BRIDGE Housing Promotes Executives
BRIDGE Housing, a leading nonprofit affordable housing developer on the West Coast, has promoted three senior executives, strengthening its C-suite leadership team.
Delphine Sherman has been elevated to chief operating officer in addition to remaining chief financial officer. She oversees daily operations and implements strategies to improve efficiency and communication across all departments, as well as cross-team collaboration and tracking progress on BRIDGE’s Strategic Plan. Sherman has been CFO since 2020 and will continue to oversee several departments, including finance and accounting, risk management, and property management.
Sierra Atilano has been named to the newly created position of chief real estate officer. She is responsible for managing and executing affordable housing solutions, from construction, acquisitions, and dispositions to project financing, the development pipeline, and operations at BRIDGE communities. An executive with more than 25 years in a varied real estate career, Atilano joined BRIDGE in 2022 as an executive vice president overseeing real estate development and asset management across all regions, as well as day-to-day operations in Southern California.
Elizabeth Van Benschoten has become chief investment officer (CIO) in addition to her role as senior vice president, capital markets. She oversees all aspects of BRIDGE’s capital markets activities, from managing relationships with investors and financial institutions to developing capital-raising strategies. Last year, Van Benschoten helped lead a $71.5 million bond issue to fund a new affordable housing community in Portland, Oregon—making BRIDGE the first nonprofit housing developer to issue publicly offered tax-exempt construction bonds.
Van Benschoten became CIO following the retirement of Jim Mather, who stepped down at the end of 2024 and remains at BRIDGE in the role of senior adviser.
Columbia Residential Names Chief Development Officer
Robert Fink, an affordable housing industry veteran, has joined Columbia Residential as chief development officer. He is based in the firm’s Atlanta headquarters.
He will oversee all aspects of development operations, including business planning, identifying and securing new affordable housing and community development opportunities, managing a team of development managers, overseeing financial structures, developing and executing the development business plan, and managing key partnership relationships.
Fink has held senior-level operations roles in both the public and private sectors. As the former vice president of development at Zimmerman Properties in Atlanta, he played a vital role in the creation of more than 1,350 affordable housing units across multiple states. He also served as the director of housing finance and development at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
Enterprise Community Development Announces Head of Real Estate Development
Zachary Marks has been appointed executive vice president, head of real estate development, at Enterprise Community Development, a leading nonprofit owner and developer of affordable homes in the Mid-Atlantic and an affiliate of Enterprise Community Partner.
Marks joins Enterprise Community Development with more than 18 years of experience in real estate development, having successfully led projects in over a dozen major markets across the United States. He has managed the entitlement, design, and financing of over $2.3 billion in mixed-income and affordable housing transactions, which includes $625 million in renovation projects, $1.25 billion in new construction, $440 million in acquisitions, and 1,664 units of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) limited partner interests reacquired.
His previous positions include senior vice president of real estate for the Housing Opportunities Commission and partner at Wood Partners.
Holladay Ventures Adds to Development Team
George Tullos Jr. has been named vice president of development at Holladay Ventures. With almost 15 years of experience developing affordable communities, he is skilled at negotiating contracts with property owners and municipal representatives and maintaining and preserving strategic housing partnerships with nonprofit organizations, state housing finance agencies, and other industry professionals.
Tullos has been involved in the development of multi- and single-family housing and senior communities throughout Southeast. He brings a wealth of experience presenting to local municipalities for support and approval of variances, site plans, and rezoning strategies and negotiating with and directing the work of outside consultants as well as coordinating in-house developments.
RBC Community Investments Announce Promotions
RBC Community Investments has reported 12 recent promotions.
Jonathan Cheng was elevated to managing director of RBC’s renewable energy tax credit (RETC) investments. He joined RBC in 2020 as a director in the New York office. Cheng leads origination efforts on RETC investment syndications. As part of his origination leadership, he manages industry sponsor relationships, oversees structuring and negotiation of tax equity investments, and runs transaction documentation and execution. Cheng brings over 15 years of experience in executive roles focused on acquisition and development of renewable energy projects and execution of tax equity investments. His background covers a broad range of renewable energy tax equity transaction types, including utility scale solar, wind, and standalone storage, commercial and industrial, residential, and community solar projects.
