Staff & Board
Matt Schwartz
President & CEO, San Francisco
Matt Schwartz has been with CHPC since 2002. As President Matt assists local government and nonprofit organizations with the preservation and creation of affordable housing through policy advocacy, technical assistance, training and financial consulting. Matt has worked in the development, planning and financing of affordable housing in both the private and public sectors and has extensive experience with most government funding programs as well as with syndicating Low Income Housing Tax Credits and issuing tax-exempt bonds. Matt also plays a leadership role in shaping California legislation and regulations to expand the resources available to preserve and create affordable housing in the state.
Prior to joining CHPC, Matt worked as a regional nonprofit developer in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he was responsible for the development and financing of 1,000 affordable apartments. As a redevelopment official in San Francisco, Matt worked closely with CHPC and its clients to preserve more than 1,000 apartments with project based Section 8 while also being responsible for planning and financing hundreds of new affordable apartments.
Matt is a member of the Board of Housing California, a member of the Board of Governors of the California Housing Consortium, a participant in the National Preservation Working Group and was recently appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom as a Commissioner for the San Francisco Housing Authority. He received a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.
Richard Mandel
Director of Financial Consulting, San Francisco
Richard Mandel has been with CHPC since 1990. As Director of Financial Consulting he provides technical assistance and training to nonprofit and local governmental entities in affordable housing finance. Richard has particular expertise in structuring financing packages for projects utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, Multifamily Housing Program (MHP), HUD/FHA, CalHFA, Section 8 project-based assistance, Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program (AHP), and other state and local housing programs. He has assisted nonprofits in the financing of thousands of apartments, including new construction and acquisition/rehabilitation projects serving families, seniors, special needs and other populations.
Prior to joining CHPC, Richard was a Project Manager with the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition, a major nonprofit development corporation serving San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. For many years, Richard has been very active in the area of preservation of federally assisted housing. He has spoken at numerous conferences, workshops and legislative hearings on this issue and has written several articles and studies. He served as Chair of the Preservation Working Group of the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California.
Richard received a Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.
Paul Beesemyer
Southern California Program Director, Los Angeles
Paul Beesemyer joined CHPC in 2000. As the Southern California Program Director he assists Southern California’s nonprofit housing community and public agencies in the areas of affordable housing finance, real estate development, preservation of at-risk housing, and general housing policy. He has conducted numerous seminars and trainings and authored several publications, including The Tax Credit Turns Fifteen, a risk analysis of California’s early tax credit portfolio. In addition, Paul has worked with the City of Los Angeles Housing Department to develop a comprehensive policy for the preservation of at-risk housing and has advised the City on the creation and implementation of a new preservation ordinance.
Prior to joining CHPC, Paul developed affordable housing as senior project manager for the Los Angeles Community Design Center, where he managed affordable housing and community development projects serving families, seniors, and various special-needs populations. He is knowledgeable in the use of a wide range of community development financing tools, including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bond financing, and a variety of public funding programs administered at the local, state, and Federal levels.
Paul received a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.
Laura Kobler
Director of Training & Senior Program Manager, Sacramento
Laura Kobler joined CHPC in 2003. As Director of Training/Senior Program Manager she provides development and financial technical assistance and training opportunities to nonprofit corporations and public agencies throughout Northern California. Previously, Laura served as the Director of Housing Development for Sacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA) where she oversaw the organization’s development of new rental housing and acquisition and rehabilitation of existing properties. Prior to joining SMHA, Laura was Housing Program Manager and Project Manager at Rural California Housing Corporation (now part of Mercy Housing California), where she was responsible for the development of 27 multi- and single-family affordable housing developments.
Laura brings particular expertise in the development of mutual and rental housing and the regulations governing the competition for Low Income Housing Tax Credits. She is also the past chair of the Sacramento Reinvestment Committee.
Laura received a Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Sacramento, and is a graduate of the LISC Housing Development Training Program.
Meg McGraw-Scherer
Senior Program Manager, San Francisco
Meg McGraw-Scherer joined CHPC in 2000. As Senior Program Manager she provides development and financial technical assistance to nonprofit corporations and public agencies in Northern California. Meg’s experience includes structuring financial packages using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, and numerous other federal, state, and local financing sources to produce new construction and acquisition/rehabilitation projects serving families, seniors, and special needs populations.
Prior to joining CHPC, she worked for two years at the National Equity Fund, a nonprofit tax-credit syndication organization that provides millions of dollars in tax-credit equity to California projects. There she worked as an underwriter on numerous Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects sited in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area. Previously, she spent over three years at the King County Housing Authority in Seattle, Washington, as an intern, Housing Programs Coordinator, and Housing Developer in the Housing Authority’s Planning and Development Department. She worked on the development of projects using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, and various federal and local financing programs. Currently, Meg is a member of the Board of the California Reinvestment Coalition.
