City. Melissa holds a Master’s Degree in Public and Nonprofit Administration from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Women’s Studies and Energy and Environmental Policy from Hunter College, City University of New York. Melissa is an alumna of Emerge Oregon and works to diversify and expand women’s participation in civic engagement and leadership.

Jenny Lee

Jenny Lee is the deputy director for the Coalition of Communities of Color.

Her recent experience includes the roles of advocacy director at the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), advocacy director at the Coalition of Communities of Color, and housing policy director at Neighborhood Partnerships, where she helped convene the Oregon Housing Alliance. She also served as the public policy director for Hawai‘i Appleseed in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Throughout her work, Jenny has engaged in extensive coalition building, legislative advocacy, campaigns, and policy research on a range of social, economic, and racial justice issues. Her previous background includes work in disability rights, domestic violence, racial justice, and mediation, as well as a year serving as an AmeriCorps member at a SUN School in Southeast Portland. Jenny holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Oregon.

Mara Romero

Mara Romero serves as lead housing advocate for Independent Living Resources which covers Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington County. ILR operates under a philosophy of consumer control, the idea that people with disabilities are the best experts on their own needs, having crucial and valuable perspectives to contribute. Mara offers support, advocacy, and information on the attainment of housing independence from a peer viewpoint. She previously served as the community living advocate for Oregon’s Protection and Advocacy organization, Disability Rights Oregon. She is personally and professionally invested in sustainably healing our housing ecosystem.

Mara earned a Masters of Social Work from Portland State University and serves on the Fair Housing Advocacy Committee for Multnomah County. She has been in Oregon for almost fifteen years and currently rents on the Portland/Beaverton line with her partner, kid, and pug.

Steve Rudman

Steve Rudman’s local public service career spans over 35 years in affordable housing and community development. He served as executive director of Home Forward (formerly Housing Authority of Portland) from 2001-2014 and as director of the City of Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development from 1993-2001.

Steve has been an active board leader with many community organizations, including being a founding member of Portland Youthbuilders, Portland Housing Center and REACH Community Development. He attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow, holds a master’s degree in public policy from Claremont Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University. Steve is semi-retired and works as a part-time consultant locally and nationally. He enjoys traveling, gardening, music and baseball.

Andrea K. Sanchez

Andrea K. Sanchez believes access to safe, affordable housing improves health outcomes. As Director of Project Finance at Housing Development Center (HDC) she draws on her background operating and funding affordable housing to lead HDC’s work structuring sustainable financing for affordable-housing and community-facility developments. Andrea has more than 15 years of experience in public and private real estate development. Prior to joining HDC, she served as director of housing for East Portland affordable-housing and human-service provider Human Solutions, overseeing housing development, asset management, and resident service delivery for a 700-unit housing portfolio. Andrea’s public-sector experience includes leading implementation of a 10-year portfolio redevelopment and repositioning strategy with the Housing Authority of Clackamas County and administering the permanent supportive housing component of the City of Portland’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. Andrea began her career in the San Francisco Bay Area working on urban renewal initiatives for a private real estate advisory firm. She holds a Master of City and Regional Planning and a Master of Public Health from University of California, Berkeley.

Karen Shawcross

Karen Shawcross has decades of experience in real estate development, property management, marketing and nonprofit work. As former Executive Director of Bienestar she managed new construction, rehabilitation and resident service programs for a portfolio of 500 affordable housing units in Washington County. At Worksystems, Inc. she directed the business and industry group, working with employers on job training, internship and outreach programs. Prior to that, she was a Senior Vice President at Bank of America for 8 years where she developed national job training and financial literacy programs in communities across the U.S. She began her career in real estate in Boston, where she worked with private firms on multifamily construction and rehab, marketing, management, and leasing training. She has served on OHCS’ Agricultural Housing Facilitation Team for 15 years. A passionate advocate for affordable housing, Karen is currently retired and lives in Multnomah Village.

Nicole Stingh

Nicole Stingh works at the intersections of housing affordability and equity at Oregon Housing and Community Services, securing legislative resources and advancing the goals outlined in Oregon's Statewide Housing Plan. She brings a high-level perspective on state and federal housing policy, with a particular focus on emerging and promising practices in incentivizing housing first approaches. Nicole cares deeply about housing and believes it’s foundational to the success of our region.

A resident of Beaverton, Nicole understands some of the challenges faced by her community members living with housing insecurity based on her personal experience, having faced a no-cause eviction and severe rent burden, giving her an acute understanding of her privilege as a childless white woman with housing stability now. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in political science and anthropology from the University of Oregon. Like many Oregonians, Nicole and her husband enjoy long hikes and nature walks with their dog.

Trinh Tran

Trinh Tran is a Portland attorney with eighteen years of experience in commercial transactions, real estate, and corporate law. He has advised a diverse spectrum of public and private clients on business issues ranging from routine corporate matters to complex finance and equity transactions. As deputy city attorney for the City of Portland from 2009 to 2014, Trinh advised the City and its agencies, including the Portland Housing Bureau, on complex finance projects for housing and economic development, working in partnership with non-profit entities, state and federal governments, and private funding sources.

Trinh immigrated to the United States in 1984 as a refugee and unaccompanied minor and settled in Portland. He earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from Lewis & Clark Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago. He has served on the board of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), the Oregon Law Foundation and volunteered for Legal Aid Services of Oregon. He and his wife Melina LaMorticella live in the Rose City neighborhood in Northeast Portland.

Juan Ugarte Ahumada

Juan is the primary care clinic manager at the Virginia Garcia Wellness Center in Cornelius. Virginia Garcia is the largest nonprofit federally qualified health center in Oregon, providing comprehensive, culturally-appropriate, high-quality health care to over 48,000 individuals in Washington and Yamhill counties every year. Juan holds a Masters of Health Administration from the University of Washington and also serves on the board of directors for the Domestic Violence Resource Center in Washington County.

Juan grew up in Hillsboro and moved to Washington County at two years old as an undocumented immigrant, initially living in a station wagon and having his first meal at Centro Cultural. In his work with patients, he hears them say that above all else, safe, affordable housing is their number one need, and he wants to help make that happen.

Tia Vonil

Tia Vonil was born and raised in Chicago and attended the University of Notre Dame and the United States Naval Academy before living abroad in Paris for eight years. Upon returning to the U.S., Tia joined the IBEW Local 48 electrical apprenticeship and became a licensed electrician in 2017.

She has worked in both the public and private sector, as well as in residential, commercial, and industrial applications across multiple states including Oregon, Washington, Montana, and North Dakota. Tia currently works as a union electrician for the Port of Portland and serves on the IBEW Local 48 Political Action Committee. Tia previously served as a board member for Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc from 2013-2018. She lives in Clackamas with her partner and one-year-old puppy.

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