Our Team

is the President of NCCLF. Mary joined NCCLF in October 1998 with extensive management experience in a variety of governmental and nonprofit settings. As a senior manager at the Low Income Housing Fund, a national community development financial institution, she directed financial and administrative operations, and also developed and implemented marketing strategies to expand lending, research and technical assistance activities to foundations and public sector clients. Prior to her position at LIHF, Mary served as Director of Housing Development for the Massachusetts State Department of Mental Retardation from 1991 through 1994, where she developed and managed an innovative program that created community-based homes for people with severe physical and mental disabilities. She also has previous experience in nonprofit development, small business, and financial and policy analysis at the state and local government levels.

Mary holds a BA from Brown University and a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Currently, she serves as Treasurer for the Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra. Previously, Mary served on the Board of Directors of Hearth Homes, a nonprofit affordable housing policy and development organization, and as a member of the Loan Committee of Women's Initiative for Self-Employment, a micro-enterprise lender and training organization serving low-income women entrepreneurs.


is the IT Systems Administrator for NCCLF. Before joining NCCLF, he spent three years as an IT management consultant in the healthcare industry with CSC Global Health Services. He has experience in enterprise system implementations, business process redesign, and project management. As a volunteer, he has served organizations in low-income communities around the country.

Gregory holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in Computer Science Engineering.


is an NCCLF Senior Loan Officer. Ross comes to NCCLF following nine years with Moody’s Investors Service in New York City, where he served as Analyst with the International Subsovereign Group and as an Assistant Vice President with the International Department. While at Moody’s, Ross performed credit analysis of subsovereign entities throughout Latin America, Canada, and Australia. He also formulated business strategy and established the firm’s Sao Paulo and Mexico City offices. He was previously a Research Associate at Zemi Investments, a venture capital firm, and Assistant to the Vice President at the Americas Society.

Ross holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in International Economic Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). While at SIPA, Ross completed a State Department internship at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil.


is NCCLF's Training Manager. She has a long history in affordable housing and community development, working in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. Before joining NCCLF, she was a senior associate with ICF Consulting, where she wrote and delivered trainings on HUD programs. For the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, Kayne was a policy analyst and loan officer. As a project manager for Eden Housing in Hayward, California, she developed affordable rental and ownership housing for a variety of populations.

Kayne holds a master’s degree in urban planning from UCLA and a bachelor of fine arts degree from California College of Arts and Crafts.


is the Loan Associate. Before joining NCCLF in March 2007, Felena served as Program Assistant/Loan Administrator at Impact Capital, a Washington State subsidiary of Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), where she assisted lending staff in closing, monitoring and servicing of the loan portfolio. Prior to this, Felena worked as a Legal Assistant at Levin, Ford & Paulekas, LLP in Connecticut, where her many duties included the preparation and organization of residential closings. She has received honors from the State of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees and General Assembly as a Legislative Intern, as well as from Educational Main Street where she volunteered as a tutor for an inner-city elementary school.

Felena holds a BS in Politics and Government from the University of Hartford in Connecticut.


is Senior Vice President and Director of Lending. Dutch joined NCCLF in June of 2001 as a Loan Officer after a ten-year career as a commercial banker. In January 2003 he was promoted to Director of Lending. He has worked in a business development and commercial lending capacity for Security Pacific National Bank, Bank of America and Fremont Bank.

Dutch holds a BS in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco. He currently serves on the Emergency Loan Fund Committee of the Northern California Grantmakers.


is Senior Loan Officer / Special Projects. She worked as a Loan Associate upon joining NCCLF in 1998, and was the Program Manager of the Nonprofit Space Capital Fund during the program’s inception and first year of operation. Prior to joining NCCLF, Catherine completed a two-year housing development internship at the Community and Economic Development Agency of the City of Oakland. Catherine also held a staff position at the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing Development in Washington, D.C.

Catherine holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition, Ms. Howard has a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland Honors Program at College Park where she graduated magna cum laude.


is Accountant/Bookkeeper for NCCLF, where he is responsible for providing all accounting support to the office. Before joining NCCLF in March 2007, Grayton was Accountant for nearly three years at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a Bay Area consulting, research and training organization. Grayton also worked as Bookkeeper at Daniels Display Co., Inc. and during his college years, was Accounting Clerk at Lin’s Lace in San Francisco.

Grayton holds a BS in Accounting from San Francisco State University and an AS in Fire Technology from City College of San Francisco.


is a Development Associate. Before joining NCCLF, Issac worked for Network for Good and volunteered with a variety of nonprofits, such as Freedom from Hunger and the Institute for Inquiry. Issac holds a J.D. from the University of Georgia, where he focused on public interest law. He interned at a national disability-rights organization in Washington, D.C., and provided legal assistance to victims of domestic abuse. Issac also studied International Human Rights law in Geneva, Switzerland and in Strasbourg, France.

