The live webinar will feature two panels:
The panels will be followed by a Q&A with Panelists led by Isaac Boltansky, Director of Policy Research, Compass Point Research.
President
National Association of REALTORS®
Charlie Oppler, a REALTOR® from Franklin Lakes, N.J., is the 2021 President of the National Association of REALTORS®. He has been a REALTOR® since 1981.
Charlie is the CEO of Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, with 15 offices in northern and central New Jersey. He holds the At Home with Diversity certification from NAR.
Director of Policy Research
Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC
As the Director of Policy Research for Compass Point Research & Trading, Mr. Boltansky coordinates the firm’s Washington policy analysis and follows financial services policy issues with a particular focus on mortgage finance, consumer lending, education services, capital formation, and tax policy. Mr. Boltansky joined Compass Point from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Congressional Oversight Panel and previously worked as an analyst at EJF Capital, a multi-strategy hedge fund focused exclusively on the financial services sector. Mr. Boltansky earned his B.A. in Political Science and History from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Director of Partnerships and Policy
Andrew Davidson & Co., Inc.
Cooperstein brings decades of experience from various risk and policy roles in the mortgage market including senior positions at Freddie Mac, Ocwen, HSBC Securities, RMIC and Ranieri Partners. He spent the first 10 years of his career in government service at the General Accounting Office and the Office of Management and Budget as a senior economist. Cooperstein has managed risk portfolios at a mortgage insurer, servicer and GSE. He owns a copyright on a mortgage valuation platform and was one of the chief architects of Credit Reform. He is a published author and experienced speaker on applied option pricing and the economics of financial policy.
Senior Policy Representative
National Association of REALTORS®
Ken Fears is an Economist by training and serves as a Senior Policy Representative for Banks, Lending and Housing Finance at the National Association of REALTORS®. Mr. Fears developed expertise in housing market dynamics, taxation, and finance over eighteen years at NAR, while working as an Economist. More recently, Mr. Fears served as the internal expert on trends in mortgage finance and lending research. Mr. Fears now works in NAR’s advocacy group defending and promoting NAR’s interests in the conventional housing finance arena. Mr. Fears presents on finance issues to local and state real estate associations as well as to Congress and Federal regulators and is quoted in both the local and national media.
Mr. Fears received his B.A. in economics from Syracuse University and a MSc. (Masters of Science) in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Albert Sussman Professor
of Real Estate and Professor of Finance
The Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania
From 1998 to 2001, she served as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the senior urban policy official and Principal Advisor to the Secretary. At The Wharton School, she was Chairperson of the Real Estate Department and Professor of Real Estate and Finance from July 1997 until her 1998 appointment to HUD. At Penn, she co-founded and currently is Co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research. She also founded and currently serves as Director of Wharton’s Geographical Information Systems Lab. She was the editor of Real Estate Economics from 1997 to 1999 and currently serves on the editorial boards of several real estate journals.
Wachter is the author of more than 200 scholarly publications and the recipient of several awards for teaching excellence at The Wharton School. Her co-authored book, The Great American Housing Bubble, and the edited volume, Fair Housing, were published this year by Harvard Press and by Penn Press. Previous volumes include Shared Prosperity in America’s Communities and Neighborhoods and Life Chances. Wachter has served on multiple for-profit and not-for-profit boards including the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee of Fannie Mae and the Office of Financial Research Advisory Committee of the U.S. Treasury and currently serves on the Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis Advisory Committee. . She frequently comments on national media and to Congress on U.S. housing policy.
Director of Policy Research
Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC
As the Director of Policy Research for Compass Point Research & Trading, Mr. Boltansky coordinates the firm’s Washington policy analysis and follows financial services policy issues with a particular focus on mortgage finance, consumer lending, education services, capital formation, and tax policy. Mr. Boltansky joined Compass Point from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Congressional Oversight Panel and previously worked as an analyst at EJF Capital, a multi-strategy hedge fund focused exclusively on the financial services sector. Mr. Boltansky earned his B.A. in Political Science and History from Ohio Wesleyan University.
President
Center for Responsible Lending
Michael Calhoun is President of the Center for Responsible Lending, which is the policy affiliate of Self-Help, the nation’s largest community development lender that has provided over $6.4 billion in financing for first time homeowner loans and small business loans. The Center for Responsible Lending is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and policy institute focusing on consumer lending issues. Mr. Calhoun has been an active participant in consumer financial legislation and regulation, and he has more than thirty years experience in consumer lending. He has authored numerous papers on the subject and has testified often before Congress and many state legislatures. Prior to joining CRL, he led several lending divisions at Self-Help, including the secondary mortgage market program. He is a former member and chair of the Federal Reserve Consumer Advisory Committee. Mr. Calhoun received his B.A. degree in economics from Duke University, and his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina.
Senior Industry Fellow
Joint Center for Housing Studies
of Harvard University
Mr. Layton was the CEO of Freddie Mac from May 2012 until June 2019, which he undertook as public service given the company has been under Federal government control since 2008. He has more than 40 years of experience in financial services and as a corporate leader. He worked for nearly 30 years at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors, starting out as a trainee and retiring in 2004 as Vice Chairman and one of its top three executives. His experience ranged from leading businesses in global capital markets, investment banking, and US consumer banking, with extensive experience as a general manager of a large financial institution. He was Chairman and then CEO of E*TRADE Financial from 2007 to 2009, shepherding it successfully through the financial crisis. Since 2004, he has served on several corporate boards, including being appointed to the board of AIG by the US Treasury. He served as a senior advisor to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association from 2006 to 2008 and serves as Chairman Emeritus of the board of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing homelessness in New York City, after having been its chair for nearly a decade. Layton received simultaneous Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Senior Director, Government Affairs
National Community Reinvestment
Coalition
Gerron Levi is an attorney with nearly 20 years of federal and state government affairs experience. Her background includes serving in the Maryland General Assembly, where she authored laws on education, crime and ex-offender reentry and was a member of the National Conference of State Legislatures, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Foundation of Women Legislators and the American Council of Young Political Leaders. During her tenure, the Maryland State’s Attorneys Association named her as Legislator of the Year in 2010. She also served as Assistant Director of the Legislation Department at the AFL-CIO and as a Legislative Representative for the Laborers’ International Union. She lobbied Congress on a host of law around wages, working conditions, immigration, trade, health care and pensions. She is featured in the documentary How Democracy Works Now as the top lobbyist for the AFL-CIO on federal immigration reform. She also served as senior staff for former U.S. Representative Gus Savage and for U.S Senator Dianne Feinstein. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Howard
University, School of Law.
Share