NCF is delighted to announce two new staff members that joined the team in 2021: Soren Stevenson and Samuel Estes.
Soren Stevenson, originally from Oregon, moved to Minnesota for an International Policy masters program at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Soren graduated from the program in 2020. While at Humphrey, Soren worked on several housing-related research projects at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). This work inspired Soren to pursue a career in housing development.
Soren joined NCF in May 2021 as the organization’s Real Estate Development Officer. In this role, Soren is responsible for developing the organization’s project pipeline for the Midwest Resident Owned Communities (ROC) program and expanding the number and geographic distribution of housing co-op conversion projects each year.
Soren has been enjoying his time on the road, visiting with property owners and vetting future co-op projects. He attended the Wisconsin Housing Alliance annual conference in Green Bay this week, a gathering that brings together manufactured home community owners and operators from all across the state. Soren is enrolled in the National Development Council (NDC) Rental Housing Development Finance Professional (RHDFP) certification and expects to complete the program in early 2022.
“I believe in the enginuity of people often dismissed by mainstream power brokers and I’m interested in seeing people and communities traditionally excluded from power and wealth accessing their fair share of both. These beliefs drew me to NCF and the work we are doing to advance access to wealth and community control through cooperative ownership,” Soren said.
Samuel Estes joined NCF in October of 2021 as the new Housing Program Associate. In this role, Samuel will be providing technical assistance to six resident-owned communities (ROCs) throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Before joining NCF, Samuel worked in a variety of positions including Spanish-English interpreter, policy researcher, MNsure Navigator, English Language Learner (ELL) teacher, and workshop facilitator. Originally from Arizona, Samuel is a graduate of Carleton College and holds a Master of Public Policy through the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Part of what drew Samuel to NCF is his participation in the struggle to save Lowry Grove Mobile Home Park, which closed in 2017 despite valiant efforts by residents and other community members to save it.
“The experience at Lowry Grove was an education on the strength of manufactured home community residents and the challenges they face. I am excited to contribute to NCF’s work to expand the ROC model because it allows residents to use and benefit from financial, legal, and other tools that often exploit and exclude them,” Samuel said.
