Latest / ChangeMakers with Katie Goar / Episode 109 | Part Two: Lisa Gutierrez, SVP and Director of Business Development for Affordable Housing, U.S. Bank

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Episode 109 | Part Two: Lisa Gutierrez, SVP and Director of Business Development for Affordable Housing, U.S. Bank · ChangeMakers with Katie Goar

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is change Makers with Katie Gore finding the right
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: solutions for the affordable housing community.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I'm continuing my talk with Lisa Katerras, the Senior vice
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: president and director of Business Development for Affordable Housing at
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: US Bank. We've been exploring the current challenges in affordable
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  Speaker 2: housing development, from rising construction costs to insurance concerns and
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  Speaker 2: the growing importance of residence services. So, Lisa, among all
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  Speaker 2: the projects that you've been involved with, is there one
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  Speaker 2: particular success story that stands out, perhaps a before and
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  Speaker 2: after transformation, or maybe a new development that you're especially
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  Speaker 2: proud of.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, Katie, we can't have our favorite in this space,
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  Speaker 3: but what I can tell you is that you know,
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  Speaker 3: I have been able to be part of so many
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  Speaker 3: amazing developments, whether it's serving the LGBTQ plus community in
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  Speaker 3: one of the first of its kind in the nation
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  Speaker 3: development that was serving LGBTQ plus seniors, to a project
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  Speaker 3: in Solidad, California, and you might have to look that
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  Speaker 3: up that we financed, which was a former Brasso farm
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  Speaker 3: worker housing development that had been revitalized. There has been
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  Speaker 3: so many developments, whether it's urban or rural California to
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  Speaker 3: the middle of the country that we have been part
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  Speaker 3: of that have it's transformed lives. You know, when I
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  Speaker 3: talk about home, you know, home is a safe place
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  Speaker 3: to rest your head, and home is really the foundation
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  Speaker 3: for folks to be able to live a successful life,
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  Speaker 3: to get you know, to be able to secure a job,
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  Speaker 3: to be able to be a caregiver, to be able
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  Speaker 3: to have financial feasibility, and be able to just of
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  Speaker 3: a successful life. Home is the foundation of that. And
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  Speaker 3: so to be part of that has been so amazing
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  Speaker 3: over the last twenty years. What an honor to be
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  Speaker 3: able to be involved in seal of this too. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: you talk about giving back to a community or to
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  Speaker 3: a nation, and you've got such a unique role here.
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  Speaker 3: How do you sit there.
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  Speaker 2: And motivate your team like or do you not even
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  Speaker 2: have to motivate your team because they know what they're doing.
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  Speaker 3: As much as we love affordable housing, it's hard. We
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  Speaker 3: see you know, starts and stops on developments. The team
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  Speaker 3: is not doing this work because it's easy. I will
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  Speaker 3: tell you that they're doing it because they do see
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  Speaker 3: a value in the impact that we're making within communities.
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  Speaker 3: They get to go to groundbreakings and you know, most
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  Speaker 3: notably the grand openings where you're seeing residents show off
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  Speaker 3: their unit with all of their personal belongings in it
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  Speaker 3: and telling you a story that if it wasn't for
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  Speaker 3: this housing, they wouldn't be able to house their family
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  Speaker 3: to you know, to be able to secure that job.
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  Speaker 3: That's what keeps the team motivated at the end of
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  Speaker 3: the day, is just being able to think back and think,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I would have been part of so many
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  Speaker 3: amazing developments. That's the motivator at the end of the day.
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  Speaker 2: How did you get started working for US Bank?
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  Speaker 3: So this is all by chance. I am a graduate
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  Speaker 3: of Calibornia State University, Sacramento. I'm going to shout out
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  Speaker 3: to the Stingers, So stingers up, and that was you know.
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  Speaker 3: I graduated in communications and public relations in two thousand
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  Speaker 3: and one. I'm dating myself here. I would have never
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  Speaker 3: dreamed that I would have been leading an affordable housing,
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  Speaker 3: debt and equity originations team nationwide if you would have asked,
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  Speaker 3: if you would have told me that back then. I
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  Speaker 3: actually started working at a local US Bank brand in Fulsome,
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  Speaker 3: California during college, and I would never guessed that I
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  Speaker 3: would grow my career in the banking industry and specifically
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  Speaker 3: affordable housing finance. But in two thousand and six, I
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  Speaker 3: took a position in our commercial real estate group. At
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  Speaker 3: the time, what I thought I was going to be
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  Speaker 3: doing was underwriting retail hospitality office and you know, full
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  Speaker 3: realm of commercial real estate products. My first day on
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  Speaker 3: the job, I was handed a small book entitled how
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  Speaker 3: to Finance multi family Housing with tex Exempons And because
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  Speaker 3: that our community lending group at the time needed help,
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  Speaker 3: I jumped in. And I haven't looked back over the
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  Speaker 3: eighteen plus years, you know, working, I haven't looked back.
