Rosemarie Noonan
Executive Director of Housing Action Council
Ms. Noonan has advised numerous non-profit organizations, religious groups, community organizations and civic leaders on affordable housing needs, policies and strategies. She has led Housing Action Council’s Technical Assistance Program enabling non-profit housing organizations, human service agencies, and emerging developers to develop affordable housing resulting in thousands of housing units in New York’s Hudson Valley Region. She has guided municipalities and affordable housing committees through review and evaluation of land use policies and property disposition strategies related to affordable housing and property disposition strategies and drafted rules and regulations on local affordable housing programs. She has indepth experience in financial modeling of affordable housing development and in accessing public and private funding for development as well as integrating the housing development process with health and human service programs.
She manages Housing Action Council’s joint ventures with developers serving as the non-profit sponsor of thousands of affordable housing units. She directs HAC’s affirmative marketing initiatives assuring compliance with Federal, State and local fair housing laws. She managed the City of Yonkers Affordable Housing Office which was responsible for implementing a housing desegregation order and assisted the County of Westchester, NY comply with a housing settlement. She continues to assist Westchester County on its affordable housing initiatives. She administered several relocation programs which involved the re-development of properties owned by public housing authorities.
She began her housing career as Director of the National Leased Housing Association, a leading trade association for government assisted rental housing in Washington, DC. She has served on the Affordable Housing Board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, Business Advisory Board of Orange Bank & Trust Company, and the board of Westchester Women’s Agenda. She attended Trinity College in Washington, DC, received an advanced degree in Government from Georgetown University, and is a graduate of Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
Jessica Bacher, Esq.
Staff Consultant to the Housing Action Council
Executive Director of the Land Use Law Center at Pace University School of Law
Ms. Bacher has developed and implemented projectsrelating to local land use practice, distressed property remediation, transit-oriented development,and sustainable communities. She has provided strategic assistance to numerous municipalities on distressed property and affordable housing matters. She assisted the members of the Mayor’s Redevelopment Roundtable address revitalization issues in their cities. She led the Cities of Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, New York in the development of distress property remediation implementation plans that focus on a range of strategies including land banking and code enforcement.
She provides technical assistance and is a trainer for the Department of State New York Forward Program/Downtown Revitalization Initiative and a Land Use and Zoning trainer for the Land Use Leadership Alliance Housing Program. She is an editor for the American Bar Association book, Vacant and Problem Properties: A Guide to Legal Strategies and Remedies. She serves as the chair of the Distressed Properties Sub-Committee for the Land Use Planning & Zoning Committee for the American Bar Association’s Section of State and Local Government Law. Ms. Bacher also developed the Westchester County Association Smart Growth Playbook for Meeting Housing Needs and serves on its Real Estate Committee.
Tiffany Zezula, Esq.
Staff Consultant to the Housing Action Council
Deputy Director for the Land Use Law Center at Pace University School of Law Staff Consultant to the Housing Action Council
Ms. Zezula is the primary trainer and national coordinator for the Pace LULC’s award-winning Land Use Leadership Alliance Training program for local officials, environmentalists, religious leaders, planners, and developers. The Training Program has been modeled and transferred to over six states and has been tailored to tactical numerous land use issues, including fair and affordable housing. The program has trained over 3,500 leaders in the Hudson Valley Region alone, including over 400 leaders in the Hudson Valley on the specific topic of fair and affordable housing which is co-sponsored by Housing Action Council.
She provides strategic assistance to municipalities and non-profits in furthering affordable housing. Ms. Zezula also provides strategic assistance to local governments on comprehensive planning, revitalization, affordable housing, streamlining and community engagement initiatives. She has assisted in the stakeholder and community engagement for various Housing Needs Assessments. She has led community engagement efforts in the City of Derby, City of Poughkeepsie, Town of New Castle, Mount Pleasant, Ossining, and Tarrytown. This has included engagement sessions with senior citizens, high school students, business leaders, cultural organizations, and the general public. Ms. Zezula’s engagement efforts have involved multiple engagement techniques, including a neighborhood and pool block parties, interactive poster boards, virtual engagement sessions, neighborhood walking tours, high school classroom participation, and roundtable discussions with stakeholders. The efforts culminate in a final report delivered to the administration regarding the vision for future revitalization. She is the public engagement advisor to the Norwalk, CT Housing Needs Assessment and formulated the public engagement plan for the West Hill West End neighborhood in Albany, NY.
She has worked in select communities in the creation of affordable housing committees advocating for affordable housing policy reform and education of residents to the topic. Ms. Zezula also oversees and coordinates the annual affordable housing summit sponsored by Housing Action Council and Pace bringing industry leaders, municipal officials, syndicates, and lawyers together to discuss trends and solutions to affordable housing.