MYLOGO
SB: State Issues
State Issues and QAP Updates
Mark Shelburne
Senior Manager, Public Policy
Novogradac & Company LLP
Mark Shelburne is a senior manager of public policy for Novogradac & Company LLC who is based in Raleigh, N.C., but works nationally. Before joining Novogradac, Mr. Shelburne spent 13 years with the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, where he coordinated the qualified allocation plan (QAP), evaluated applications, provided legal advice and worked with other states. He has degrees in law and city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Daniel Delfino
Planning Section Manager
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC)
At Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), Daniel Delfino administers the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and manages the planning staff responsible for several rental development and supportive service programs throughout the state. Before joining AHFC in 2008, Mr. Delfino supervised a multisite Money-Out team for Fidelity Investments in Salt Lake City. Mr. Delfino received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Portland State University and holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of New Mexico.
Laurel Hart
Division Director, Housing Finance & Development
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Laurel L. Hart is director of the Housing Finance and Development Division at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). In this position, she manages several affordable housing programs for the financing and/or development of multifamily affordable housing, including Georgia federal and state housing tax credit programs and the DCA HOME multifamily program. Ms. Hart also oversees DCA’s community HOME investment program, which provides down payment assistance or homeowner rehabilitation funding to eligible low-income households. Ms. Hart joined DCA in 2001. Before becoming division director of Housing Finance and Development, she was legal affairs manager and office director of the Office of Affordable Housing. Before she started her tenure at DCA, she was a practicing attorney in Chicago for more than 20 years. As a partner in the real estate law firm of Bickley and Hart, Ms. Hart specialized in commercial real estate transactions and in the representation of condominium and homeowner associations. She also worked extensively in the area of insurance defense law. Ms. Hart has a juris doctor from Chicago Kent College of Law. She is also a graduate of the executive development program at the University of Notre Dame.
Toni Jackson
Partner
Jones Walker LLP
Toni Jackson has more than 20 years of real estate experience in both the private and public sector, focusing primarily in commercial transactions. She practices in the areas of commercial real estate development and affordable housing financing representing both for-profit and nonprofit developers and public housing agencies. Ms. Jackson has represented clients in the development of multifamily housing, mixed-use complexes, residential subdivisions and commercial office and retail. Ms. Jackson concentrates her practice in mixed-finance transactions which include tax credits, FHA financing and other public funding. Additionally, she serves as special and general counsel to a number of public housing authorities with a specific emphasis on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), public housing and development issues. Ms. Jackson has closed more than $500 million in tax credit and bond transactions, as well as assisted with the preparation of tax credit, HOPE VI and other public funding applications. She works with numerous housing authorities and has successfully served as the lead attorney for the redevelopment of public housing units through the preparation and implementation of HOPE VI transactions, demolition/disposition applications, redevelopment plans and capital funds financing. Ms. Jackson has also served as counsel for PHAs choice neighborhood grants and the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Ms. Jackson most recently worked with housing authorities and private developers as they redevelop housing in response to recent disasters. These transactions have included GO Zone tax credits, GO Zone bonds and CDBG-Disaster Recovery Funds. Ms. Jackson’s role included negotiating the subrecipient agreements with the administrating agency, identifying and addressing fair housing issues and navigating other community issues raised as a result obtaining disaster funds in addition to serving as closing counsel for the transactions. She has also authored a chapter in a recent book on disaster funding and served as a speaker on the topic of disaster funding and recovery. Ms. Jackson worked as attorney-advisor in the Houston area office of HUD. She also served in the office of General Counsel at Texas Southern University (TSU), where she assisted in the acquisition of property for TSU and the development of student apartments. Ms. Jackson has also been involved in the creation and representation of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZs) in the city of Houston. Ms. Jackson has worked extensively with the city of Houston, Housing Authority of the city of Texarkana, Texas, Galveston Housing Authority, Shreveport Housing Authority, city of Chicago, city of New Orleans and other governmental entities in an effort to increase home ownership and rental housing for low- to moderate-income families. Ms. Jackson currently serves as a lobbyist and governmental liaison on municipal, county and statewide matters particularly in the areas of affordable housing, construction, specialized financing tools and other real estate issues and concerns. She frequently serves as a speaker and guest lecturer in the area of affordable housing and community development and disaster funding and recovery.