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2019 Winter Alumni Profiles

Taji Abdullah
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Taji D. Abdullah is a Senior Real Estate Officer for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which is the department within the City of Los Angeles that owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Taji manages a portfolio of commercial leases at LAX. His daily duties range from drafting Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to negotiating leases.    

Prior to working for LAWA, Taji worked as a Realty Specialist for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) where he completed over 40 office & industrial leases, totaling over 1M building square feet and $200MM in total contract value.  At GSA, Taji won a Special Act Award for using excellent negotiating skills to save federal taxpayers over $1M on a complex transaction. 

Taji received his Bachelor of Science from California State University, Northridge, majoring in Real Estate, Business Law, and Finance. He also obtained certificates in Construction Management from UCLA Extension and Project Management from UC Berkeley Extension.  

Additionally, Taji is a Certified Commercial Real Estate Investment Member (CCIM®); a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM®); a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Accredited Professional, Building Design and Construction (LEED® AP BD+C); a Project Manager Professional (PMP®); and a Real Estate Broker, licensed by the California Department of Real Estate. 

 

E-mail: tabdullah@lawa.org

 

Charlyn Bender
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Charlyn Bender is currently an attorney with an expertise in criminal law, prosecuting serious and violent felonies as a Deputy District Attorney in Orange County.   She practiced law in with the OCDA from 2004-2008.  In 2008, she joined forces with her mother, and took the reins of her family business Madison Paving Inc., becoming a general contractor and serving as the Vice President and General Counsel for the company.  She oversaw the daily operations of the company as they completed paving projects throughout Los Angeles County, including work on the Metro Gold Line, paving for the Gas Company. During her tenure at Madison, she earned certificate in Construction Management from CSU Dominguez Hills. 
Charlyn got involved in real estate in 2009 with the purchase her first home.  She served as the general contractor on that project, overseeing a full renovation over 4 months.  This home became her first rental property.  She now manages a real estate portfolio of 4 residential rentals, 1 industrial office property and holds numerous parcels of land for future development.   
Having long harbored a desire to increase her engagement in the process of public policy decision making, in particular as it related to development in urban areas, Charlyn completed the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute in 2011. Not long after the completion of the program, Charlyn was appointed to the Medical Marijuana Task Force for the City of Long Beach. In this role, she served as the chair of the committee responsible for advising the City Council about proposed legislation for the development and regulation of cannabis farms and dispensaries in the City.  
 
Charlyn is a graduate of Loyola Law School, where she earned her JD in 2003.  She also holds a M.A. in Multi Cultural Education from CSU Dominguez Hills, and a B.A. in History with a Minor in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.  Charlyn lives in the Los Angeles area. She hopes to use the knowledge gained from the Ross program to create a lasting family legacy while making a positive impact on the community. 

 

E-Mail: charlynb@gmail.com

Asia Bribiesca-Hedin
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Asia Abreu Bribiesca-Hedin serves as a strategic execution leader at City of Hope, a comprehensive cancer center in Southern California.  Asia helps to manage the planning and delivery of strategic priorities. In her 7 years at City of Hope she has helped lead and execute on organizational priorities ranging from new fundraising programs and technology platforms to cutting edge medical service line expansions.  Prior to joining City of Hope, Asia was a management consultant with Ernst & Young and also consulted independently for a broad range of clients seeking performance improvement. Past clients include Fortune 500 companies in entertainment, health care, automotive, and insurance industries.

Early in her career, Asia worked in residential real estate sales and finance and holds a  California real estate broker’s license. She’s enthusiastic about learning every aspect of real estate development and participating in residential and commercial development projects.   Asia intends to apply her Ross real estate development knowledge immediately as she and her husband are in the process of building a second unit on their lot.

At the top of Asia’s development project interests is her desire to build a series of successful co-housing communities in Southern California that intentionally bring people together. Based on the foundation that everyone should know and love their neighbors, Asia believes that a co-housing approach offers an end to isolation and allows the building of enduring human connections and lasting bonds that support successful communities and satisfying lives.

