2022 Webinar Series on Affordable Housing

Peter Sabonis is the Director of Human Rights Development at Partners for Dignity & Rights. 

He received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Maryland, a J.D. from Northeastern University, and was a staff member at the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee,

As an attorney with the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau in 2010, he helped lead it to adopt a human rights framework for its statewide advocacy.

Peter works with community groups to promote human rights based economic and community development.  He brings together years of community organizing including skills related to law and public policy.

Peter co-founded the Homeless Persons Representation Project, a legal aid program, and United Workers, a multi-racial community organizing human rights group. He is a member of a Baltimore community land trust (CLT), and part of the SHARE Baltimore CLT network.

He was the primary writer and editor of the Baltimore-based report, “Community + Land + Trust:  Tools for Development Without Displacement.” Most recently, he co-authored “Developing Deeply Affordable Community Controlled Housing: A Toolkit for Community Activists and Allied Developers.” Digital copies of both publications are also included in our Session 1 Resources document.

Kevin Foy, Professor of Law at NC Central University

Education: J.D., North Carolina Central University and B.A., Kenyon College

Kevin Foy teaches courses in environmental law, business associations, remedies, and torts. 

Prior to joining the NCCU faculty, he practiced law, and before that he served as editor of Forest & Conservation History, a refereed multi-disciplinary academic journal exploring the history of human interaction with the environment. 

From 2001 to 2009, he served as Mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina [2001-09]. During his time in office, he focused on building a sustainable, environmentally sound community. Land use, local government, and environmental justice are his research and writing interests, as illustrated by two recent articles: “Balancing Multiple Goals at the Local Level: Water Quality, Water Equity, and Water Conservation,” 26 Duke Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 241 (Spring 2016), and “Environmental Justice and Corporate Responsibility: Institutionalizing Normative Expectations,” 3 NCCU Environmental Law Reporter 1 (Spring 2016). 

In addition, Professor Foy serves as adviser to the student publication, Environmental Law Review. Professor Foy has an undergraduate degree from Kenyon College and a law degree from NCCU.

David Adams is a first-generation immigrant and thirty-eight-year-long resident of Chapel Hill. He is a retired Associate Professor of Medicine at the Duke Cancer Center, with interests in environmentalism and its incorporation into smart approaches to urban growth.

A proven leader, Danise Jones Dorsey uses her creativity to resolve problems, mobilization skills to encourage people to action, and her gift to foster “Esprit de corps” among stakeholders to facilitate the formation of lasting cooperation.

Once responsible for daily operations at the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, Ms. Jones-Dorsey, an anti-poverty activist, has a rich background administering and managing human service delivery programs and fighting material poverty. She says “my professional and volunteer life has provided me the opportunity to contribute to the elimination of societal structures that perpetuate material poverty, undermine family life, and destroy communities.”

Currently, Danise serves as chair for 

• NEHI (Northeast Housing Initiative) who’s goal is to build housing for homeownership for families 50%-30% AMI (Baltimore-Towson Area median Income) resulting in reversing the projected racial wealth gap and creating generational wealth. Additionally, Danise is expected to use her leadership skills and relationships to raise private, philanthropic and public dollars to accomplish NEHI’s financial goals.
• SHARE Baltimore Inc, a NETWORK OF Community Land Trusts (Charm City, Harbor West Collaborative, NEHI (North East Housing Initiative) SBCLT (South Baltimore Community Land Trust)) whose goal is to demonstrate how area CLT’s can collaborate to
  • share “learning experiences” through technical support
  • share (as appropriate) overhead back-office functions resulting in efficiencies and reduction of overhead costs
  • create (as appropriate) synergy among the groups in order to leverage private capital investment.

In addition, Danise will use her leadership skills and relationships to raise private, philanthropic and public dollars to accomplish SHARE’s financial goals.

As a community building organizer, Danise uses her insights and oral communication skills to move groups to their “eureka moments.”

Garrick R. Good, JD, MBA, CFRE

President and CEO, North East Housing Initiative, Inc. “NEHI”

Professional Experience

Garrick R. Good is President and CEO of North East Housing Initiative “NEHI”, a permanently affordable housing developer in Baltimore, Maryland. Good is an expert in affordable housing and real estate development with commercial and residential experience. Good has served as an advisor to Federal and State Governments and provides expert consultation to organizations like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, NeighborWorks and Grounded Solutions Networks. Good retired in 2017 as President of Garrick R Good & Company which served as a Government Contractor and consultant to Fortune 500 Companies on Process Improvement and Business Turn Around and Total Quality Management.

