Senior Staff

EXECUTIVE/LEGAL

Clark L. Ziegler, Executive Director

Clark Ziegler joined the Massachusetts Housing Partnership shortly after its inception in 1985 and became Executive Director when MHP was incorporated as a quasi-public state agency in 1990. Under his leadership, MHP has secured $1.2 billion in long-term lines of credit and $44 million in grants from 20 banking institutions including Bank of America, Sovereign, Mellon, Citizens Bank and TD Banknorth. MHP uses these funds to provide long-term financing for affordable housing and neighborhood development. Since its inception MHP has provided financing or technical assistance in more than 315 cities and towns. It has financed more than 13,000 units of affordable rental housing and more than 12,000 affordable homes for low-income first-time buyers.

Judith S. Jacobson, Deputy Director and General Counsel

Judy joined MHP's staff in 1991 and has 30 years experience in housing and community development. Judy was instrumental in establishing the terms of bank lines of credit to MHP totaling over $1 billion. She spearheaded the simplification efforts that resulted in the OneSource loan program for construction and permanent loans and the MassDocs combined subordinate loan program used for all state subsidy loans.

Nancy I. Blueweiss, Associate General Counsel

Nancy I. Blueweiss joined MHP as Associate General Counsel in July, 2003, with 18 years of experience as a creditor's rights attorney in litigation, loan workouts, bankruptcy and collection matters. From 1994 through 2003, she had her own law practice in Boston, and from 1987 through 1994 was a partner at Riemer & Braunstein, a Boston creditor's rights firm. She received her bachelor's degree with Great Distinction from McGill University and her juris doctor degree from Boston University School of Law.

LOAN FUNDS

Mark A. Curtiss, Managing Director

Mark Curtiss joined MHP's staff in 1991 and was named Managing Director in 2003. In this role, he oversees both lending and portfolio management and is responsible for determining how MHP utilizes its bank loan funds. From 1994 until 2003, he was MHP's director of lending, responsible for program development, marketing, loan origination, and underwriting for MHP's bank-financed loan programs. He is the architect of MHP's rental housing loan products - including permanent financing, tax credit bridge financing, lines of credit, and credit enhancement for tax-exempt bonds - and played a major role in negotiating loan agreements with Fleet, Mellon and other banks that fund MHP. He had previously worked at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, where he researched national housing trends for the "State of the Nation's Housing" report and analyzed innovative mortgage products for Nobel laureate Franco Modigliani and Denise DiPasquale. Prior to that, he worked on the Secretary's staff at the state's Executive Office of Communities and Development. Mark was recognized by the Boston Business Journal in 2002 as one of the 40 outstanding professionals in Massachusetts under the age of 40. He received his master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard University and his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

David P. Rockwell, Director of Lending

David Rockwell has more than 25 years of community development and lending experience and joined MHP's staff in 1996. He was named director of lending in 2003 after previously serving as assistant director of lending. Prior to MHP, he had been a Vice President for Commercial Real Estate at Fleet Bank and before that at Shawmut Bank, where he had been recruited in 1991 to establish the bank's Real Estate Community Investment Unit. He previously served as Development Director for the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Roxbury and began his banking and lending career at the former Bank of New England, where he had eight years' experience in real estate lending. David was recently appointed to the Housing Advisory Board and Housing Opportunities Task Force for the Town of Brookline and also serves on the Boston Advisory Board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. He is a Yale graduate and earned a master's degree in city and regional planning at Harvard University.

Richard A. Mason, Deputy Director of Lending

Richard A. Mason was named Deputy Director of Lending in 2007. He joined MHP in 2003 and was promoted to Senior Loan Officer in 2005. Mason has extensive experience in banking, small business and affordable housing development. Prior to MHP, Mason was at The Quincy 2000 Corporation, where he served as economic development specialist responsible for small business lending and providing technical assistance and training to Quincy businesses. From 1996 to 2000, he was senior project manager and enterprise development manager at Urban Edge Housing Corporation, where he managed small business loan and equity funds, and served as project manager of commercial real estate and affordable housing developments. Prior to that, he held various upper management positions at banks and companies specializing in single and multi family mortgage products. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Clarkson University and a masters in urban affairs from Boston University.

Megan Magrane, Loan Officer

Megan Magrane joined MHP’s Lending Team in June of 2000, and is responsible for the origination, underwriting and closing of multi-family affordable housing loans across the Commonwealth. She has extensive experience with both non-profit community based housing developers, as well as large for-profit national housing developers. She has experience working with various projects and housing types including 40B permitted housing, taxable debt, tax-exempt bond financing, Low Income Housing Tax Credit supported projects, working capital credit lines, and mixed-use developments. She is also responsible for the day to day coordination of MHP’s Home Funders loan program with the Home Funders Collaborative. She came to MHP after graduate studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to that, Ms. Magrane was the project manager for Buchanan & Associates, an environmental and land use law firm located in Boston. She earned her undergraduate degree at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and is a member of New England Women in Real Estate (NEWIRE) where she participates in the Housing & Community Development working group.