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  Speaker 3: And again, like I said, There's been so many amazing
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  Speaker 3: projects to count that I've been part of. And this
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  Speaker 3: is just such a collaborative and inspiring community to be
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  Speaker 3: part of. Because we're always willing to work together to
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  Speaker 3: try and find a solution. We deal with many challenges
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  Speaker 3: over time, but I think just the strong community of
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  Speaker 3: affordable housing colleagues and teammates that I've made relationships with
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  Speaker 3: over the years also definitely keeps me in this space.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned these relationships. I notice that your own several
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  Speaker 2: boards and advisory counsels. The Housing Trust of Silicon Valley
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  Speaker 2: Enterprise Community Partners and the California Housing Course Sourceum, how
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  Speaker 2: do these organizations influence you or how are you influencing them?
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  Speaker 3: Like?
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  Speaker 2: What is going on in some of these types of
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  Speaker 2: I call them, like the brain trusts of housing. Are
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  Speaker 2: there any sneak peaks that you can give us as
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  Speaker 2: to what conversations are like or what the plans are
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  Speaker 2: for the future.
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  Speaker 3: I would definitely say that the relationships I have with
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  Speaker 3: all of my boards are mutually beneficial. I definitely learn
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  Speaker 3: so much from the staff and the fellow board members
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  Speaker 3: around the table. But then I also, you know, I'm
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  Speaker 3: able to add value in you know, knowledge that I
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  Speaker 3: have here with my job at the bank, and then
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  Speaker 3: just various conversations and industry touch points that I have.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's so amazing to watch organizations, whether you're
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  Speaker 3: focused on policy and advocacy work and watching the folks
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  Speaker 3: around the table who sometimes compete for funding awards, you know,
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  Speaker 3: across the country in order to build housing, but they
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  Speaker 3: put all of that aside to work together in order
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  Speaker 3: to for the greater cause of trying to build more
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  Speaker 3: affordable housing within the communities that they serve. I think
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  Speaker 3: on from the CDFI perspective, like the Housing Trust of
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  Speaker 3: Silicon Valley. You know, watching new entrants into the space
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  Speaker 3: from the tech world, being able to see how they
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  Speaker 3: are influencing and being able to add to the funding
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  Speaker 3: sources that are available to build affordable housing. It's just
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  Speaker 3: amazing to watch because you know, really this where this
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  Speaker 3: industry was banks, you know, insurance companies, you know, large corporations.
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  Speaker 3: You're seeing so many folks like you talked about the
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  Speaker 3: healthcare industry, the tech industry, different folks joining two together
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  Speaker 3: to try and build more housing. It's exciting to watch
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  Speaker 3: and be part of and being able to advocate towards.
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  Speaker 2: So I want to bring up something that's near and dear,
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  Speaker 2: and I think that this is how you and I
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  Speaker 2: first started in our circles here. It's the Woman's Affordable
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  Speaker 2: Housing Network, and you recently spoke at their summit and Atlanta.
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  Speaker 2: We have sponsored at that event, and we actually quite
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  Speaker 2: out put some scholarships together. And I was just on
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  Speaker 2: their podcast. So this is something that you and I
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  Speaker 2: really have a space that we've carved out to really
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  Speaker 2: support what this affordable housing network is doing for women.
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  Speaker 2: I would love to hear from your perspective why you
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  Speaker 2: are putting your time and talent behind this because in
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  Speaker 2: your own words, it would be great to cover this
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  Speaker 2: and what one is doing.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, So I believe strongly in advocacy and mentorship. As
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  Speaker 3: you kind of go through your career trajectory. Without having
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  Speaker 3: really strong mentors and advocates in my life, I probably
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  Speaker 3: wouldn't be where I am today. And those people are listening,
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  Speaker 3: so you know where you are. But I would tell
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  Speaker 3: you that the women's affordable housing network and be able
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  Speaker 3: to advocate, be a mentor, be able to provide guidance,
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  Speaker 3: career guidance and just motivate other women to join verses
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  Speaker 3: in the affordable housing industry as well as to to
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  Speaker 3: be able to build a network. I don't think that
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  Speaker 3: you can. I'm just going to say it be successful
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  Speaker 3: in this affordable housing industry. If you don't build a network,
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  Speaker 3: you will need somebody at some point and some level
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  Speaker 3: of a deal of deal closing that's very difficult. Or
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  Speaker 3: if you have a question about a certain funding source
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  Speaker 3: and so just being able to employ upon women that
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  Speaker 3: building your network is strong, and let me be part
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  Speaker 3: of that network so that I can help pay it
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  Speaker 3: forward with all of the information that I have, uh
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  Speaker 3: and all of the context that I can provide. That
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  Speaker 3: is something that I think that all of us should
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  Speaker 3: be doing, especially the women. We should be helping other
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  Speaker 3: women and just to try and diversify this industry as
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  Speaker 3: much as we can.
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting because a lot of people tell you that
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  Speaker 2: you need to get you know, fail first, fail early,
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  Speaker 2: so you can learn and get over that. And there
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  Speaker 2: is value to learning lessons the hard way. However, I
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  Speaker 2: like to come back and say, but what if we
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  Speaker 2: didn't have to do it all alone? You know, learning
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  Speaker 2: the hard way is one thing, but if you can
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  Speaker 2: overcome faster, or you can avoid or learn faster, how
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  Speaker 2: much more collaborative and how much further can we go?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, and just being able to have somebody that you
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  Speaker 3: can turn to or a circle community of folks that
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  Speaker 3: you can turn to to be able to kind of
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  Speaker 3: debrief on that situation that you may have just you know,
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  Speaker 3: had to go through, and then be able to get
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  Speaker 3: kind of that radical candor feedback from folks that you trust.
