Sign Up for Our Newsletter

The Team

Nationally renowned leaders in business, real estate, medicine, education and research who are pioneering new models in housing and community development.

The People Behind First Place®

Board of Directors (Click for bios)

Howard Sobelman

Board Chair
Snell & Wilmer Partner & Tyler's Dad

Joyce Millard Hoie Headshot

Joyce Millard Hoie

Vice Chair
Former Raising Special Kids Executive Director & Matt's Mom

Kathy Hancock

Board Secretary
Vertex Advisors Group Consultant

Bruce Schwartz

Board Treasurer
Former Jerith Manufacturing Co., Inc. Owner & President & Emily’s Dad

Jack Henry

Board Member
Founder & Managing Director
of Sierra Blanca Ventures, LLC
& Clarke’s Grandfather

Amy Pawlowski

Board Member
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Executive Director, Complex Care

Denise D. Resnik

Board Member
First Place Founder, President/CEO
SARRC Co-Founder & Emeritus Board Member
DRA Collective Founder & CEO
& Matt's Mom

Juan Salgado

Board Member
Phoenix IDA CEO
Phoenix Community Development & Investment Corp. CEO

Michael Trailor

Board Member
Trellis President/CEO

Greg Wells

Board Member
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Senior Vice President & Chief People Officer

Leadership

Denise D. Resnik

Founder, President/CEO & Matt's Mom

Nancy Ottmann

Chief Operating Officer

Mitch Barr

Director of Finance, Planning & Analysis

Mary Ann Bashaw

Communication Specialist

Maureen Casey

Director, Global Leadership Institute's Colonel Harland Sanders Center for Applied Research and The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Center for Public Policy

Lexie Egerer, CTRS

Director of Community Life & Wellness

Natasha Grant, MNLM

Director of Workplace & Community Inclusion

Renée Greene

Executive Coordinator

brad herron-valenzuela

Director, Global Leadership Institute's Phoenix IDA Center for Education, Training & Employment

Alyssa Land

Digital Marketing & Creative Coordinator

Jessica Luna MMHW

Director of Supports & Mental Health Coordinator

Sarah Marchese M.Sc., SHRM-CP

Human Resources Manager

Kim Monette

Property Manager

Josh Munoz

Family & Community Outreach Coordinator

Tom Ortega

Director, Global Leadership Institute's Mulzet Center for Expression

Advisors

Steven A. Betts

Betts Real Estate Advisors Founder & President

Peter Bell

Ascendigo Autism Services
President & CEO and Tyler's Dad

Joe Blackbourn

Everest Holdings
President & CEO

George Braddock

Creative Housing Solutions, LLC Director

David C. Brown

Valley Leadership CEO

Catherine Camp Boyle

Autism Housing Pathways, Inc.
Founder & President
Mother of a young man
with autism

Ellis Carter

Caritas Law Group, P.C.
Legal Counsel

Joseph Cooper

NuvOx Pharma
Chief Business Officer

James D. Howard, Jr.

Dudley Ventures Founder & Principal Shareholder

Anna Hundley, M.Ed.

Autism Treatment Center (ATC)
Texas Executive Director

Bill Karny

Col. Harland Sanders Foundation President (USA)
& Charlotte's Grandfather

The Late Natalie S. Lang

Lang Associates
Business Consultant

Raun D. Melmed, M.D.

SARRC Co-founder & Medical Director; Melmed Center Director & Developmental Pediatrician

Daniel Openden, Ph.D., BCBA-D

SARRC President & CEO

Wellington "Duke" Reiter, FAIA

Solutions Initiative at the
ASU Foundation
Senior Vice President & Managing Director

Paige Rogers, M.S.W., C.P.R.P.

Community Connections Consulting Services Founder Former SARRC VLSA Director

Jeff Ross, M.A.

First Place Adult Transition Specialist

Paul Shattuck, Ph.D.

AJ Drexel Autism Institute
Drexel University Associate Professor & Life Course Outcomes Research Program Leader

Michael Sklar

Sonata Properties
Broker & Managing Member

Christopher Smith, Ph.D.

SARRC Vice President & Research Director

Michael Trailor

Native American Connections Chief Strategy Officer

Linda J. Walder, Esq.

The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation (DJF) Founder & Executive Director