Our Board of Directors
Meet the Board
Meet the people who who work to make HCSNV’s vision a reality:
José Páiz, Chair
José Páiz is our expert on regional housing. Few people can boast of having as extensive an understanding of our housing situation. He is a Community Housing Officer with the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA), and a member of its REACH Virginia Team. José is responsible for promoting VHDA’s community lending and relationship building initiatives to the growing Latino communities throughout the Commonwealth, working with stakeholder and partner groups such as local governments and housing authorities, non-profit housing providers, faith-based organizations, real estate industry practitioners, and community leaders.
José is a member of the Leadership Team of VIDA PLUS, a federal Assets for Independence grant program matched with VHDA funds, that works to increase Individual Development Accounts participation and homeownership in the Virginia. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Community Outreach Committee of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® and is a founding Board member and current Vice President of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals of Northern Virginia.
Prior to joining VHDA in 2006 José had more than 15 years of experience in the mortgage banking and financial services industry in the Washington D.C. area.
Angela Sanders, Vice Chair
Angela is an Assistant Director of Academic Programs at the Georgetown University Center for Continuing and Professional Education. She shares her educational and work experiences with organizations such as the National Association of Former Foster Care Children on vital topics of education, personal and professional development. She was a key player in initiating the Executive Development Institute (EDI) with Medstar Health and the partnership with Blacks in Government. Ms. Sanders holds a Master’s degree from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from State University of New York College at Buffalo and a Senior Executive Leadership and Professional Manager Certificate from Georgetown University.
William C. Thomas, Treasurer
Bill currently serves as the Vice-President and Principal of a private financial and management consulting firm and has over 19 years experience in both the for- and not-for-profit sectors, managing accounting, finance, and reporting activities for clients and enterprise in diverse industries including oil, transportation, media, pharma, education and healthcare industries.
He is a certified public accountant and an adjunct professor of finance at University of Virginia. Bill is a graduate of Howard University and resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Patrice Moore, Secretary
Patrice Moore is a Realtor with RE/MAX 100. She serves on the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® Finance Forum committee and is an Accredited Buyer Representative. Patrice, (a native of Northern Virginia), began her career with the Federal Government, passed through Capitol Hill and settled into advancing positions with EDS, AT&T, MCI International and British Telecommunications. Patrice specialized in consultancy of data and telecoms solutions with emphasis on US-European strategic analyses. She was instrumental in the first global offering of Internet services to commercial companies.
At present, Patrice is also Director of Marketing for Ethos, a woman-owned small business company specializing in ethics consulting.
Patrice resides in Annandale, is married and shares her home with two terriers.
Jill Parker Landsman, Immediate Past Chair
Jill Landsman brings a wide range of public relations and managerial experience to the Board. She is the Vice President, Communications & Media Relations of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® in Fairfax, VA, where she has worked since 2006. Her department is in charge of NVAR’s Web sites, online communications, housing data analysis, publications and collateral print materials and media relations. Previously she served as the public relations manager and Web site administrator for the Technology Student Association in Reston, VA. She was editor for AAA’s Car & Travel magazine for 5 years. She also served as a staff writer for a national home medical equipment association, where she wrote testimony on health care issues that was presented on Capitol Hill and worked in public relations and editorial capacities for other Northern Virginia associations. Her first position in Virginia was as a reporter and news editor for the Potomac News in Woodbridge, VA, where her work was nominated for Virginia Press Association awards. Before moving to Virginia, Landsman lived in New Jersey, where she was an English and journalism teacher at Nutley High School.
Jill earned a bachelor of arts in English, speech, drama and education. Her master’s degree studies were in English literature. She resides in Burke with her husband and two very large dogs.
Cathy Ellico, Director
Cathy brings a deep understanding of business practices and collaboration to HCSNV. Cathy is experienced in building and leading cross-functional teams to develop solutions to problems. She is an automotive industry Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Process Improvement professional. She has held management positions with a variety of for- and not-for-profit organizations including the National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA), Traver Technologies, and Jaguar/Land Rover of North America. She has worked in Europe and Asia. She has an MBA from Wayne State University and Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from Kettering University. Cathy is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt in process improvement.
