Staff & Board

Julia Bennett joined CHPC in 2016. Prior to joining CHPC, Julia worked for eight years developing affordable housing communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. During her time at BRIDGE Housing and Related California Julia contributed to the development of nearly 1,000 affordable rental homes.  Julia has direct experience with a wide range of affordable housing finance tools including Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bond financing, and a variety of public funding programs administered at the local, state, and federal levels.  Julia brings expert knowledge in the use of project-based operating subsidies including project-based Section 8 and Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) vouchers.

Julia earned a Master in Urban Planning, with a concentration in Real Estate Development from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Urban Studies, with High Honors, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Greg Chin joined CHPC in 2008. As Senior Housing Finance Consultant / Central Valley Director, Greg provides financial consulting assistance and training to CHPC’s government and nonprofit clients. He has more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing finance and development. Greg has assisted numerous housing developers, cities, and counties as a consultant on affordable housing projects that included financing with Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, redevelopment agency funds, HOME funds, the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program, and other programs. Greg has also assisted public agencies with the creation of affordable housing programs and policies, including inclusionary housing programs and commercial linkage fees that benefit affordable housing.
Greg received a Master of Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

David joined CHPC in 2015. As Senior Housing Finance Consultant, David provides provides financial consulting and technical assistance to CHPC’s government and nonprofit clients. Prior to joining CHPC, David served in real estate and community development roles for 14 years with nonprofit affordable housing development organizations in Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Boston. As Director of Real Estate with Capitol Hill Housing in Seattle David oversaw all of the organization’s real estate development activities as well as its neighborhood environmental sustainability programs. David has extensive experience in various community development financing programs including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credit, private placement tax-exempt bonds, HOME/CDBG, the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program, CA MHP, and other programs, with a particular focus on complex, mixed-use transactions and joint-ventures. David received a Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School and B.A. from Boston University. He has served on the KeyBank NMTC Advisory Board and is a past executive board member of East Bay Housing Organizations.

Richard Mandel has been with CHPC since 1990. As Director of Financial Consulting, he oversees CHPC’s staff of 13 financial consultants, and provides direct technical assistance and training to nonprofit and local governmental entities in affordable housing finance. Richard has particular expertise in structuring financing packages for projects utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, State of California HCD Programs, Section 8 project-based assistance, Affordable Housing Program (AHP), and other state and local housing programs. He has assisted nonprofits in the financing of thousands of apartments, including new construction and acquisition/rehabilitation projects serving families, seniors, special needs and other populations.  Richard has spoken at numerous conferences and workshops on topics including Low-Income Housing Tax Credit syndication, multifamily lending issues, preservation of federally assisted housing, and other topics.  He has conducted a range of trainings on related issues.  Richard served as Chair of the Preservation Working Group of the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, and remains active in housing finance technical and policy issues.

Prior to joining CHPC, Richard was a Project Manager with the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition, a major nonprofit development corporation.  

Richard received a Master of City Planning degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Claire Parisa joined CHPC in April 2018. Prior to joining CHPC, Claire worked as a project manager with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) for three years. There, Claire contributed to the development of four different developments in San Francisco totaling over 500 units. She has experience with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bond financing, State (MHP and AHSC), HUD (project-based Section 8, Shelter Plus Care, and Section 811), and local San Francisco financing sources. Before turning to domestic affordable housing development, Claire worked with self-built communities across Latin America on housing rights and economic development.

Claire earned her Master’s in City Planning (MCP) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also holds a B.A. in Urban Studies and a B.S. in Society & Environment from the University of California, Berkeley.

Claire currently serves on NPH’s Emerging Leaders Peer Network (ELPN) Steering Committee as a Professional Development Subcommittee Co-Chair.

Meg McGraw-Scherer joined CHPC in 2000 and has more than 19 years of experience in affordable housing finance and development. As Senior Housing Finance Consultant / Peninsula Director, she provides financial consulting and technical assistance to nonprofit corporations and public agencies in Northern California. Meg has expertise in structuring financing packages for projects utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, as well as multiple public funding programs administered at the local, state, and federal level. She has helped her nonprofit clients finance new construction and acquisition/rehabilitation projects serving families, seniors, and special needs populations.

Prior to joining CHPC, Meg worked for two years in the Los Angeles office of the National Equity Fund, a nonprofit tax-credit syndication organization that provides millions of dollars in tax-credit equity to projects throughout the country. There she worked as an underwriter on Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects sited in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to the National Equity Fund, Meg spent over three years at the King County Housing Authority in Seattle as an intern, Housing Programs Coordinator, and Housing Developer in the Housing Authority’s Planning and Development Departments where she worked on the development of projects using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, and various federal and local financing programs.

Meg received a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College. She is currently serving as a member of the City of Menlo Park’s Housing Commission and as a Board Member of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County.

Zorica rejoined CHPC in 2017. As Senior Housing Finance Consultant / Deputy Director of Training, Zorica provides financial consulting, technical assistance and training to our nonprofit and government clients throughout California. Prior to rejoining CHPC, Zorica spent two years as a Project Manager of Affordable Housing Tax Credit Investments with U. S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation where she underwrote and closed $157 million in Low Income Housing and Historic Tax Credit investments. Zorica has extensive experience with Low-Income Housing Tax Credit financing, as well as a range of federal, state, and local programs, including local rental/operating subsidies. Zorica has directly contributed to the development or rehabilitation of over 1,700 units of affordable housing totaling more than $470 million in development costs. Prior to her previous five-year tenure with the California Housing Partnership, Zorica worked as a Senior Project Manager with A Community of Friends where she managed the development of 250 supportive housing units and $115 million in financing. Zorica holds a Master’s degree in Planning with a specialization in Housing and Community Development from UCLA.

Mengxin Zhou joined the California Housing Partnership in 2017. As a Housing Finance Consultant, she provides financial consulting, technical assistance and training to our nonprofit and government clients throughout Northern California. Prior to joining CHPC, Mengxin worked for EAH Housing as a Project Manager, where she worked on complex Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, tax-exempt bond, and HUD-assisted financing and development projects. Prior to joining EAH, Mengxin was an acquisitions analyst for CREA, Inc., a national tax credit syndicator specializing in federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits investment. During her three years there, she worked closely with other members of the acquisitions team and underwriting team to identify and close 12 equity investments totaling $98 million in tax credits in eight different states, including California. Mengxin holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Renmin University of China, and a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University.