Metro Housing Collaborative (MHC) is an arm of ReImagine, a three-county agency devoted to ending homelessness in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. My role as a Housing Navigator is to find affordable housing for the low-income and underserved in the community by continuously innovating programs to identify and expand affordable housing availability through Rental Property Owner incentives and recruitment, shared rental housing initiatives, housing search tools for the community social service agencies, and related programs. Tools include HMIS, PadMission, RentWise, Housing Inspection, and community network-building. MHC has been very effective at rapidly housing the homeless and needy in the community, and I am proud to be part of that important work.

I have been invited to participate as a volunteer advisor to this important program to address and innovate solutions to Nebraska's affordable housing shortage challege. NIFA, together with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, have identified the shortage of affordable housing as an impedment to economic growth in the State. So, it is a time for disruptive thinking and making hard choices to help Nebraska lead the Midwest in turning housing into an economic attraction magnet.

I worked with the homeless, landlords, property managers, and case managers to identify and provide affordable housing and financial support for the homeless and underserved in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. Heartland Family Services is the largest nonprofit homeless service agency in the region. The Company is a key partner in the Continuum of Care (CoC) in this multi-county area. It is a massive effort to end homelessness with a "Housing First" approach. Traditional approaches will never end homelessness. So I was also evaluating how to disrupt the status quo by incorporating innovations, including helping clients to consider shared apartment options (SROs), and to assist seniors on fixed income to accept tenants to reduce the cost of maintaining their homes. I am also advocating for very affordable modular housing "villages," and accessory dwelling units (ADU) to rapidly reduce and transform the homeless population, always guided by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the principle of "Housing First". It is an honor to be here and doing good for the community and underserved residents.

Nebraska World Affairs Council is a nonprofit, dedicated to creating pathways to enable students, young professionals, and community leaders to become competent, globally-aware citizens to thrive in this complex, diverse, world that we live in.My responsibility was to oversee the development and execution of strategic financial, marketing, and reporting plans that sustain the financial success of the 501(c)(3). Lead the rollout of daily operational logistics such as event promotion, staff workflow, and donor engagement to acquire needed funds. Build lasting partnerships with key organizations to expand regional growth.KEY ACHIEVEMENTS: • Built a talented and diverse Board of Directors comprised of academics, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. • Built a successful guest speaker, social media program, and over 12 key partnerships with leading nonprofits.

Siena Francis House is the largest homeless shelter and service organization in Nebraska. with lodging, food, clothing, and counseling support for over 300 people. They have built a small house village of 50 single-family homes, for transitioning the homeless on their way to full independence. They are the only homeless shelter organization that accepts any homeless individual, regardless of their condition and social challenges. For me, it is an emotional and social challenge to care for the needs of these underserved individuals, regardless of whether it is basic survival needs, access to permanent modular housing, addiction recovery, human services counseling, job training, or volunteering. My role has been to support functions related to food service, pantry/receiving dock, and laundry, working side-by-side with residents currently undergoing counseling recovery services.

Responsible for leading a group of over 90 winery and vineyard owners and managers in developing a strategic marketing plan, project management, budget and initiatives to build the AVA brand, drive winery visitation and community engagement for this outstanding AVA. The Eola-Amity Hills of the Willamette Valley is recognized for its world class Pinot Noir, and as a hot target for vineyard investors from out of state as well as from overseas. Stay tuned!Four member wineries recently named to the prestegious "2017 Wine & Spirits Magazine Top 100 Wineries in the World"!!KEY ACHIEVEMENTS: • Drove the process for creating a new website (RFP - needs design, proposal assessment, vendor management. Worked on successful grant proposal for video marketing to support the new website. • Developed a successful pitch model for travel writers with a three-day site research visit for them.

I have been fortunate to be recruited to develop a new degree program, AAS in Wine Business, at Chemeketa Community College. Chemeketa is one of the few Colleges in the Northwestern US with complimentary degree programs in Viticulture Management, Winemaking, and Wine Business. The College has a dedicated 55-acre wine campus, the Northwest Wine Studies Center, located near West Salem Oregon, in the heart of the Willamette Valley. There are currently ten highly qualified full time, part time, and adjunct instructors in the program, offering over 30 courses. The students manage their own vineyard of seven grape varieties, make wine in the College’s state-of-the-art winery, and then learn how to market and sell the finished product.I created and managed the rollout of a new business degree program. Developed and taught business courses and workshops focused on planning, sales, marketing, consumer research, and regulatory compliance. Mentored students on how to reach their industry pursuits. Planned events, a new award program, and recruited sponsors and volunteers. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS: • Created innovative training method called “Micro-Tasks and Micro-Skills.” • 100% of my enrolled students secured industry jobs within three months.

SBDC is a new joint venture between the US Small Business Administration and California State University at Monterey Bay. The focus is to facilitate profitable growth for small businesses in the Northern Central Coast in the post-recession period. My role is to take the consulting/coaching lead for the tourism, wine and agriculture sectors, with the key metrics being profitable growth, investment, and job creation. This is a case management role, handling intake processing, client services, prioritizing client tasks, and reporting outcomes. The services include business planning, goal-setting, risk assessment, market research, feasibility assessment, marketing strategy, distribution channel evaluation, financing advice, project management, organizational structure, competitive analysis, new product development, IT strategy, financial forecasting, export readiness and market selection, differentiation and brand management. It is a challenging and fast-changing environment. The national economic recovery will depend to a large extent on job creation/retention in the small business sectors; and I have jumped in with both feet to help accelerate that process. In 2010-2012 we helped our clients generate and retain hundreds of jobs, and raise several million dollars in financing.KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:• Developed and taught successful new workshops to help clients achieve their goals• Frequently led the team in client funding acquisition from banks and investors