Board members bring expertise in housing finance, capital financing, energy-efficiency, and
home manufacturing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Grant Beck, VP, Strategic Partnerships
Phone: (202) 851-7550
Email: g.beck@nextstepus.org
LOUISVILLE, KY – January 20, 2023 – Next Step is pleased to announce the appointment of new members to the organization’s Board of Directors. Deborah Campbell, Executive Vice President of Affordable Housing Solutions at X-Caliber Capital, Hale Shaw, Founder of mullbry, and Lowell Ungar, Senior Policy Advisor at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) all join Next Step Network’s Board of Directors effective January 1, 2023. Bob Bender, former President and COO of the Commodore Corporation (Commodore) joins Next Step Homes’ Board of Directors. *
“We are thrilled to have Debbie, Hale, Lowell, and Bob join our Board of Directors,” said Stacey Epperson, President and CEO of Next Step. “Their experience and expertise will be critical as we continue our organization’s journey within our new strategic framework. The team at Next Step relies on our Board to help steward our mission and vision and support our work as we seek to scale housing and community development opportunities across the country.”
Debbie Campbell is a Managing Director of Originations and leads X-Caliber’s Affordable Housing Solutions. Prior to this role, she was a Co-Founder and SVP of Community Housing Capital, a national CDFI loan fund, where she helped spearhead the company’s loan platforms to finance the development and preservation of affordable housing in urban, suburban, rural, and Native communities. Debbie has been a recipient of Maryland’s Innovators of the Year and named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for her accomplishments in affordable housing and is a 2011 graduate of Harvard Kennedy School’s Achieving Excellence in Community Development executive education program.
Hale Shaw is the Founder of mullbry, a digitally native lending company dedicated to providing quality, accessible and affordable manufactured home loans to Americans. Prior to mullbry, he served as Private Equity Senior Associate for Meritus Communities, a large manufactured housing community owner/operator, and as an Investment Senior Associate for Freestone Capital Management, a $4.5B AUM multifamily office. Hale earned an MBA from Wharton where he graduated with honors, and a Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Economics and Political Science, from Pitzer College.
Lowell Ungar is director of federal policy at ACEEE, where he promotes energy efficiency measures in federal agencies and in Congress, crafts public messaging, and analyzes the impacts of policies and programs. He also has worked to show energy efficiency’s climate and economic impacts more broadly, and to promote efficiency as a corporate sustainability tool. Prior to joining ACEEE in 2013, Lowell was director of policy at the Alliance to Save Energy and a legislative aide in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Lowell earned a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago.
Bob was an executive with The Commodore Corporation, one of the largest builders of modular and manufactured homes in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Midwest. He joined the company in 2004 and served as COO/President from 2012 until the eventual sale of the company to Cavco Industries in the fall of 2021. He remained as President of the new Cavco subsidiary through July 2022. Bob currently is supporting efforts on a National Science Foundation grant proposal focused on offsite construction and acts as an advisor for several early-stage companies. He also serves as a board member for Camp Fire River Bend, which supports over 1000 youth in after-school programs and summer camp. He previously served on the board and as President for the Modular Homes Builders Association (MHBA) from 2014-2020.
*Next Step Homes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Next Step Network.
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About Next Step® Network, Inc.
Next Step® Network, Inc. is a national, nonprofit housing intermediary that works to promote expanded use of factory-built housing as a viable solution to address housing affordability. Our organization mobilizes a national network of mission-driven nonprofits, leaders in the manufactured housing industry and lending institutions serving home buyers and homeowners in their communities. Next Step’s system – Manufactured Housing Done Right® – connects responsible financing, comprehensive homebuyer education and delivery of high-quality, ENERGY STAR® manufactured homes at scale, creating a model that brings more value to the homeowners and communities. Learn more at www.nextstepus.org.