Meet Our Staff
Joan Carty
President and Chief Executive Officer
As President and CEO of HDF, Ms. Carty is devoted to expanding homeownership opportunities. Since taking the helm of HDF in 1994, Ms. Carty has grown its funding pools from $8.5 million to more than $89 million. She has leveraged more than $219 million in first mortgage activity by conventional lending partners by lending more than $94 million for multi-family financing and subordinate mortgages for first-time homebuyers. From late 1983 until 1993, Carty served with and headed three nonprofits devoted to community-based lending or actual development of affordable housing – Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn, New York, Neighborhood Preservation Program and Bridgeport Neighborhood Fund in Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut, respectively. In these capacities, she established relationships with private lenders, government funding sources and corporate and foundation donors. In 1989, she served on the committee that developed the concept for the Housing Development Fund, known then as Stamford Development Fund. Ms. Carty holds her Bachelor’s degree from the College of New Rochelle, an M.S. in urban affairs from Hunter College, and a J.D. from Fordham University.
Joanne Taylor
Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Taylor joined HDF in June 2008 and as COO of HDF, she has responsibility for all day-to-day operations, with lending, counseling, and development staff reporting to her. Prior to joining HDF, Ms. Taylor spent over 20 years in various financial services industry roles, including MBIA Insurance Corporation, where she served as a Vice President in the mortgage backed securities monitoring and restructuring group. In this role, Ms. Taylor had responsibility for monitoring the financial performance of the company’s affordable housing insurance transactions. Ms. Taylor also worked as a commercial banker and management consultant to numerous financial institutions. She holds a B.S. in finance and marketing from Georgetown University and a M.B.A. from New York University.
Valerie Saiz
Director of Lending
Ms. Saiz joined HDF as Director of Lending in May of 2011, after two years working as a venture capital analyst and start-up company consultant and 13 years of work at Citicorp Real Estate and National Westminster Bank, holding Vice President positions at both. As Director of Lending, Ms. Saiz supervises HDF’s lending staff, oversees HDF’s multi-family and first-time homebuyer loan programs, manages the relationships with HDF’s bank and municipal partners and manages the HDF loan portfolios. She holds a B.S. degree in finance and marketing from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Deborah MacKenzie
Director of Counseling
Ms. MacKenzie joined HDF in 2007, and has been the Director of Homebuyer Programs since September 2009. In addition to carrying a full counseling load with the program, which helps low- and moderate-income households purchase first-time homes, she is a community spokesperson whose outreach efforts help build enthusiasm and support for HDF’s shared objectives. Ms. MacKenzie has more than 25 years of cumulative prior experience with the United Way of Northern Fairfield County and the Department of Welfare and Social Services in Danbury. She holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and Administration from the University of New Haven.
Director of Development and Communications
HDF is currently searching for a new Director of Development and Communications.
To learn more or to apply, visit our Careers page.
Jaclynn Marie Alves, Homeownership Counselor
Winifred Bailey, Mortgage Closing Coordinator
Dave Carril, Program Support Analyst
John Chamberlain, Grants and Communications Manager
Jeannie Custodio, Foreclosure Intervention Specialist
MaryAlice Dinho, Danbury Program Manager
Todd Fagan, Foreclosure Intervention Specialist
Denise Fogerty, Data Manager
Delila Forehand, Senior Loan Officer
Ashley Hamilton, Administrative Assistant
Tiffany Lee, Development Assistant
Myriam Mena-Polk, Loan Officer/Bridgeport Program Coordinator
Pat Ormsby, Office Manager
Steve Parenti, Multifamily Portfolio Management Associate
Melvina Peters, Homebuyer Education Coordinator
Roxana Ubillus, Senior Homeownership Counselor