Good is a serial entrepreneur having own and sold over 6 businesses. Good is an expert in nonprofit and fundraising and holds certifications from The Association of Fundraising Professionals and The Drucker Institute. Good has provided consulting and diversity recruitment for companies that include BAE Systems, Caterpillar, Delta Airlines and Goldman Sachs.

Education

Good graduated from The University of South Carolina in 1994 and holds a JD in Law, and a B.S. in Finance. Good earned an MBA from Winthrop University and has completed advanced executive training from Harvard University with a certificate in Business Analytics.

Garrick has received numerous certifications from The National Institute of Standards and Technology where he currently serves as a National Evaluator for The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.

Community Service

Good is currently a director on the board of The Neighborhood Design Center where he currently serves as President. Good also serves as a director on the board of The Greenspring Montessori School. 

Since June 2013, Nichole Battle as served as the Chief Executive Officer at Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation (“GEDCO”).  She originally started her career with GEDCO in 2006 as the Director of Real Estate Development. As CEO, Nichole oversees the senior services, community services, and homeless and supportive services lines of business.  She also manages and staffs the real estate development and consulting business of the organization identifying new business opportunities, growing the real estate development consulting business, addressing financing and capital needs of existing portfolio, and completing the Stadium Place community-an affordable senior housing complex located on the former Memorial Stadium site.  

As CEO of GEDCO, Nichole is leading the organization on a path of sustainability, accountability, and growth as GEDCO is embarking on their 3rd strategic plan, rebuilding their organizational infrastructure, improving their service delivery to residents and clients, while building partnerships and serving the needs of the community.  Ms. Battle has 20+ years of professional real estate and management experience in promoting and addressing community affordable housing needs in Ohio, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.  In her career she has managed the development of over 500 rental and homeownership units in urban communities. Ms. Battle has extensive experience in community and master planning as well as experience in managing the land development process for urban residential communities.

With her affordable housing and community development background, Ms. Battle holds a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University of Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business, master’s degrees in City and Regional Planning and Public Policy and Management from The Ohio State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture from The Pennsylvania State University.  Nichole is a graduate of the Leadership Maryland Class of 2021.

She currently serves on the following boards: Central Maryland Ecumenical Corporation (Secretary); Member of Leadership Board of the York Road Partnership; Treasurer and Chair of the Membership and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committees of Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition; Board Member of Baltimore Community Lending and member of Baltimore Business Lending Real Estate lending loan committees; Governance Chair of Nature Sacred.  She is a retired board member of Community Leadership Board of the Y of Central Maryland, University of Baltimore Real Estate and Economic Development Program Advisory Board and Waverly Main Street.

Nichole resides in Baltimore with her teenage daughter Kayla and dog Cocoa.

Russ Stephenson has served the citizens of Raleigh as Councilor At-Large since 2005. From the beginning, his approach to the job has been both simple and challenging: to make daily decisions that will keep Raleigh on course for success.

A History of Service

Russ is the son of Col. F. G. Stephenson, US Army (retired) and Phyllis Stephenson, mother of four and award-winning teacher of handicapped children in public schools. He holds two degrees from NC State, where he studied architecture and urban design and pursued a strong interest in improving people’s lives through design. He has always been active in the community, including two and a half years of service on the Raleigh Planning Commission.

In local schools he has served as a Board member and volunteer at Raleigh Preschool, a PTA Board member and volunteer at Hunter Elementary School, and a guest lecturer at NC State University and McKimmon Center.

In the community he has served as a precinct official for the Wake County Board of Elections, a member of the Pullen Park Master Plan Steering Committee, a design team member for the Hillsborough Street Vision Process, and a Board member of the University Park Homeowners Association.

As a Raleigh architect, he has donated time in schools for career days and assistant teaching. He has led walking tours of historic Downtown and Oakwood, managed the Raleigh Arts Commission project to produce the Guide Map to Modern Architecture in Raleigh, and led the effort to create the West Raleigh National Register Historic District.

Business Experience

Russ graduated in Architecture at NC State University and began working on projects for the State of North Carolina and for Triangle County governments and universities. Major projects include the $8+ million Cleveland Elementary School in Johnston County and Sea Island, GA resort projects valued at over $42 million.

Russ’s practice now focuses on historic preservation and urban design. He has currently completed several preservation projects, including the National Register designation and rehabilitation design for a 1925 African-American school in Nash County.

In urban design, he facilitated and authored the Stanhope Small Area Plan, part of Raleigh’s Comprehensive Plan. His planning consultant team was been selected over international competition to provide master planning services to the Village of Pinehurst, NC.  Russ has been an urban design consultant on planning projects from Virginia to Florida, including two North Carolina projects that earned statewide planning awards.