Asia earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Pepperdine University, and holds Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration degrees from the University of Southern California. She lives in Southern California with her husband, 3 kids, and 2 dogs.

Email: msasia@alumni.usc.edu

Hiram Brown
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Hiram C. Brown previously worked for Urban Housing Solutions, one of the largest non-profit developers of affordable/workforce housing in Nashville, as the Manager of Development Finance & Acquisitions. As a member of the organization’s development team, he was tasked with creating a capital markets platform that structured (and procured) over $60 million in capital commitments, tax abatements, and subsidy support for private/public real estate projects.  Mr. Brown achieved this goal within less than a 2 year time frame.  In addition, Mr. Brown also played a key role in pitching the concept of a $15 million revolving acquisition debt fund to ultra-high net worth individuals and local foundations, with an interest in social impact investing.  To date, the fund has received soft commitments from local philanthropic organizations and individual investors. 

As a former transactional/litigation attorney and corporate finance professional, Mr. Brown has an extensive 17 year background in the field of real estate and high finance (i.e. investment banking/mergers & acquisitions).  He has been involved in everything from asset diligence and financial underwriting to institutional business development.  During his legal career, he also stayed firmly rooted in social service, helping numerous at-risk youths and adults to successfully navigate their way through the juvenile and adult criminal justice process.    

Mr. Brown graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree (in Philosophy) from Towson University, and then went on to obtain a law degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law.  He is currently licensed in the States of Tennessee, Maryland and the District of Columbia. 

Lastly, as a proponent of higher education and a crusader for social justice, Mr. Brown has taught college courses as an adjunct college professor…and continues to support various social/educational causes through a Scholarship Fund (named after his late father).

E-mail:  Hiramb1@icloud.com

Lynnelle Bryant
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Lynnelle Bryant is a Certified Interior Designer (CID), president and co-owner of Masbuild, Inc., a full-service design firm specializing in architecture, interior design and construction services – actively moving into RE Development. Masbuild’s motto is to positively impact the communities we serve.

Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Ms. Bryant realized she wanted to become an interior designer in the third-grade. She attended Drake University earning a BA in Interior Design, graduating with honors. She further honed her skills overseas the University of Seville and at the School of Applied Arts, both in Seville, Spain.

An experienced interior designer, project manager and construction manager, Ms. Bryant projects are concentrated in urban communities with a focus on commercial, education and housing. She is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) and understands universal and inclusive design. 

Her first venture into real estate development was in 1994 when she purchased and rehabbed a duplex through HUD’s 203K program. In 2002, her firm acquired a vacant lot in Pasadena which was developed into a 12,000 sq. ft. commercial office building. In addition to housing her corporate offices, she leased office space to 4 other businesses.

Her latest project is a rehabilitation of a 5-unit commercial multi-family project in NW Pasadena. Future plans include tearing down the existing structure, and to design and build new townhomes or condos in the location. The goal is to provide affordable housing options for middle income and first-time home buyers.

Serving as Director at Large for the Pasadena Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Ms. Bryant chaired the organizations’ Design Trend Design Expo for the last two years, increasing participation in, and exposure to, this event. She is a member of Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH), the Multi-Cultural Real Estate Alliance for Urban Change, and served as president of the Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services (PNHS). An active member of her community, is also a member of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and the Pasadena NAACP..

Ms. Bryant is an alumnus of Turner Construction Management Course, SBA’s Emerging Leaders, Goldman Sach’s 10K Small Business, and the Inner-City Capital Connections (ICCC) programs.

Ms. Bryant enjoys reading, gardening and watching tv/movies. She has been married for 27 years to her husband and business partner, Charles T. Bryant AIA, NOMA, NCARB. They have four children, and one granddaughter.

