Southern California Women Leading Real Estate Celebration & Cocktail

Emily Feder’s background and significant experience in community development gives her a comprehensive perspective on real estate law. Seeing her work have positive and tangible impacts on communities motivates Emily, and allows her to support, promote and nurture her clients' overall business goals. Emily’s practice focuses on all types of real estate transactions, from acquisition and disposition to leasing, and finance. By monitoring and researching real estate trends, emerging industries, and new approaches and areas of law, Emily is able to provide thorough and efficient counsel to her clients. Prior to joining Allen Matkins, Emily was a vice president in the community development banking group at a leading national bank, where she sourced, structured, and led origination and closing of new markets tax credit transactions for the Western United States. She also previously practiced in tax credit finance and syndication in Washington, D.C., and California. Emily began her professional career as a teacher, and currently serves on the Associates Board for Teach for America, a non-profit organization working to combat education inequality. In addition, Emily is a member of the Junior Committee for the Phase One Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Phase I and Phase II clinical cancer research, innovative education and treatment programs, and funding leaders in the scientific and medical community.

Deborah La Franchi is the founder and CEO of SDS Capital Group. SDS is a national leader in impact investing with $1.48 billion of active assets under management in six different fund and product strategies. Ms. La Franchi founded SDS with the express vision of engaging the private sector in the battle against poverty. Each impact fund on SDS’s platform serves a different geography and employs a unique investment strategy, but they all generate positive impacts for low-income communities and people. Each fund – depending on the focus of the specific fund – either targets a risk-adjusted rate-of-return or provides capital at a below-market cost. Ms. La Franchi’s core role is to ensure each fund is supported by a team with the key expertise needed to execute the specific investment strategy. Ms. La Franchi leads the structuring of each fund’s investment strategy, spearheads fundraising, oversees the senior managers of each fund and division, and participates on each fund’s investment committee. Outside of her work with SDS, Ms. La Franchi is the founder and board chair of Sustainable Communities Fund, which provides capital for small and micro loans to low-income and diverse entrepreneurs. Ms. La Franchi also is on the UCLA Ziman Affordable Housing Advisory Council (AHAC). Before founding SDS, she served as Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s Assistant Deputy Mayor for Economic Development; she then went on to serve as the first CEO of Genesis LA, which launched the Genesis Family of Funds. She is a former director for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater L.A. and Secretary and Director of the National New Market Tax Credit Coalition. Ms. La Franchi earned a BA in Political Science and History from UCLA, an MBA from UCLA, and an MPP from Georgetown University. She also holds a Series 65 license

Holly Benson is responsible for the executive oversight and integration of Abode Communities’ multidisciplinary work and impact. A 25-year veteran in the affordable housing industry, Benson’s depth of experience is underscored by her contribution to the development and executive operations of Abode Communities’ housing portfolio, which includes nearly $700 million of economic investment throughout California. Benson is particularly versed in advancing affordable and supportive housing policy, identifying and addressing organization-wide capital needs, fostering the organization’s strategic vision, and working in collaboration with Abode Communities’ board of directors and staff to maximize the impact of the organization’s work. She currently serves as Chair, Land Use & Finance Committee for Housing California, is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council, and is past president of the Southern California Association for Nonprofit Housing. Benson’s expertise in the field has been featured on the Tavis Smiley Show, KNX Broadcasting, and KPCC Public Radio in Los Angeles, and she has been a guest lecturer at both University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communication studies from University of California, Los Angeles.

Elizabeth Dryden is a Partner in the Real Estate Department of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. Elizabeth’s practice covers a broad range of real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, financings, and joint venture and syndication formations. Her practice experience includes extensive representation of institutional and noninstitutional lenders, property owners and developers, private equity investors and high-net worth individuals across all asset classes. With a strong background in finance, Elizabeth specializes in structuring and negotiating real estate finance transactions, including first mortgage loans, mezzanine and other subordinate loans, preferred equity and joint venture structures, syndicated credit facilities, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loans, bridge loans and construction loans. Prior to joining Ervin Cohen & Jessup, Elizabeth worked at the Am Law 100 firms Paul Hastings LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP. Elizabeth holds a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy from Columbia University. She is also the Co-Chair of the Beverly Hills Bar Association Real Estate Section.

Ms. Stevenson is currently EVP of Property Management for Avanath Capital Management. Carly is a 21-year veteran property management professional. Prior to joining Avanath, she was the President, Property Management at Mandel Group, based in Milwaukee, responsible for the profitability and operations of their multi-state property management platform. Carly also held multiple management positions at AMLI and Waterton Residential where she gained valuable experience in several markets by enhancing the value of various asset types and classes, from Class – A (to C), Garden to High Rise, Mixed-Use, Affordable, and Commercial real estate. What makes her most unique is her grass roots career where she began as a Leasing Consultant and has grown to now become a strategic leader within Avanath. As a result of her success, she has been the personal recipient of multiple Chicagoland Apartment Marketing & Management Excellence awards, 2019’s Bisnow Power Women in Chicago Real Estate and Connect Media’s 2020 Women in Real Estate – Midwest recipient. Carly was elected and served on the Board of Directors for the Chicagoland Apartment Association.

