Leigh Brown

2020 NC REALTORS® Legislative Chair

Many know Leigh for her accomplishments as a highly successful REALTOR® and a best-selling author.  This just begins to scratch the surface.  She is an award-winning educator and influencer.  She is an innovative CEO and a must-see keynote speaker.  In fact, she has spoken all over the world – from Garden City to Phnom Penh!  She actively educates professionals in every realm of business leadership and relationships.  Leigh is a do-it-all professional.

Leigh has a passion for motivating those around her to want more.  She has worked with all ranges of the professional spectrum – from new-to-the-trade rookies to CEOs of massively successful brands.  It is her ability to articulate complex concepts in ways that everyone can relate to that makes her leadership so impactful.

Leigh wants to leave her mark on the next generation of professionals.  Whatever your field of business is, Leigh has tools that can promote growth and a team-oriented environment.  She has the sales techniques; she has the experience; she has the PASSION!  Leigh wants to help YOU!

Dr. Robert Dietz

Chief Economist & Senior Vice President for Economics & Housing Policy, National Association of Home Builders

Dr. Robert Dietz is Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Economics and Housing Policy for the National Association of Home Builders, where his responsibilities include housing market analysis, economic forecasting and industry surveys, and housing policy research. He has published academic research on the benefits of homeownership, federal tax policy, and other housing issues, and has testified before Congress on real estate policy issues. He is often cited on housing and economic issues in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and other media sources. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, where he was the committee’s real estate expert. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ohio State University.

Scott Farmer

Executive Director, North Carolina Housing Finance Agency

Scott Farmer is the executive director of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, a self-supporting public agency with the mission to create affordable housing opportunities for North Carolinians whose needs are not met by the market.

Mr. Farmer has been with the Agency for 18 years, serving as executive director since January 2017 and as director of rental investment from 2005 to 2016. Prior to joining the Agency, he worked in mortgage servicing. Mr. Farmer currently serves on the board of Centrant Community Capital, an affiliate of the N.C. Bankers Association, and on the N.C. Task Force on Ending Veterans Homelessness. He was previously a member of the National Association of Home Builders Housing Credit Work Group and the N.C. Sustainable Communities Task Force. Scott holds a bachelor degree in political science from N.C. State University and is certified as a Housing Development Professional.

Salim Furth

Senior Research Fellow & Director of the Urbanity project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Salim Furth is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He studies regional, urban, and macroeconomic trends and policies, and has testified before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Previously, he worked at the Heritage Foundation and Amherst College. His writing has been featured in National Affairs, American Affairs, The City, and Public Discourse, and he wrote regularly for the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester in 2011.

Samuel Gunter

Executive Director, North Carolina Housing Coalition

Samuel Gunter is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition and has worked at the Coalition since 2015. He currently chairs the Housing Recovery Support Function of the NC State Disaster Recovery Taskforce, is appointed to the NC Interagency Council On Coordinating Homeless Programs, and sits on the Board of Directors of both Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina & the Council of Independent State Housing Associations. Samuel has a background in community development and public policy from his time at Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, AmeriCorps VISTA, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and the Peace Corps. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin (B.A.) and Duke Divinity School (M.Div), and is also a Baptist minister who has served churches in North Carolina and Texas.

Emily Hamilton

Research Fellow & Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Emily Hamilton is a Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Her research focuses on urban economics and land-use policy. Hamilton has authored numerous academic articles and policy papers. Her writing has appeared in USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, Economic Affairs, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She contributes to the blog Market Urbanism.

Wendy Harris

Wendy Harris is the second generation REALTOR® owner of Team Harris Real Estate and has been actively involved in real estate since 2001.  She graduated from St. Andrews College in 1993 with a BA in International Business and minor in Spanish.  She is a licensed broker, Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR), Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), and a Military Relocation Professional (MRP), Notary Public, and has hosted a live radio show for the past decade.

Mike Kingsella

Executive Director, Up for Growth

Mike Kingsella is the Executive Director of Up for Growth, a diverse coalition of housing and social justice advocates, environmental organizations, housing producers, major employers, urbanists and transit associations joining forces to address our nationwide housing shortage.

