ABOUT WAHN
“The old saying, ‘Great minds think alike,’ is appropriate in telling the National WAHN origin story. Separately but concurrently, four industry leaders joined in the effort to bring women in affordable housing together in their respective states: Ashley Northcutt in Georgia, Millie Hurtt in Ohio, Sadie Nott in North Carolina, and Julia Kaercher in Indiana. These women bumped into each other routinely at conferences, and conversations inevitably led to their state WAHN chapters. They shared ideas and brainstormed about issues, and while no one quite remembers who suggested it first, the concept of a National Women’s Affordable Housing Network was born.
The Founders understood the struggles of creating a non-profit from scratch while balancing their work and home lives, and a top priority for National WAHN is building “New Chapter Starter Kits” for future chapter leaders to create a WAHN presence in their own cities and states. So, they charged ahead with a goal to launch National WAHN In 2022, providing the tools those future chapter leaders would need to start networks at home.
The Board of National WAHN is excited about the path ahead and hope you will join us on the journey.”
– Ashley, Millie, Sadie & Julia
OUR HISTORY
The Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN) was formed in 2006 by Ann Cone with CBRE Capital Markets, a mortgage lender, and Richelle (Shelly) Patton with Tapestry Development Group, an Atlanta-based affordable housing developer. Ann and Shelly partnered back in late 2006 to form WAHN with the first event taking place on January 24, 2007 at the Ansley Golf Club in Atlanta. It was a sold out event with 98 attendees featuring a presentation by Jackie White with SynRG, Inc. on the “ABC’s of Success.” The positive feedback from this event was incredible!
The network organizes events which offer women in the affordable housing industry doing business in Georgia an opportunity to network with their peers and discuss issues, trends, and achievements in a supportive environment. Each quarterly event has a different focus; we have had inspirational speakers from all areas of business, panels on affordable housing topics, cocktail receptions, and other specialized events.
After the initial success of the luncheons held in 2007, the Georgia Affordable Housing Coalition asked us to coordinate an event at their annual conference which would target women in the industry. Each year since 2007, we have organized walking tours, cooking classes, art exhibits, wine tastings, and receptions at the annual conference for women to network and facilitate new business opportunities.
“We were thrilled to have an opportunity to develop the Women’s Affordable Housing Network,” said Ann Cone, Senior Vice President of CBRE Capital Markets. “These events offer a forum where women can learn from experts and each other, as we continue our mission of providing affordable housing,” Cone added.
Shelly Patton, Principal of Tapestry Development Group added, “It is truly incredible, what started out as a gathering of 20 colleagues has blossomed into a list of over 450 women in affordable housing. The response proved to be greater than we ever anticipated and we have been approached to start new chapters in other areas of the country.”
After the initial success of the luncheons held in 2007, the Georgia Affordable Housing Coalition asked us to coordinate an event at their annual conference which would target women in the industry. Each year since 2007, we have organized walking tours, cooking classes, art exhibits, wine tastings, and receptions at the annual conference for women to network and facilitate new business opportunities.
In 2016, Ann and Shelly handed the key leadership of the organization over to Jill Collins of Affordable Equity Partners, Inc. and Ashley Northcutt of the Tidwell Group. Jill and Ashley brought fresh energy and ideas to the organization so that it can continue to effectively support women in the affordable housing industry for years to come.
Under Jill’s and Ashley’s leadership, WAHN officially became a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, this website was created and launched, and quarterly community service events for WAHN members, family and friends have been organized.
We look forward to you continuing your involvement in WAHN or joining and helping make us even better and more dynamic!
Ann Cone
Richelle Patton
WAYS TO
ENGAGE WITH WAHN
If you are looking for a platform to grow your business, want to stay engaged with industry professionals or remain on top of the latest industry news, this is the group for you!
Check out some of our events by clicking HERE + below is a snapshot of a few!
- Annual women’s event at the Georgia Housing Coalition meeting
- Quarterly luncheons
- Quarterly Community Service Events (and many more opportunities advertised for our members on our website)
- Summer Cocktail Reception
OUR COMMITTEES
Stay-tuned!
