Kermit Billups
Kermit Billups is an Executive President of Greenline, and is involved in activities including transaction structuring, tax credit syndication, debt financing, origination, underwriting, and NMTC compliance.
Kermit began his career at Capmark in 1999 and has been a member of the NMTC platform since 2004. He has been in investment banking since 1992, with an emphasis on developing solutions for deficiencies in low-income communities nationwide, including complex and innovative financings to benefit low-income housing tax credit and New Markets Tax Credit transactions. He has participated in over $3.5 billion of project finance and affordable housing capital. He has successfully completed over 50 taxable and tax-exempt revenue bond programs to serve low and moderate-income individuals. Prior to joining Capmark, Kermit worked for Honeywell, IBM, Legg Mason, and Stephens Inc.
Kermit has a B.A. in Economics from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Etta Gumbs
Etta has served as counsel for various financial institutions over the course of her career. She is currently a Senior Counsel for TD Bank, N.A., US Wealth Division. Prior to joining TD Bank, she was General Counsel for Island Financial which had a primary focus on providing a payment platform for the unbanked and underbanked. Etta is also a seasoned litigator representing financial industry clients in mediations and before arbitration panels and throughout the US. She is a graduate of Fisk University and Georgetown University Law Center.
Liliana Aide Monge
Liliana Aide Monge is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sabio, an innovative social enterprise working to increase the number of women, and people of color that become professional software engineers. Since its inception, 55% of its graduates are either Latino or African American, and 40% are women, which is 10% higher than the industry average. Sabio offers training to anyone that is highly motivated and no prior technical experience is needed. Sabio also works with hundreds of military veterans and helps them gain tech skills needed to thrive in today’s information economy.
Liliana was born in Northern Mexico, and came to the states when she was 5 years old. She lived in Los Angeles for most of her childhood with her mother and older Sister. She attended Wellesley College and graduated with a BA in Biology in 1999. She was a founding board member for DIY Girls, a nonprofit in the San Fernando Valley that helps young girls gain STEM skills early in their education. She is also an Advisory Boardmember of the City of Los Angeles Development Fund, an organization tasked with allocating the City’s NMTCs. Since then she has made Los Angeles her home, alongside her Co-Founder, and husband, Gregorio Rojas, where they are currently raising their two boys.
Desiree Thomas
Desiree Thomas participated in the inaugural class of the Open Access Fellowship Program. Open Access, through its many partnerships and supporters, paired her with TruFund Financial Services to gain hands-on experience in New Markets Tax Credit. This invaluable experience led to a full-time opportunity with TruFund as Asset Management and Compliance Manager overseeing the entire NMTC portfolio.
Prior to joining TruFund, Desiree served as Deputy Director with New York City Housing Preservation and Development where she managed a portfolio of affordable housing development projects. She also served as Senior Vice President of the Financial Institutions Group at J.P. Morgan.
Desiree holds an MBA from The Wharton School where she was a Robert Toigo Fellow. She is also a graduate of Project REAP (Real Estate Associate Program).
Jose Villalobos
For over three decades, Jose Villalobos has served as the Senior Vice President of government affairs/business development for TELACU, the largest Community Development Corporation (CDC). For over 50 years, TELACU has been rebuilding and enhancing underserved communities by providing valuable products and services—including the creation of new jobs, responsive financial institutions, business expansion, quality affordable housing, and educational opportunities for young people, families and veterans. As a result of these efforts, TELACU has developed $1 billion of real estate projects representing 4 million square feet of commercial space and over 3,600 housing units, which have created in excess of 16,000 jobs. TELACU has also successfully lent in excess of $2.5 billion in low-income communities throughout the state of California.
Villalobos is responsible for identifying, analyzing and accessing government programs/legislation at the federal, state and local levels that address the needs of underserved communities and can be utilized in the expansion of the company’s operating subsidiaries and acquisition/start-up of new business enterprises. Federal agencies include but are not limited to: Department of Treasury; HUD; HHS/Office of Community Services; Economic Development Administration and Minority Business Department Agency (MBDA); and SBA. He has successfully identified and accessed in excess of $450 million in public sector funds over the past fifteen years, including $365 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Allocations from the US Department of Treasury/CDFI Fund. As part of managing TELACU’s NMTC Program, Villalobos also serves on the executive committee and board of the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition, a national organization. He also serves on the New Markets Tax Credit Advisory Boards of Chase Bank and Greenline Ventures.
In addition, Villalobos was instrumental in leading TELACU’s efforts in working with SBA to promulgate and issue the regulations allowing CDCs to participate in the 8(a) and HUBZone Programs.
Further, Villalobos is also responsible for the oversight and management of TELACU’s faith-based initiative, which seeks to partner with and strengthen the capacity of local faith-based and community organizations serving low-income communities.
Prior to joining TELACU, Villalobos worked with several private sector firms including Prudential-Bache Securities and Mattel, Inc. in the area of finance.
Mr. Villalobos is chair and president of Eastcoast Development Corporation, a Washington, D.C. based real estate firm. Villalobos has also served on the boards of UCLA Alumni Association and the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB).
Mr. Villalobos received his Master of Business Administration degree from the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, and his Bachelors in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
