Board of Directors
Bruce Paradis
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Bruce Paradis served as the CEO of GMAC-RFC (now Residential Capital LLC) for 13 years until his retirement in 2007. He is a founding board member of HPF. Prior to RFC, he held positions at Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp (MGIC) and First Federal Savings in Minnesota. Currently, his work includes serving on various boards of directors and as a partner at Nucleus LLC, an investment/advisory company which specializes in real estate.
Sharon Sayles Belton
Sharon Sayles Belton is currently the Vice President, Government Affairs and Community Relations at Thomson Reuters, Legal. She is also a senior fellow at the Hubert Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Mrs. Belton is a nationally recognized expert on public/private partnerships that address public safety, neighborhood livability and economic development. Mrs. Belton served as the mayor of the city of Minneapolis from 1994 to 2001. During her tenure, she facilitated the creation of the nationally recognized Phillips Partnership to address public safety, job creation and quality housing in one of the poorest neighborhoods with the one of the highest crime rates in Minneapolis.
Barrett Burns
Barrett Burns is the current President and CEO of VantageScore. Mr. Burns has more than three decades of professional experience in risk and credit management and has held a diverse number of national and international leadership positions at several of the country's most prestigious financial services companies. Prior to joining VantageScore, Mr. Burns was the Executive Vice President at U.S. Trust, heading the National Private Banking Group. He was also a member of U.S. Trust’s Executive Committee and the Senior Management Team of parent company, The Charles Schwab Corporation. Mr. Burns also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Finance One Banking Group, the consumer and commercial finance unit of Bank One that was, at the time, the nation's fifth-largest finance company. He holds a BA in Economics from Washington and Jefferson College.
Joseph Donovan
Prior to his retirement in February 2007, Mr. Donovan was chairman of Credit Suisse's ABS and debt financing group, which he led since March 2000. Before that, Mr. Donovan was a managing director and head of asset finance at Prudential Securities from 1998 to 2000 and at Smith Barney from 1995 to 1997. Mr. Donovan began his banking career at The First Boston Corporation in 1983, ultimately becoming a managing director at CS First Boston, where he served as Chief Operating Officer of the Investment Banking Department from 1992 to 1995. Mr. Donovan holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a degree in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Donovan is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee of FLY Leasing Limited (NYSE: FLY), an aircraft leasing company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and a director and Chairman of the Investment Committee and member of the Compensation Committee of Cohen & Company, a NYC based broker-dealer and asset management company (AMEX: COHN).
Bruce Gottschall
Mr. Gottschall received a B.A. in Sociology and Economics from Dartmouth College in 1965 and an M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago in 1970. He served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer from 1965 – 1967 in Lima, Peru.
Mr. Gottschall was one of the original founders of NHS of Chicago in 1975, and it’s Executive Director from its inception in 1975 until December 2009. During his tenure, NHS of Chicago financed 29,000 units of housing, loaned $500 million in 18,000 loans and leveraged more that $1.1 billion in neighborhood investment while serving 181,000 clients.
Mr. Gottschall’s expertise in the fields of housing and community development has led to his appointment to a number of committees and commissions including Chicago’s Affordable Housing Task Force, the NeighborWorks Insurance Alliance Task Force, Co-Chair of the NeighborWorks National Home Ownership Campaign 1993-2003,and Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Abandoned Property. He received the Bank of America Chicago 2000 Community Leadership Award, the LaSalle Bank- Tom Gobby Community Leadership Award, and the Friend of the Neighborhoods Award from Local Initiatives Support Corporation. In 2004, he was named a James A. Johnson Community Fellow by the Fannie Mae Foundation.
In 2003, NHS of Chicago and Mr. Gottschall in partnership with the City of Chicago established NHS’ Home Ownership Preservation Initiative (HOPI) which became a national partnership model in preventing foreclosures.
Prior to his work at NHS, Mr. Gottschall worked at Erie Neighborhood House and the Northwest Community Organization and as Executive Director of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation in Chicago from 1970 - 1975.