We’ll be adding new seats on our Committees coming 2022!
The COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE is responsible for maintaining the group’s social media accounts as well as preparation and distribution of the WAHN newsletter. The Communications Committee works with the Events Committee and Sponsorship Committee to ensure that our members are kept up to date with upcoming events and that our sponsors are properly represented.
The EVENTS COMMITTEE is engaged in planning events that not only supports our mission but fosters collaboration. Always open for new ideas, some of our past events include happy hours, National Housing Conference meetings, and TED talk style presentations. Our regional representatives assist in coordinating regionally specific events for our members.
The FINANCE COMMITTEE provides financial analysis, advice, and oversight of the organizational budget. Typical tasks include accounting, budgeting and financial planning, preparation of annual tax returns, and the creation and monitoring of internal controls and accountability policies.
The MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE’S purpose is to recruit new members who have an active role in the affordable housing industry, develop networking, volunteerism, and community engagement opportunities for members, and promote the value of membership through professional and personal development activities. The Membership Committee takes great pleasure in helping to empower women working in all aspects of affordable housing in the United States.
The SPONSORSHIP COMMITTEE’S responsibility is to coordinate the receipt of sponsors and their donations. Committee members communicate with potential and existing sponsors to answer any questions and keep track of responsibilities to those sponsors. Committee members work with the Communications Committee to get information from sponsors in order to highlight them in newsletters and on social media. Committee members are also responsible for keeping track of the amount of funds coming in from sponsors and track the events and social media posts for each Sponsor.
MEET OUR TEAM
Ashley Northcutt
National President
Ashley M.P. Northcutt is a Tax Partner for Tidwell Group in the firm’s Atlanta office, specializing in the areas of real estate taxation, not-for-profit organizations and affordable housing. Northcutt has a passion for helping those less fortunate and sharing policy ideas affecting the affordable housing industry.
Northcutt has more than 10 years of experience in tax planning and compliance for multifamily real estate, commercial real estate and construction companies. She has extensive knowledge of tax credit programs at the federal and state levels, including low-income housing tax credits and historic tax credits. Her focus is partnership and individual tax law. She also reviews, implements and applies cost segregation studies.
Additionally, Northcutt is a key member of the tax leadership team and excels at training, supervising and mentoring the Tidwell Group tax team. She also works with the IRS and other governmental agencies in resolving issues that impact her clients.
Before joining Tidwell Group,Northcutt worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and other national accounting firms. She is a native of Charlotte, N.C., and moved to the Atlanta area in 2013.
Millie Hurtt, HDFP
National Vice President
Millie Hurtt joined Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) in May 2014 and works in many sectors of the company including her role as Vice President of Affordable Housing Lending for Ohio Capital Finance Corporation (OCCH’s CDFI lending affiliate) where she assists the Executive Director with all aspects of OCFC’s lending transactions and reporting.
In her prior role as Program Specialist for OCCH, Mrs. Hurtt worked with OCCH’s limited partnership partners to dispose of tax credit projects that reached the 15-year compliance period. Mrs. Hurtt was also previously responsible for the administration of Ohio Capital Impact Corporation’s (OCCH’s philanthropic affiliate) Place Based Strategies Fund- a grant program to assist communities where OCCH investments are located.
Prior to joining OCCH, Hurtt was employed by Cleveland Housing Network, Inc. as an Assistant Project Manager where she was primarily responsible for developing LIHTC projects from concept through construction completion. Mrs. Hurtt also worked for Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, a county-designated land bank, as the Compliance and Monitoring Manager overseeing the county’s $40 million NSP 2 Grant. Prior to that Mrs. Hurtt was the ReBuild Ohio Coordinator for Greater Ohio, a non-profit smart-growth policy organization based in Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Hurtt received her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Economics from Kent State University and her Masters of Urban Planning, Design, and Development from Cleveland State University. She is also a certified Housing Development Finance Professional through the National Development Council.