Email: lynnelle@masbuild.com

Christine Caldwell
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Christine Sanchez Caldwell currently serves as Assistant Director of Housing/Planning Manager for the City of Montclair.  With over 30 years of experience with the City, Christine began her career as Assistant Planner and later worked for the Redevelopment Agency until its dissolution.   During her tenure with the Redevelopment Agency, she worked in Economic Development and managed the Agency’s affordable housing programs that included acquisition, disposition, and construction management of its single-family and multifamily affordable rental properties.  Christine transitioned back to Planning in 2016, and is currently involved in a variety of comprehensive transit-oriented development and commercial projects.  She remains involved in Economic Development, Affordable Housing, and Planning projects for the City and continues to manage the Montclair Housing Corporation, the City’s nonprofit housing entity responsible for management of its affordable housing units.   

Christine was born and raised in Southern California and graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning.  

Email:  ccaldwell@cityofmontclair.org

James Cheung
2019 Winter Class Alumni

James co-founded a computer reseller company after graduated from the USC MBA program in 1991. 

The experience provides him tremendous opportunities in personal growth and financial independency.  In the true spirit of entrepreneurship, James started investing full time in real estate since 2013, mostly in private money lending and residential re-development.  Recognizing the possibility Los Angeles has to offer in gentrification, he has been focusing in commercial and multifamily development in the past 12 months.  He is looking forward to arming himself with more knowledge with the USC Rose program, and to becoming an outstanding developer in this space.

 

Email: james@agiohome.com

Alisa Cota
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Alisa Elaine Cota is a licensed Real Estate Broker with over 13 years of experience in various avenues of the industry. Within these 13 years of experience she has gained knowledge in areas such as leasing, property management, apartments cash flow analysis and the disposition/acquisitions of investment properties just to name a few. She has recently decided to go independent with her licensing in order to open your ability to service a larger variety of clients.  Prior to going independent Alisa worked with different private investors and investments companies such as Davlyn Investments, Turnstone Capital and Waypoint Homes who has since merge with and operating as Invitation Homes. Invitation and is currently the largest single-family home owner and management company in the United States. I was responsible for leasing their Southern California region.  

Some notable achievements Alisa has been involved with throughout the years are first and the most notable in her opinion was her involvement with bringing the Boys and Girls Club to the City of Pico Rivera in 2015. Although she was successful in bringing the club to the city this project is still ongoing and she is in the process of evaluating options to expand within the city and possibly pursing other cities to expand to.  Another notable achievements Alisa takes pride in is the acquisition and renovation of an adjacent apartment building she was managing in 2011 known as Sage Creek Apartments located in Simi Valley.  This project entailed the purchase of adjacent 95-unit apartment building which was fully occupied and brought the unit count to 180.  We successfully managed to relocate, renovate and re-lease all the units in both buildings in a matter of 3 years.  

Alisa attended Cal State University Fullerton where She received a bachelors degree in American Studies and a minor in Spanish communication in the spring of 2008. Within her college experience she studied abroad at the University of San Jose in Costa Rica where she earned her minor in Spanish. Alisa also is currently an active member of the BNI Elite Partners Downey chapter. 

Alisa’s is working on being part of buying a building a distressed 320 unit building in Houston Texas. The plan for the building will be to renovate and stabilize within five years.  Alisa lives in Downey, CA.

 

Email: alisa@turnstone.com

Bernard Dory
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Bernard Dory is currently an Sr. Field Representative for Assembly member Sydney Kamlager-Dove in Los Angeles, CA. He advises the assembly member in matters of economic, housing, public safety, cannabis industry, and the overall political climate from the stand point of multiple constitutencies within the 54th assembly district.

Bernard aims to be an energetic multi-task oriented critical thinker experienced in policy making, campaign management, and multi sector coalition building for community advocacy with emphasis in community economic development, workforce development, and public safety with skills and experience in strategic planning, personnel supervision, community organizing, and program development.

Email: bcdoryii@gmail.com

Lori Dynes
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Lori Dynes is a marketing professional with over two decades of direct marketing experience, having worked at the some of the most valued brands including Wells Fargo and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Her campaigns span all media – radio, TV, video, email, direct mail, social media, digital marketing, and all print formats. A true multi-channel marketer, she combines data and creativity to deliver effective campaigns while staying on strategy, schedule and budget.

