Patrick Favole, born in Oakland, CA, grew up in the Sacramento and Bay Areas, before moving to Portland in 2009. Patrick graduated from Portland State University and studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt for a semester. Following graduation, Patrick developed a passion over a 9-year career in the Affordable Housing space, beginning as an underwriter with PNC Bank’s equity investment group before moving to Umpqua Bank’s lending group, where Patrick serves as Senior Commercial Underwriter, VP, for Umpqua’s Affordable Housing group. Patrick also enjoys athletics, including soccer and basketball, as well as travelling and the study of history.

Jessenia L. Juarez is the Lending Director at the Portland Housing Center. She has over 12 years of experience in the real estate industry and working with nonprofits whose mission is to close the homeownership and racial wealth gap. 

Jessenia is bi-cultural and bilingual and is passionate about assisting others in their homeownership goals. Her transparent, unbiased approach to information sharing helps build trust in her community. Homeownership is important to her because it creates stability, generational wealth, and security. 

She currently sits on numerous boards and committees with a focus on homeownership for underserved and underrepresented communities. 

Jessenia is married to Francisco, and they have a 5-year-old son, Francisco Rafael. Jessenia was born in El Salvador and was raised in the states since age 3. She enjoys serving on committees because she believes that diverse perspectives strengthen communities.

Dominique was appointed Executive Director Proud Ground in July 2023.  Prior to joining Proud Ground, Dominique was the Director of Finance & Business Affairs for Innovative Housing, Inc. where he provided financial, operational, and human resources oversight and leadership.  Dominique’s professional background was developed in commercial lending for several NW regional banks.  Dominique received his bachelor’s degree from Concordia University and holds a master’s degree from Portland State University.  

Dominique is excited to lead Proud Ground and to continue its mission of expanding home ownership opportunities to low- and moderate-income families such as to allow them to remain in communities of their choice.  He believes that the community land trust model is proven, as represented by Proud Ground’s nearly 25-year history, and Dominique believes that its greatest benefits are in creating strong families, stable communities, economic viability, and permanent affordability.  Dominique was elected to the NWCLT Board in May 2024.

Dominique has been an active community volunteer with organizations focusing on community leadership, youth sports and mentoring, housing security and diversity.  Currently he serves as a Commissioner for the Vancouver Housing Authority, is a board member for Partners in Careers and sits on the finance committee for Second Step Housing.  

Mr. Merriweather is married with a blended family of six children. A proud inductee to two halls of fame, he spends his spare time cooking, perfecting BBQ recipes and traveling to his kids’ sporting events or to tropical respites.

Steven Phan is the New Markets Tax Credit Director for Craft3, a position he began in 2021. Previously we was a Relationship Manager for JP Morgan Chase and a Banker for Wells Fargo. He holds a BS from Oregon State University and an Executive MBA from Arizona State University. Steven and his wife have a two year old son. He enjoys snowboarding in the winter, downhill mountain biking in the summer, dining, cooking, and working out.

Michael Schrader is a member of Orrick’s nationally-recognized Public Finance Department.  Mike works with state agencies, local governments, tribal governments and enterprises, and for-profit and not-for-profit borrowers in structuring, negotiating and documenting bond issues, loans and other financing arrangements.

Mike also represents banks and underwriters in connection with the purchase and sale of bonds and other financing and credit-related matters.

A significant portion of Mike’s practice is devoted to private activity bond financings. This includes representing Oregon Housing and Community Services and Oregon Facilities Authority in connection with their conduit revenue bond programs. Over the course of his more than 20 years as a bond attorney in Oregon, he has competed dozens of project financings throughout the State with a variety of public and private sponsors, developers and funders.

Mike received the Firm’s Community Responsibility Award in 2011 in recognition of his community service and pro bono work. He currently serves on the Boards of Bridge Meadows, a developer, owner and operator of affordable intergenerational housing communities, and the Portland Housing Center, an organization providing educational and financial services to promote homeownership in underserved communities. He also serves as special counsel (pro bono) to Mercy Corps in connection with its Community Investment Trust (CIT) Program.

Before joining Orrick, Mike was a partner at Ater Wynne LLP in Portland. Prior to that, Mike was an associate at Ice Miller in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Chris Hartye has worked in local government for over 20 years and has been with the City of Hillsboro since 2008. In his role as Senior Project Manager, he has led Citywide strategic planning efforts, community visioning, and various economic and community development initiatives. For the past seven years, Chris has focused on affordable housing policies, programs and projects – including leading the City’s implementation of the Regional Affordable Housing Bond. In his spare time, Chris enjoys music, hiking and spending time with his wife and family.

Eden (he/him) is Oregon Public Health Institute’s (OPHI) Deputy Director, focused on organization capacity building and overarching staff management. Eden comes to OPHI with 10+ years in community based organization leadership roles in Washington County, Oregon. Born in Michoacán, Mexico, Eden migrated to the U.S. when he was only 5 years old. Eden was the first member of his family to attend college, and he used his first-hand experience successfully navigating the challenges of higher education to mentor other first-generation students.

Eden holds a BA in Accounting from Portland State University. Outside of work, Eden serves on the City of Cornelius Council and enjoys gardening. Most importantly he is husband and father of two.

Grace Chang specializes in housing and commercial real estate financing as a Senior Underwriter with Reinvestment Fund, a mission-driven financial institution focused on financing, policy solutions, and capital access and capacity building programs. Grace is passionate about the intersection of finance, social impact, and community development and believes in tapping the power of capital markets to harness social change.

Grace is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), dedicated to the creation of sustainable thriving communities and responsible land use, where she serves on ULI’s Suburban Product Council. She earned a Bachelor’s of Arts from Swarthmore and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) as well as a Master’s in Science from the University of Oregon.