Amanda Roe, Loan Officer

Amanda Roe came to MHP in 2005 and is responsible for marketing MHP’s lending programs to prospective borrowers, and underwriting and closing permanent affordable housing loans throughout Massachusetts. Prior to joining MHP she worked for 15 years at the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development on a range of affordable housing programs including homeowner and rental rehabilitation initiatives, supportive service housing development and contract management, neighborhood planning for city-owned vacant land, and financial analysis and project management of approximately 1,000 units of rental and homeownership units developed across the neighborhoods of Boston. She also managed several important grant programs such as the Housing Counseling Program, Tenants At Risk Program, and the HOME Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) Program. Prior to that, Amanda worked at the Bromley Heath Public Housing Development conducting a land use survey, and writing and administering grants. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from McDaniel College, and earned her Master’s Degree in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University in 1989.

Nancy A. Sampson, Loan Officer

Nancy A. Sampson is responsible for originating, underwriting and closing multi-family loans for affordable housing throughout Massachusetts. She has extensive experience managing multi-family properties that participate in Section 42 tax credit program. Prior to joining MHP, she was a senior associate at Michel Associates of Boston where she was responsible for underwriting and closing the purchase of limited partner interests in partnerships owning multi-family properties in the Section 42 program. From 1997 to 1999, she was an asset manager at Boston Capital, where she managed a portfolio of 180 affordable residential properties along the east coast that participated in the Section 42 program. Prior to that, she was a commercial property manager for Trammel Crow Company, and also held property management and development positions at Spaulding & Slye. She has a bachelor's degree in business finance with a minor in economics from UMass-Lowell and received her certification as a real property administrator from Bentley College. She is on the membership committee for New England Women in Real Estate (NEWIRE) and is a board member of the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development.

Geoffrey MacAdie, Director of Portfolio Management

Geoff MacAdie has more than 20 years' experience in real estate and affordable housing. He joined MHP's staff in 1998 and was named Director of Portfolio Management in 2004. He had previously managed a large affordable housing portfolio in Maine for the Insignia Residential Group and worked as an asset manager for residential properties at Fleet/Recoll. He has also managed his own real estate management consulting firm. Geoff has an MS in Urban Affairs/City Planning from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in urban affairs from the University of Connecticut.

Cynthia Mohammed, Portfolio Manager

Cynthia Mohammed joined MHP's staff in 1998. She had previously been an associate in the audit group at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, where she worked for a variety of public, private and nonprofit clients. Cynthia earned a bachelor's degree in public policy at Brown University and has also done graduate work in accounting at USC.

COMMUNITY HOUSING INITIATIVES

Susan Connelly, Director of Community Housing Initiatives

Susan Connelly joined MHP in 2004 after 17 years in real estate development and management. She is responsible for overseeing MHP's support of communities and community-based non-profits in their efforts to build affordable housing.

Her responsibilities include coordinating MHP's Production Capacity Grant Program, which in 2005 awarded three-year grants totalling $2.5 million to 32 non-profit housing organizations. She is also managing MHP's Targeted Community Initiative Program, which provides support and technical assistance to communities trying to build affordable housing.

Rita Farrell, Senior Advisor

Rita Farrell joined the MHP staff in 1987 as regional director for western Massachusetts. In 1990, she assumed responsibility for all of MHP's community activity and project management, a position she held until 2007, when she was named Senior Advisor. She has over 25 years experience in housing development and public administration.

Connie Kruger, Community Assistance Program Manager

Connie Kruger joined MHP's staff in 2002 after a 16-year career as senior planner in the Town of Amherst, where she spearheaded many successful housing development and zoning initiatives. Connie is a graduate of UMass/Amherst and received her master's degree in human services administration at Antioch New England. She serves on the Board of Directors of Citizens Housing and Planning Association.

Gina Govoni, Homeownership Director

Gina Govoni manages the SoftSecond Loan Program, MHP's successful mortgage program for first-time homebuyers. She is responsible for the administration of a program that makes 800 to 1,000 loans per year and over 8,000 loans since it was created in 1991.

ADMINISTRATION/FINANCE

Charleen R. Tyson, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Charleen Tyson brings a wealth of experience to MHP as a finance executive in both the non-profit and public sectors. Prior to joining MHP, she served for three years as exectutive vice president and CFO for MassDevelopment. In this role, she managed finance and accounting, human resources, administration and technology for this quasi-public economic development agency with $600 million in total assets.

Before MassDevelopment, she had been director of finance at the New England Aquarium, controller at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/Angell Memorial Hospital, and held various positions with the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Karen English, Director of Financial Operations

Karen English joined MHP as Controller in August 2005 and is responsible for managing financial operations, processes and internal controls. She brings 15 years of accounting and operations management experience. Prior to coming to MHP, Karen served as interim CFO and as an Accounting Manager for two non-profit organizations. As a consultant, she developed systems which provided the management tools necessary to provide detailed financial reporting on a $200 million office/residential/retail project. Her experience also includes forensic accounting, start-up infrastructure development, and creating financial models used in acquisition analyses and budgeting. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her CPA while at KPMG Peat Marwick.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS/COMMUNICATIONS

Ruston F. Lodi, Director of Public Affairs

Rus Lodi joined MHP's staff in 2001 after a 22-year newspaper career. He is responsible for producing and delivering housing information and reference materials via print and the web to local officials, for-profit and non-profit developers, interested citizens and the media.