Speakers

Part I: Impacts for NCSHA Members

Jonathan Harwitz
Director of Public Policy | Housing Assistance Council

Jonathan Harwitz is Director of Public Policy at the Housing Assistance Council. Prior to joining HAC, Jonathan was the Director of Housing Community Development and Insurance Policy for the House Financial Services Committee. He also served as Managing Director of Federal Policy and Government Affairs at the Low Income Investment Fund, a large national Community Development Financial Institution.

Earlier in his career, Jonathan served as: Deputy Chief of Staff for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development; Counsel to the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee; Professional Staff to the Housing and Transportation Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and in various policy-related positions at the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Prior to entering the field of federal policy, he clerked for two federal District Court judges and was a lawyer in private practice.

Stephen Lathom
Senior Consultant | TDA Consulting

Stephen Lathom is a Senior Consultant for TDA Consulting. As the lead provider under HUD’s Community Compass technical assistance and capacity building program, TDA provides services sponsored by HUD and under direct engagements with state and local governments across the country. Lathom has over 25 years of experience in affordable housing and community development. At TDA, he provides a variety of services covering housing development, financial structuring, program design, training product development, and delivery of online and in-person training. He has delivered technical assistance for local and state housing agencies and for HUD on a broad range of federal funding sources, including HOME, HOME-ARP, Housing Trust Fund (HTF), CDBG, CDBG-Disaster Recovery, NSP, TCAP, LIHTC, and the Section 1602 Tax Credit Exchange Program.

Prior to joining TDA, Lathom spent over a decade working at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). As a member of MSHDA’s Loan Committee and Asset Review Committee, he reviewed and recommended action on all multifamily direct lending applications and contributed to ongoing policy development, participating in underwriting and restructuring decisions on hundreds of transactions. He also structured the Authority’s homebuyer development programs and was the primary author of Michigan’s plan to implement the multifamily housing provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), particularly the TCAP and Section 1602 Tax Credit Exchange programs.

George Rogers
Vice President | Mortgage Bankers Association

George Rogers is Vice President of Legislative Affairs. In this role, he is responsible for advocating on behalf of MBA’s legislative and policy priorities on Capitol Hill, with a primary focus on Republican members of the United States Senate. Rogers is a strategic government affairs executive with 26 years of federal and state experience. With deep policy expertise, great government contacts, and expert procedural skills, George specializes in outmaneuvering the opposition.

Prior to rejoining MBA in 2023, Rogers was a multiclient lobbyist for a decade, including his work for MBA from 2016 to 2023. Prior to his corporate work, Rogers spent nearly fourteen years in key leadership roles in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, including serving as a senior Policy Advisor and Counsel to the Speaker of the House and to the Minority Leader. Rogers also served as General Counsel of the Committee on Rules, as Oversight and Investigations Counsel for the Government Reform Committee, and as a Legislative Assistant to the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Jennifer Schwartz
Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy | National Council of State Housing Agencies

Jennifer Schwartz serves as the Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy at the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA). She rejoined NCSHA in 2014 after previously holding the role of Senior Legislative and Policy Associate at the organization from 2001-2005. Jennifer leads NCSHA’s multifamily and tax policy team and oversees the organization’s federal legislative advocacy efforts, with particular focus on the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and tax-exempt private activity Housing Bonds.

Prior to returning to NCSHA, Jennifer was the Director of Policy and Programs for the Southern Governors’ Association, where she focused on facilitating bipartisan collaboration between governors in various policy areas. Earlier in her career, she worked as a counselor and case manager at Women’s Protective Services, a domestic violence shelter and rape crisis counseling center in Massachusetts, and as a project consultant for the Massachusetts Advocacy Center (now Massachusetts Advocates for Children).

Part II: Key Pilot Program

Freyja Harris
Chief Executive Officer | Coalition for Home Repair

Freyja Sutherland Harris is a mission-driven executive leader with more than two decades of experience advancing equitable, scalable solutions across nonprofit, philanthropic, government, and academic institutions. Her work centers on designing and leading programs that deliver measurable outcomes, align mission with financial sustainability, and create lasting system-level change, particularly in housing stability, economic mobility, and community well-being.

Currently, Freyja serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Home Repair, where she leads national strategy, program development, and impact measurement efforts. In this role, she oversees $2 million in HUD funding supporting home repairs and accessibility modifications for veterans and older adults, while guiding advocacy, research, and cross-sector partnerships to elevate home repair as a critical component of sustainable homeownership.

David Sanchez
Senior Vice President, National Strategy | ROC USA

David joined ROC USA as the Senior Vice President of National Strategy in 2025, where he leads federal policy and partnerships. Throughout his career, David has advanced policies that promote broad access to sustainable mortgage credit, increased supply of affordable housing, stronger consumer protections, and healthy neighborhood housing markets. Before joining ROC USA, David served as the Acting Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Housing, focusing specifically on FHA’s Single Family mortgage insurance programs and HUD’s Manufactured Housing program. Immediately prior to HUD, David was the Director of Research and Development at the National Community Stabilization Trust. Previously, David worked at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Center for American Progress. David holds a master’s degree in Sociology from Cambridge University and a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College.

Greg Zagorski
Senior Homeownership Policy Specialist | National Council of State Housing Agencies

Greg Zagorski focuses on issues related to affordable homeownership and housing finance. Prior to joining NCSHA in 2012, Greg worked as a legislative assistant for Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), advising the Senator on housing and other economic issues. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree from George Washington University.