Industry Veteran to Lead LISC’s Housing Team
The Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) has named Valerie White to spearhead its national housing team—ramping up efforts to deliver more capital and community-based support to address the housing crisis.
White, who has served as senior executive director at LISC New York since 2020, will oversee LISC’s national efforts to build on its $30.4 billion in affordable housing investments—all focused on people and communities that face financing, legal, and market barriers to quality, affordable housing, announced the organization.
In addition to supporting scaled-up capital for both multifamily and single-family projects, she is leading a strategy to extend the reach of proven local programs, including preservation strategies focused on home repair and heirs’ properties; increased collaborations with faith-based organizations eager to pursue mission-driven development opportunities; and expanded developer training efforts that help these small businesses fuel affordable housing projects while also creating more career pathways for workers.
White will continue to lead LISC’s work across New York state, where the organizations has invested $4.6 billion—the lion’s share of which supports affordable housing.
Before joining LISC, she was executive vice president of Empire State Development Corp. in New York, where she led the division charged with expanding economic opportunity for businessowners facing long-standing capital gaps. Earlier, she was vice president for external affairs with Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. and a managing director at Standard & Poor’s, where she managed global social and affordable housing analytics as well as municipal and public finance structured securities efforts.
Merchants Capital Hires EVP
Naureen Dhanani has been named executive vice president of credit and operations, a newly established role reporting directly to the president and CEO at Merchants Capital.
She will oversee the firm’s Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Housing Administration credit and closing teams, including the chief appraiser. Dhanani is also responsible for ensuring seamless collaboration across Merchants’ platforms and with external stakeholders, managing key agency relationships, and resolving credit and production-related challenges alongside borrowers, originators, underwriters, and agency counterparts.
Dhanani brings more than a decade of experience in affordable housing finance to Merchants. Most recently, she served as a senior manager at Freddie Mac Multifamily, where she led a high-performing team responsible for more than $6 billion in annual originations, addressing critical affordable housing needs nationwide.
Churchill Stateside Group Welcomes VP of Originations
Thais Pepe has joined Churchill Stateside Group (CSG) as vice president of originations.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing finance and development. She’s worked with a range of government funding programs, including low-income housing tax credits, bonds, HOME Investment Partnerships program, and Florida’s State Apartment Incentive Loan and State Housing Initiatives Partnership programs.
Over the past five years, Pepe has led business development efforts across Florida and Georgia, successfully closing approximately $240 million in construction and permanent financing. Her work has supported the development of more than 7,000 affordable housing units, contributing to over $2.1 billion in total project costs.
CSG and its affiliates serve the affordable housing and commercial renewable energy industries. CSG sponsors tax credit equity investment funds for institutional investors and provides a variety of construction, permanent, and bond financing solutions.
MidPen Housing Names Head of Property Management
Bryan Taing has been appointed senior vice president, head of property management, at MidPen Housing, where he will oversee its portfolio of more than 10,000 homes in 139 apartment communities. MidPen is one of the largest nonprofit developers, owners, and managers of affordable housing in Northern California.
Taing is responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction to advance the organization’s operational, financial, and business performance goals. His team of 350—more than half of MidPen’s staff—manages all aspects of multifamily property management, including property operations, compliance, leasing, and facilities and risk management.
He joins MidPen with more than 17 years of experience in multifamily real estate operations and asset management. Most recently, Taing led property management operations for Prime Residential’s portfolio of nearly 20,000 units in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Prior to Prime, he was managing director, West territory leader, for Greystar Real Estate Partners, overseeing a portfolio of 70 communities.
ELH Mgmt. Appoints Property Management Director
Sebastian Acosta has been named director of property management at ELH Mgmt. an owner-manager with three decades of experience acquiring, preserving, managing, and building affordable housing in New York City.
Acosta is a seasoned property management executive with over 20 years of experience leading multifamily operations, asset optimization, and team performance across diverse residential portfolios. Most recently, he served as a director of multifamily operations at Rose Associates, a New York-based multifamily real estate developer and manager.
At ELH, Acosta will focus on aligning operational strategies with ownership goals, delivering consistent results in financial performance, resident satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.