The nation’s top experts in affordable housing, residential real estate, finance, and community development.

Allan J. Baum has been a member of the CDT Board since 1998.   Mr. Baum, retired, has over 20 years experience in the investment banking business, retiring from Credit Suisse (CS) in 2002.  At CS, he was a Managing Director and head of the structured finance unit for commercial mortgage-backed securities. 

Prior to his ten years with CS, Mr. Baum held positions in the real estate investment bank of Citibank, as well as in the tax-exempt housing finance and mortgage finance areas of Merrill Lynch.  From 2004 through 2018, Mr. Baum served as a trustee of Gramercy Property Trust, a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust recently acquired by affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners.

Mr. Baum received a BA in Government/Urban Studies from Dartmouth College in 1978 and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business in 1983. 

Andrew Ditton, retired, is a former Managing Director at Citigroup and headed Citi’s venture capital Impact Fund.  Mr. Ditton previously served as Head of CRA Business Strategy and Execution and as Co-Head of Citi Community Capital.

Before joining Citi, Mr. Ditton served as Managing Member of Davis/Ditton LLC, an affordable housing development and syndication business in Chicago. Prior to that, Mr. Ditton was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). 

A graduate of Shimer College, Mr. Ditton received his Master’s degree in Urban Studies from Loyola University. Mr. Ditton is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs.

James “Jim” Dixon is the President and CEO of Arlington Properties. He joined the CDT Board in June of 2025. Mr. Dixon joined Arlington Properties in 1998 as a development associate and was named vice president of development in 2001. In 2008, he was appointed executive vice president and has served as President of Arlington Properties and Vice Chairman of Arlington Construction Services since 2011.

Mr. Dixon leads the integration efforts between the development, construction services, and property management divisions of Arlington Properties. Mr. Dixon’s deep experience in the industry and resourceful approach provides experienced oversight into all facets of Arlington’s work. His comprehensive understanding of Arlington Properties and Arlington Construction Services allows him to effectively integrate abilities and services into successful developments, investments, and third-party property management and construction services.

Mr. Dixon received his Masters of Public and Private Management from Birmingham-Southern College and his Bachelor of Arts in American history from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN.  

Raquel F. Favela is the Executive Managing Director at Grow America, an organization dedicated to revitalizing communities through strategic economic development and housing initiatives. Ms. Favela provides strategic leadership to the Training and Technical Advisory Teams. Admired as a thought leader in her field for more than 30 years, Ms. Favela has extensive experience across the real estate development spectrum, having worked as an owner, investor, developer, consultant, governmental official, lender, and landlord. 

While previously serving with the City of San Antonio, she developed the city’s inaugural Strategic Community Development Plan in 2007. A decade later, as Dallas’ Chief of Economic Development and Neighborhood Services, Ms. Favela crafted the city’s first Comprehensive Housing Policy, tackling long-standing fair housing challenges and issues of disparate impact. In her leadership role at Grow America, Ms. Favela’s past direct service experience uniquely positions her to effectively guide the team of technical advisors and trainers. Her expertise not only shapes the direction of Grow America but also enriches the support provided to public sector clients, making a lasting impact on community development and housing solutions. Ms. Favela’s strategic foresight, innovative thinking, and proven track record continue to contribute significantly to the field of economic development and housing.  

Ms. Favela holds certifications as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) and Housing Development Finance Professional (HDFP). Ms. Favela graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. 

James W. Feild is a principal with Cienda Partners, a specialty real estate investment company focused on inner city redevelopment.  He is currently focused developing public private partnerships that will re-develop large urban communities. 

Prior to joining Cienda, Mr. Feild was the Real Estate Development Executive for Bank of America Community Development Banking, where he was responsible for the operations of Banc of America Community Development Corporation (the “CDC”), a for-profit, public-purpose real estate development company that has developed or redeveloped more than 35,000 units of affordable and mixed-income housing. The CDC, through new construction and the redevelopment of existing buildings, produced between 1,000 and 1,200 affordable and mixed-income rental units per year. 

During his career, Mr. Feild has played a leading role in community development initiatives, structuring and closing over $4 billion of LIHTC investments, over $2 billion in community development debt originations, the first proprietary Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Fund, the National Community Investment Fund, and the Raza Development Fund.  He also developed and implemented the bank’s CDFI initiative, investing more than $100 million and qualifying for more than $5 million in Bank Enterprise Awards (BEAs). 