While still active in marketing, Ms. Dynes has decided to pursue a greater interest – real estate development.

Her first foray into real estate took place in 1999 with the purchase of a duplex, which she still owns. In 2007, she purchased a commercial building in a redevelopment area. Working with an architect, interior designer and contractors, Ms. Dynes rehabilitated the building and reopened as a cocktail lounge and event space. This business was sold in 2010. And in 2013, she and her sisters inherited their childhood home in Los Angeles, CA. After making some updates, the property was fully rented until it was sold in December 2017.

Ms. Dynes is founding member of 1421 Fair Oaks LLC, a real estate development company, which just purchased a 5-unit residential building that is undergoing rehabilitation. She has been involved in every step of the process, from working with architects and contractors, securing financing for the project, and managing negotiations for a master lease of the building with local non-profit organizations.

Looking forward to a second career in real estate, Ms. Dynes wants to develop properties that are in harmony with the local and neighboring communities, providing options for affordable housing targeted to low- and moderate-income working adults and families.

In pursuit of her passion, Ms. Dynes is currently enrolled in the Construction Management continuing education program at California State University East Bay (Hayward, CA). She expects to complete the certification program in 2020.

Ms. Dynes attended San Jose State University where she earned a BA in Advertising. She is also a Project Management Professional (PMP), licensed through March 2021, and she is an active member of Toastmasters, serving as Sergeant-at-Arms for her local chapter.

When she isn’t studying or glued to a computer, she loves to spend time in the garden, reading books, hiking Bay Area trails, and exploring different neighborhoods and communities in Oakland and the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Email: dynes.lori@gmail.com

William Elkins
2019 Winter Class Alumni

William Elkins has a strong corporate background.  After graduating from Morehouse College, he worked with institutions such as, American Express, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo.  He primarily was employed in management and analytical positions.  William was drawn to the real estate industry after being laid off from American Express during the height of the 9/11 tragedy.  While reflecting on his class in Entrepreneurship at Morehouse he decided to embark on the field of Real Estate.  He got his license in 2002 and began his new career working as a loan officer for a mortgage bank.

 After a couple years in the mortgage industry William decided to transition to the Real Estate side of the business.  He started working for Keller Williams Realty, one of the world’s leaders in Real Estate.  He always took a different approach than a typical agent. During the mortgage crisis he mastered short sales when the vast array of Realtors shied away from them.  On one of his short sale listings he successfully negotiated amenable payoff terms with three lien holders and got a $15,000 relocation stipend for the homeowner.

William Elkins is currently a Residential Income/Multi-Family Advisor with Renaissance Realty Group.  He is responsible for all the residential and commercial acquisitions & sales for the company. He prepares financial models for his clients so they have sound investment advice when buying and selling residential and multi-family Real Estate.  He puts his clients in a position to earn substantial rental income while acquiring long term viable tenants that maintain their properties.

Mr. Elkins currently sits on the Board of Directors for Second Baptist Community Homes.  The non-profit organization manages two assisted living senior citizen facilities consisting of  89 units.  He was involved with restructuring the management of those properties. As a result, they were back in compliance with HUD guidelines and most importantly drastically improved the quality of life for the residents.

William recently got his Real Estate Probate Certification.  He is always eager to learn and grow in this wonderful industry. He is looking forward to applying all his skills to the Ross Program and gaining insight on the next plateau of his Real Estate career.    

Email: realestate1819@gmail.com

Sharon Gresham
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Sheron Gresham, on the surface is an accomplished real estate investor, with 20 years of experience within the real estate field. Underneath however, Sheron has been working hard to develop her real estate experience in this challenging field. Weathering the perpetual ups and down cycles in the real estate market, Sheron has come full circle and is now a partner and CEO in a company that has funded millions in real estate closings—funding commercial and residential projects. Currently, she and her partner are taking their company Quora Holdings LLC, to new levels with their creative financing and strategic lending platform.