Thuong Luong, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, is responsible for the overall oversight of Real Estate Development, Portfolio and Asset Management, Property Management, Compliance, Evaluation & Resident Programs and Community Development, providing day-to-day leadership and management in accordance with BRIDGE’s mission and core values. She works with President & CEO Ken Lombard and the Senior Leadership Team to organize and prioritize critical issues, facilitate efficient decision making and oversee the execution of departmental plans to attain short- and long-term financial and operational goals. Ms. Luong has extensive transactional, acquisition and financing experience in the real estate and financial services industries. Prior to joining BRIDGE in January 2022, she was the Chief Investment Officer of Gehr Hospitality, where she oversaw the firm’s hotel portfolio with a focus on expansion and led the sourcing, acquisition, financing and asset management of existing and future investments. Previously, Ms. Luong was Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management at Laurus Corporation, a commercial real estate investment company. While at Laurus, Ms. Luong worked on more than $1B of real estate acquisitions of hotels, office buildings and retail. She was responsible for all aspects of the acquisition process including due diligence, structuring, financing and portfolio management. Before joining Laurus, Ms. Luong was a senior associate at Credit Suisse Bank, where she was responsible for underwriting and structuring alternative investments. Earlier, she was an investment banker at Deutsche Bank Securities where she worked on several major mergers & acquisitions and IPO transactions including the $4B Blackstone IPO and the $5.75B Nuveen Investments leveraged buy-out by Madison Dearborn Partners. Ms. Luong previously served as a board member of A Community of Friends, a nonprofit organization that develops and operates permanent supportive housing for people with chronic mental illness who have experienced homelessness. She also spent a year in Southeast Asia working on microfinance with local communities in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Ms. Luong holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and international business from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

As Senior Vice President of Housing Development, Tish Kelly oversees Jamboree’s housing development – staffing, structure, and processes – and ensures implementation of business and strategic plan goals. She is instrumental in cultivating and managing key internal and external partnerships. Tish rejoined Jamboree as Vice President, having previously served as Senior Director of Finance, where she notably oversaw the development of our award-winning Compass Rose community in Fullerton. Most importantly, she helped to lay a foundation for Jamboree’s existing housing development team, including hiring, training, and mentoring many of our current Project Managers. In her role as Senior Vice President, she oversees the entire housing development team and helps to implement business and strategic goals as part of the Executive Management Team. Throughout her distinguished career, Tish has worked in nearly every aspect of the real estate business – market-rate and affordable, development and finance, for-profits and nonprofits – bringing a depth of experience in land acquisition, entitlement, funding sources, and financial structures. Most recently, she served as the Senior Director of Development for Excelerate Housing Group, managing all facets of the development process of affordable housing. Before that, she held positions with Alliant Capital, a national real estate finance and investment firm, and real estate developers Meta Housing Corporation and MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners. Tish believes a key part of her success is a strong commitment to the mission of our work and a focus on the end-result – housing more residents. Tish returned to Jamboree not only because she supports the company’s community-enriching mission, but also because she believes that work needs to balance with her family values. She appreciates that “Jamboree is a place that values the person as much as it values the employee.” Outside work, Tish spends most of her time with her family. She loves to bike, ski, and travel with her husband, and she enjoys family camping trips, hikes, and weekend barbecues with the kids and Miso, the family’s rescue dog. Tish received a bachelor’s degree in English and criminal justice at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, and holds a master’s degree in real estate development from the University of Southern California.

Sonnet currently serves as Vice President and General Manager for Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA), a national real estate advisory firm specializing in Development Management, Project Management, Investor Representation and Program Management services. She has spent the bulk of her 30-plus year career as an architect, developer, business strategist and planner working for both national and international firms. As general manager, Sonnet oversees projects across multiple sectors, including high-rise and multifamily residential, entertainment, healthcare, educational, and commercial. Prior to joining PMA, Sonnet was Vice President, Design and Construction at NBC Universal, where she was responsible for developing and leading design, construction and related capital planning services for NBCUniversal and DreamWork’s West Coast Studio Operations. In this role, she managed the planning and execution of construction projects at the iconic 400 + acre Universal Lot in Studio City. She was honored in 2016 and 2017 by Bisnow as one of “Los Angeles’ Power Women.” In the past year, Sonnet has been recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as part of their Women’s Leadership Series, the 2020 class of Thriving in Their 40s, and as a Women of Influence in Construction and Design. Sonnet Hui is a Trustee of the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU).