Laura Kobler joined the California Housing Partnership in 2003. As Senior Director, Financial Consulting – Tax Credit and Bond Programs, she provides financial technical assistance and training to our nonprofit and government agency partners throughout Northern California, and mentors local financial consultants. She was promoted from Sacramento Region Director in 2022. With more than 25 years of experience, Laura brings particular expertise in the development of mutual and rental housing and the regulations governing the competition for Low Income Housing Tax Credits. She serves on the board of the California Coalition for Rural Housing and was the past chair of the Sacramento Reinvestment Committee.

Prior to joining the Partnership, Laura served as the Director of Housing Development for Sacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA) (renamed, Mutual Housing), where she oversaw the organization’s development of new rental housing and acquisition and rehabilitation of existing properties. Prior to joining SMHA, Laura was Housing Program Manager and Project Manager at Rural California Housing Corporation (now part of Mercy Housing), where she was responsible for the development of 27 multi- and single-family affordable housing developments. Laura received a Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Sacramento. A graduate of the LISC Housing Development Training Institute, Laura also served as HDTI’s lead trainer for over 12 years until 2021.

Lauren Maddock joined the California Housing Partnership in 2018. As Senior Director, Financial Consulting – Portfolio Recapitalization, she provides financial consulting, technical assistance, portfolio analysis and training to our nonprofit and government partners on recapitalization strategies.  She has extensive experience evaluating and developing strategies for older asset portfolios and has direct experience with a wide range of affordable housing finance tools including LIHTCs, tax-exempt bonds, and virtually all public funding programs administered at the local, state, and federal levels. She was promoted from her previous role as Director, Financial Consulting in 2023.  Lauren is a frequent conference speaker and has presented on a variety of topics including portfolio analysis and management, Year 15 investor exits, re-syndications, and occupied rehabilitation and relocation strategies.

Prior to joining the Partnership, Lauren worked for 13 years at Mercy Housing California in a variety of roles, most recently as a Senior Project Developer specializing in the re-syndication of Mercy Housing’s existing portfolio. Prior to that, she was the Director of Asset Management for Mercy’s California portfolio encompassing 130 properties representing nearly 8,500 affordable units where she oversaw a team of five Asset Managers across the state. In this role, Lauren became a specialist in negotiating the buy-out of Low Income Housing Tax Credit investors in 18 transactions.

Lauren received a Master’s of Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco School of Management and a B.A. in Archaeology with a minor in Earth Science from Boston University. She served on HomeRise (formerly Community Housing Partnership) Board of Directors from 2014 until 2022 and was appointed to the Richmond Rent Board in 2016, serving as Chair from 2019 until her departure in 2021.

Ren Gemheart joined the California Housing Partnership in 2021. As a Senior Financial Consultant, they provide financial consulting, technical assistance and training to our nonprofit and government partners. They have experience with federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bond financing, funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank’s AHP Program, State of California HCD programs including MHP, AHSC, and NPLH; and local funding programs in Sacramento.

Prior to joining the Partnership, Ren worked as a project manager with Mutual Housing California for 2.5 years. There, Ren contributed to the development of several housing communities totaling around 400 units in the Sacramento area. Working with the MHP and NPLH programs, Ren focused on permanent supportive housing. Ren earned their Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. They also hold a B.S. in Anthropology and Geography from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.