Linda Davenport

Biography: Ms Davenport has a broad background in housing and community development. Beginning in the late 70's she was an attorney with the congressionally mandated National Housing Partnership, which owned, managed and developed rental housing under a variety of government assistance programs, particularly Section 8, Section 236 and a variety of tax exempt bond programs. NHP expanded its business in the 1980's to include market rate rental housing. At its peak, NHP owned and managed some 700 properties across the nation. Ms. Davenport was General Counsel for NHP during the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and FIRREA, and advocated for the housing industry on those pieces of legislation as well as on the Low Income Housing Tax Credit legislation. She worked on the Preservation Commission, co-chaired by Carla Hills and Henry Reuss, whose report drew attention to the need to preserve the nation's assisted housing portfolio. As NHP shifted its business focus, Ms. Davenport became involved in asset management and acquisitions of rental properties, both market rate and assisted, from private owners and the RTC. As Executive Vice President, Ms. Davenport lead the acquisition efforts on some 8,000 rental units. In 1996 Ms. Davenport joined Fannie Mae as one of two Managing Directors to launch the American Communities Fund. The Fund was established to invest equity in hard to finance community revitalization transactions. The Fund's goal was to make high impact investments that would accelerate the pace and scope of redevelopment in communities. She led investment teams on some $150 million of redevelopment investments in addition to assessing investment opportunities in numerous communities across the country. From mid 2000 through early 2001 Ms. Davenport directed the American Communities Fund's communications and training activities. After leaving Fannie Mae, she established a consulting practice on community development and housing issues. In 2002 she joined the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund within the Department of the Treasury. She will be responsible for the New Markets Tax Credit program, which will allocate tax credits for the first time in 2002. The credit will be available for up to $15 billion in a broad range of real estate and business investments in underserved communities. Ms. Davenport is a graduate of Michigan State University, and received her J.D. from California Western School of Law. She resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her two children.