Masouda Omar joined the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority in February 2020 as the Managing Director of the Multifamily Department, overseeing CHFA’s affordable rental housing development and asset management operations. During her more than 20 years at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, Ms. Omar worked in economic development, multifamily lending, asset management and program compliance. Ms. Omar completed the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) executive leadership program at the University of Notre Dame in 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Jason’s practice areas include real estate and community development, nonprofit formation and governance and real estate and project finance. He also provides legal expertise for the Joint Ownership Entity (JOE NYC), a “first-of-its-kind” nonprofit collaboration of New York City affordable housing community development corporations for which Jason and the Goldstein Hall team were awarded the prestigious NYU Grunin Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship. Jason also co-authored an article on JOE NYC, which was published in The Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. Recently, Jason closed on JOE NYC’s multi-building solar project, which is expected to create approximately 700,000 kW/h of clean energy per year and lower operating costs. Jason has been integral in developing the Firm’s Faith-Based Practice Group, which works with faith-based organizations to protect assets, evaluate options, and maximize real property. He is a frequent panelist and guest speaker on faith-based and nonprofit issues, presenting at, among other venues, the Manhattan Borough President’s Religious Facilities Task Force and leading the Firm’s collaboration with the New York State Council of Churches’ (NYSCC) Who is My Neighbor seminars. Jason was also one of three recipients of this year’s NYSCC’s Community Development Award and serves as co-chair of Bricks and Mortals, an association, and soon to be incorporated nonprofit, that fosters education and collaboration among faith-based organizations, community stakeholders and real property experts. He led the Firm’s participation in the LISC NYLOP predevelopment grant program for Mission Driven Organizations and is working with the Interfaith Affordable Housing Collaborative to help establish its structure and predevelopment grant process and resources. Jason oversees the New Rochelle office and led the Firm’s partnership with the Pace Land Use Law Center in offering the Hudson Valley Affordable Housing Summit, which has run since 2016. Jason has established relationships with new clients in the Hudson Valley and helped existing clients expand their work into Westchester County. Prior to becoming an attorney, Jason spent 10 years serving nonprofits and public agencies in a non-legal capacity. He was a New York City Urban Fellow from 2004-05. He has a bachelor’s degree with honors in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, a Master of Public Administration from NYU’s Wagner School, and was a Sparer Public Interest Fellow at Brooklyn Law School, where he graduated cum laude. As a partner, Jason will focus on the Firm’s nonprofit and faith-based matters, including the JOE NYC and the Faith-Based Practice Group. He will also lead the Firm’s real estate and project financing work. Jason will also continue to expand Goldstein Hall’s work throughout the Hudson Valley.

Caroline Vary joined Jonathan Rose Companies in 2007 and has over 25 years of experience in the construction and real estate industries. She is a Partner and the Managing Director of Asset Management for Jonathan Rose Companies and is responsible for 4.5 million sf. of commercial and residential properties, including new construction and green retrofits. Ms. Vary has overseen the decade long development of Metro Green adjacent to the Stamford Transportation Center. Under the direction of Ms. Vary, Jonathan Rose Companies received the E.P.A’s Environmental Merit Award for Outstanding Achievements in Preserving New England’s environment. Ms. Vary holds a BARCH in Architecture and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. She holds Broker’s Licenses in NY and CT, and is a founding member of the Stamford2030 District and a member of the Regional Plan Association Connecticut Committee.

Drew Foster is the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, responsible for managing Alliant’s investor relationships and assisting in the development of equity placement strategies. Drew has nearly two decades of experience in real estate investing, he has participated in the acquisition, capital raise and syndication of more than $1 billion in tax credit investments nationwide. Prior to joining Alliant, he was Director of Acquisitions at Red Stone Equity Partners; responsible for managing developer and investor relationships throughout the Northeast, Gulf Region and lower Midwest. During his nine years at Red Stone, he played an integral role in the company’s regional growth and worked closely with the underwriting, asset management and investor relations teams. Prior to his time at Red Stone, Drew held positions at Raymond James Tax Credit Funds, Telesis Corporation, a Washington D.C. based affordable housing developer, and Centerline Capital Group.

Ayanna Wayner recently joined New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), Office of Finance and Development to serve as the Downstate Development Director working with developers, non-profits and local and regional officials in Rockland, Westchester, New York City and Long Island to finance a wide variety of affordable housing that meets the goals of the agency. She is an attorney with several years of experience in real estate, affordable housing, planning and economic development. As the former Deputy Commissioner of Economic Development for the City of New Rochelle and Executive Director of the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and Corporation for Local Development (CLD), Ayanna worked to usher-in a massive $6 billion downtown revitalization and redevelopment project, which is on its way to produce 12 million s/f of new development, over 6,000 new housing units and hundreds of new jobs. Ayanna previously served at HCR as the Assistant Counsel for the Mortgage Insurance Fund, advancing affordable housing development across New York State. She began her career in the public sector at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), leading innovative initiatives that significantly improved the living conditions and neighborhoods of thousands of residents of affordable housing throughout the city. Her experience in the private sector includes as Assistant Counsel at Urban American, LLC where, among other things, she focused on growing the company’s workforce housing and fair market assets through acquisitions, fund management and commercial portfolio management. While at the law firms Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP and Goldstein Hall, PLLC, Ayanna practiced in banking, real estate transactions, affordable housing law and corporate formation and governance. Ayanna earned a BA from Barnard College and a JD from Columbia Law School.

Joanna joined NHPF in 2020. As a member of the acquisition/development and group, she is primarily responsible for the management of financing, development and preservation of multifamily housing. Joanna has been working in the field of affordable housing since 2000, with a deep commitment to improving diverse communities. Prior to joining NHPF, Joanna worked at Conifer Realty where she completed a variety of mixed-income, mixed-use projects located in the Long Island and Westchester region. At Jonathan Rose Companies, she proudly raised over $100 million in capital funding for projects located in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia, as well as provided consulting services to public housing authorities. Joanna began her career in Los Angeles, where she worked in non-profit, mission-based development organizations, and participated in various industry related trainings hosted by the LISC California Statewide Affordable Housing Training Institute and the NeighborWorks Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute. At Skid Row Housing Trust, she raised capital funds and managed the construction process for the rehabilitation of SRO hotels into permanent housing. She subsequently spent two years at East LA Community Corporation, where she managed new-construction, affordable family projects using 4% tax credits and tax-exempt bond financing. Joanna has extensive experience in the development of green buildings and interiors using Enterprise Green Communities, LEED, NJ Green Future, NYSERDA, and Energy Star rating programs. She has been a speaker at the USGBC Greenbuild Conference (2010 & 2013) and has had a LEED ND and Homes Platinum project awarded USGBC Project-of-the-Year. Joanna earned a B.A. in Sociology from Pitzer College and a Master’s in Architecture from the Pratt Institute. She is a LEED Green Associate and has her OSHA 10 certificate. She is an active member of the Urban Land Institute WLI Westchester/Fairfield.