Board of Directors

Sheryl Palmer

Sheryl Palmer is Chairman and CEO of Taylor Morrison, a leading national homebuilder and developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona since 2007. With more than 25 years of hands-on building experience, including leadership in land acquisition, sales and marketing, development and operations management, Ms. Palmer has led Taylor Morrison into the top ranks of America’s largest public homebuilders, following the company’s IPO in 2013.  In recent years, Ms. Palmer successfully oversaw the company’s entrance into several new major metropolitan markets.  Ms. Palmer has spent most of her career in the Arizona, California and Nevada real estate markets. Prior to Taylor Morrison, Ms. Palmer was a division president at Blackhawk Corporation, a builder of active adult communities based in northern California. In addition, she served with Pulte Homes for more than five years, beginning in the Phoenix market and ultimately serving as Nevada area president, supervising all aspects of operations for its Del Webb and Pulte communities.

Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs

Executive Senior Principal, President and CFO of Lifescapes International, Inc., Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs has been active in the construction industry since 1975. Her 40 years’ experience is focused on guiding, managing and seeing the growth of the results-oriented landscape architectural firm. She is a frequent guest speaker, lecturer and author on design and marketing-related issues for the industry. A graduate of Cal State University, Sonoma, Julie is actively involved in organizations such as Urban Land Institute, International Council of Shopping Centers and is cofounder of HomeAid Orange County and HomeAid America (the national board) and is active on the Executive Committee. She is also a board member of the Southern Nevada HomeAid chapter.

Tom Farrell

Tom Farrell is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of real estate finance experience across most geographies and layers of the capital stack. His current position is SVP/Division Manager of Umpqua Bank’s Homebuilder Finance Division. Umpqua Bank is a $26B commercial bank headquartered in Portland, OR. Prior to Umpqua Bank, Tom was Director of Business Development for Landmark Capital Advisors. Landmark sources debt and equity for commercial and residential real estate developers throughout the U.S. Before Landmark, Tom was with Sabal Financial Group as the Director of Home Builder Finance, where he formed a start-up homebuilder finance group providing non-recourse A&D and construction loans to homebuilders nationally. He was able to successfully take advantage of the gap created when commercial banks largely deserted the space during the housing downturn. Prior to Sabal, Tom was at Bank of America for 25 years in a number of positions of increasing responsibility in the Commercial Real Estate Bank. His last position at Bank of America was Division Executive in charge of the Homebuilder Division, which was the largest provider of financing to homebuilders nationally with over $13 billion in commitments. Tom earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his MBA from Pepperdine University. He is a member of ULI, NAHB, CBIA, HomeAid America (Treasurer), and the Cornell University Real Estate Council.

Cheryl O'Connor

After serving on the Board of Directors of HomeAid Northern California for over 4 years, Cheryl stepped into the leadership role as Executive Director of HomeAid Northern California in 2011. Most recently, O’Connor served as Chief Executive Officer of the Building Industry Association (BIA) of the Bay Area and Regional Chairman of the BIA in 2008. Cheryl has thirty-five years of experience in marketing and selling new home communities in Northern California. In her career, she has held senior level management positions with Summerhill Homes, Warmington Homes, Taylor Woodrow, Ponderosa Homes and The O’Brien Group. Cheryl is a green building and affordable housing advocate and is a LEED Accredited Professional and holds a California Real Estate Broker’s license. Cheryl was inducted into the California Homebuilding Foundation Hall of Fame in 2016.  She also serves on several Boards including Eden Housing and BIA Bay Area. 

Karen Robertson

Bert Selva

Bert Selva is president and CEO of Shea Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in America operating in nine states. Shea Homes was awarded Builder of the Year Award by Professional Builder Magazine and named one of America’s Best Builders by Builder Magazine.

Bert holds a Business degree from the University of Southern California and an MBA from UCLA.  He is also fluent in Spanish.

Bert was inducted into the California Homebuilding Foundation Hall of Fame in 2010 and received CEO of the Year by Builder and Big Builder magazines.  Bert also received the Hearthstone Humanitarian Lifetime Achievement Award, which included a $100,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

Bert is currently an Executive Committee member of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. He previously served as a member of St. Ignatius College Prep Board of Regents in San Francisco, National Vice President, MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association)/Augie’s Quest and Chairman of the Board for HomeAid America.

