Keynote Speakers

In order of appearance.

Tia Boatman Patterson
Executive Director | California Housing Finance Agency and Chair | NCSHA Board of Directors

Tia Boatman Patterson was appointed to serve as the executive director of California Housing Finance Agency by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in August 2014. Prior to joining CalHFA, Ms. Boatman Patterson was the general counsel at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency from 2009 to 2014.

She was special assistant to California State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass from 2008 to 2009 and to California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez from 2005 to 2008, senior associate at Best Best and Krieger LLP from 2003 to 2004 and agency counsel at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency from 1999 to 2003.

Thomas P. Bossert
Chief Strategy Officer | Trinity Cyber

Tom Bossert, a former U.S. Homeland Security Advisor, is Chief Strategy Officer at Trinity Cyber, a disruptive technology company fundamentally redefining commercial cybersecurity. He is also a national security analyst for ABC News and a respected risk management expert.

Bossert was homeland security advisor to two U.S. presidents, serving as the nation’s chief risk officer and senior-most advisor on cybersecurity, counterterrorism, homeland security, and global health security policy, managing a range of domestic and transnational security issues and consequence management operations. He also founded and led a management consulting business that supported commercial clients to assess and manage their risk structures and compliance requirements.

G. Christopher Nunn
Commissioner | Georgia Department of Community Affairs/Georgia Housing and Finance Authority

Christopher Nunn was appointed Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in 2017. He leads the State’s community development efforts to support local leaders in their efforts to build strong, vibrant communities. DCA has a broad reach that includes comprehensive planning, safe and affordable housing, downtown development, community infrastructure, and economic development finance.

Prior to DCA, Commissioner Nunn led a regional professional services firm as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he was responsible for all business aspects of the 150-person firm, including strategic planning and growth. Previously, he spent 15 years as a business consultant with two global firms, Arthur Andersen and Russell Reynolds Associates, focused on strategic planning, operational improvement, leadership development, and executive recruiting.

Pamela Patenaude
Senior Advisor | IEM

Pamela Hughes Patenaude, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is IEM’s Senior Advisor. Patenaude is a housing executive and public policy expert with more than 35 years of experience serving in government and nonprofit management, including at the executive management level.

Most recently, Patenaude served as Deputy Secretary of HUD, where she managed the day-to-day operations of the cabinet-level agency, including oversight of the Department’s $52 billion budget and 7,000 employees nationwide. Patenaude also served as chair of HUD’s Disaster Management Group, overseeing $37 billion in disaster recovery funding. Previously, Patenaude served as HUD Assistant Secretary for the Office of Community Planning and Development and co-founded and served as the president of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America’s Families.

Mark Calabria
Director | Federal Housing Finance Agency

Dr. Mark Calabria, nominated by President Trump in January 2019, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as FHFA Director in April 2019. Before joining FHFA, Calabria was chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, handling all economic policy issues with a focus on taxes, trade, manufacturing, financial services, labor, and housing.

He previously served as the director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, where he helped to establish Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives. Dr. Calabria also was a senior aide on the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to both Chairman Phil Gramm and Chairman Richard Shelby. He has also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Dr. Joseph Coughlin
Director, AgeLab | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Joseph F. Coughlin, Ph.D., is the Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab, created in 1999 to invent new ideas and creatively translate technologies into practical solutions that improve people’s health and enable them to “do things” throughout their lifespans. His team at AgeLab believes innovations in how products are designed, services are delivered, and policies are implemented are of critical importance to our quality of life tomorrow.

Dr. Coughlin also teaches in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies & Planning and the Sloan School’s Advanced Management Program. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to the White House Advisory Committee on Aging and by Governor Charlie Baker to the Governor’s Council on Aging in Massachusetts where he co-chaired the Innovation & Technology Subcommittee.

Charlie Baker
Governor | Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Governor Charlie Baker was sworn in for a second term as the 72nd Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on January 3, 2019, after a first term focused on moving Massachusetts forward through bipartisan, results-driven leadership. Working with partners in the Legislature and in local communities, Governor Baker has put Massachusetts at the forefront of finding solutions to the opioid and heroin epidemic. Two major bills signed into law by Governor Baker have helped serve as models for other states fighting the epidemic and other important updates to drug laws have been made to help police officers crack down on fentanyl traffickers.

Governor Baker signed the largest housing bond bill in state history, enhanced the Housing Development Incentive Program to boost housing production in Gateway Cities and put forth proposals to improve zoning and generate more housing production by equipping municipalities with a technical assistance toolbox.

Lyndia Downie
President & Executive Director | Pine Street Inn

Lyndia Downie is president and executive director of the Pine Street Inn, which provides permanent supportive housing, job training and placement, emergency shelter, and street outreach to more than 1,600 homeless men and women each day. The Inn is one of the largest agencies serving homeless people and developing affordable housing targeted at homeless individuals in New England.

With a keen understanding of the complex causes of homelessness and proven methods to combat it, Lyndia continues to successfully involve and build partnerships with social service agencies, state legislators, and business leaders in the fight to end homelessness.