Brian Flanagan was promoted to managing director, Southeast region. He joined RBC in the Charlotte, North Carolina, office in 2006 and has served as a regional director with a focus on originations activity in the Southeast, District of Columbia, and Missouri. Flanagan’s experience includes the acquisition of federal, state, and historic tax credit properties. He works with for-profit and nonprofit developers and has underwritten a variety of property types, including affordable and mixed-income housing and transactions that involved both federal and state historic tax credits. He's also experienced in deals utilizing HOPE VI funds.
Lisa Beaumont was promoted to director, development risk manager, in the Denver office. She joined RBC in 2014 in the Chicago office as an associate development risk manager and was promoted to vice president in 2019. Beaumont is responsible for the construction underwriting and monitoring of deals with a primary focus on the western states, Hawaii, and Guam. She will continue to work closely with the municipal finance group during construction and will be the lead development risk manager for the first Workforce Housing Fund when launched.
Adrian Colosimo was promoted to director, development risk manager, in the Columbus, Ohio, office. He joined RBC in 2010 in the development risk management role and was promoted to vice president in 2015. Colosimo is responsible for construction underwriting and monitoring of multifamily projects across the country, including one of the largest, single-transaction LIHTC deals at the firm. Although involved in deals nationwide, he has a primary focus in the Texas market. In addition to his own portfolio, Colosimo manages the development risk management analyst responsible for processing capital contributions and reviewing cost certifications.
Chris Cummings was promoted to director, investment manager, in the Charlotte office. He joined RBC in 2013 as an investment analyst with a primary focus on underwriting LIHTC transactions. Cummings earned recognition for his work and was promoted to associate in 2016 and vice president, investment manager, in 2019. His responsibilities include client originations coverage in the Tennessee market and senior underwriting coverage in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Kerri Richmond was promoted to director, counterparty analysis. She is based in the Cleveland office. Richmond joined RBC in 1997 and has worked in acquisitions, asset management, and investor relations in various underwriting and closing roles. She is responsible for the underwriting, risk rating, and KYC (know your customer) onboarding for all developer, guarantor, and general contractor counterparties of RBC Community Investments.
Lucien Blackwell was promoted to vice president, sales management. He is based in the Cleveland office. Blackwell originally joined RBC in 2021 as a sales management associate. He is responsible for supporting the equity sales team through the management of investor relationships and is instrumental in LIHTC equity investment closings with institutional Investors.
Tammica Grissett was promoted to vice president, compliance, in the Cleveland office. She joined RBC in 2017 as a compliance analyst and was promoted to compliance associate in 2020. Grissett is responsible for monitoring the RBCCI portfolio to ensure that properties are in compliance with various state/federal funding programs (LIHTC, Section 8, HOME, etc.). She oversees investor portfolios in which she tracks multiple requirements and ensures these are met monthly and annually. She maintains a portfolio of acquisition/rehab and average income projects. Grissett also monitors and reports compliance risk on a quarterly/annually basis.
Travis Inwald was promoted to vice president, investment underwriting. He is based in the Charlotte office. Inwald joined RBC Community Investments in 2022 as an investment associate. He has been an integral part of the pricing group and expanded his role in early 2024 to assist the investor sales team. Prior to joining the business unit, Inwald worked for RBC Capital Markets in New York for five years in the capital planning division and served as an associate director.
James Sturgill was promoted to vice president, fund management, in the Cleveland office. He joined RBC Community Investments in 2019 as a fund analyst and was promoted to associate in 2021. Sturgill is responsible for reporting to investors on a LIHTC portfolio including 193 partnerships in 22 funds. Additionally, he assists with RBC’s RETC portfolio consisting of 21 funds.
Morgan Truong was promoted to vice president, sales management, in the Cleveland office. She originally joined RBC Community Investments in 2019 as an analyst, sales management, focusing on equity sales and earned an associate promotion in 2021. Truong is responsible for supporting the equity sales team through the management of investor relationships and is instrumental in LIHTC equity investment closings with institutional Investors.
Jasmine Tucker was promoted to vice president, stabilized asset manager. She joined RBC in 2021 as an associate, stabilized asset manager, in the Charlotte office. In the vice president role, Tucker will continue to be trusted with a more complex portfolio of assets with high exposure partners. She will head up the RBC Community Investments Asset Management Training Committee, which will help mentor and continuously educate the other 20-plus asset managers within the group. In addition, Tucker will continue to participate on LIHTC industry boards to provide positive exposure, network with other professionals, and support her community while representing RBC Community Investments’ overall mission.