Chuck Stein

Chuck Stein has been the President and CEO of Environmental Stoneworks since 2009. Prior to that, he worked for Owens Corning for 12 years where he held several senior management roles including: VP Marketing, Building Materials; President, Cultured Stone; and President, Services and Solutions. He has over 20 years’ experience in the building materials industry. Stein earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

Scott D. Stowell

Ken Balogh

Ken joined Ashton Woods in 2009 as Executive Vice President - Operations for Dallas, Houston and Phoenix, and was soon promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer for the entire company. Prior to Ashton Woods, Ken worked for 16 years with Centex Homes, serving in every financial position up to Vice President of Finance, along with other senior executive roles in Land Acquisitions, Entitlement and Development, Division President and Regional Executive Vice President. Ken graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BS in Finance

Elena Bennett

Ms. Bennett manages Wells Fargo’s institutional homebuilding group that delivers banking services to both publicly traded residential homebuilders and a select group of larger, regionally focused private homebuilders headquartered across North America. Ms. Bennett’s career has spanned over 25 years in the financial services industry with the majority of her time spent in real estate. Prior to joining Wells Fargo she held a variety of banking and investment banking roles with national and money center banks focused on real estate lending and capital raising in the Western U.S. including Bank of America and Bank One. Ms. Bennett has a BA in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles. Her professional and personal affiliations include HomeAid America, the Building Industry Association, Women’s Housing Leadership Group, Boy Scouts of America and the Presbyterian Church, USA.

Tracy Berger

Tracy Berger has been part of the real estate industry for over 30 years and is a 13 year veteran in the home warranty space. She joined First American Home Warranty in 2013, as the Senior Vice President of Real Estate Sales. In 2017, she was given additional responsibility to streamline the Training and Quality Assurance Depts. for continuous improvement and change management initiatives.Prior to joining FAHW, she was the VP of Sales and Marketing for Long & Foster Settlement Services. The largest privately owned residential Real Estate company in the country.

She has a Masters in Communication from Northwestern University and is a Certified Executive Leadership coach from IPEC. She and her husband reside in Sonoma, California on a small working vineyard. They have two sons, and are blessed with three grandchildren ages 7, 5, and 3 months.

Brad Blank

Brad Blank is the President of Winchester Homes, a member of the TRI Pointe Group. Brad joined TRI Pointe Group in 2014 as the Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary during which time he provided guidance to the company’s Board of Directors and Senior Management Team, and played a critical role in the company’s strategic growth following the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company (WRECO) merger. Prior to joining TRI Pointe Group, Brad served as Corporate Counsel for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, working with a variety of public and private companies focusing on mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, securities offerings and general corporate advice.

Brad received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pepperdine University and earned his law degree from the University of San Diego.

Kristyn Burr

Kristyn Burr is the Executive Director & CEO of our Northern Virginia Chapter. She has served in this capacity for the last two years and prior to that was the Chapter’s Program Manager for two years. HomeAid Northern Virginia was founded in 2001 and in its 18 year history has completed 132 construction projects totaling an investment of $16.2 million into the Greater DC area and even more importantly saving local nonprofit organizations over $9.8 million in labor, time, materials and expertise through generous in kind donations and filling financial gaps.

Kristyn holds a Business degree from the University of Nebraska, an MBA from Bellevue University and a Nonprofit Management Certification from the University of Delaware. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher and specializes in Trauma Sensitive Yoga.

Mandy Crater

Mandy Crater joined HomeAid Atlanta as executive director in 2015.? She is an Atlanta native and has spent her entire career in the construction industry beginning at the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association from 2001-2008.? Crater moved on from there to a couple of public relations and marketing positions within residential construction.? She then spent four years at Goodwill of North Georgia as Regional Program Manager for Workforce Development managing construction, apartment maintenance and forklift training.? In 2014, she worked as Membership and Programs Director at the Council for Quality Growth.? She has a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from UGA and a Masters in Construction Management from GA Tech.? She resides on the west side of Atlanta with her husband and two children.

Chad Crow

Mr. Crow joined the Company in September 1999, and has held several roles with increasing responsibility, including his current role as President and Chief Executive Officer.  In 2009, Chad Crow was named as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Crow joined the Company as Assistant Controller and was promoted to Vice President – Controller of the Company in May 2000. Prior to joining Builders First Source, he served in a variety of positions at Pier One Imports, most recently as Director of Accounting. Prior to Pier One, Mr. Crow spent five years at Price Waterhouse. Mr. Crow received his B.B.A. degree from Texas Tech University.

Jon Dartt

With more than 30 years of experience in the kitchen and bath industry, including 25 years at Delta Faucet Company, Jon brings extensive knowledge to his role as vice president of sales. Previously held positions within Delta include, vice president of trade sales, vice president of sales strategy as well as sales manager. Jon has served on The HomeAid Board of Directors for 4 years and also served on several industry advisory committees to assist wholesalers, builders and K&B dealers drive their strategies forward. Jon is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and currently lives in Indianapolis, IN.  He enjoys golfing, bicycling and spending time with his wife and three sons.

