May 5, 2022: Asian Love (Town Hall)

Leda Ka-Hee Bloomfield
FHFA Branch Chief

Leda Ka-Hee Bloomfield is a Branch Chief in the Office of Fair Lending Oversight at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseeing and developing policy for the secondary mortgage market to ensure that all applicants and borrowers are treated equitably, regardless of race, gender, or age. Leda has worked on efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, create a responsible capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and address equity in the market through the Equitable Housing Finance Plan program.

Leda began her federal government career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Leda served as the policy lead for oversight of NYC’s housing authority and led implementation of the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, which provides financing for public housing rehabilitation. She has played a critical role in HUD’s response to natural disasters, distressed public housing, and audit remediation.

Leda is a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow for New Americans and an NYU Wagner Martin Dworkis Memorial Awardee for excellence in academics, school activities, and public service. Leda holds a Master of Urban Planning in housing and economic development from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and an A.B. in Urban Studies, magna cum laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University. Leda was born in South Korea and currently lives in Capitol Hill with her spouse and daughter.

Jennifer Kim
Associate Administrator, SBA Office of Field Operations 

Jennifer Kim serves as the Associate Administrator for the Office of Field Operations.

Jennifer provides executive leadership to our field operations team reporting directly to the Administrator. She is responsible for developing plans, procedures, and standards; and advising SBA leadership on policy positions to effectively strengthen agency operations and improve programs associated with our 68 District Offices.

She has worked for over 15 years to strengthen communities and advocate for the public interest. She started her career as a stakeholder engagement specialist serving as a campus organizer where she recruited, and trained student leaders to manage campaigns to increase renewable energy standards, reduce plastic waste, and worked on efforts to make higher education more affordable.  Jennifer directed the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group for four years where she led campaigns in support of toxic-free communities, affordable health care, and consumer protections. She has dedicated many years to increasing voter registration in communities of color as well as promoting youth civic engagement. More recently, she worked to strengthen ties between underserved communities and the public health system to increase vaccination rates.

Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in History and received a Master’s in Public Administration in Urban and Social Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Sebastian Gomez
Deputy Director SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation

Sebastian serves as the first Deputy Director of the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, which he joined in August 2020 after serving as the lead advisor on capital formation matters to the Chairman. Among the many leadership roles Sebastian has held at the SEC since 2007, he led the Division of Corporation Finance’s Office of Small Business Policy, which is responsible for drafting many of the rules governing exempt markets. Prior to joining the SEC, Sebastian practiced law at Hogan Lovells working on corporate governance, disclosure, and SEC compliance matters.

Susan Au Allen
USPAACC National Headquarters, CEO & National President

Susan Au Allen came to the United States from Hong Kong on an invitation from the White House in recognition of her volunteer work for people with disabilities. She received her Juris Doctor from the Antioch School of Law and LL.M. in International Law from Georgetown University. During her 17 years with Paul Shearman Allen & Associates of Washington, DC and Hong Kong, she became nationally recognized for her work on immigration, international trade and investment.

Upon receiving her law degree in 1984, Susan founded the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Education Foundation (USPAACC) with a group of business and civic leaders in Washington, DC and California, to bring the diverse Pan Asian American business and professional people together as one unified voice in business, commerce and trade. In 2001, she won two Federal cases for her small business clients, took sabbatical leave from her law practice, and became USPAACC National President & CEO. 

Simone Griffin
HomeFreeUSA

Simone Griffin believes that everyone holds the power and capacity to become financially successful and sustainable.

Simone currently serves as Vice President of Affiliate Relations for HomeFree-USA, where she oversees compliance, federal and private funding, and Congressional advocacy for 53 affiliate organizations nationwide. She also implements federal government grants, as well as those from various funders and private banks. Throughout the housing crisis, Simone managed a program which acquired, renovated and sold foreclosed homes to low-to-moderate income families. During her tenure, the program placed over 412 first time homebuyers into newly refurbished homes.

Prior to becoming Vice President of Affiliate Relations, Simone served as Executive Director of the HomeFree-USA Homeownership Center in Atlanta, Georgia. In that role, she provided oversight and guidance to a team of Homeownership Advisors and Support Staff in general operations and the execution of foreclosure counseling, homebuyers’ education, downpayment qualification, and the acquisition, renovation, and sale of bank-owned homes in Metro Atlanta. She also headed all local marketing and advertising initiatives.

Prior to joining HomeFree-USA Simone served as Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF, Inc) Student Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) and SHOP For Wealth. Both programs were designed to encourage homeownership and wealth building opportunities among students at the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Over three years, Simone visited and worked with 60 colleges and universities. 10 students went on to purchase a home within one year of college graduation, and hundreds more took the first steps to repairing their credit and building wealth.

In her 20 year career in housing and financial services, Simone has seen what has worked, what hasn’t, and the best ways to ensure a win-win-win for the consumer, mortgage industry and government. She’s been on the ground serving Americans during incredibly pivotal times, and fully believes that we all win when we find the common ground.

Tamara E. Gifford
Director, Community & External Relations
Ocwen Financial Corporation

Tamara serves as Director, Community & External Relations for Ocwen Financial, a mortgage servicing company headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fl.  In this role, she develops and builds relationships with congressional offices, national nonprofit organizations and housing industry associations.  She is based in Washington, DC.

Previously, Tamara spent 18 years at Bank of America, most recently as Community Relations Manager for the Washington, DC area, where she managed the local philanthropic strategy for the bank. 

Tamara is passionate about helping others and serves on the Women’s Advisory Committee of the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital.

