Board Members

The TIHDI Board is comprised of individuals from many different backgrounds who are dedicated to TIHDI’s mission. They provide TIHDI with diverse and knowledgeable guidance. Below you will find a short description of current board members. If you are interested in becoming a board member please contact us.

Current Board Members

Natalie Bonnewit

With seventeen years experience in real estate development, and eleven years experience with direct housing development experience, her consulting practice specializes in supportive housing development for the homeless and persons with special needs. Ms. Bonnewit provides project management and owner’s representative services to a wide variety of service providers and non-profit developers.

Jyan Ferng

Attorney, TriNet. Jyan received a B.A. in English from U.C. Berkeley and a J.D. from U.C. Hastings. He was admitted to the California State Bar in 2000 and specializes in employment and labor law.

Doree Friedman

Founder, president and operator of Fineline Construction since 1980. Fineline specializes in affordable housing projects and has a strong commitment to local hiring and to hiring people who have had barriers to employment and were living below the poverty level. Doree was a board member of Tradeswomen, Inc. for many years. Tradeswomen, Inc. was the first organization for women in the trades in California. It was founded in 1979 to help fight discrimination against women in the trades, to promote the retention of women, and develop leadership qualities in their position in unions and their trades. Although Doree is no longer a board member, she continues to conduct a workshop at the annual Tradeswomen regional conference.

Nella Goncalves

A senior program director at Catholic Charities CYO in San Francisco, Nella has worked with homeless and disadvantaged families for over 15 years. She received her degree in Human Development from U.C. Davis and Certification as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor from the U.C. Berkeley Extension Program. She has worked as a health and services coordinator and a youth program director for Hospitality House, as well as a drug and alcohol assessment counselor and aftercare counselor for Thunder Road Adolescent Treatment Centers.

Barbara Gualco

Since 2003, Barbara has been the Director of Housing Development for the San Francisco Office of Mercy Housing California (MHC), an organization she joined in 1992 as a Senior Project Manager. During her tenure, Barbara has worked on a wide range of developments including new construction, renovations, adaptive re-use of historic properties and mixed-use developments serving elders, the homeless and families. Her work has included providing training for numerous entry-level project managers. She is also on the Board of NPH.

Daniel Levine

Senior Vice President of Construction Services at the John Stewart Company, Daniel has been a registered Architect since 1979 and a licensed General Contractor in the State of California since 2004. Prior to joining The John Stewart Company in 1997, Mr. Levine was an independent architect who specialized in building rehabilitation and renovation, with a heavy emphasis in multi-family residential and multi-story commercial buildings. Dan received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Michigan.

Merle D. Malakoff

Active in affordable housing development and finance in San Francisco for the past 20 years. Currently, he serves as Director for Citi Community Capital, the affordable housing finance division within Citigroup. Prior to Citigroup, Merle worked for 15 years as an affordable housing development project manager with a major nonprofit based in San Francisco and completed numerous new construction and acquisition rehab projects, including several that provide housing for formerly homeless persons. Merle also served on a San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ task force on the special needs of homeless seniors.

Rob Rich

Safety & Risk Management Director for Cahill Contractors. Rob first became involved with affordable housing as a student at Hastings in the early 1990's, and has worked for TNDC and the SF Mayor's Office of Housing. Prior to law school, Rob worked as a laborer and superintendent for a design/build firm specializing in complex, geo-technical construction.

David Schnur

David joined Community Housing Partnership in 2005 and has been working in the field of affordable housing development since 1999. Prior to joining Community Housing Partnership, he was a Project Manager for Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.