Who We Are

King Harris

Chairman

King Harris is Chairman of Harris Holdings, a family investment company, and Board Chair of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE), an international packaging company. He is a Trustee of the University of Chicago and Chairman of the Visiting Committee at the University’s Harris School of Public Policy. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Senior Fellow at the Metropolitan Planning Council where he has focused on suburban housing policy issues for fifteen years, and Board Member of the Rehabilitation Institute Foundation and World Sport Chicago. Between 1971 and 2000 he worked for Pittway Corporation, ending his tenure as President and CEO between 1987 and 2000. A graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School, he served two years in the Peace Corps in Chile between 1965-1967 and an additional two and a half years in the U.S. Anti-Poverty program between 1969-1971.

Karen Davis

Vice-Chairman, Audit Committee Chair

Karen is the Director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development, where she oversees the city planning initiatives for housing and business development. She has been passionately involved in community and economic development activities over the last 20 years, holding executive level positions within corporate America and with socially responsible not-for-profits focusing on strategic solutions to propel community and economic development initiatives.

Prior to accepting the city position, Karen was Senior Vice President and Regional Community Affairs Manager of Regions Bank, where she directed the community and economic development initiatives across the Midwest. Karen, with the help of designated staff, identified and promoted programs that fostered and spurred community and economic development in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, Texas, and Arkansas.

Before Regions Bank, Karen served as Executive Director of the Springfield Urban League Community Development Corporation (SULCDC). There she orchestrated the development of affordable single family homes which were subsequently sold to homebuyers participating in the SULCDC first-time homeownership program. Karen also spearheaded a federally funded “Youth Build” program that taught at–risk youth construction skills while building affordable housing and studying to obtain their GED.

Karen received both a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management and a Master of Arts Degree in Community Development from the University of Illinois. She received a certificate in Affordable Housing Finance from the National Development Council and studied affordable housing in Birmingham, England while working toward a certificate in Urban Development from the University of Illinois-Chicago. She holds licensure as an Illinois Realtor and as an Insurance Producer in Illinois and Missouri.

Karen is also the President of the National Association of State Housing Boards (NCSHB), and board member of North Side Community Housing.

Mary Kane

Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair

Mary retired on May 31, 2013 as the Senior Vice President, Public Finance for Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. As a senior investment banker, she has been responsible for transactions totaling over $5 billion since January 2000. Prior to this, Mary served as Executive Director for the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority where she guided the issuance of more than $150 million in economic development bonds and created the Community Development Corporation to provide loans to small businesses. Earlier on in her career, Mary was the Director of Administration for Madison County, Illinois, one of the ten largest counties in the state, and also oversaw the Madison County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Mary earned a Master of Science degree in Urban and Regional planning from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Harlan Karp

Asset Management Committee Chair

Harlan is the president and managing director of the SouthBlock Group, a commercial and residential real estate development and asset management company. He formerly served as a lead advisor for Mergers and Acquisitions for KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers and spent a decade consulting companies around the world such as UPS, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Aflac and GE Power Systems. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is a Certified Public Accountant.

Luz Ramirez

Luz Ramirez, Vice President of YWCA La Voz Latina, oversees the day-to-day functions of La Voz Latina programs by ensuring that services and programs are made available to high-need families and the Latino community to help them progress and become self-sufficient. Prior to merging with YWCA, she served as the Executive Director of La Voz Latina, Inc. for four years and worked for the Rockford Public Schools for 16 years, holding various positions within the district, including a position on the Superintendent’s Cabinet.

She is a Rockford native and Jefferson High School Graduate. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Masters in Administration and Supervision. She has over 25 years of experience and training in working with the Latino/Hispanic community and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Spanish at Rockford University.

In 2010 she was awarded the Latinos of Distinction award by La Voz Latina (prior to being employed by the organization), was recognized in 2014 by late Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka as a Leader in Education, and in 2015 was recognized by the Rockford Chamber of Commerce as one of the 20 People You Should Know.

Alyssa J. Rapp

Audit Committee Member

Alyssa J. Rapp is the Managing Partner of AJR Ventures, a strategic advisory firm helping private-equity backed businesses through Fortune 500’s with new product or business unit innovation, e-commerce, digital, and social media strategies.

Previously, Alyssa served as the founder and CEO of Bottlenotes, Inc. from 2005-2015, an interactive media company specializing in digital media and interactive events (sold to PEAK6 Investments). She is an accomplished author and speaker and frequently appears on national television as an expert in entrepreneurship and on wine.

Alyssa was named in Inc. Magazine’s”30 Under 30” coolest entrepreneurs in America” and one of the wine industry’s top 25 of 100 most influential people (Intowine.com). Bottlenotes also received the “Best Advertising and Marketing Company” and the “People’s Choice Award” at the Empact 100 in September 2013 at the United Nations, honoring the top 100 companies with founders under 35.

Alyssa earned a B.A. in Political Science and the History of Art from Yale University in 2000 and an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2005. At Yale, she earned the Frank M. Patterson prize for the best essay on the American political system for her senior thesis on public housing reform in Chicago.

In addition to her services on the Illinois Housing Development Authority board, Alyssa serves on the Board of Trustees for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the country’s preeminent contemporary dance company, and on the national board of directors for Spark Program, a non-profit organization that provides transformative apprenticeships for middle school students in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

Salvatore (Sam) Tornatore

Secretary, Asset Management Committee Member, Finance Committee Member

Sam is a principal in the Tornatore Law Office located in Bloomingdale and Roselle, and a member of the DuPage County Board. He is a former Trustee for both the Village of Roselle and Bloomingdale Township, and former member of the Roselle Zoning Board of Appeals. Sam is a graduate of the John Marshall Law School and DePaul University in Chicago.