Upon his retirement in December 2009, he continues involvement in community development as an active Board Volunteer in Neighborhood Housing Services of America, National Peoples Action and as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Community Land Trust.
Sanjeev Handa
Sanjeev Handa is Managing Director, Real Estate Fixed Income at TIAA-CREF where he has worked since 1988. In this role, Mr. Handa oversees TIAA's real estate fixed income portfolio, which includes commercial mortgages, CMBS and real estate debt funds. Prior to assuming his current role in 2011, Mr. Handa was head of public fixed income where he oversaw the public fixed income assets of TIAA-CREF from 2006-2011. From 1998-2006, Mr. Handa was head of asset backed securities. During his tenure at TIAA-CREF, Mr. Handa has had additional responsibilities, including oversight over TIAA-CREF's securities lending programs. He began his career as a corporate bond and emerging market analyst.
Mr. Handa was awarded a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. In addition, he has earned undergraduate degrees from New York University and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Christopher Herbert
Christopher Herbert is the Research Director at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The Center, a collaborative venture of the Graduate School of Design and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, conducts research on the nation’s most critical housing and urban issues. Dr. Herbert has extensive experience conducting research related to housing policy, housing markets, housing finance and urban development. In recent years, his work has had a particular focus on efforts to promote and maintain homeownership for low-income and minority families. Prior to joining the Joint Center, Dr. Herbert was a Senior Associate in the Housing and Community Development practice of Abt Associates Inc. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University and a BA from Dartmouth College.
Tom Jacob
Tom Jacob is currently president of Jaytee Associates, which provides business process outsourcing advice and investment. Mr. Jacob retired from Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation in 2003 after 12 years as Chairman and Chief Executive. Mr. Jacob is a consumer banker with domestic and international experience. Throughout his career, he has developed and led large and successful credit card, consumer finance and branch banking businesses. He has held leadership roles in advanced risk management, fair lending programs and affordable lending programs.
Herb Morse
For two years following his retirement, Herb Morse served as Senior Advisor to the Managing Directors of The Barents Group, a KPMG subsidiary which consults clients in the emerging market countries of the world. Mr. Morse served as Managing Partner of KPMG’s New York Metro Practice and as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Prior to moving to New York, he was Managing Partner of the Boston office, where he joined the firm. As Managing Partner in New York and Boston, Mr. Morse had general management responsibilities for the quality of service to clients, generations of new business and overall representation of the firm, human resources and financial performance of the practice.
Torod B. Neptune
Torod B. Neptune joined Verizon Communications Inc. in May 2010 as Corporate Vice President of Communications, Products and Services. In this role, Mr. Neptune is responsible for leading communications strategy and implementation of Verizon's telecom and business product lines worldwide, including media and industry analyst relations, social media, digital strategy and public relations. Mr. Neptune also serves as a key member of Verizon’s communications leadership on issues and initiatives affecting the company. Mr. Neptune previously was a leader of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide's Global Public Affairs Practice and was General Manager of its Washington, DC office. A communications strategist and business advisor with over 17 years of experience during the intersection of global business strategy and public policy, Mr. Neptune is highly regarded for directing some of the most complex reputation management, public affairs, public policy, and crisis and issues management campaigns for a range of industries, NGOs, issue coalitions and foreign governments. Prior to Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Mr. Neptune was Chief Communications Strategist for the U.S. Congress and immediately preceding Capitol Hill, was Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Bank of America Corp.
Mike Seats
Mike Seats worked as Executive Vice President at Residential Capital LLC (ResCap) until 2007 and was responsible for the legal and public policy functions. Seats joined GMAC-RFC (now ResCap) in 1990, and held several positions in the legal department and international business development. Prior to joining ResCap, Seats worked as an attorney for a Houston-based law firm where he specialized in the areas of banking law and creditors' rights. Mr. Seats became HPF's first board chairman in 2003. Mr. Seats is currently involved with several nonprofit organizations.