Leadership

Stefka Fanchi holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University and a Master of Arts in International Management with a specialization in Sustainable Development. With fourteen years experience in affordable housing, she specializes in the development of home ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families, and public policy development to support that mission. Stefka’s background is in large-scale nonprofit fundraising, and she has held executive-level development positions with statewide nonprofits and municipal government, including Habitat for Humanity of Colorado and the City of Lakewood. She has raised nearly $100 million dollars over the course of her career, and was recognized in 2008 as one of the Denver Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 and in 2009 as one of Midwest CEO Magazine’s Most Influential Women. She lives in Lakewood with her husband, two teenagers, and two very spoiled dogs.

Robin joined Elevation Community Land Trust as CFO in July 2020. As CFO, she is responsible for leading Elevation’s financial strategy, building lender relationships, and leading the organization in leveraging public and philanthropic investments and additional income streams to maximize the organization’s impact for Colorado communities.

Robin has 15 years of experience in the nonprofit and government sectors and specializes in ensuring the long-term fiscal health of organizations through strategic financial management. Prior to joining Elevation, Robin served as Deputy Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority and as Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, among other leadership roles. Her financial and real estate experience includes developing funding strategies for a wide variety of economic development activities and advising on resource deployment for critical business areas, including personnel, housing development and program services, and loan and investment programs.

Robin is a certified public accountant, earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in accounting and entrepreneurship from The City University of New York – Baruch College Zicklin School of Business, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University. She is a recipient of the 2017 NYCEDC President’s Award and a two-time recipient of the Graduate Milton Mann Prize Scholarship.

David Ogunsanya is the Vice President of Real Estate for Elevation Community Land Trust. In this capacity, he is responsible for the organization’s land acquisition strategy, and external partner relations to create more than 700 affordable homes in metro Denver and ultimately statewide.

Prior to joining Elevation CLT, David served as the Director of Housing for Athens Land Trust in Athens, Georgia. In his role, he oversaw all real estate and strategic planning activities and led the management of a portfolio with more than 60 multi- and single-family homes. He also ensured the implementation of best practice models to preserve housing affordability and land trust ground leases. Prior to the Athens Land Trust, David served as the Community Program Manager for City First Homes, Inc. in Washington, DC., where he was actively involved in stewarding 244 units of permanently affordable housing.

David’s expertise extends into the intersection of community engagement and policy awareness where he educates key stakeholders about the benefits of the community land trust model as a mechanism for creating permanent affordability and driving positive change in communities. His work focuses on affordable housing policies such as inclusionary zoning, to assist in the creation of more affordable homes within market rate developments.

David is a graduate of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) at the University of Pittsburgh and North Carolina Central University. Professionally, David has served on various community development boards, including the Athens-Clarke County Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan Community and as Vice President of the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing.

Tiana Patterson is the Vice President of Social Impact and Wealth Equity for Elevation Community Land Trust where she cultivates and oversees the creation and implementation of community engagement and partnership strategy before, during, and after project development.  She also ensures that all aspects of the home sales process – from initial community engagement through the homebuying through post-purchase support – align with the mission, values and goals of ECLT. She is also responsible for legal and compliance issues related to ECLT homeowners.

Previously, Tiana was the Public Partnerships and Legal Director for ECLT. She also served as State & Local policy director for Enterprise Community Partners in Denver, Colorado. Where she worked on affordable housing issues at Federal, State and Local levels. In that role, Tiana drafted and successfully advocated for the passage of an update to the Residential Tenants Health and Safety Act (HB19-1170), which was signed into law in May of 2019. This update was a comprehensive overhaul of housing quality standards for rental housing throughout Colorado. In 2019, Tiana was named as one of the Rising Stars in Housing by Denverite Magazine. 

After graduating from law school, Tiana was selected for a post-graduate legal fellowship in Washington, D.C. where she worked on matters related to healthcare access and healthcare disparities on Capitol Hill. Tiana worked on Amicus Briefs submitted to the Supreme Court on reproductive justice and freedom. Tiana trained college-aged students on how to effectively advocate to elected officials and on how to engage in the political process. 

Prior to her time in D.C., Tiana was a student of law at DePaul University in Chicago, IL where she assisted domestic violence survivors in obtaining orders of protection, researched and helped craft a textbook on tort law, and served as an ethics fellow during her undergraduate education at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. 

Judith is a native of Colorado with strong working-class Chicana family roots in North Denver and Pueblo. She joined Elevation Community Land Trust as Controller in January 2022. As part of a commitment to the overall financial health and transparency of Elevation, Judith’s responsibilities include overseeing day-to-day accounting functions, maintaining internal accounting financial controls and internal and external compliance, supporting the annual audit process, and assisting in the development of the annual budget. Judith’s goals and passions lie in leveraging her accounting, collaborative, and organizational skills to ultimately benefit people and families most in need in Colorado.