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  Speaker 3: I think is invaluable to be able to just kind
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  Speaker 3: of grow your career.
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  Speaker 2: And also just to say hey, this is the this
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  Speaker 2: is the path or the direction that I'm thinking about
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  Speaker 2: going or the decision that I'm making, and you just
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  Speaker 2: want to calibrate with somebody and you know, just kind
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  Speaker 2: of say, yeah, is this the right one or is
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  Speaker 2: this the wrong one? And that is so valuable as well.
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  Speaker 2: We don't have a lot of that in our industry.
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  Speaker 3: No, just to bounce ideas off of folks, I think,
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  Speaker 3: especially other women who have probably gone through maybe a
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  Speaker 3: similar point in the road where they needed to pick,
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  Speaker 3: you know, from one direction or not. And being able
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  Speaker 3: to have that insight while you're making those important decisions,
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  Speaker 3: I think is amazing.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we'll give a shout out here to Ashley Norcutt
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  Speaker 2: and everything she's doing with the Women's Affordable Housing Network,
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  Speaker 2: won't We.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely I think that they're doing great work and I'm
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  Speaker 3: so excited to see them out at Affordable Housing Finance
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  Speaker 3: Live for their big event. Let's talk about the twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty three inductee into the California Housing Consortiums Hall of Fame.
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  Speaker 3: What an accolade?
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  Speaker 2: What do you see is the goal here or the
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  Speaker 2: biggest contribution here? How did all that roll out? Just
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  Speaker 2: tell us some specifics.
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  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, it felt like something that you
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  Speaker 3: would get maybe when you retire, and I can truly
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  Speaker 3: tell you that I'm not close to retirement, so it
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  Speaker 3: did feel it felt like a little early to get that.
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  Speaker 3: But I would tell you that, you know, I jump
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  Speaker 3: at opportunities to find ways to help our affordable housing industry,
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  Speaker 3: whether it's to provide my own insights of things that
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  Speaker 3: I've learned along the way, but also, you know, from
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  Speaker 3: a policy and advocacy perspective, really advocating for whether it's
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: for additional funding, whether it's for changes, you know, with
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: the various funding sources, that's just something that we all
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  Speaker 3: have to be doing. And I have taken really great
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  Speaker 3: interest in that over the years. And as you mentioned
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  Speaker 3: my board service, that's just something that I'm very passionate about.
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  Speaker 3: If you put me on a board, prepare to hear
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  Speaker 3: from me. I'm not, you know, a static member of that.
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  Speaker 3: I just find great value in kind of gathering together
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  Speaker 3: to try and solve issues for our affordable housing industry.
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  Speaker 2: Well, congratulations on that honor. It is truly a contribution
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  Speaker 2: of what you've done, but also to our field in general,
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  Speaker 2: isn't it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's a great honor. I was very
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  Speaker 3: surprised to get that honor, But I just hope that
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  Speaker 3: it inspires others to think beyond kind of what's on
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  Speaker 3: their you know, plate every day and try to think
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  Speaker 3: about how you can bring your additional talent to the industry.
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  Speaker 2: As we close out here, Is there anything we haven't
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  Speaker 2: covered that you would like to mention? It's I think
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: that we could talk about affordable housing and real estate
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: and trends and innovation for another hour.
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  Speaker 1: Or so, but.
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  Speaker 2: Anything specific we didn't cover, No.
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  Speaker 3: I think this is a you know, a great opportunity
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  Speaker 3: to give a shout out to my team and to
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: the US Bank or Impact Finance team. You know, we
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: have a team of professionals that's really passionate about what
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  Speaker 3: we do. We have a longevity on the team, you know,
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  Speaker 3: when you think about some of the leadership, you're talking
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  Speaker 3: about twenty plus years to maybe the youngest on the
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: team has been here for thirteen years. We stay because
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: of the people, and so I can talk about all
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: the great things that we do. I am not doing
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  Speaker 3: that alone. I am doing that because of the amazing
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: team that we have here within our affordable housing space
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  Speaker 3: and US Big Impact Finance as a whole. I can't
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  Speaker 3: do it without the team, and so I just have
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  Speaker 3: to give a big shout out to the team for
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: all the work that we do to add more affordable housing.
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  Speaker 2: Well godspeed, and we just encourage you to keep adding
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: more housing so we all know the need and we
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: appreciate partners like you in this space. I've been talking
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: with Lisaka Terras, the senior vice president of US Bank,
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  Speaker 2: and we appreciate your time. Lisa.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Katie. It was an honor to
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: be here with you today.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to change Makers with Katie Gore. To
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: find out more about Katie, go to quad L dot com.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: That's Quad e L dot com. This has been a
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: production of Forbes Books Radio