Community Roots Housing Foundation

Helping Community Roots Housing Grow

The Community Roots Housing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds to sustain operations and support specific initiatives of Community Roots Housing. The Foundation also leads communications and supports advocacy outreach activities in the community.

  • Cassandra

    Cassandra Mitchell

    President

    DEI Strategy and Engagement Leader, KeyBank

  • Jeff

    Jeff Reibman

    Vice President

    Principal, Weber Thompson Architects

  • Jon Weil Head Shot 1 2.square

    Jon Weil

    Treasurer

    Senior Counsel, Philips North America (retired)

  • Sara Bago Headshot

    Sara Bago

    Secretary

    Senior Production Analyst, CBRE

  • Josephine

    Josephine Wong

    Immediate Past President

    Chief Operating Officer, PolicyLink

  • Robin Lien 407

    Robin Devlin Lien

    Business advisor

  • Rennie Elliott

    Rennie Elliott

    Sr. Project Manager - Transit-Oriented Development, Sound Transit

  • Wesley Fruge

    Wesley Frugé

    Managing Director, Intiman Theatre

  • James P Hunter Headshot

    James Hunter

    Employer Engagement Broker, Seattle Housing Authority

  • Andy Post

    Andy Post

    Housing Developer, Beacon Development Group

  • Kelly Price Headshot

    Kelly Price

    President, MainStreet Property Group LLC

  • Caleb Stephens

    Caleb Stephens

    Sr. Relationship Manager - Community Development Lending, KeyBank

Cassandra

Cassandra Mitchell

President

DEI Strategy and Engagement Leader, KeyBank

Cassandra is responsible for executing Washington’s Community Engagement Strategy through partnerships with local nonprofit and community-based organizations. Her passion and focus is on advocating for diverse and inclusive communities and work environments where organizations thrive and people excel. Cassandra received her Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from Colorado State University and completed her Professional Human Resource (PHR) certification. She is originally from Portland, Oregon but has called Puget Sound home for over 15 years with her three daughters, Sierra, Kamryn and Kadyn.

Jeff

Jeff Reibman

Vice President

Principal, Weber Thompson Architects

Pronouns: he/him/his

For twenty five years, Jeff has been working in the Seattle area with focus on residential design of all kinds. He has a particular interest in working with senior and affordable housing developers and organizations to help them maximize their opportunities to provide safe, healthy, affordable homes. For the past several years, he has led Weber Thompson’s low-income housing group including the firm’s advocacy and volunteer efforts. He is also a former board member for Great City and served as an inaugural member of Seattle’s Urban Forestry Commission.

Jon Weil Head Shot 1 2.square

Jon Weil

Treasurer

Senior Counsel, Philips North America (retired)

Pronouns: he/him/his

Jon Weil is Senior Regulatory Counsel at Philips North America, the U.S. arm of one of the largest health technology companies in the world, which manufactures and markets a wide range of medical devices and health technology solutions.  He has been an attorney focusing on regulatory issues involving medical devices, the environment and telecommunications for both private and public-sector clients for over 30 years.  He has also served on federal CMS and FDA advisory committees and taskforces intended to ensure patient access to life-saving medical technologies.  Originally a New Yorker, Jon has lived in Leschi for over 15 years.

Sara Bago Headshot

Sara Bago

Secretary

Senior Production Analyst, CBRE

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Sara Bago is a Puget Sound native and an accomplished real estate finance professional with over a decade of lending experience. After completing her bachelor’s degree at Western Washington University, she chose to moonlight as an onsite apartment manager, while working full-time as a mortgage underwriter. She quickly progressed to positions of greater complexity in real estate finance advancing from junior underwriter, to underwriting manager, and then multifamily underwriter. In 2018, with a drive to understand the larger commercial real estate industry, she returned to school to earn the Master of Science in Real Estate from the University of Washington, graduating March 2020. Currently, Sara works at CBRE on the Affordable Housing team. Sara believes contributing to the community is a “must do”. She is a board member of CREW Seattle and a member of the leadership team for the UW Real Estate Alumni Association.

Josephine

Josephine Wong

Immediate Past President

Chief Operating Officer, PolicyLink

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Josephine is the Chief Operating Officer of PolicyLink and has over 20 years of experience in effective operations and administration in organizations. Previously, she served as the Chief Financial Operating Officer at the Seattle Foundation––overseeing $1.2B in assets––where she supervised investments management, finance and administration, information technology, and human capital to achieve transformative growth and increase community impact. From 2008-2013 Josephine served as Chief Operating Officer of Capitol Hill Housing (now known as Community Roots Housing), overseeing the Property Management, Compliance, IT, and Office Administration departments. She is a Children and Family Fellow with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Robin Lien 407

Robin Devlin Lien

Business advisor

An accomplished business leader and trusted advisor, Robin has amassed a 22+ year track record of success driving revenue and market share for one of the world’s top tech organizations. In her career at Google as a leader in the National Top Partners Group, Robin grew revenue by over $1B in under 5 years and led a 20-member team to deliver digital transformation strategies to Retail and Travel Fortune 50 companies. She worked closely with Google Product and Cloud teams to develop commercially successful solutions and go-to-market strategies that drove profitable sales to her partners.

