Our continued success rests on the vision, talent, and dedication of our management and staff.

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 currently serves on the boards of two Community Development Financial Institutions – The Raza Development Fund and The Leviticus Fund. He previously served on the boards of The Low Income Investment Fund, Enterprise Community Investments, Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, and the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders. He also served as Chairman of Fannie Mae’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council.

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.

Christopher Blair, CFA, CAIA is Chief Product Officer and Treasurer. In his position, Mr. Blair oversees Structured Financed, Securitizations and Loan Underwriting for the Company. Mr. Blair plays a key role in the Company’s Corporate Planning and Strategic Initiatives, both on an investment and Company-wide basis. Specifically, Mr. Blair develops and structures new products and business lines, directs corporate financings and investment syndications, evaluates the allocation of capital across business lines, performs the Company net asset valuation, leads annual business planning, and chairs the Asset and Liability Committee (ALCO) that manages pricing policies, asset allocation and financial risks of the Company.

Prior to CDT, Mr. Blair was a Senior Analyst at Apartment Realty Advisors where he was responsible for underwriting, market research, and capital markets analysis for multifamily communities. He also worked at Duke Realty, a public REIT, where he was primarily responsible for performing credit analysis on existing and potential tenants. Mr. Blair has a Masters of Real Estate from New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and a Bachelors of Finance from the University of Georgia. Mr. Blair is a CFA Charterholder, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and Certified Commercial Investment Member.

Grace W. Cheng is CDT’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Cheng is a key member of the management team that evaluates strategic initiatives for the Company. She is responsible for the accounting, tax and financial reporting, finance, treasury activities, investor relations, human resources and reporting to the Board of directors and its committees.

Prior to joining CDT, Ms. Cheng was the Chief Financial Officer at Cain International and GTIS Partners, both global real estate private equity firms with investments in the US, London and Brazil. Ms. Cheng oversaw both fund and management company accounting, finance and operations. Earlier in her career, Ms. Cheng worked at Morgan Stanley in the Investment Management practice, overseeing the global accounting and operations of their flagship fund, the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds.

Ms. Cheng began her professional career as an auditor at Ernst & Young with a focus in the financial services and real estate industries. Ms. Cheng holds a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University, an M.B.A in Finance from NYU University and is a Certified Public Accountant in New York.

Michael Lear is CDT’s Chief Business Development Officer. Mr. Lear is a key member of the management team and manages all aspects of CDT’s equity investment activities. He and his team identify and execute CDT’s investment in acquisitions of affordable housing properties throughout the country.

Mr. Lear is also responsible for growing the equity business through new strategic initiatives and programs. He identifies and executes new partnerships and structures to broaden CDT’s investments in affordable housing and develops external relationships to support CDT’s growth.

Mr. Lear has been with CDT since 2011 with experience in both the Asset Management and Equity departments. He has spent his entire career in the field of affordable housing policy, development, and finance.

Prior to joining CDT, Mr. Lear served as Deputy Director of Housing Policy Research at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Mr. Lear holds a Master’s in Urban Planning from NYU Wagner and a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Michigan. He previously taught Real Estate Finance at NYU Wagner.

Roumen Gadelev is Senior Vice President – Director of Accounting and Reporting. Mr. Gadelev joined CDT in 2020 with over 20 years of experience predominantly in the real estate and affordable housing industry.

Previously, he has held controller positions at Fairstead, a New York-based, privately owned, fully integrated real estate investor and manager specializing in multifamily property, owning approximately $2.5 billion worth of real estate comprised of over 11,500 market-rate, workforce, and affordable rental units in 14 states, where he oversaw all of the accounting and reporting for the company’s affordable housing arm; BRIDGE Housing Corporation, one of California’s leading affordable housing nonprofits, where he lead the property management accounting team in charge of accounting and reporting for over 80 properties; First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust, a non-traded public REIT; and a Napa Valley winery. He has also worked at Deloitte and Touché as an auditor in their San Francisco Bay Area practice with a focus on the real estate and investment management industries. Mr. Gadelev is an active Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Brian Gallagher is Senior Vice President – Multifamily Debt Program. Mr. Gallagher heads up all activities of CDT’s Multifamily Debt Program, a national permanent lender and secondary market supporting the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing. One of CDT’s founding officers, Mr. Gallagher manages all business development, marketing and originations for CDT’s multifamily debt business.  He also manages all asset management functions for the debt program. CDT is the successor organization to LIMAC’s secondary mortgage market activities. 

Prior to joining CDT, Mr. Gallagher was Vice President of Acquisitions for LIMAC, an affiliate of LISC. He previously was the Financial Project Manager for the 42nd Street Development Project in New York City, and was a lending officer at Bankers Trust Company. He has more than 40 years of experience in real estate including commercial lending, workouts, residential mortgage banking, public development, securitization, asset management, secondary markets and community development. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Real Estate at Columbia University and has taught at New York University’s Real Estate Institute. He holds a BA degree in Economics from Queens College and an MS in Real Estate from Columbia University.

Mr. Gallagher has previously served on the boards of two national housing organizations: Community Housing Capital (CHC) and the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL).

Michelle Militello is CDT’s Senior Vice President of Equity Asset Management. Ms. Militello heads up all asset management responsibilities for the company’s national multifamily equity portfolio, which totals more than 22,000 units. 

