Theresa Alvarez is a longtime Austinite and proponent of affordable housing, as well as president and CEO of the Austin Economic Development Corp. Alvarez came to the position after more than 19 years at Wells Fargo. Prior to this role, she was most recently senior vice president of community relations for the Wells Fargo Foundation, where she oversaw philanthropy budgets for affordable housing and economic development investments in Central Texas and across the state. She previously worked with PeopleFund, an Austin-based community development financial institution, and also co-founded Austin housing nonprofit East Austin Conservancy, which focuses on helping families in East Austin at risk of displacement. Over the years, Alvarez has served on 20 local nonprofit boards, committees and task forces, such as the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy board, the Ann Richards School Foundation board and Foundation Communities.

Heather K. Way joined the Texas Law faculty in 2006, where she co-directs the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. A national expert in affordable housing and community development and a frequent commentator in the media, Professor Way focuses on increasing housing stability, opening paths to economic opportunity, and fostering equitable and inclusive communities. Professor Way’s work has contributed to many high-impact legal reforms at the state and local levels including, most recently, laws to facilitate the creation of community land trusts and broaden heir property owners’ access to property tax relief programs. Professor Way is also the co-founder of the Uprooted Project, which provides resources and strategies for addressing displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods in Texas. Her current work includes a focus on increasing the housing stability of homeowners with heirs’ property (for example, here and here) and addressing substandard housing. Other recent work includes a community toolkit on preserving historic places with ties to African-American heritage and an analysis of the property tax breaks available for affordable housing complexes sponsored by public facility corporations. Professor Way is also the author of Real Property for the Real World, a book of hands-on case studies for law students in property law courses. Since Fall 2021, Professor Way has served as the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section Advisor for the Uniform Law Commission’s Tenancy in Common Ownership Default Rules Drafting Committee. She is also the co-chair of the Community Development Practitioners and Legal Educators Practice Group for the American Bar Association’s Affordable Housing and Community Development Forum. After graduating from The University of Texas School of Law, where she co-founded the Public Interest Law Association and was Grand Chancellor, Professor Way clerked for the Honorable William Wayne Justice of the Eastern District of Texas and served as a Skadden Fellow representing tenants and community groups at Legal Aid of Central Texas in Austin. Following her fellowship, she co-founded and directed Texas Community Building with Attorney Resources (Texas C-BAR), a statewide program that has delivered millions of dollars in pro bono transactional legal resources to community organizations.

Janine Sisak, Senior Vice President/General Counsel of DMA Development Company, LLC, has fifteen years of experience in the development and ownership of affordable housing. Ms. Sisak manages projects funded through the Housing Tax Credit program, as well as a variety of HUD programs. As General Counsel for DMA, she handles all legal matters for the firm and manages partnership and loan closings and refinances. Additionally, she handles all asset management responsibilities for DMA Development, working very closely with DMA Properties. As Senior Vice President and DMA’s Principal in Charge of Development Originations, Janine specializes in mixed-income, mixed-use developments with multiple sources of financing and has completed some of DMA’s most difficult transactions. One of the developments she managed is Wildflower Terrace, a 201-unit senior affordable housing development in Austin, Texas, which has just been recognized by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing as a finalist for the 2017 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award. Prior to joining DMA, Ms. Sisak was an Employment Law Associate for Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, New York, September 1998 through October 2000. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, where she graduated cum laude in May 1993. In May 1998, she received her Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law, New York, New York, where she was Notes and Articles Editor for the Fordham Law Review. Ms. Sisak is a member of the State Bar of Texas and a Member of the New York Bar Association. She was a visiting lecturer at the Law School, College of Management, Rishon Lezion, Israel in 2001. Janine was elected to the Board of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP) in 2014 and was elected Secretary in 2016. She has been lauded for her work as Chair of TAAHP’s Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) Committee. She is on the Board of Rosewood Senior Housing I, Inc., an Austin based nonprofit which owns and operated Lyons Gardens, a HUD Section 202 providing affordable housing for seniors. A Pennsylvania native, she graduated cum laude from Tufts University (MA) with a BA in Economics and received her law degree from Fordham University School of Law (NY) where she was Notes and Articles Editor for the Fordham Law Review. Janine is a member of the Texas Bar Association.

Nhat brings a passion for integrated design into land development through his background in Architectural Engineering. As Vice President, he manages multiple projects and clients, develops new business, and oversees Building Information Modeling and construction document production. His integrated civil and structural knowledge ranges from stormwater management systems, wet utilities, sports running tracks to retaining structures, building spatial arrangement and site integration. His land development experience includes site feasibility studies, zoning changes, subdivisions, and commercial site plans. He has cultivated relationships and reputation with review staff, especially at the City of Austin, for effective and responsible design. His in-depth expertise includes utilities, innovative stormwater quality management, and site plan accelerated permitting. Nhat had successfully delivered several fasttrack and general permits in record time. With intimate knowledge of the permitting process and personal relationships with City staff, Nhat is the go-to man to rescue projects in crisis.