Mr. Feild graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington where he majored in business with a focus in real estate.

Debra Huddleston is a Managing Director at Brean Capital and joined CDT’s Board in June of 2025. She has over thirty-five years of experience at preeminent financial institutions, with a proven record of advising on and stewarding the development, implementation and growth of new businesses as well as managing restructurings and bankruptcies. She has a significant transactional background in public and private debt offerings involving all parts of the capital stack.

Prior to joining Brean Capital, Ms. Huddleston was a managing director at financial institutions such as Centennial Bank, Ranieri Partners, Perella Weinberg Partners, BlackRock, and Credit Suisse. Ms. Huddleston’s areas of expertise include commercial real estate debt and equity, capital markets including structured products, debt life cycle from origination to repayment, credit and operational risk management, portfolio management, and strategic planning.

Ms. Huddleston holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and received an undergraduate degree from Brown University.

Brian A. Hudson, Sr., retired, is the former Executive Director and CEO of Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA).  Mr. Hudson took over the PHFA reins on July 1, 2003, following his appointment to the post by unanimous approval by the agency’s Board of Directors.  His major responsibilities involved developing and implementing program initiatives as well as providing guidance for the Board, and for maintaining relationships with the Administration, the State Legislature and Congress, business and advocacy partners, the financial community and the public. 

He was previously the PHFA’s deputy executive director and chief financial officer beginning in 1995.  PHFA is Pennsylvania’s leading provider of capital for affordable homes and apartments, and is one of the largest state housing agencies in the United States. 

Mr. Hudson holds a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Treasury Professional. 

Mr. Hudson is past president board member of the National Council of State Housing Agencies, a former member of the board of the National Housing Trust and former chairman of the Commonwealth Cornerstone Group. 

Robin Hughes recently joined the Housing Partnership Network as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Housing Partnership Network (HPN) is an award-winning membership network of 100+ of the nation’s leading affordable housing and community development nonprofits.

Prior to joining HPN, Hughes served as the President and CEO of Abode Communities for over 26 years. Under her leadership, Hughes transformed the organization into an Affordable Housing Finance Top 50 Developer nationwide and the premier provider of environmentally sustainable affordable housing in California. During Hughes’ tenure, Abode Communities developed more than 50 residential and mixed-use communities and created new affordable homes for over 12,000 California residents.

Hughes is an industry leader in housing policy at the local, state and federal level. She serves or has served on numerous boards, task forces and advisory bodies where she continues to advocate for resources, programs and policies to support the production and preservation of affordable housing for low-income residents.

Hughes has held positions in the private and public sectors including The Richmond Group of Companies, Citibank, the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles, and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Her experience is highlighted by four years as City Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles. Hughes was recognized by Commercial Observer as Top 25 Real Estate Leaders in Los Angeles. She also won Black Business Association’s Executive Leadership Award and was featured on the cover of National Real Estate Investor as “Champion of Affordable Housing.”

Laura Keenan is Managing Director of Investor Relations with National Equity Fund (NEF). Ms. Keenan is responsible for placement of NEF’s direct LIHTC equity throughout the United States with proprietary investors, and has placed more than $1 billion in equity in the past four years. Prior to joining NEF in March 2020, Ms. Keenan was a  Senior Vice President at Bank of America Community Development Bank for  23 years, which included a breadth of senior roles in affordable housing, including single family for sale and multifamily rental development, asset management of more than 20,000 units of affordable apartments, disposition of limited partner LIHTC investments on the secondary market, construction lending on LIHTC properties, and placement of indirect equity through national syndicators.  

Ms. Keenan has developed or financed hundreds of affordable apartment complexes throughout the United States. She has served on several boards and is an active volunteer with Scouts, The Seeing Eye, Inc., Rotary, and other service organizations. 

Ms. Keenan is the Co-Founder and President of New Jersey Women’s Affordable Housing Network. She holds a Master of Science from Georgia State University in Community Planning and Development and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Fairfield University.

Brenda Loya joined Raza Development Fund as Chief Investment Officer in 2025. Ms. Loya leads the organization’s investment strategy, managing the growth of assets under management, and leads an inter-disciplinary group of impact investment professionals across Raza’s education, housing, and healthcare lending lines of business as well as their New Markets Tax Credit activities. Ms. Loya collaborates across the organization to build new capital partnerships and expand Raza’s reach and impact nationwide. 

