Neighborhood Impact Investment FundOne Neighborhood at a Time
Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund
Linda Sorden has more than 40 years of experience in the financial services industry. Since 2010, she served as senior loan officer with the Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Inc. before retiring in 2022. Enterprise is a certified Community Development Financial Institution providing community and economic development financing on a national level. Linda worked primarily in the core market of Baltimore, MD, as well as Detroit, MI; New Orleans, LA; California; Georgia; Florida; and Ohio. She developed, underwrote, and closed more than $200 million in loans during her tenure at Enterprise. Loan products included construction finance, tax credit bridge loans, gap financing, and predevelopment loans.
Prior to joining Enterprise, she was responsible for creating, implementing, and managing a variety of lending programs and loan portfolios with a focus on real estate development for community and economic development.
Jalal “Jay” Greene is the former Chief Operating Officer of the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development. Jay’s career spans 40 years and includes finance, nonprofit management, affordable housing, and community development. Prior to joining DHCD, Jay was Chief for the Division of Housing for Montgomery County (Maryland). He has also served as Budget Director for the District of Columbia, Chief Financial Officer for the District’s Convention Center, Director of Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development, and Director of Housing and Community Development for the District. Prior to his career in affordable housing, Jay worked in investment banking and was employed by New York City’s largest minority-owned firm at the time.
Michael serves as a Senior Associate at Trout Daniel &Associates where he specializes in investment sales with a focus on multi-family and mixed-use developments.
Prior to TD&A, he was Assistant Secretary for Real Estate for the Maryland Department of General Services for 8 years where he managed an 11 million Square Foot (SF) Office portfolio, led major redevelopment projects, including the $1.5 billion dollar transit oriented development (TOD) of State Center, construction of 200,000 SF state-of-the-art public health lab, and new 100,000 SF headquarters for the Department of Housing at the New Carrollton Station TOD. Prior to working for the State, he was a Vice President and General Manager for the Rouse Company where he provided overall leadership and management for Harborplace and The Gallery, a mixed-use complex containing 300,000 SF of retail, 265,000 SF of office space, an 1,100-car garage, and a 600-room hotel.
Michael holds a BS in Business and Economics from the University of Maryland – College Park, where he played football.
Arnold Williams is the Managing Director and a partner of Abrams Foster, Nole & Williams, P.A., a minority-owned certified public accounting firm founded in 1983. He serves as Board Chairman of the Maryland Health and Higher Education Facilities Association and is a board member of numerous non-profit organizations including the Baltimore Development Corporation, Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Development Authority, Lexington Market, Inc., The Presidents’ Roundtable, MORE-Marylander’s Organized for Responsibility and Equity, and the MD State Board of Accountancy.
Marc Broady serves as Vice President of Community Affairs at Weller Development, bringing over a decade of experience in civic and community involvement to the company. At Weller, Marc leads initiatives focused on workforce development, local hiring and apprenticeships, affordable housing, support for women- and minority-owned businesses, and other partnerships. He joined Weller after serving as lead counsel and policy advisor to Rep. Elijah Cummings. Previously, Marc served in the Baltimore City Public School System and The Office for the Mayor of Baltimore City. He is a board member at My Brother’s Keeper of Baltimore, the Pimlico Community Development Authority, and the Holistic Life Foundation. He is also a Young Professionals Board Member at Center Stage and a mentor for the CollegeBound Foundation.
F.T. Burden was appointed as the CEO of Springboard Community Services (SCS) in September of 2015 following a national search that yielded more than 200 candidates. Prior to joining SCS, he served for nearly 15 years as President & CEO of AIDS Interfaith Residential Services, Inc. / Empire Homes of Maryland. F.T.’s chief duties include leading fund and partnership development, cultivating the board of directors, and establishing the agency’s strategic direction and vision. A Florida native, F.T. enjoys cooking, traveling, and attending live music and dance performances.
Augie Chiasera is President of the Greater Baltimore/Chesapeake regions of M&T Bank. Mr. Chiasera joined M&T Bank as an Executive Associate in 1993 and has performed a number of senior line and staff positions throughout the organization. Since relocating to Baltimore with M&T’s acquisition of Allfirst in 2002, Mr. Chiasera has led M&T’s Small Business efforts throughout Maryland/DC/Northern Virginia and managed the Middle Market/Large Corporate Banking divisions for the Baltimore region. Prior to his current assignment, he was responsible for leading a multi-year strategic review of the bank’s lending/deposit business across M&T Bank and managing the Bank’s global sourcing program. Augie is Board Chair for the Baltimore Development Corporation and serves on the boards of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Center Stage, University of Maryland Medical System, Greater Baltimore Committee, and Garrison Forest School.
Annie Milli is a civic strategist and philanthropic leader with deep expertise in neighborhood revitalization and systems-level change. She currently serves as Program Officer at the Goldseker Foundation, where she leads grantmaking and collaborates with public, private, and nonprofit partners to strengthen Baltimore’s communities.