Issac holds a B.A. from Georgia Southern University, and a J.D. from the University of Georgia.


is Executive Assistant. Cristian joined NCCLF in September of 2006 after four years at Ecology Action in Santa Cruz, where he served as Executive Assistant, Office Manager, and Program Manager. In addition to his nonprofit experience, Cristian has also worked in customer service for EarlyChildhood.com and Avis.

Cristian holds a BS in Environmental Science—Ethics Option, with a minor in Spanish from Humbolt State University. He is bilingual and bicultural, with extensive knowledge of Spanish dialects.


is NCCLF’s Administrative Coordinator. Tessa joined NCCLF after completing an internship at State Assemblyman Mark Leno’s District Office. Prior to this, Tessa taught English in Barcelona, Spain. She also has extensive experience working in the restaurant industry.

Tessa holds a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations and a minor in History from University of California Santa Barbara.


is NCCLF’s Business Development Loan Officer. Alice, who joined the staff in June of 2006, is based in her native city of Fresno and represents NCCLF throughout the Central Valley. Alice comes to NCCLF with extensive knowledge of the region, and previously worked there as a Senior Program Officer for the Vanguard Foundation. She also has 9 years’ experience as nonprofit management and capacity building consultant. Before joining Vanguard, Alice was a Program Director/Parish Minister with the Catholic Charities Diocese of Fresno.  Alice’s background also includes work in risk management, both as an independent contractor and as a partner for the Salient Insurance Agency. 


is Director of Finance and Administration. Before joining NCCLF in November 2006, Lea served as Finance Director for SF’s Independent Living Resource Center, where she increased the transparency of reporting and implemented new internal controls, policies and procedures. She also served as Director of Operations at the GLBT Historical Society and was an administrator for nearly a decade at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav. Her nonprofit program experience includes having served as a field supervisor for New York’s City Volunteer Corps and having developed a free community meal program in Massachusetts.

Lea is a Certified Public Accountant, holds an MBA from San Francisco State University and graduated with a BA from Williams College.


is Program Manager of the Fiscal Fitness Program. Sojeila joined the NCCLF staff in January of 2005 after having worked as a contract consultant to our borrowers and Fiscal Fitness clients in 2004. Prior to joining NCCLF, Ms. Silva was the Managing Partner of a bay area firm which provides consulting services to nonprofits, labor, and projects in the public interest. She has almost two decades of experience in the nonprofit economic-development sector. In addition to five years as a consultant to nonprofits and labor organizations, she has been a project manager in housing and economic-development organizations as well as the CEO of a nonprofit business loan fund.

Sojeila holds BA degrees in Community Studies and Latin American Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles.


joined NCCLF in July as Director of Resource Development. Sherry has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of nonprofit management and leadership. Most recently, she has been based in San Antonio, working as a consultant to several organizations, including the Alliance for Community Care, a large mental health service provider in Santa Clara County. She also spent several years living in the South Bay, where she was an active development professional and served on the San Jose Housing Authority Board. Prior to forming her consulting practice, Sherry served as Executive Director with The Support Network for Battered Women in Mountain View, CA, Oklahoma Alliance Against Drugs, Children’s Medical Research, Oklahoma City, and in numerous leadership capacities with the March of Dimes and with the American Red Cross. She also is an experienced trainer and public speaker.


joined NCCLF as Director of Consulting and Grants in May of 2006. He has worked over the past 20 years with several nonprofit community development corporations to develop and manage affordable housing and community facilities, including the past 12 years with East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) and prior work with Chinatown Community Development Corporation and the artist’s live work and theater facility Project Artaud. His completed developments include half a dozen mixed-use complexes that combine affordable rental apartments with community and educational uses, including Swan’s Marketplace in Oakland.

Joshua is in his second term as an elected member of Emery Unified School District’s School Board, “where partners power student success.” The District is working to combine its facilities with City Recreation Facilities, public safety and facilities for other community services to become a new “Center for Community Life” for local residents.

He received a master's degree in Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990 and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree in 1983 from the University of California at Berkeley.


joined NCCLF in March 2008 as Development Associate, producing marketing publications and managing grants. She is a professional writer and editor whose background also includes teaching and Web management. Pat volunteers regularly and has raised funds for a relocated Katrina family and for the American Cancer Society.

She holds a B.S. from UC Davis, an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco, and a teaching certificate from Mills College.


is a Consulting Analyst. Before joining NCCLF in 2008, Karen worked at the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) as a Compliance Monitoring Analyst. At LIIF Karen tracked the compliance of loans, grants and contracts to ensure that the specific covenants and reporting requirements were met. Prior to working at LIIF, Karen worked in Los Angeles at Excellent Education Development (ExED), a non-profit provider of charter school business management services.

Karen holds an MBA from the University of Southern California with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Finance. Additionally, she has a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.





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