Ms. Loya has an impressive record in community finance and impact investing. Most recently, Ms. Loya served as Chief Financial and Operating Officer at Justice Climate Fund, a national purpose-built nonprofit that provides capital and technical assistance to a network of community lenders to finance clean energy projects in low-income communities across the country. Previously, Ms. Loya was Chief Operating Officer for BlueHub Capital increasing collaboration and efficiency across BlueHub’s lending teams to drive growth and expand impact. Prior to that, Ms. Loya was the National Director of Community Development Finance and Commercial Banking at Amalgamated Bank, where she led national lending initiatives supporting affordable housing, community facilities, small business development, and clean energy. Ms. Loya has also worked as a community development practitioner at Nonprofit Finance Fund and Citi Community Capital.  

Ms. Loya has an MBA from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Greg Maher joined the Leviticus 25:23 Alternative Fund, Inc. (“Leviticus”) as Executive Director in 2013. He is responsible for leading and managing all aspects of Leviticus’ operations and for formulating new initiatives to address the needs of low-income people and communities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where Leviticus primarily works. Leviticus is a faith-based, nonprofit loan fund that provides flexible capital for the development of affordable and supportive housing; purpose built shelters and transitional housing; community facilities such as childcare centers and early education centers; and economic development projects.

Previously, Mr. Maher spent 23 years at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (“LISC”), the last seven as Senior Vice President for Lending. Mr. Maher is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and St. John’s University School of Law.  

Alethea Parker is the President of Artcraft Management. She became a member of the CDT Board in June of 2025. Ms. Parker’s property management career began in 1988, and in 1992 she became the Property Manager of a large HUD property with substantial economic issues and deferred maintenance problems. Her site experience went on to include the lease-up of new construction luxury and affordable senior communities, as well as managing distressed properties to revise the management plan and bring the team together to create high occupancy and collections.

After joining Artcraft Management in 1998 as a Property Manager, Ms. Parker has served in a variety of roles there. As a Regional Manager she helped Artcraft grow to encompass properties of all types. That experience was then shared throughout the company to bring together systems and policies that created the Artcraft Management Team that exists today. She was promoted to President in 2011.

Ms. Parker’s multi-faceted background encompasses finance, accounting, property operations, personnel administration, training and education. She has been very active in legislative issues with the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the Virginia Apartment Management Association (VAMA), championing Affordable Housing and Fair Housing Opportunities for all.   

Joseph F. Reilly has served as the President and CEO of The Community Development Trust since 2007. Under his 15 years of leadership, CDT successfully navigated the challenges of the 2008 financial crisis, the 2020 pandemic, and tripled in size. 

Mr. Reilly’s career in the field of community development and affordable housing finance spans 45 years. He began his career in the field of community development in 1978 with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. In 1983, he moved on to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. In 1989, he joined JPMorgan Chase where he spent 18 years and became JPMC’s National Manager for Community Development Real Estate, a position where he was responsible for managing a staff of 70 professionals who financed affordable housing and community development projects across the United States. 

In November of 2023, Mr. Reilly was inducted into the Affordable Housing Finance Hall of Fame in recognition of his career-long commitment to financing affordable housing and the positive impact his work has had in communities across the country and on the lives of tens of thousands of families and individuals.

Mr. Reilly received a BBA from Iona College in 1981 and completed The General Manager Program at Harvard Business School in 2003. Mr. Reilly also served as an Adjunct Professor for real estate finance at New York University from 2007 – 2014.

Peter J. Weidhorn is currently Managing Director of Baron Realty Advisors, LLC, and a consultant and private investor in the multifamily housing market. He previously served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the WNY Group, Inc., a private equity REIT that owned and operated 8,000 apartments throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

Mr. Weidhorn has over 45 years’ experience in the management, acquisition, disposition and financing of commercial real estate. Mr. Weidhorn has served as a Board member of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation and BNP Residential Properties, both publicly traded REITs, and has been a Board member and past President of the New Jersey Apartment Association, and a Board member and past Chairman of the Centra State Medical Center, Freehold, New Jersey.

Mr. Weidhorn is an inactive certified public accountant and graduated from C. W. Post College.