Meg received a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College.
Jahi Akobundu
Senior Program Manager, Southern California
Jahi Akobundu joined CHPC in 2003. As Senior Program Manager he provides financial consulting assistance and training opportunities to CHPC’s nonprofit and government clients in Southern California. He has worked in the field of community development since 1986 and came to CHPC from the San Diego Housing Commission where he managed the Commission’s Multifamily Mortgage Revenue Bond Program. He began his professional career as a Mortgage Officer with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development underwriting multifamily loans. He then went to work for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation first as a program officer in New York City and then as a Program Director for the Newark Office working with nascent nonprofit housing providers. Jahi also spent several years with New York City’s Primary Care Development Corporation assisting nonprofit hospitals and community-based health service providers to develop primary care facilities in under-served communities.
Jahi received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University.
Elyse Perry
Preservation Program Manager, San Francisco
Elyse Perry joined CHPC in 2005. As Preservation Program Manager she oversees CHPC’s Preservation Clearinghouse, manages CHPC’s database of subsidized housing, provides technical assistance to local government agencies on developing preservation strategies, conducts preservation workshops and training sessions, and helps to match owners of at-risk properties who wish to sell with potential buyers.
Prior to joining CHPC, Elyse worked for seven years for the city of San Jose in the City Attorney’s Office and at the San Jose Redevelopment Agency. As a Neighborhood Team Manager at the Redevelopment Agency, she worked with property owners and other stakeholders on the implementation of a neighborhood revitalization program, which included housing related programs. Elyse also worked for three years as a paralegal for a San Francisco law firm where she was active in the firm’s pro bono practice that included cases related to housing and the homeless.
Elyse received a Master of Public Administration from San Jose State University and a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University.
Kate Hartley
Senior Program Manager, San Francisco
Kate Hartley joined CHPC in 2006. As Senior Program Manager, Kate provides financial technical assistance to CHPC’s nonprofit developer and government clients.
Kate has worked in the housing field since 1990. Her experience includes 10 years of project management for both for-profit and nonprofit developers, where she was responsible for the growth of family rental developments, first-time homebuyer units, special needs housing and senior housing. Prior to joining CHPC, Kate spent five years as a housing development specialist for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, where she oversaw the development and financing of both affordable rental and ownership housing using a wide variety of financing mechanisms including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, Section 8 assistance, MHP financing, and HUD Section 811 funding. Kate has particular expertise in assisting government agencies planning and financing the development of affordable housing.
Kate received a Master of Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Amy Anderson
Senior Program Manager, Los Angeles
Amy joined CHPC in 2008. As Senior Program Manager she provides financial consulting and technical assistance and training to our nonprofit and government clients throughout Southern California.
Amy joined CHPC with more than 17 years of experience planning, developing and financing affordable housing in Los Angeles. Most recently, Amy served as the Housing Director for the Los Angeles Community Design Center (LACDC) where she oversaw the organization’s development of new rental housing and acquisition and rehabilitation of existing properties. In nine years working at LACDC, Amy had lead responsibility for the development and financing of more than 1,000 apartments affordable to lower income households.
Amy comes to CHPC with extensive experience in using Low Income Housing Tax Credits as well as a wide array of state, local and federal financing sources including the Multifamily Housing Program (MHP), LA County City of Industry, AHP, LA County HOME, CRA/LA and other local redevelopment, Los Angeles Housing Department Affordable Housing Trust Fund, other State HCD programs, and underwriting project based Section 8. As the Housing Director overseeing the multi-phased New Dana Strand public housing revitalization development in Los Angeles, Amy also has experience with structuring mixed finance public housing redevelopment.
Amy received a Master of Urban Planning from UCLA and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.
Dorothy Anderson
Accounts Manager, San Francisco
Dorothy Anderson joined CHPC in 1992. She performs all accounting functions, oversees audits and maintains personnel, insurance, administrative and client files.
Board Members
Geoff Brown, Chair
President, USA Properties Fund
Appointed by Governor
Maria Cabildo
President, East Los Angeles Community Corporation
Appointed by Assembly Speaker
Jonathan Emami
Vice President, ROEM Development Corp.
Appointed by Governor
Ronald Garcia
City Councilmember, Brea, California
Appointed by Governor
Gregory Garrett, Secretary
Vice President Development, Davis Properties Co., LLC
Appointed by Senate President ProTem
Lynn Jacobs, Vice Chair
Director, Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
Appointed by Governor
Eric Kawamura, Treasurer
General Counsel, Citibank West
Appointed by Governor
Our History
Since its incorporation in 1988, CHPC has helped its partners to create and preserve more than 12,000 affordable homes in California and provided training and technical assistance to more than 5,000 individuals.