Growing up in Berkeley, California, Sheron took classes at Cal Berkeley, and eventually finished college at California State University, Hayward. Wanting to pursue a Law Degree, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue the law program at the University of West Los Angeles. During a Christmas break from her law program, Sheron attended Century 21 Real Estate School, completing the real estate course and getting her real estate license. She immediately began working within the finance and banking field, eventually landing at Globetrend Investments, in Culver City, where she became the lead loan officer, producer of the year, and eventually partner, until the company closure in 2010. Along the way Sheron, took the GSRE exam (Series 7), and worked with brokerage houses (interning), gaining more experience with lending and finance.

In 2012, Sheron formed Dulia Capital, and Investment Company, aimed on helping displaced communities. Dulia’s focus is rebuilding and lending to community redevelopment projects (veteran, homeless, and churches). This strong mission will help Dulia Capital to provide shelter solutions for those left behind.

In 2016, Sheron took her lending and finance experience, into formation of a new company—Quora Holdings, LLC. Sheron’s partnership with Yong (Paul) Chung, their company Quora Holdings LLC is jointly designed to have a global reach. Yong Chung’s Asian market contacts, and Sheron’s keen insight of investing, will help Quora grow small minority companies, helping them to purchase and restructure Commercial and Residential properties, here in California, and eventually in other markets across the states.

Sheron is active member of real estate organizations. AAREA (Asian American Real Estate Association), GLAAC, and the Los Angeles Real Estate Investors Club. She currently lives in the South Bay area with her two children.

Email: gresham1107@gmail.com

 

 

Crystal Gutenberger
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Crystal Gutenberger is a well-rounded senior leader with strong capabilities in organizational transformation, program management, technology implementation, and business operations.  With 20+ years of experience, Crystal has held various senior leadership positions in large, complex, and dynamic organizations in fields including energy/utility, aerospace, financial services, supply chain, technology, and big-four management consulting.  Crystal’s success has been attributed to her strength in fostering collaboration, building trust, influencing change, and delivering results.

Crystal is passionate about social causes including children in education and community development. She is currently pursuing an entrepreneurial global project to build sustainable communities in under-utilized regions worldwide, starting with development in South East Asia. Working with her mentors, Crystal is also pursuing opportunities in urban development in emerging communities in Southern California. Crystal strongly believes such communities will help uplift many lives and positively impact people’s well-being for years to come.

Crystal had faced a number of life-changing transformations, including her immigration to the United States from being a refugee. The life-long lessons from these transformational events had helped Crystal gain deeper compassion for others, specifically to be of service to people to enhance their lives. As part of Crystal’s journey moving forward, she is pursuing the Urban Planning and Development field in striving to establish places for people to live, learn, work, play, connect, grow, and thrive.

While reading is Crystal’s favorite pastime, Crystal also enjoys many outdoor activities including gardening, tennis, hiking, and dragon boating. Crystal is an animal lover and has three four-legged kids - all dogs!

Crystal holds a multitude of credentials including Project Management Professional, Lean Six Sigma, Facility Management Professional, Professional Engineer, Executive Leader’s Edge, Leadership California, and FEMA Incident Command System. Crystal is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a Master in Business Administration.

Email: crystal.gutenberger@outlook.com

Amaris Hernandez
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Amaris Hernandez is a realtor at Olsen Realty. She services the Greater Area of Los Angeles as a Realtor who represents both sellers and buyers on the residential side. Amaris supports developers by scouting for investment opportunities, maintaining rapport with other realtors, establishing a network of connections with housing supportive services, and conducting research on real estate markets and development projects. She has an ambitious desire to help mitigate the housing crisis while generating wealth for people interested in investing in Real Estate.

Amaris is in the works of structuring measures to bridge the gap for organizations who are working hard to mitigate the housing crisis by finding people who can reform housing related policies and by utilizing the abundance of newly built homes her brokerage firm sells towards that purpose. She actively reaches out to and forms connections with multiple housing specialists, director’s, housing managers, and coordinators from various affordable housing programs. In the process, Amaris utilizes her connections to better understand possible barriers that need to be addressed to allow more people the opportunity to transition out of homelessness. She adopts collaboration along with organic, strategic methods and planning to accomplish benevolent and fruitful results. 