Audra Hamernik

Executive Director/Assistant Secretary

Audra is a longtime housing executive with more than 20 years of public and private industry experience. She was appointed Executive Director of the Authority in February of 2016, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council of State Housing Agencies and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago’s Community Investment Advisory Council. Prior to this, she was principal of A. Hamernik & Associates, a consulting firm where she advised not-for-profit agencies on affordable housing development and funding strategies, and counselled local governments on affordable housing issues and administration of funds. Audra was also the Executive Director and founder of Bluestem Housing Partners, a not-for-profit organization that developed affordable apartments for working families in both urban and rural locations. In each of these roles, she is credited with the coordination of complex investments that layered public and private funds to build quality, affordable homes throughout Illinois. Before founding Bluestem, she served as Assistant Community Development Director for the Village of Villa Park and as Senior Planner for DuPage County. She grew up in Johnson County in southern Illinois, and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Debbie Olson

Chief of Staff/Assistant Executive Director

Debbie is an accomplished executive, government and community leader with 16 years of experience working with affordable housing nonprofits, 13 years in elected office and over 30 years of business ownership and administration. Before joining the Authority in April of 2016, Debbie was the Executive Director of the DuPage Homeownership Center where she managed the staff, programs and finances of a premier housing counseling agency in Chicago’s western suburbs while working with federal, state and local governments to create better housing policies. Prior to this, she served on the DuPage County Board and was a member of the DuPage Federation of Human Services Reform, the DuPage County Continuum of Care and several suburban Chambers of Commerce. Debra earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Northern Illinois University.

Nandini Natarajan

Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Treasurer

Nandini joined the Authority in April 2014. Nandini has over 20 years of experience providing financial and quantitative services to housing finance agencies. Prior to joining the Authority, Nandini worked at Caine Mitter & Associates Incorporated, where she advised State and local housing finance agencies on their single family and multifamily bond programs, and was the primary developer of proprietary software designed specifically for housing finance agency cash flow analysis. In addition to her technical expertise coding software programs for housing finance, the most complicated form of municipal finance, Nandini has a broad depth of knowledge and experience managing the financial and quantitative aspects of housing finance agency programs. Nandini graduated from Smith College with an AB in Computer Science and Mathematics, and from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a Master of Science degree in Computer Science.

Maureen G. Ohle

General Counsel/Assistant Executive Director/Assistant Secretary

Maureen joined the Authority in November of 2010 as Senior Counsel and was promoted to General Counsel in August 2011. Before joining the Authority, she worked in the real estate group at Sidley Austin LLP, practicing out of the firm’s Chicago office. Prior to this, she worked for J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. in the commercial mortgage-backed securities group, having started her legal career at Sidley Austin’s Washington, DC. office from 2001 to 2007. Maureen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Studies from the University of Illinois-Springfield and a Juris Doctorate degree from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.

Vanessa Boykin

Controller

Vanessa Boykin joined the Authority in June, 2016 as a Certified Public Accountant with over 38 years of corporate, financial and government experience. Prior to IHDA, Vanessa worked as a consultant for Whittaker & Associates for the City of Gary, IN, where she worked as the Finance Director for the Fire Department and was responsible for all financial aspects including budgeting, financial analysis, government accounting, procurement, accounts payable, payroll and EMS reporting. She later worked with the City of Gary’s finance department leading the internal control team to comply with directives from the INSBOA (Indiana State Board of Accounts) and implemented a web-based purchasing system, replacing a manual process. Prior to consulting, Vanessa worked as the Assistant Controller of Follett Higher Education Group where she automated receivables and other accounting processes while managing several accounting departments with up to 22 professionals and four direct reports. Her experience also includes various accounting and leadership positions at Standard Parking, ConAgra, E-II Holdings, Beatrice Foods, Inc. and Esmark, Inc. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Loyola University of Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Executive Program.

Kevin O’Connor

Chief Internal Auditor

Kevin joined the Authority’s Internal Audit department in June 2011 and was appointed to his current position in September 2012. Kevin is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Accountant. He has extensive experience in public accounting having started his career with Price Waterhouse. Kevin has also held executive roles in finance, accounting and internal auditing. He graduated with a Bachelor degree in finance from the University College of Dublin.

Patrick Sloan

Director, Operational Excellence

Patrick comes to IHDA with over 30 years’ experience of managing process improvement initiatives within the healthcare marketplace through contracted management of hospital support-service departments. Patrick is well-versed in many different quality management strategies and systems, including Total Quality Management / Kaizen, Baldrige, and Lean Principles. He holds Six Sigma Green Belt and Project Management Professional certifications. Patrick also has real estate and construction sales and management experience. Patrick is a past Board Member and Treasurer for a non-profit housing counseling agency where he managed the finances for each of the agency’s affordable housing programs. Patrick’s career in process improvement came from a passion for helping people develop in their work and home life beginning with his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology studies at California Baptist College.

Mary Ellen Woods

Chief Information Officer

Mary Ellen is an accomplished technology executive and leader with over 20 years of experience directing large information technology departments.  Before joining the Authority in April of 2017, Mary Ellen was a technology and non-profit consultant.  She has significant experience leading IT departments for HP, Veolia Water NA, Brunswick and Life Fitness.  She has served on a number of non-profit boards including i.c.stars |*, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and the Notre Dame Club of Chicago Scholarship Foundation.  Mary Ellen earned a BA in Government from the University of Notre Dame and a MPP in Finance from the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, the University of Chicago.