After 18 years, Robin left Google in July 2023 and is currently utilizing her experience to serve in boardrooms and as an advisor. She is an acting business advisor to several start-ups of female/non-binary founders with investments supported by Graham & Walker, Madrona, Alliance of Angels and others. Robin is currently serving on Seattle Foundation’s Board of Trustees within the Governance Committee and also gives her time to Community Roots Housing’s Property Development Committee.

Robin earned a BA Degree in Communications, with a Minor in Business from the University of Washington and built her foundation in tech and marketing working in her early years as a Marketing Manager (Resident Technology Group) and as a Media Buyer within the Bay Area office of Razorfish. Outside of work, Robin enjoys spending time with her husband, Scott, and two young children. She cares deeply about quality of life in the Puget Sound region and devotes considerable time and investment to projects focused on helping the homeless and catalyzing the development of affordable housing throughout the Seattle metro area.

Rennie Elliott

Rennie Elliott

Sr. Project Manager - Transit-Oriented Development, Sound Transit

Pronouns: she/her

Rennie leads a portfolio of surplus transit property and develops strategies for partnering with the development community to realize equitable transit-oriented development in opportunity-rich locations.

Originally from Joshua Tree, CA, Rennie grew up in rural low-income housing and decided to pursue a career in affordable housing after taking a tour of affordable housing and observing how beautiful it could be. She has spent the last 20 years in the industry working for local, regional and national housing organizations across the multifamily development, federal rental program, and homeownership disciplines.

A first-generation college graduate, Rennie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego, and a Master of Public Health at Boston University. She lives in Seattle with her husband John, and two sons Drew and Jack.

Wesley Fruge

Wesley Frugé

Managing Director, Intiman Theatre

Pronouns: he/him

Wesley is the Managing Director at Tony-award winning Intiman Theatre. He is a nonprofit leader and art maker who specializes in team management, event creation, marketing, fundraising, and community organizing. He has founded brands including Forward Flux Productions and BeautyBoiz Queer Collective, for which he served as Executive Director for seven years, and has produced countless plays, drag shows, nightlife events, and fundraisers welcoming hundreds of thousands of guests. He has experience working in social impact with williamsworks and serves on the Advisory Board for the UW Professional & Continuing Education certificate programs in Nonprofit Management, Fundraising Management, and Grant Writing & Management Strategies. Previously, he served on the Steering Committee for the Capitol Hill Arts District for five years. Wesley is a native Texan and has lived in Capitol Hill, Seattle since 2013. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University.

James P Hunter Headshot

James Hunter

Employer Engagement Broker, Seattle Housing Authority

Pronouns: he/him/his

James P. Hunter is an accomplished real estate broker with Skyline Properties Inc. He specializes in residential, single family, new construction, multi family, vacation, and investment properties. He has over 20 years in the real estate and lending industry. His top priority is to make sure that every buyer and seller’s experience is a great one. His motto is: “Work with some who cares.” James believes that home ownership opportunities should be made available to all, which is why he partners with several nonprofit organizations to help educate their clients. James graduated from Ingraham High School in Seattle and then ventured to Nashville, Tennessee, and is a proud alumnus of Tennessee State University. James majored in Speech Theater and Communication and is a member of the Phi Bata Sigma Fraternity.

James currently works for Seattle Housing Authority as an Employer Engagement Broker in the JobLink program. His current role helps to assist the participants enrolled in the program with employment opportunities.

Andy Post

Andy Post

Housing Developer, Beacon Development Group

Andy Post is a Housing Developer with Beacon Development Group where he assists projects at all stages of development from funding applications to lease up and close-out. Prior to joining Beacon, Andy worked as a grant writer for housing stabilization, nutrition education, and statewide advocacy programs at Solid Ground. He assisted with the predevelopment community engagement for Community Roots Housing’s Pride Place, documenting the need for LGBTQ senior housing in Capitol Hill. Andy believes in affordable housing development that honors the local history and knowledge of a place and connects people to a shared purpose. He studied Political Science at Colorado College and was a Humanity in Action Fellow in Warsaw, Amsterdam, and Seattle.

Kelly Price Headshot

Kelly Price

President, MainStreet Property Group LLC

Kelly Price is the Co-Founder and Executive leader of a vertically integrated family of companies focused on real estate development, construction, and property management in the greater Puget Sound region. Mr. Price is the President of MainStreet Property Group LLC, a leading real estate development company, the Chief Executive Officer of GenCap Construction Corp., a commercial general contractor, and the Chief Executive Officer of Insite Property Solutions LLC, a boutique property management firm. Mr. Price is a seasoned real estate executive with nearly 30-years of experience in all aspects of real estate development, construction, operations, and financing. He has completed billions of dollars in residential and commercial projects, financing, and other real estate transactions during his career.

Caleb Stephens

Caleb Stephens

Sr. Relationship Manager - Community Development Lending, KeyBank

Pronouns: he/him

Caleb Stephens is a community development professional and has dedicated his career to community service. Currently he is working on the Affordable Housing Finance team with KeyBank and is based in Seattle. Previously with Key he worked as their Corporate Responsibility Officer for the Northwest.

Beyond these positions with KeyBank, he worked at Washington Federal as CRA Officer/Community Development Manager covering their CRA and community development work over their eight western state footprint. Prior to this he worked in non-profits in program management, program quality improvement, finance and economic development serving homeless and refugee populations. Internationally he has worked in humanitarian relief and community development including time in the Peace Corps in Namibia and humanitarian work in Lebanon serving in the Syrian refugee crisis. Caleb has his MBA from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.

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