David Ellis

David Ellis, CAE, has served as Executive Director for a number of successful Home Builders Associations over the years.  Most recently, he is the Florida Director of Business Development for CORE Construction.  He previously served as the Executive Vice President of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and has served over 25 years as an executive with other local building industry organizations. David has been recognized by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) as the best new Executive Officer in the nation and was honored in 2003 as NAHB’s Executive Officer of the Year. He is a past President of the Home Builders Association of Georgia Executive Officers Council and the NAHB Executive Officers Council. In 2014, he was recognized by the NAHB Professional Women in Building as the Executive Officer of the Year. David graduated cum laude from Furman University with a B.A. degree in History.  

Randy Florence

Adrian Foley

Mike Forsum

Mike, as Chief Operating Officer for Landsea Holdings Corporation, is responsible for overseeing the company’s US homebuilding operations. He also assists in the development of the company’s overall strategic initiatives, including market expansions and company acquisitions, while providing guidance and support on the integration of the company’s domestic and international business. Prior to joining Landsea, Mike spent over 30 years in the homebuilding industry as a senior level executive at national homebuilders KB Home, CalAtlantic (Ryland Homes) and Taylor Morrison.

In addition, Mike, as a founding partner, worked with two of the US most notable Blue-Chip private equity firms, Starwood Capital Group and Colony Capital, in creating two of the nation’s largest specialized residential land platforms. Mike received his BS from Arizona State University. He currently resides in Laguna Beach, CA, with his wife Sheila. They have 3 grown children.

Katherine (Katy) Gnapp

Mitchell Goodman

Mitchell Goodman is SVP, Finance, and Treasurer for The Resmark Companies. He joined Resmark in 2003, and oversees all cash management aspects of Resmark’s businesses. In addition, he manages Resmark’s banking relationships, loan originations, lines of credit, business development, and strategic planning initiatives and execution, and is also a member of Resmark’s Investment Committee. Previously, Mr. Goodman was an Asset Manager for several years in Resmark’s Land and Housing division where he managed a 3,000-unit portfolio of geographically and product diversified assets located in California, Arizona and Florida. Mr. Goodman is on the Executive Committee of the Board of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, and a member of the Board of the Anti-Defamation League’s Pacific Southwest Region. He attended the University of Southern California where he majored in Business Administration.

Dan Hanson

Dan Hanson is widely recognized in the mortgage industry and represents the industry at numerous public speaking events such as Mastermind, PCBC and NAR.  Currently, Dan is the CPO for loanDepot, the fifth largest mortgage provider in America.  In addition to Dan’s professional resume, he is an active member of several boards: University of Redlands, HomeAid America, Free Wheelchair Mission and Hope International.

Jon Jaffe

Brenda Ketah

Brenda is originally from Alaska, and has lived in the Portland area for over twenty years. She attended Boise State University and Portland State University and in 2016 completed the PSU Project Management Certificate Program.

Brenda is the Executive Director of Home Builders Foundation-HomeAid Portland where she started in 2011. During her time with HBF, we have increased the number and size of our shelter development projects, improved our overall in-kind donations as well as dramatically increased our cash grants to our shelter projects. In addition, we have excelled at building relationships between the service provider community, the building industry and local jurisdictions.

Brenda’s community involvement outside of work has focused on work in her local neighborhood and local schools, serving as a Vice President on the Portland Council PTA Board of Directors, and starting, implementing and maintaining a food backpack program for students facing food insecurity at two low income schools.  Brenda was honored for her work and dedication to families and students with the prestigious Oregon PTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

Brenda and her husband Dave have been married for 27 years, and have two kids, Andrew and Abigail, a foster daughter, and enjoy cycling, skiing, hiking, camping and backpacking, traveling and spending time with their neighbors.

Dave Kosco

As Director of Design, Dave leads the firm’s architectural efforts. With more than 30 years of experience in the residential arena, Dave combines a wealth of knowledge with excitement and energy and serves as relationship manager with a number of our builder-developer clients. In addition, Dave leads the practice’s charrette process – a week-long design session that provides clients with creative input and expedited completion of new plans and elevations. As Senior Principal, Dave helps develop talent in the design department. His expertise extends to the industry as a whole as well; Dave is an active member of the American Institute of Architects. He has devoted his time and talent to charitable efforts as well, leading the design on numerous HomeAid Project Playhouse submissions. A licensed architect, Dave has been with Bassenian Lagoni since 1986. He received his degree in architecture from Kent State University. He is licensed in California, Arizona, Nevada and Massachusetts.

