Christopher E. Donald was sworn-in as the Executive Director/CEO of the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) in March 2021. Mr. Donald joined the Agency in October 2016 as the Senior Vice President of Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investments. Mr. Donald has over 15 years of experience in real estate finance, community building, development, land entitlement and construction. He’s entitled over 1MM square feet of mixed income, transit oriented, amenity rich housing. Mr. Donald specializes in acquisitions, entitlement, community visioning and deal structuring.  AHC Inc. 2003-Present HCS 2001-2003 BET & BET.com 1998-2000 Lehman Brothers 1997-1998 1997 Presidential Ignagural Committee 1996 Clinton/Gore Reelection Campaign

Kimberly Vermeer, LEED AP Homes, is a multi-disciplinary green building and sustainability practitioner, with a special focus in the multifamily affordable housing sector. Through her company, Urban Habitat Initiatives Inc., she offers strategic consulting to community development corporations and other affordable housing developers to advance sustainability and climate resilience. Committed to delivering the benefits of green building to vulnerable populations, Kim works with teams to incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy, water conservation, healthy housing and climate resilience into their projects. She directs project certification through LEED or Enterprise Green Communities rating systems, as well as the LEED for Neighborhood Development (ND) rating system for larger master-planned projects. Ms. Vermeer is co-author, with Walker Wells, of the recently published book Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing, Revised Edition, released in July 2020. Ms. Vermeer is also an experienced teacher and educator, and was recently a Practitioner Scholar at UMass Boston, co-teaching an environmental science capstone course. She has also developed, planned and facilitated many professional education and peer learning events. Her background includes housing finance, policy and development. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master in City and Regional Planning degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Carmen Romero is the Executive Vice President at APAH. She will become APAH’s President/CEO in July 2021. Ms. Romero joined APAH in 2011 and has spent the last decade overseeing the real estate team contributing to the creation or preservation of over 1,000 new affordable housing units in the DC region with additional developments underway today in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Montgomery counties.

As Managing Principal of Dantes Partners, Mr. Binitie directs the acquisition, development, management and financial activities of the firm. Mr. Binitie has an extensive tax credit financing experience (LIHTC, NMTC and HTC) and has closed on financing from nearly every public capital source available including HOME, HPTF, NSP, CDBG and NIF. Mr. Binitie maintains a narrow focus on creatively structuring deals that strive to address the needs of his clients, community stakeholders as well as various government agency partners. By narrowly focusing on efficiently financing community development transactions, Mr. Binitie has been successful in adding value beyond the numbers. Mr. Binitie’s career is underscored by a commitment to creating and preserving affordable and workforce housing. To this end, Since founding Dantes Partners, Mr. Binitie and his team have closed over $750 million of unconventional real estate transactions that utilize low-income tax credits, new market tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and a various other forms of alternative financing. These efforts have led to the creation of over 2100 units of workforce and affordable housing. Mr. Binitie speaks regularly at industry focused events. Recent engagements include sessions with The Minority Resource, African-American Real Estate Professionals, Bisnow, DC Building Industry Association, Georgetown University, University of Maryland – Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development and the Howard University Real Estate Club. Mr. Binitie is currently the Chair of the DC Housing Finance Agency and a Board Member for the DC Building Industry Association (DCBIA). His firm Dantes Partners, currently has $450M consisting of approximately 1300 units in the pipeline.

Ms. Horn is an architect with over three decades of experience. She collaborates with owners and developers throughout the entitlement and design process. Her portfolio includes institutional, urban infill, historic adaptive reuse, community-focused residential and hospitality projects. Notable and successful projects for major brands and independent hotels include some of the first multiple-brand hotels for Marriott and Hilton in the Mid-Atlantic region. Her broad regional experience is a strong foundation for the national expansion of KGD’s hospitality practice. As a Project Director in multiple practice areas, she is responsible for maintaining client relationships, sharing and preserving the institutional memory essential for exceptional customer service and high-quality, responsive design. Aileen orchestrates the delivery of complex projects across dedicated project teams. She is deeply committed to sustainable and resilient practices and has been working with industry tools for over ten years. New development done well invigorates existing communities, enriches the urban fabric and enhances the vitality of local culture. Community engagement is key. She leads charrettes, presents LEED and AIA Continuing Education and speaks at national conferences. She serves on advisory and planning committees for USGBC and the Urban Land Institute.