Sadie Nott
National Vice President, Technology
Sadie is an Acquisitions Manager at CAHEC, a non-profit tax credit syndicator located in Raleigh, NC. As a part of the Acquisitions team, Sadie originates Low Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) equity offers and works with developer partners through the due diligence process to get to the closing table. Sadie is primarily responsible for working on developments in AL, FL, GA, TN, NC, and SC. Sadie received a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from UNC – Chapel Hill and a B.A. from Bowdoin College in Visual Art. Originally from the New York City area, Sadie enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and exploring North Carolina.
Angie A. Truitt
National Vice President, Communications
Angie Truitt, J.D., is a Senior Partner at Joseph Chris Partners, where she helps companies and organizations add skilled professionals to their teams and professionals take new career steps in the real estate development and construction industries. Angie also manages the team’s social media, web content, branding, internal recruiting, onboarding, hiring, and training efforts, and she has led many internal and external company initiatives, including launching the Veterans talent and DE&I services.
A practicing commercial litigator in her former life, Angie enjoys working in the affordable housing industry, a niche she has been dedicated to for the last six years. Angie’s network of affordable housing professionals spans the country and was thrilled for the opportunity to connect that network to the wonderful opportunities NWAHN offers its members and currently serves as the Board’s Vice President of Communications. Angie is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers.
Angie grew up a military brat and has lived all over the country and in Panama. Kansas is home, and she earned her BBA in Marketing from her dad’s alma mater, Washburn University, there in 1994. But she’s lived in the Houston, Texas, area since 1999 after graduating from Baylor University School of Law. She’s got a daughter in college and five rescue pups. Angie loves to travel with her daughter, is an avid Dallas Cowboys and Houston Astros fan (and gets plenty of grief for both) and is writing her first book. She is passionate about all issues related to equality and makes the most amazing banana bread in the world.
Julia Kaercher
National Treasurer & Vice President, Social
Julia Kaercher is the Vice President of Program Development of Merchants Affordable Housing Corp. Julia assists in project development and funding applications for MAHC and its consulting clients as well as planning community events. Julia started her career in multi-family housing as a part-time volunteer, here at MAHC in 2014. She has grown and excelled in the art of writing applications as she has helped to secure funding from multiple institutions.
In 2017, she orchestrated the first community service event where over 50 volunteers helped to landscape six of MAHCs buildings. Julia first learned of the Women’s Affordable Housing Network at AHF in Chicago and was enamored with the idea of chapter in Indiana. The idea was able to come to fruition after a trip to Georgia to meet with Ashely Northcutt and we started with our first event in August 2018.
Cat Vielma
National Vice President, Sponsorship
Catalina Vielma is a Senior Vice President of Acquisitions at Red Stone Equity Partners. She originates, underwrites, and closes tax credit transactions across the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, and Chicagoland. Prior to joining Red Stone, she was an originator at two national syndicators, including the National Equity Fund, the country’s largest non-profit syndicator. She held multiple HUD positions, first at the Chicago Multifamily Production Office, where she oversaw FHA’s tax credit pilot program and subsequently, in HQ’s Office of Recapitalization as a Branch Chief focused on the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. At HUD HQ she provided high-level policy analysis and directed transaction managers underwriting RAD LIHTC developments, including the portfolios of San Francisco, El Paso, and Baltimore. She is a board member of Mercy Community Capital and the Illinois Housing Council. She lives in Evanston, Illinois with her wife, daughter, and goldendoodle.
Emily Cadik
National Vice President, Policy
Emily Cadik is the Executive Director of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition (AHTCC), where she leads advocacy to support affordable rental housing financed using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit). Prior to joining the AHTCC she was a Senior Director of Public Policy at Enterprise Community Partners, where she led policy and advocacy related to the Housing Credit and other affordable housing and community development issues, and served on the board of the AHTCC. She also helped to lead the A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) Campaign, the nationwide coalition of more than 2,000 organizations and businesses advocating on behalf of the Housing Credit, and remains active in this nationwide advocacy effort. In 2017 she received the NHP Foundation’s inaugural Advocacy Award, and in 2016 was named one of Affordable Housing Finance’s Young Leaders.
Before joining Enterprise she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she served as a program coordinator for the Moving to Work demonstration and in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.