Judith holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Northern Colorado. She began her career in accounting conducting audits primarily of non-profit organizations and businesses throughout Colorado and regionally. Prior to joining Elevation, Judith served as Controller in the Finance and Accounting department at Denver Urban Renewal Authority since 1997. She has also served on several community non-profit boards including the Women’s Bean Project and Brothers Redevelopment.

Mercedes Fuentes is the Director of Homeownership Programs for Elevation Community Land Trust. She began working for the organization in February 2019 as the Homebuyer Manager. In her current role, Mercedes oversees and performs day-to-day operations of the homeownership programs, directs the homeowner experience, and leads a team to ensure a high-quality and engaging homebuying process for ECLT applicants. She is also responsible for managing protocols required by external partners to ensure ECLT’s compliance with regulations at local, state, and federal levels.

Professionally trained as an educator, Mercedes began her career teaching classes at the University Autonomy of Hidalgo State in Mexico and then spent 10 years in education and direct services before engaging in the non-profit sector in Colorado. Her experience includes leading education efforts for children and family education, community empowerment and engagement, computer classes, homeownership, financial services, programs compliance, down payment loan assistance/underwriting, small business development, lending circles, and affordable housing.

Before joining Elevation, Mercedes led the Newsed CDC’s housing counseling department, small business administration, and lending circles as Director of Programs. She had worked with other Colorado housing non-profit organizations, including Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation (CHRDC), Rocky Mountain Mutual Housing, and Southwest Family Center.

Mercedes has dedicated her career to helping low and moderate-income families by sharing her expertise on how to achieve financial stability and housing security. She has been acknowledged nationally for her efforts, most notably as a nominee for the White House Champions of Change in Housing and locally as the Key Counselor Award with the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. Mercedes also received the Civil Rights Award in 2016 and other local awards in the following years. She continues to be a passionate advocate for equitable housing across Colorado. Mercedes holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla.

Shannon McGinty’s entire career has focused around the housing market. Prior to coming to Elevation Community Land Trust, she spent the last 13 years as a Senior Loan Specialist administering the Neighborhood Stabilization Program as the Project Implementation Coordinator, where she purchased and sold homes to low to moderate income families. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker and believes in safe, decent and sanitary housing for all. She strongly believes in affordable housing and the benefits of home ownership opportunities. She is the Project Manager for our Home Renovations and looks forward to continuing to make an impact on communities and peoples dreams.

Charles Allison-Godfrey is the Staff Attorney & Policy Associate for Elevation Community Land Trust. He began working for the organization in fall 2021. In his role, Charles provides counsel to the ECLT’s real estate team, engages in legislative advocacy to advance affordable homeownership interests at the state and federal levels, and offers general organization risk management advice to the Board of Directors and ECLT’s executive team. These duties are informed by his deep commitment to affordable housing generally and homeownership in particular, and by the voices of ECLT homeowners and others who are most impacted by the lack of affordable homeownership opportunities.

Charles received his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2021, graduating Order of the Coif, and became a licensed attorney that fall. At DU, Charles was a Chancellor’s Scholar and served as president of both the Land Use Law Society and the school’s National Lawyers Guild chapter.
Before law school, Charles worked for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a non-profit that encourages best practices in land use through research and educational programming. He graduated from Colorado College in 2013.

When he’s not working, Charles loves backcountry ski touring, cooking, and spending time with his partner, Vivian, and their dog, August.

David Salas is the Real Estate Coordinator for ECLT. He provides project management and administrative support for the real estate team but also collaboratively throughout the organization. His role also includes tracking real estate development and rehab progress, community outreach, and community events coordination.

Prior to joining ECLT, David worked a variety of positions across different industries. He spent two years as a Finance Student Assistant, providing financial administrative support for the Office of Advancement at CU. In the summer of 2019, he worked for a hospitality start-up as a Business Development Intern. During the pandemic, David pursued an internship opportunity with Dopesite Co and Artful Record, a creative start-up company based in Toronto, Canada. This opportunity allowed him to work with the CEO, helping him build a creative tech platform for young artists and entrepreneurs.

In 2021, David graduated from CU Boulder, Leeds School of Business with a B.S. in Business Administration, emphasizing in Finance & Real Estate. He is a first-generation Diverse Scholar and was actively involved with the Office of Diversity Affairs at Leeds. David is passionate about make an impact through business and creativity, and aims to leave a footprint that will outlive him.

As an outdoor enthusiast, Ernesto is privileged to call Colorado home. Between camping with family and friends, hiking with his dog, or waiting at the lift lines, there is no wrong way to enjoy this amazing state.

Ernesto has always taken pride in educating first-time home buyers and underserved communities since the beginning of his housing career in 2014. The home-buying process does not have to be intimidating and Ernesto strives to make every step easy and achievable. He looks forward to helping you through the journey of homeownership.

Bio coming soon