Amaris is a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC), where she received a Bachelors of Science in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies. In the foreseeable future, she aims to take on a project of her own. The Ross Minority Program in Real Estate will provide Amaris with tools, knowledge, and a network that will help her realize a carefully-developed entertainment complex that celebrates the beauty of existing cultures through iconic cultural landmarks embedded in restaurant infrastructure, a global menu, and facets that will engage all senses to make it possible to experience different parts of the world without boarding a plane.

Email: amarisehernandez@gmail.com

Senika Levias
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Senika Shields-Levias is an advocate who has committed herself by way of Registered Nurse, Realtor and Founder of Just Us MA’s – The A’Tierra Westbrook Project; a grass roots non-profit organization whose mission is to provide preventative and supportive services to victims of violence and their surrounding communities.

Senika has been keenly interested in Real Estate since she was a young child. Her parents own a small portfolio of properties in their community and taught her the basics of investing at an early age. She is determined to continue building on this foundation by further educating herself in the industry of Real Estate. Senika earned an Associate Degree in Nursing in 2010 from Solano Community College and obtained her Real Estate license in 2017.

She is currently employed as a RN Case Manager in Outside Utilization at Kaiser Permanente in addition to actively practicing Real Estate as an agent in a small, minority owned brokerage. Originally from the Bay Area, Senika moved to Southern California three years ago after being directly affected by senseless gun violence; her 21-year old daughter was murdered in August of 2015. Removing herself from the environment that caused the trauma has allowed her to make significant strides toward healing as well as made her more aware of the underlying problems in our communities that perpetuate violence.

As a survivor, she has vowed in her daughter’s honor, to seek out ways to combine her education as a nurse, realtor and non-profit founder to make a lasting impact on her community and the lives of others. Senika is hopeful that an elite educational experience like the Ross Minority Program in Real Estate will assist in putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Senika’s most treasured role is mother to her remaining child, a 16-year old son who stands 6’4 and is the light of her life. She is reveling in the exciting journey of a student-athlete and finds pure joy in watching her son play basketball at the high school level. 

Email: NurseRealtorLevias@gmail.com

Jenny Ngu
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Jenny Ngu is the principal for her family’s fund and is a practicing real estate agent.   Jenny received her Master’s in Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Biology from the University of California-  Los Angeles.

Jenny’s professional career prior to real estate was in her family’s main form of business, bakeries.  More specifically Mexican/ Salvadorean bakeries sprinkled throughout Los Angeles. She wore multiple hats including but not limited to human resources, operations, and accounting.  Her real estate journey began five years ago when her family sold one of their bakeries and transacted their first 10-31. It was a difficult yet transformative experience that left Jenny a desire to deepen her knowledge about about the challenging real estate landscape here in Los Angeles. Soon after, she studied and sat for her real estate license.  

Email: Jenny.t.ngu@gmail.com

Patricia Rhee
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Patricia Rhee is a Partner at Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, and has been practicing architecture for 20 years. Patricia received her Master's degree in Architecture from Harvard's Graduate School of Design and received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the AIA, DBIA and is a LEED Accredited Professional. She is currently a Board Member of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce and recipient of the 2017 Culver City Women in Business Council Visionary Award. Patricia was also a Founding Co-Chair of the AIA Los Angeles Women in Architecture Committee. In 2015, her firm received the 2015 National AIA Firm Award, one of the industry’s highest honors. Patricia has served as Lead Designer for several of the firm’s most challenging and award-winning projects including the John M. Roll United States Courthouse and the United Arab Emirates’ Federal National Council Parliament Complex. Patricia believes that architecture should facilitate community gathering, bringing people together, encouraging dialog and exchange. Her project experience ranges from civic to institutional and commercial developments of all scales and multiple delivery methods including design-build. She lives in Los Angeles.

Email: prhee@eyrc.com 

Steve Richardson
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Steve Richardson is a Development Consultant and CEO of the Los Angeles Clergy Development Council. He began his career in real estate and finance in 2003 as a mortgage banker with Novastar Home Mortgage. In his tenure as a mortgage professional, he grew to become a high producing mortgage banker and real estate investor. In 2008, he along with 4 partners opened an equity REIT which acquired distressed real estate assets. In 2010, he began providing consulting and developmental services for real estate developers specializing in urban infill properties.

With over 300 million in closed transactions; Steve has residential, commercial, land entitlement and development transaction experience. He has a career spanning over 15 years as a real estate practitioner.

Steve began his educational career at Hope International University with coursework in Human Development. He also attended Goldman Sachs for Business Management. He has attended and completed many academies and programs for real estate investment and sales. He is a licensed and ordained minister serving as senior pastor of Good News Church, in Long Beach Ca. He is a licensed realtor and current member of NAR, CAR, SWLAOR.

In the affordable housing sector, Steve, as part of a faith based development team, has begun planning and entitlement of over 150 units of permanent supportive housing, in Southern California. Steve is the author of one book: A Journey to Financial Freedom, a Guide to Flipping Houses.

Upon completion of the Ross Minority Program, Steve plans to complete the entitlement and development of over 200 additional units of affordable housing. Steve resides in Long Beach, Ca.

Email: steve@investorsrealtypartners.com

Dominique Veasey
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Dominique Veasey is a native of Bowie, Maryland, and received her B.S. from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Business Administration in 2015. Currently, Dominique is a second-year Master of Urban Planning student at the University of Southern California (USC) concentrating in housing and real estate development with an anticipated graduation of May 2021.
 
Dominique considers herself a servant-leader and works every day to ensure that forgotten communities and population groups can thrive in an environment where all residents have access to living-wage jobs, high-quality educational resources, and affordable housing.
 
Prior to her graduate education, Dominique spent four years working in education, most recently working with KIPP SoCal Public Schools. During her time at KIPP SoCal, she took on the role of a Business Operations Manager for KIPP Comienza Community Prep. In this role, she worked to ensure all students were learning in a safe and healthy environment that allowed them to thrive academically. She also worked to manage several functions such as emergency prep, school nutrition, student recruitment, student health, special-event planning, daily procedures, and school budget. Additionally, she was the onsite project manager for school maintenance and worked with district partners to complete needed projects. In her last role at KIPP, as a Regional Operations Associate, Dominique developed the regional Proposition 39 facilities strategy and successfully executed applications to secure district classroom space for five co-located schools.
 
While at USC, Dominique has continued to grow her real estate development experience as a graduate intern with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). In her role, she supports the Development Services Department, which leads the planning and implementation of activities related to HACLA’s real estate portfolio, including the development and redevelopment, acquisition and repositioning of assets. Most recently, she supported the department with submitting 16 HomeKey applications.

Email: dveasey@usc.edu

Aaron Whitehurst
2019 Winter Class Alumni

Aaron Whitehurst currently works as a project manager/planner for USG Ceilings Plus and is an engineering consultant with Cooke and Assoc. Structural Engineering Co. Where he provides engineering designs on single family and multi-unit residential projects.

As a project manager with USG Ceilings Plus he has had the opportunity to work on many public projects. A few of his latest projects include the recent renovation of LAX USO at the Los Angeles International Airport and United Airlines Lounge also at the Los Angeles international airport. As an engineering consultant Aaron has worked on in-fill development and re-hab projects for over 20 years as an engineering consultant. Aaron has provided structural engineering designs for over 300 projects, ranging from single story additions to custom homes. He is now looking to take that experience and move to the development side of real estate.

Aaron graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a B.S. in Industrial Science (engineering) with and emphasis in Mechanical Design. Aaron also received a certificate of completion from Los Angeles Trade Technical College in Community Planning and Economic Development.

Aaron enjoys time with his family, USC Football, traveling, sports of all kinds, and being outdoors.

Email: AWhitehurst@usg.com