Michael Innis-Thompson
Senior Vice President, Head of Community Lending & Development at TD

As a 25-year mortgage banking professional, Innis-Thompson will leverage his unique expertise in the development of community lending programs to support TD Bank’s multicultural lending strategy. He will also use his experience to build sales distribution and strategic partnerships, apply advanced market analytics and support regulatory compliance to benefit the bank across business lines. He will be based in TD Bank’s Mt. Laurel, NJ office and report to Rick Bechtel, EVP and Head of U.S. Residential Lending.

“Serving all members of our communities is a critical component of TD Bank and our residential lending business model,” said Rick Bechtel, TD Bank Head of Residential Lending. “We’re committed to further enhancement and development of our products and services that support aspiring homeowners of all backgrounds in the neighborhoods we serve. Michael’s deep expertise and extensive network make him an incredible addition to our residential lending team as we continue to innovate and grow our mortgage and home equity businesses.”

Dokmai Webster
Founder and CEO

Dokmai Webster is the Founder of Pivotal Point, LLC. Her diverse career began as a member of the United States Air Force and the Maryland Army National Guard and expanded to the private sector.

Ms. Webster’s background includes operations and logistics, program management and implementation, organization/business processes, personnel management, business development and sales in the areas of IT and Telecommunications solutions and services. Her experience has helped bolster organizations’ day-to-day business operations, workforce development, employee retention and has helped her customers realize their businesses efficiencies with cost reductions, increased productivity and decreased personnel turnover.

Ms. Webster holds a M.S. in Management and Technology and a B.S. in Business Administration and Finance from the University of Maryland University College. She is a member of the Air Force Command, Control, Communications and Computers Association (AFC4), the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Associations (AFCEA), and the Asian American Chamber of Commerce. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Falls Church Education Foundation and served on the Board of Directors as the Past President of the Independent Telecommunications Pioneer Association (ITPA).

Keny Chang
Talino Venture Labs

Experienced Executive with U.S., Latin America and Asia/Pacific background with extensive management and business strategy experiences. Direct experience with risk management, real estate and venture capital. Keny is a former banker for over 20 years and co-founded an online mortgage company, which successfully exited. He is currently the President of Asenso, a diversity inclusive small business financial technology company with a mission of closing the gap of small business capital needs. He is also the Chief Operations and Compliance Officer of Talino Venture Labs, an inclusive fintech venture studio and parent company of Asenso with the mission to help people with their financial needs by making it simple and easy to understand through technology.

Austin C. Ugbebor
CEO, ESDIAC Group of Companies

Austin Ugbebor is the founder of Esdiac Global System Inc. & Intra Care Group, both California-based corporations. Through acquisitions and equity investments Mr. Ugbebor has active interests in real estate, health care, telecommunications, technology, agriculture, and oil and gas industries. Mr. Ugbebor has been an investor , entrepreneur, founding and building businesses for over 30 years. He sits on the advisory board of the National Diversity Coalition, an organization that advocates minority owned businesses to get access to capital funds through US Based banks. Mr. Ugbebor believes that by empowering those around you and helping to develop the youth can make this world a better place. Austin Ugbebor is married with three children and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Peter Nguyen
President, Federal Asian Pacific American Council

Mr. Nguyen has been with the FAA since 1991 and has held various Senior Executive Management positions in the Financial Management System Division and Information Technology Division. He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Science Degree in Information Systems from Strayer University. He currently holds a certification from the National Training Standard for Information Systems Security Professionals, which was obtained at the National Defense University, Information Resources Management College.

Currently Mr. Nguyen serves as the senior manager for the Finance and Management Organization at the FAA. He is currently responsible for managing the Information Technology supporting various agency level Investment Decision processes such as Joint Resources Council, Post Implementation Review, and Earned Value Management in support of the Executive Secretariat of the Joint Resources Council.

Claudette Fernandez
Director of Program Equity and Opportunity Strategy for USDA

Fernandez served as the Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Forest Service where she oversaw the largest business operations at USDA including oversight of the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers. She previously served as Director for the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs Office of Block Grant Assistance and prior to that, she held several roles with USDA Rural Development and with FEMA at the Department of Homeland Security. Her experience in local government with South Georgia Regional Development Center and Prince George’s County Department of Housing & Community Development remain a centering force that has focused her career on creating economic opportunity for those most in need. Fernandez holds a B.A. in political science and a MPA in public administration from Valdosta State University and a Master of Engineering Science in Emergency Management from George Washington University.

Jin Sung
Executive Director, OASIS Center International

Ms. Jin Sung is the founder and Executive Director of OASIS Center International, an arts non-profit organization serving the youth of low-income communities of Southern California. Ms. Sung currently serves as the Board Chairman for National Diversity Coalition, a national advocacy organization focusing on elevating corporate social responsibility across sectors. Ms. Sung also is a member of the community advisory boards to the following organizations: Royal Business Bank, National Asian American Coalition CDFI, Charter Communications, PG&E, T-Mobile, Frontier Communications, Faith & Community Empowerment, MSM of St. Mary’s College of California, and Public Policy School of Azusa Pacific University. In addition to her leadership roles in business, she serves as pastor of Oasis Christian Church, a multi-cultural church based in Anaheim, California. She is passionate about bridging corporate America with underserved communities and affects public policy by advocating for minority access and social justice. Ms. Sung is also the Chairman and Executive Director of EPICENTER Foundation, a nonprofit organization that positively impacts the underserved communities by providing programs that empower development, healing, and innovation of community members.