The Peabody Cos. Names Diversity and Inclusion Advisor
Deo Mwano has been appointed diversity and inclusion advisor at The Peabody Cos., a group of award-winning property management real estate firms headquartered in Braintree, Mass.
Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mwano is a multi-cultural leader in education, organizational leadership, and social justice.
In his new role, he will help guide the organization through the process of effectively identifying and disrupting patterns of inequality, implementing cultural changes, and developing training initiatives to create and foster an open and inclusive environment. He will also be instrumental in helping to create mechanisms for surveying the firm’s internal audience and gathering data to promote active listening and a deeper understanding of team member experiences within the workplace, said the company.
Mwano will also assist in establishing a company Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, a working group of about a dozen team members, tasked with:
- Promoting training and events to bring awareness to diversity and inclusion in the workplace;
- Engaging co-workers in diversity and inclusion conversation and training;
- Reviewing and developing policies and procedures that will promote workplace diversity and inclusion; and
- Organizing and overseeing specific initiatives or outreach within the communities managed by The Peabody Cos.
The NRP Group Promotes Guerrero
Debra Guerrero has been promoted to senior vice president of strategic partnerships and government relations at The NRP Group, a developer, builder, and manager of multifamily housing.
In her new role, Guerrero will also work closely with company CEO and founder J. David Heller on government relations and strategic initiatives aimed at expanding access to affordable housing opportunities nationally. Previously, as vice president of government affairs, Guerrero served as a senior member of the firm’s development team focused on legislative and regulatory advocacy at the state and local municipality level in Texas.
Guerrero, along with the late Dan Markson, is credited with opening The NRP Group’s Texas office in 2004, which has been responsible for the development of over 18,000 units of multifamily housing worth over $2 billion.
Prior to joining NRP, Guerrero served as a San Antonio city councilwoman from 1997 to 2001. Currently, she serves on the executive boards of several national and Texas housing industry organizations, including the Texas Association of Affordable Housing Providers, Texas Association of Builders, and the National Association of Homebuilders’ Affordable Housing Group.
Zina Risk Becomes President of Cinnaire Lending
Zina Risk has been promoted to president of Cinnaire Lending. She brings more than 25 years of finance and lending experience to the role, serving most recently as vice president of the organization.
Risk has played a key role in developing strategies for Cinnaire Lending products and establishing best practices for the organization’s underwriting process. She has worked closely with borrowers, investors, loan participants, and several other key partners during her tenure.
Her multifamily lending experience includes all aspects of due diligence, underwriting, closing, and institutional permanent loan products on a national basis for multi-national and local lenders.
As a full-service Community Development Financial Institution, Cinnaire Lending works with socially conscious investors and mission-focused organizations to provide creative lending options to support housing and community development work. As president, Risk is charged with managing the strategic direction of the organization’s lending business, including underwriting, closing, portfolio management and loan servicing.
Greystone Affordable Development Names VP
Pharrah Jackson has been named vice president of finance of Greystone Affordable Development, a recapitalization and redevelopment manager in the affordable housing sector.
Jackson will lead a team of analysts and underwriters responsible for securing debt and equity for all of Greystone’s affordable housing development transactions.
She has more than 20 years of affordable housing experience that spans production, underwriting, closing, servicing, and asset management. During her long tenure with Greystone, Jackson has been involved in the financing of over 1,000 affordable housing properties totaling more than $8 billion in debt. She most recently served as managing director of the company’s affordable lending group.
Jackson is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Affordable Rental Housing Advisory Council.
NYC Housing Partnership Appoint EVP
Esther Toporovsky has joined the NYC Housing Partnership as executive vice president, a new position at the nonprofit intermediary for the development of new and rehabilitated affordable housing.
She recently served as senior program director of Green Communities at Enterprise Community Partners, where she provided strategic oversight of innovative green capital initiatives and business models for community development. She worked with Enterprise’s Structured Finance, Loan Fund, Bellwether Mortgage and Asset Management teams on green financing solutions. She directly managed the Enterprise Green Multifamily Retrofit and Renewable Energy programs.
For four decades, the Housing Partnership has facilitated partnerships among private sector developers and financial institutions and City, State and Federal agencies, resulting in the development of over 60,000 affordable homes.
CWDL Announces Hires
CWDL, a full-service accounting and consulting firm specializing in mortgage banking and educational industries, has added two strategic hires to support the firm’s growth. Susan Volpe and Dustin Pfluger have been appointed as the director of accounting and consulting and partner of the mortgage banking division, respectively.
Volpe will lead an accounting team that has grown 100% in the past year. She joins the firm after previously running her own accounting services business and serving as the CFO for an independent mortgage company. She is based in Boston.
Pfluger will help lead the mortgage practice by providing additional expertise across CWDL’s growing nationwide client base. Pfluger brings 16 years of public accounting experience to CWDL, 11 of which have been exclusively dedicated to the mortgage industry. A certified public accountant, he is based in Austin, Texas.
