Fred Stafford, President

Fred Stafford is the owner and Executive Vice President of a commercial and risk management services company specializing in the asset protection and risk transfer for Northern California businesses.  Mr. Stafford has been instrumental in assessing the risk management needs of several non-profits in the Bay Area.  Mr. Stafford is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of University of California at Berkeley where he majored in Sociology with an emphasis on Public Policy Research Methodology.

Patrick McNerney, Secretary

Patrick McNerney has over 20 years of experience in real estate, construction and historic preservation. His expanding portfolio includes a range of new construction and renovations in diverse property types in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York including single-family housing, live/work spaces, custom residences, commercial office buildings, restaurants, multi-building urban developments, and historic adaptive reuse projects. Mr. McNerney is a broker member of the National Association of Realtors and California Associations of Realtors, and serves on the advisory board for the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center. He is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Ramsey Daya, Treasurer
Ramsey Daya is the co-founder and Principal of Regency Capital Partners. Regency Capital Partners is a boutique real estate finance firm that specializes in arranging both debt and equity for clients ranging from regional developers to national publicly traded investors. He is responsible for developing and maintaining the firm’s relationships with the lending and investment community in addition to managing the origination, analysis and placement of real estate debt and equity nationwide. Prior to forming Regency, Ramsey served as Vice President in the Capital Markets Unit at Cohen Financial and prior to Cohen he was a financial analyst at Applied Materials in Santa Clara, California. Mr. Daya earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance with honors from the University of Santa Clara.

Jill Helffenstein, Director

Jill Helffenstein is a marketing and creative professional involved in corporate identity, branding, web presence, and public relations initiatives. She is the President of the Friends of Mint Plaza (FoMP). FoMP is a non-profit organization created to manage and maintain Mint Plaza, a public plaza located in the heart of downtown San Francisco. FoMP works to ensure that Mint Plaza is a vibrant, safe and memorable public space for the use and enjoyment of visitors and neighborhood residents alike through ongoing maintenance, programming, and general management. Previously, Jill served in director-level positions of marketing and public relations with a nationally recognized restaurant and commercial real estate companies. Jill is a graduate of the University of Rochester.

Gary P. Downs, Director

Mr. Downs practices in the areas of tax, corporate and real property law, specializing in affordable housing, public law, municipal finance and tax credit finance.  Mr. Downs received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in 1985 from DePauw University where he graduated with honors as a Phi Beta Kappa.  He attended the University of California, Hastings College of Law and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1988.  Mr. Downs has a broad range of experience in municipal finance matters, including general obligation bonds, community facilities district financing, assessment district bonds, single and multifamily housing financing, industrial development financing, tax allocation and certificate of participation issues.  In addition, Mr. Downs profusely publishes and lectures on public and tax credit finance matters.  Mr. Downs is a member of the California State Bar and the American Bar Association.  He is also a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers. 

Jason Oberman, Director
Jason Oberman is an Assistant Vice President at Rockwood Capital, a real estate investment and management firm.  He is responsible for the redevelopment, renovation, leasing, and entitlement of numerous office, retail, apartment, and land investments throughout the western United States, notably the Public Market in Emeryville, an infill mixed-use office, retail, and residential redevelopment.  When complete, the Project will consist of 1.2 million square feet.  It is the country’s first project to receive Platinum Certification for LEED Neighborhood Development and it was designated as a Gold-Level Catalyst Project for California Sustainable Strategies Pilot Program.  Mr. Oberman earned a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) and a Masters in Governmental Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.