Stephen Burn now works as the Head of Business Development at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. In this role, he oversees the organization’s social enterprises, including a coffee shop and catering and events operation as well a number of affordable housing properties, including Triangle Square. He initially joined the Center, as a volunteer, to oversee the development of its $140M campus, a multi-use facility providing office space, services and housing to the LGBT community. Prior to working at the Center in 2013, Stephen was the President and CEO of the US subsidiary of the multi-national online gaming company, Flutter Entertainment PLC. The company has around 6,000 employees and annual revenues of $10 billion.

Michael Martinez has been working as a Consultant for the last two years in all aspects of Asset Management for development companies and nonprofits in the Los Angeles area. He began consulting for April Housing last year and during that time has been assisting the Southern, Mountain and Southwest Regions. Prior to Consulting, Michael has worked with reputable companies such as McCormack Baron Salazar, AIG/SunAmerica, Lehman Brothers New York and Boston Capital Partners. His entire career has been LIHTC Affordable Housing and, aside from occasionally thinking he was destined to be an airplane pilot, has not for a minute regretted his devotion the housing of hardworking families across the country. He is a graduate of UCLA and completed a Real Estate Studies Program at University of Massachusetts.

Brendan Ahmad is a Vice President at PGIM Real Estate and member of the Agency Deal Management Team.  Based in Chicago, Brendan is responsible for working with loan officers, industry partners, and a team of analysts to structure and find the best debt execution for each transaction.  Brendan specializes in both conventional and affordable permanent debt funded through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and PGIM’s proprietary debt products.  Additionally, Brendan is the co-lead for PGIM’s Structured Agency Products. He is also a member of the PGIM Multifamily Prop Tech Council. Since joining PGIM in 2013, Brendan has held both underwriting and originations roles, first as an investment analyst and then transitioning to a deal manager role in the Chicago office.  In his underwriting roles at PGIM, Brendan has worked on over $2.0B of closed transactions. As a deal manager, Brendan has worked on over $3.0B of closed loans. Prior to joining PGIM Real Estate, Brendan worked at Novogradac & Company LLP, a national accounting firm specializing in affordable housing accounting, valuation, and consulting services, as a research analyst. Brendan has a bachelor’s degree in Economics with minor in History from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business.  Brendan is an active member of ULI and is on the Americas Young Leaders Group DEI Sub Committee. He is also an active leader on ESG initiatives at PGIM.

March 2011 Mr. Salazar’s entire professional career has been dedicated to rebuilding inner-city communities. He has used his skills and expertise to bring a sense of belonging and hope for the future to America’s forgotten neighborhoods. As a Principal at McCormack Baron Salazar, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company and its affiliates, including real estate development projects, real estate management, asset management, and the solar and renewable energy venture, Sunwheel Energy Partners. As President of West Coast Operations, Mr. Salazar is also responsible for west coast new business development, including seeking out and responding to solicitations, acting as liaison with joint venture partners, and interfacing with government officials and local community groups. McCormack Baron Salazar specializes in developing large-scale urban projects in distressed communities that involve mixed-use, mixed-income (affordable and market-rate), multi-generational, various housing types (rental and for-sale) and blended financing. The financing for McCormack Baron Salazar’s projects involve a combination of conventional debt, government sources (CDBG, HOPE VI, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, Section 8, HOME, Bonds and Tax Increment Financing), Foundation grants and/or PRI loans, and pension funds. Mr. Salazar has been involved in developing a variety of innovative projects, including six HOPE VI (public housing redevelopment) projects, two senior projects, seven mixed-income communities, three transit villages, a large-scale SRO and five earthquake recovery projects. He currently serves on the board of Enterprise Community Partners, National Council of La Raza, and Farmworker Justice, Inc. Previously, he served as a board chair of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic advocacy organization in the country, and as director of the California Community Foundation, the Enterprise Social Investment Corporation, the Community Development Research Center at the New School of Social Research, and with several private sector companies. He also served on Bank of America’s National Community Advisory Council. Tony has a master’s degree in social work specializing in administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Sonia Huntley is an association industry veteran with nearly 30 years membership engagement, marketing, fundraising and customer service experience. Most recently she served as the Urban Land Institute’s Vice President for Global Customer Service where she was responsible for the deployment of global support across ULI’s three regions. In this role she led a high performing team who consistently exceeds service level targets including a 90% CSAT responsible for nearly 70,000 customer interactions annually. In 2020, she began co-leading ULI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiative where she managed the efforts of the DEI staff taskforce of 70+ ULI team members. She also currently serves on the partnership working group for the DEI Council. Previously, Sonia worked for the Division of University Relations at the University of Maryland where she was Director of Membership and Marketing for the Alumni Association. At the University of Maryland she developed strategies leading to increased retention rates, 45% growth in membership, and executed the launch of the associations’ lifetime member recognition wall. During her tenure at the University she also worked for the Annual Fund where she served at the Director of Emerging Constituent Philanthropy responsible for DEI focused philanthropic engagement. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus.