Executive Council for Housing Affordability

Corporate Representatives

 

 

Mike Signer

North America Policy Director, Airbnb

 

Mike Signer is North America Policy Director for Airbnb.  He served as the mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia, from 2016-2018.

 

David Swift

Senior Project Manager, The Amazon Housing Equity Fund

David Swift joined the Amazon Housing Equity Fund (HEF) in November of 2021 to help lead the Fund’s policy and analytical efforts. In his first six months with the team he drafted HEF’s first Impact Report to highlight all the Fund had achieved in its first year. David is helping HEF create new and innovative initiatives designed to increase equity across the housing landscape. He’s involved in supporting HEF and Amazon’s affordable housing policy efforts at a national, state, and local level, including the creation of a $50 million joint grant program with the Washington State Department of Commerce. Prior to joining HEF, David worked in the Office of the Chief Economist at Fannie Mae where he researched issues related to first time homebuyers, and questions regarding affordable rental housing. Prior to his role at Fannie Mae, David worked at the Budget and Policy Office of the Federal Housing Administration, where he helped forecast multifamily loan performance and evaluate the budget impact of potential legislative measures. David holds an MBA from George Washington University and has lived in the DMV since 2001.

Sipho Simela

Founder & CEO, Matrix Rental Solutions

 

Sipho Simela is a fintech entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Matrix Rental Solutions, a disruptive platform that uses multi-source financial data to drive a more inclusive tenant screening process. Matrix’s proprietary scoring methodology helps property managers and landlords answer key questions around a tenant’s ability to pay, providing fast and accurate turnaround. With Matrix, Sipho is revolutionizing the $500 billion rental housing industry by creating the first universal rental application. Prior to founding Matrix, Sipho spent a decade in Capital Markets, followed by key roles at hyper-growth fintech companies Blend and Ocrolus. Most recently, Sipho was named to the 2023 Westfair Business Journal Fairfield County 40 Under 40. Sipho is a respected subject matter expert in proptech and in his spare time he regularly contributes market insights. He has been recognized for his leadership in the industry, and Matrix Rental Solutions was selected for the prestigious 2022 Second Century Ventures REACH cohort, a unique scale-up program created by the National Association of REALTORS®.

 

Andrea Gift Allan

Managing Director, Real Estate, Pretium

 

Andrea Gift Allan is a Managing Director within Real Estate and leads Pretium’s affordable housing investments and partners with internal and external stakeholders to develop and manage Pretium’s affordable housing portfolio, in alignment with the firm’s key business and social impact goals.

Andrea has over 20 years of experience in real estate investment management at Goldman Sachs, where she most recently was a Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Urban Investment Group within the Asset Management Division. She developed and advanced the business’ strategy to deliver community impact and drive strong risk-adjusted returns on a broad investment and loan portfolio, which included mixed-use, affordable housing, market rate multifamily, commercial and community facility real estate assets.

Andrea is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a BSE in Civil Engineering Systems.

John Hughes

Senior Vice President, Government and Industry Relations, USAA

 

John Hughes is USAA’s Senior Vice President for Government and Industry Relations, overseeing USAA’s federal, state and local advocacy and the USAA Employee PAC.

Prior to joining USAA, John was a managing director at The Glover Park Group, leading its government affairs division’s financial services practice.

Before GPG, John was a senior policy advisor to Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) during his tenure as House Majority Leader and House Democratic Whip, handling financial services, housing finance, consumer protection and trade issues. John also served as counsel to the House Financial Services Committee under then-Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA).

Before working for Congress, John was managing director of tax advocacy at the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

John earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree and master of public policy from the University of Michigan. John resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and three daughters.

 

 

Kristen Sawin

Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Weyerhaeuser

 

Ken Wingert
Head of Federal Government Relations, Zillow

 

Ken Wingert serves as Head of Federal Government Relations for Zillow, where he leads the company’s federal government relations efforts in Washington, DC.  Ken joined Zillow in October 2018, after spending 13 years on the Advocacy team of the National Association of Realtors.  Ken’s previous experience includes work with the Associated Builders and Contractors and on a number of campaigns at the state and federal level, including President George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign.  He has been named a Top Lobbyist by the Hill Newspaper and one of DC’s 500 Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy by Washingtonian Magazine.  Ken holds a Masters in Real Estate Finance from Georgetown University and a Bachelors in Political Science and Communications from the University of Iowa.

Interested in joining BPC’s Executive Council for Housing Affordability? Please contact Executive Director Dennis Shea at [email protected].

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