Prior to joining CDT in August 2023, Ms. Militello served as Senior Director of Affordable Asset Management at Fairstead. In her role at Fairstead, she built an asset management team that oversaw the company’s national portfolio of more than 20,000 affordable units. Prior to joining Fairstead, Ms. Militello served as Vice President of Asset Management at Pennrose, where she was charged with maximizing the financial performance and value of the company’s portfolio. 

With over 25 years in the housing and financial services industry, Ms. Militello has also held senior management positions within the tax credit groups at Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, responsible for managing hundreds of multi-investor, proprietary, and direct tax credit investments and other roles in community development and portfolio management. 

Ms. Militello holds a Master of Business Administration from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University. 

Mr. Perry joined CDT’s equity originations group in August 2022, responsible for identifying development opportunities within the current portfolio, as well as potential new investment opportunities.  Prior to CDT, Mr. Perry was a Senior Vice President at Bank of America in its affordable housing development subsidiary, Banc of America Community Development Company, LLC (BACDC).

During his 16-year tenure at BACDC, Mr. Perry was responsible for the development and rehabilitation of affordable and mixed-income housing communities in the Mid-Atlantic, New England and Southeast regions. In this role, he Identified joint venture opportunities in key markets with existing and new clients of the bank, leading development projects from initial conceptions through stabilization. 

Prior to joining the Bank of America’s community development team, he worked for East of the River CDC, as Vice President of Real Estate Development where he oversaw the acquisition and development of affordable rental, condominium and single-family projects in southeast Washington, DC. Prior to East of the River CDC, Mr. Perry was Senior Development Manager with Simpson Housing Solutions, LLC (SHS) in Long Beach, California, which was one of the nation’s largest real estate investment and development firms at the time. While at SHS, he was responsible for the development of more than 800 units of affordable housing. 

Mr. Perry holds a BA in Business Communications from Loyola University of Chicago and an MBA in Real Estate Finance and Marketing from UCLA The Anderson School of Management. He currently serves on the boards of CulturalDC and Mi Casa, Inc., two nonprofit organizations located in Washington, DC.

Susan Calderon is Vice President, Equity Originations and joined CDT’s acquisitions team in 2018. She is responsible for identifying, structuring, and closing equity investments in affordable housing throughout the country, with a strong focus on the underwriting and evaluation of new opportunities.

Prior to joining CDT, Ms. Calderon was a Senior Project Manager at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where she structured and underwrote investments in affordable homeownership opportunities. She previously worked for the non-profit New York Legal Assistance Group.

Ms. Calderon holds a Master of City and Regional Planning from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from McGill University. She previously served on the board of Women in Housing and Finance – New York.

Rinzin Gurung is Vice President of Asset Management. He is a key member of the asset management group which oversees CDT’s national multifamily equity portfolio of more than 22,000 units, valued at $3 billion. He is responsible for maximizing the performance and value of the company’s assets along with overseeing refinancing and disposition activities. 

Prior to joining CDT in 2018, Mr. Gurung served as an Analyst at Brownstone NYC where he worked on analyzing potential property acquisitions and evaluation of new investment opportunities. Mr. Gurung holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering from The City College of New York.

Sade Ogunkeyede is Vice President, Corporate Administration & Human Resources. Ms. Ogunkeyede is responsible for corporate administration, technology, and human resources for CDT.

Prior to joining CDT, Ms. Ogunkeyede managed her own consulting firm where she guided small businesses on all aspects of brand, operational, and business development. She also worked for NEX Services North America as their Sr. Facilities Administrator and Regus as a General Manager. Ms. Ogunkeyede has a BA in Psychology from University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Zina Risk is CDT’s Vice President of Underwriting. Ms. Risk heads up debt underwriting responsibilities for the company’s national multifamily debt program, which currently totals more than 16,000 units. With more than 25 years of housing finance and lending experience, she will manage CDT’s existing underwriting and expand our capacity.

Prior to joining CDT, Ms. Risk was a Senior Underwriter for Bellwether Enterprises, specializing in affordable Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae debt underwriting for two years. Before that, she was President of Cinnaire Lending, a certified CDFI specializing in affordable rental housing where she spent over ten years.

Ms. Risk has also held positions at Northmarq Capital, Alliant, and Key Bank. Her responsibilities included all aspects of due diligence, underwriting, closing, reporting, and servicing for local, regional and national stakeholders. Earlier in her career, she gained invaluable experience underwriting construction and pre-development loans.

Ms. Risk holds a J.D. from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, a Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University, and a B.S. in Economics and Finance from Miami University.

Mr. Schmidt is a Vice President of Asset Management who assists in the management of CDT’s $3+ billion equity portfolio. Kevin has 20 years of experience working in real estate and community development and holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from NYU Wagner and an undergraduate degree from Baker University.

Martha Torres is Vice President of Loan Closing and Securitization for CDT’s Debt Group. Ms. Torres manages all debt closing, legal administration, and investor delivery responsibilities.  She has over 28 years of experience with paralegal and legal administration, including residential, corporate, and commercial loan transactions.  Prior to joining CDT in 2014, Ms. Torres worked in various senior paralegal positions at large, prestigious law firms.

Active in her community, Ms. Torres volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for neglected children placed in foster care in Hudson County, New Jersey.  

She completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Guayaquil, Ecuador.