Jeremy Liu, Executive Director

Jeremy was raised in the East Bay and attended Berkeley schools, until he left to attend college on the East Coast. Jeremy has spent the last 11 years at the Asian Community Development Corporation in Boston – nearly five years as the Executive Director and the previous six years as Director of Community Programs. During his time at ACDC, Jeremy oversaw a wide range of programs, including community media programs, housing and commercial real estate development, cultural heritage and tourism promotion, community organizing, neighborhood planning, community technology development, and social enterprise creation.

At ACDC Jeremy has worked with for-profit developers to ensure that large scale, high rise market rate developments also included affordable apartments and condominiums that served the local community on a long term basis. With researchers at MIT Media Lab, he launched an innovative multilingual program called Speakeasy that links English limited immigrants to services in their own languages through cell phone technology. As an artist, Jeremy has created community-based art projects, social practice performance art, and installations. Prior to ACDC Jeremy worked as an environmental scientist and planner with Jacobs Engineering and the Trust for Public Land. Jeremy has won numerous awards and fellowships, including the Rising Star Award and Young Leaders of Affordable Housing.

Mary Hennessy, Chief Operations Officer

Mary Hennessy has over 15 years of experience as the director of property and asset management and community development for non-profit community and affordable real estate development organizations and local government. She has a BA from the University of California, Irvine and an MBA from Dominican University of California.

Real Estate Broker License number: DRE# 01218852

Peter Sopka, Chief Financial Officer

Peter Sopka has over 30 years of auditing and financial management experience in both for-profit and nonprofit corporations as well as with U.S. government agencies. Prior to joining EBALDC, Mr. Sopka most recently served as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Treasurer for Neighborhood Housing Services of America, the secondary market for the NeighborWorks Network, with over 200 affiliates nationwide producing $1 billion in mortgages annually. Prior to joining NHSA, Mr. Sopka was the CFO and COO for North American operations at Wcities.com, Inc. and Interim Controller at The John Stewart Company.

Mr. Sopka also has significant experience working in the nonprofit housing industry. He served as Director of Finance for Eden Housing, Inc. in Hayward, CA, a leading nonprofit affordable housing development and management organization in the SF Bay area. As a former U.S. government auditor, Mr. Sopka developed and managed nationwide audits of major programs with the US Government Accountability Office, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration. Mr. Sopka has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of San Francisco.

He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

La Netha Oliver, Director of Human Resources

La’Netha is a native of the Bay Area. She is personally and professionally committed to serving diverse low-income populations. Prior to working at East Bay Asian Development Corporation La’Netha was HR Manager at Episcopal Community Services, a non-profit providing services to homeless individuals. La’Netha has more than 20 years of work experience primarily in customer service, human resources, and management. La’Netha is a member of NCHRA, SHRM, and LISC’s HR professional networks. La’Netha has a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Carlos Castellanos, Director of Real Estate Development

Carlos Castellanos has worked at the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) for nine years. He is currently the Director of the Real Estate Development Department. His role is to manage a department of five Project and Assistant Project Managers who are developing housing, commercial, and mixed-use projects in Oakland and other cities in the East Bay. At EBALDC, he has been involved in the development of single-family for sale units and the renovation of a shopping center in West Oakland, the renovation of multi-family housing in East Oakland, and the revitalization of the 22-acre Coliseum Gardens community into Lion Creek Crossings that will build up to 434 affordable units including 157 replacement public housing units, 15,000 square feet of neighborhood services, a reconfigured park with a restored creek, and new public streets and infrastructure. Lion Creek Crossings is the first phase of the larger Coliseum BART Transit Village. He has a Master’s of City Planning and Master’s of Science in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mary Lucero-Dorst, Director of Asset Management

Ms. Lucero-Dorst came to EBALDC with over 8 years experience in Project Management with community based, non-profit developers in San Francisco and Berkeley. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with dual Masters in City and Regional Planning and Latin American Studies. Since coming to EBALDC in September 2004, Ms. Lucero-Dorst has shepherded four back-end tax credit deals for residential and commercial properties at a price of $1 each; overseen three rehabilitations of $100,000 to $950,000, as well as six smaller rehabs at occupied properties; provided Asset Management services to Preservation Park Center; refinanced two mortgages, and collaborated with other EBALDC departments for improved development, property management, and resident services provision. Ms. Lucero-Dorst was responsible for EBALDC receiving a 2006 MetLife Award for Excellence in Property and Asset Management for the Frank G. Mar Apartments.

Charise Fong, Director of the Neighborhood and Economic Development

Charise is the Director of Neighborhood and Economic Development Department (NED) which includes the Family Economic Success, Community Planning and Organizing, Neighborhood Revitalization and Service Coordination Programs. Charise came to EBALDC in February 2006 with over 10 years experience in workforce development. Under her leadership, the NED Department has reshaped our asset development programs to better meet the needs of our clients and implemented systems to evaluate the impact of our work on our clients and the community we serve. Charise has a BA in history from UCLA and a JD from University of San Francisco Law School.

Erick Swenson, Director of Fundraising and Communication

Erick is a Bay Area native and has more than 20 years experience in fund development, public affairs and media relations, ranging from community-based organizations to national not-for-profits headquartered in Washington, DC. He is passionate about engaging others to build and sustain healthier communities and address disparities in the human condition through their gifts of wealth, wisdom and work. His commitment has strengthened causes that range from preventing and ending homelessness, national major disaster relief and recovery efforts, community health and children’s mental health issues, civil and human rights initiatives and the visual arts. He holds degrees in Business Administration and Art History from San Jose State University, with additional coursework in International Business and Intercultural Communication completed at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, supplemented by field studies in International Economics and East/West Business Relations at EU and NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.