Charles A. Rhuda III is a partner in the Boston office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has more than 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, predominately in affordable housing and historic rehabilitation. Mr. Rhuda works with tax credit developers, managers, syndicators and investors on structuring, financing, syndicating and disposing/restructuring both low-income housing (LIHTC) and historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC) transactions, in addition to providing traditional audit and tax services. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national seminars on topics in the affordable housing and historic rehabilitation industries, as well as a contributor to industry trade publications. Mr. Rhuda graduated from Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in public accounting. He is licensed in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland as a certified public accountant.

Shawn McKenna is the founder and CEO of ProLink Solutions, a company that specializes in enterprise solutions for housing finance agencies and businesses in the financial services sector. With a background in banking, finance and software development, Mr. McKenna has a long and proven track record as an entrepreneur and innovator, and ProLink has won many accolades under his leadership. Mr. McKenna has led the company to create award-winning solutions for its clients. Implementations of ProLink software have earned several HFAs recognition from NCSHA. The company was also recognized in 2013 as one of the Inc. 50/5000 List of the fastest growing companies in the United States 

Deborah Welchel has more than 20 years of public and private sector financing experience, giving her a broad knowledge of the structure, development and management of a variety of residential housing transactions. As a senior asset manager for UAH Property Management LP, Ms. Welchel is the owner representative and provides general oversight to the management of each assigned property. Previously as the acquisitions director for National Development Council’s Corporate Equity Fund, she was responsible for identifying and evaluating the financial feasibility of LIHTC developments in NDC client communities and investor CRA areas. Before joining NDC, Ms. Welchel was a director with Edgewater Group, serving in multiple capacities. With Edgewater Group LLC, she worked with multifamily owners and developers to access the $5 billion in weatherization funds available for income-eligible, single-family and multifamily properties through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. With Edgewater Affordable Housing, her primary roles involved assessing the financial feasibility of potential acquisitions, identifying, securing and closing funding sources, and working with civic and public interests during the predevelopment and construction/rehabilitation of Edgewater communities. Before that she served as senior vice president with The Siegel Group, where she provided financial services to real estate oriented nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Ms. Welchel began her career in affordable housing as manager of credit underwriting at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Ms. Welchel graduated from, Sam Houston State University, with a bachelor’s degree.

Michael Sugrue is the principal of StoneLeaf Development Partners LLC, a development and consulting firm specializing in properties developed with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs). Several of StoneLeaf Development’s properties, as a result of planning and execution, achieved 100 percent lease-up before construction was finished. Mr. Sugrue’s experience includes developing, constructing, and managing affordable and market-rate housing. Mr. Sugrue has held senior positions with major national syndication firms, where he was responsible for all acquisition, financing and project development activities on behalf of such firms. He has also held a senior position with the first national lender to focus on the financing of affordable multifamily properties as well as operating his own building and development firm. Mr. Sugrue has been involved in the development and building of multifamily properties, both affordable rental and condominium sale, along with high-end custom single-family homes. Through membership and involvement in various trade associations, he has received industry awards for many of his properties and programs, including “Developer of the Year 2013” for the Texas Association of Builders. Mr. Sugrue is a sought-after speaker for industry related topics, a past president of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP), a past president of the Rural Rental Housing Association of Texas (RRHA), and a current trustee of the Multifamily Council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a member of the Housing Credit Group of NAHB. Mr. Sugrue attended American University and served in the U.S. Navy.