David Mariner

David joined Boral in 2010 and was appointed President and CEO of Boral Industries Inc. in July 2016. Prior to that David was Executive General Manager of Boral Building Products for Boral Limited in Sydney, Australia. He was previously Chief Operating Officer for the Cladding division at Boral Industries Inc. Through his career, David has performed a variety of management roles at Boral and Holcim as well as outside the building products industry with Daimler Chrysler and Detroit Diesel. David holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a Masters in Business Administration from Clemson University.

Karen Mendelsohn

Since 2016, Karen Mendelsohn serves as SVP of Marketing at Mohawk Industries. In this position, Mendelsohn is responsible for the overall creation and implementation of marketing strategies to drive dynamic new growth across Mohawk’s North America Flooring businesses. A 30-year veteran of the building products industry, Mendelsohn earned an MBA from Columbia University and spent more than 15 years in strategic sales and marketing leadership at Masco, a supplier of brand-name building products and services. Before that, she was vice president of marketing for 12 years at Delta Faucet Company. Mendelsohn is the 2014 City of Hope Spirit of Life Honoree, the hardware/homebuilding industry’s highest honor. She serves on the executive council of City of Hope and is a founding board member of the Homebuilding Community Foundation.

Jeff Meyers

Mr. Meyers has been an industry leader in market research for 30 years. With the recent merger of Meyers Research and Hanley Wood/Metrostudy, he now oversees the dominant research, media, and consulting company in the industry.

Jeff specializes in on-going advisory services and manages all consulting assignments for several top ten public home builders through his direct involvement with land acquisition strategies, product development, segmentation, and positioning. Highly regarded as an industry expert for real estate trends and issues, Mr. Meyers is quoted frequently in several national publications including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. His recent speaking engagements include the National Association of Home Builders Council, the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, the Southern California Building Industry Association, and the Urban Land Institute. Mr. Meyers is highly accomplished and regarded as the leading expert on residential trends in the real estate market.

John Monacci

Jay Moss

Jay Moss is the Chief Marketing Officer for Woodside Homes. Jay joined the team in 2010 where he was responsible for re-branding Woodside Homes under new management. Jay is responsible for sales management, new products, merchandising and market positioning. In addition, Jay sits on the Land Committee making collaborative decisions with regards to land acquisitions and new market strategies. As an integral part of the Woodside executive team, Jay was deeply involved in the acquisition by Sekisui House, Ltd. of Woodside Homes in 2017. Sekisui House is Japan’s largest homebuilder with operations worldwide including Australia, Singapore, China and the United States. 

Jay Moss is a thirty-five year veteran of the homebuilding industry. Prior to joining Woodside Homes, Jay held multiple senior leadership roles at KB Home. Jay and his wife, Diana, are longtime supporters of many local and national charitable organizations. Jay has previously taught Real Estate Economics at University of California, San Diego, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University.

Mike Robidoux

Michael leads Sherwin-Williams' National Accounts organization, which is a dedicated, nationwide team offering innovative solutions for strategic clients in the residential, multi-family, commeercial, hospitality, healthcare and government market segments.  His team works to align the significant resources at Sherwin-Williams with key client stakeholders, often through exclusive partnerships with many of the country's leading companies.  Mike's 30-year career includes the last 22 with Sherwin-Williams, joining the organization as part of the Duron Paint acquisition in 2004.  Mike is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Mike is a proud Eagle Scout and supporter of scouting. 

Jeff Roos

Aiko Tan

Aiko Tan, MBA brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the helm of HomeAid Los Angeles. As a Founding Director and Board Officer of Illumination Foundation, Aiko helped lead the non-profit from its inception to a $9 million organization serving hundreds of homeless individuals per year in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. As Director of Recuperative Care, Executive Director of Healthcare Services, and finally Director of Special Projects, her leadership was essential to building recuperative care into an anchor program in the homeless healthcare safety net in 3 counties. Under her leadership, the Foundation treated more than 2,500 clients in dire need of health services, and the organization continually expanded to serve greater numbers of Southern California’s most vulnerable.

In addition to her decade of experience in the non-profit sector, Aiko also worked as a Senior Research Associate at UCLA for 15 years, developing and implementing new neurobiological research methods that have since become cornerstone techniques. Focusing on subjects such as Virology, Micro-surgery, and Molecular Biology, her work has been published in more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles. Following her work in the lab, she then earned her MBA at UC Irvine.

Joe Tavarez