Annie previously served as Executive Director of Live Baltimore and held senior roles in the administrations of three Baltimore mayors, shaping housing, neighborhood, and economic development strategies. Her work is grounded in the belief that effective community investment requires cross-sector collaboration, long-term commitment, and responsiveness to both resident priorities and market realities.
A respected voice in Baltimore’s civic landscape, Annie serves on the boards of the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund, Healthy Neighborhoods Inc., and Ronald McDonald House of Maryland. She was recognized as an Enterprising Women of Excellence honoree by the Baltimore Business Journal and brings strategic insight, public-sector fluency, and a deep love for the City to all of her work.
Michael Pokorny is the founding CEO of the Maryland Community Investment Corporation. As a quasi-governmental entity, MCIC is dedicated to building long-term financial capacity and sustained investment in low-income communities across Maryland through New Markets Tax Credits. Michael was previously a Principal with Cap Ex Advisory Group, leveraging his experience with tax credits, public finance, subsidy programs, grants, and the demands of market-driven debt solutions to support clients executing complex community development projects. Prior to joining Cap Ex, Michael was a senior underwriter and Mid-Atlantic market leader for Reinvestment Fund, one of the nation’s largest CDFI’s. He also served in Baltimore City Government, where he led one of Baltimore’s largest TIF approval processes on behalf of a private developer and led implementation of public and affordable housing solutions at the City of Baltimore after the Great Recession. He continues to serve on boards of local community development organizations in Baltimore.
Mary Ann Scully is the Dean of the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola University of Maryland where she is tasked with leveraging the historical strength of both the undergraduate and graduate programs with renewed focus on the needs of employers and the success of a new generation of students. Prior to serving as Dean, she was the co-founder, CEO, and chairperson of Howard Bank until its merger with FNB of Pennsylvania in 2022.
A lifelong banker with more than 40 years of varied executive experiences in the Maryland marketplace, Mary Ann led teams responsible for both Howard Bank’s organic growth and repeated strategic acquisitions that created the Greater Baltimore region’s largest locally headquartered banking company and Maryland’s third largest locally headquartered bank with more than $2 billion in assets.
In addition to serving on the NIIF Board, Mary Ann is a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Enoch Pratt Library, vice chair of the Mount Saint Joseph board, and a board member of Capital Bancorp and CapitalBank.
Eric Stephenson has lived and worked in Baltimore since 2011 and been a Project Manager with Southway Builders since 2019. He is responsible for the project schedule, budget, and quality control, as well as subcontractor coordination and client relations, for both commercial and multi-family projects.
In addition to serving on the NIIF Board, Eric is Vice Chair of the Baltimore City Planning Commission, the founder and President of the Sandtown South Neighborhood Alliance, a member of the No Boundaries Coalition Board, and a member of the Harlem Park Neighborhood Council.
Sonja Wells is Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at City First Bank, a Washington D.C.-based Community Development Financial Institution, where she oversees the bank’s $200 million dollar loan portfolio with concentrations in affordable multi-family housing, education, and health facilities, and small to medium sized businesses. She has over three decades of experience in commercial lending and community development finance in the Washington and Baltimore area. Prior to joining City First, Sonja was Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager at M&T Bank and a Business Banker for First Union Bank / Wachovia (now known as Wells Fargo). Sonja is a board member of DC Chamber of Commerce, Jubilee Baltimore, Inc., the African American Real Estate Professionals, the Southeast Community Development Corporation, and Wildflower Public Charter Schools. She also serves on the Loan Committee of the Maryland Casino Business Investment Fund.
Lori Glass currently serves as the Assistant Commissioner for Project Finance at Baltimore City DHCD. She has over 20 years of experience in impact investing and program development. Lori was most recently the Chief Lending Officer at NIIF where she led loan origination and business development. Prior to joining NIIF, she was selected to build a new program at the Primary Care Development Corporation, a CDFI specializing in healthcare lending. There she launched a program funded by New York State created to increase access to primary and behavioral health care in underserved markets. From 2013-2016, she served as CEO for Appalachia Community Capital, a start-up loan fund established to leverage grant capital, foundation PRIs, and bank lending in order to support under-invested communities. From 2003-2011, she worked at the Reinvestment Fund, where she was a member of the management team, led key efforts to launch the healthy foods financing program, and worked as a local market director. Lori serves as board member of the National Housing Trust Community Development Fund where she serves on the Loan Committee.
Paul Taylor is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Small, Minority, and Women Business and a member of the Mayor’s cabinet. Mr. Taylor is a founding member of the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce and a current member of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce, Baltimore Development Corporation, and Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council. He is also a board member of the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority’s loan committee (MSBDFA) and works with the Partnership for Lending in Underserved Markets (PLUM) with the SBA and the Milken Institute. In addition, Mr. Taylor is a founding member of the African American Real Estate Professionals Maryland (now known as the Commercial Real Estate Professionals) and past President of the Ashburton Area Association.