Dirk P. Johnson, Director
Dirk is currently the Online Communications Manager at the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®. Prior to this, he was a Data Quality Analyst at IDEA, an eCommerce solution provider for the electrical channel. He was the Partner/Operations Director of DomainDrivers LLC, an internet marketing consulting firm.
Dirk was named the Loudoun County Enterpreneur of the Year in 1993, based upon his founding of Scale Sports/Detail Master, a manufacturer of hobby products sold at retail outlets worldwide. Many years ago, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University.
He looks forward to assisting the HCSNV with online marketing.
Sheila Oak, Director
Sheila Oak is a Fairfax County native, and although she moved to New York City for a few years she recently came back to the area. She is currently a Financial Consultant at a large consulting firm. She knows the housing sector well, having worked at Fannie Mae as a Team Lead for a Obama Initiative called the Making Home Affordable program. She received her BS in Information Technology from George Mason University and her MBA from the University of Maryland. Sheila is also a Bollywood, modern and hip hop dance instructor.
Mindi Weisenbloom – Director
Mindi Weisenbloom retired in 2011 after a 30 year career as an attorney with the Government Accountability Office. Prior to that, Mindi taught special education for 6 years. Mindi has a BA from the University of Maryland, a MA from the University of New Mexico, and a JD from Catholic University. Mindi resides in Burke, Va.
Friends of HCSNV
Cynthia M. Colbert
Cynthia Colbert is a Financial Management Senior with Freddie Mac where she has worked since 1991. She is responsible for the planning and controlling of the firm’s financial resources and the provision of timely, accurate and reliable financial management information. Cyndi’s scope of responsibilities encompasses budgeting and forecasting, variance analysis, cost management and analysis, cost accounting, and financial administration. Cyndi interacts with senior customer personnel on significant technical matters frequently requiring coordination across organizational lines.
Cyndi also has experience with SOX compliance, risk controls and accounting. This experience has allowed Cyndi to identify significant control deficiencies, assist with internal controls documentation and provide support to general ledger processes at Freddie Mac.
Cyndi has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the State of New York and a Masters in Business Administration from Strayer University. Cyndi resides in Ashburn, VA.
Heidy Escalante, Director
Heidy Escalante is a Senior Business Analyst with Fannie Mae where she has worked since 2006. She is responsible for providing guidance to servicers to implement the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable (MHA) programs. Heidy shares her industry knowledge and subject matter expertise to assist servicers in helping struggling borrowers remain in there homes, through execution of MHA programs. Heidy is a key player in development and implementation of program training and external communications to servicers.
Heidy has over 8 years experience in the primary mortgage industry where she worked directly with borrowers, realtors and lenders. Heidy gives back to her community by volunteering in Foreclosure Prevention events such as telethons and Homeowner Fairs where she provides homeowners assistance and training sessions for Spanish speakers.
Heidy attended the University of Maryland at College Park for her undergraduate studies and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management & Information Systems from the University of Phoenix. She resides in Herndon, VA with her husband and two children.
Steven Kiel
Steve Kiel brings a distinguished record of service and scholarship to our Board. Steve is the founder and president of Arquitos Capital Management, located in Annandale, VA. He also is a Judge Advocate for the United States Army Reserves’ Trial Defense Service where he represents service members facing courts martial, administrative hearings, and other legal actions. He holds a JD degree from George Mason University’s School of Law and a BA in Political Science from Illinois State University.
Liz Milner
Liz, a proud native of Washington, D.C., is a self-employed writer and publicist. With the assistance of HCSNV staff, she wrote a grant that brought $50,000 in funding to HCSNV. Also, with the assistance of HCSNV’s staff and Board, she wrote the content for this website. Her 15 years’ experience in writing and public relations includes creating media strategies for several local governments in Northern Virginia and writing grant proposals for the Office of Historic Alexandria, Virginia and for The City of West Covina, CA. She has an MA in Political Science from the University of Chicago and lives in Annandale, VA.
Will Thomas, Director
Will is currently a Legislative Analyst at the Office of Management and Budget within the Executive Office of the President since March 2011. Prior to that, he worked as a Planning Analyst at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University and his juris doctorate from North Carolina Central University. He has current admissions to the North Carolina and District of Columbia Bars. He resides in Dumfries, Virginia.