Up for Growth provides an expert forum to advance public discourse and promote innovative solutions to the housing crisis. Mike leads all elements of Up for Growth’s operations, including policy research and development, strategic communications, stakeholder outreach, and federal, state and local advocacy efforts.

Mike is an expert in urban development and housing policy with over 15 years of experience in housing, commercial real estate investment, capital markets and asset management. He has a Bachelor of Science in Community Development and Real Estate Development from the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Jessica Lautz

Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights, National Association of REALTORS®

Dr. Jessica Lautz is Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights at the National Association of REALTORS®. The core of her research focuses on analyzing trends for both NAR members and housing consumers. Through management of surveys, focus groups and data analysis, she presents new and innovative ways to showcase results. Jessica discusses research findings in major media outlets and international presentations.

Jessica received her Doctorate of Real Estate from Nottingham Trent University in the U.K. She also has a Master’s in Public Policy from American University and undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Law and Justice from Central Washington University.

Tiffany Manuel

President and CEO, TheCaseMade

Dr. Tiffany Manuel is the President and CEO of TheCaseMade, an organization dedicated to helping leaders powerfully and intentionally make the case for systems change. In this role, Dr. Manuel works with hundreds of passionate social change leaders, changemakers and innovators around the United States who are building better, stronger communities that are diverse, equitable and inclusive. By aligning their community stakeholders around the kind of deep systems changes that can improve population outcomes, these leaders are able to grow their impact, scale their programs, and harness the investments they need to improve their communities.

Dr. Manuel is a dynamic speaker, thought leader, and writer on the issues of community development, social change and cross-sector partnerships. Trained as a social scientist, she is committed to building the capacity of changemakers and leaders to grow their social impact. She has worked to expand opportunity for low-income workers, families and communities through 25+ years of professional and volunteer experience spanning the private and non-profit sectors, government and academia. She is the primary architect of the Opportunity360, a data platform with more than 100k+ users in the community development field, it remains the most comprehensive data platform for practitioners looking to advance systems change and population outcomes. Dr. Manuel is passionate about translating the insights harvested from this work to increase opportunities for public deliberation and public will-building around the issues of poverty, inequality and social exclusion. Dr. Manuel holds doctorate and master’s degrees in public policy from the University of Massachusetts Boston, a master’s degree in political science from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago.

Michael Neal

Senior Research Associate, Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute

Michael Neal is a senior research associate in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Previously, Michael worked at Fannie Mae where he was a director of economics in the Economic and Strategic Research division. Prior to his service at Fannie, Michael was the assistant vice president at the National Association of Home Builder’s Economic and Housing Policy department. As a housing economist, Michael has an in-depth knowledge of housing market trends and has provided expert analysis and commentary on housing to media outlets around the country. Previously, Michael worked at the Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, within the Federal Reserve System, the Congressional Budget Office, and at Goldman Sachs. Michael has a master’s in public administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Morehouse College. He has also studied at Princeton University and St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.

George Ratiu

Sr. Economist, Realtor.com®

George Ratiu explores trends in global economies, real estate markets, technology, consumer demographics and investments. His professional experience spans corporate, consulting, association and higher education environments in the United States and Europe.

George is Senior Economist with realtor.com®, where he delivers information and insights to empower consumers and Realtors® on their real estate journeys. Prior to realtor.com®, George managed research programs at the National Association of Realtors®, focused on US housing statistics, international and commercial real estate market performance, investments and finance. In addition, he provided economic and industry insights as a regular columnist for leading real estate publications, and delivered keynote presentations across the US and Canada. His research and insights have been featured in print and television by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, ABC, CBS, The New York Times, Yahoo Finance and USA Today.

He is a member of the National Association for Business Economics, and the National Economists Club.

Michael A. Stegman, Ph.D.

Senior Housing Policy Fellow, Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets

Michael Stegman is a senior housing policy fellow at the Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets, and held fellowship positions at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Center for Household Financial Stability at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Center for Community Capital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previously, he was senior policy advisor for housing at the National Economic Council from 2015 – 2016 after serving three years as counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury for housing finance policy. As the top housing policy advisor in the White House, he coordinated administration policies on housing finance reform, access to credit, and other housing issues. Previously, he served as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 – 1997.He also holds the position of MacRae Professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.