THE TEAM
Executive Leadership
Aaron Miripol
President & CEO
About Me
Aaron Miripol has 30 years’ experience running community development and affordable housing companies. He has over seen more than $1 billion in direct economic development, including over 3,000 permanently affordable homes. Aaron joined ULC in 2007 and leads this unique real estate company in partnering with a wide range of organizations in the Denver metro area on the strategic acquisition and development of land and buildings to preserve and enhance their ability to create sustainable benefits in underserved communities. To date ULC has invested in 34 properties totaling $100 million in investments, which leverages over $700 million in development.
Over 10,000 people and (more than 80% are low income households) and 2000 jobs are served by ULC’s real estate. Aaron is a founding member of the Neighborhood Development Collaborative and Mile High Connects, and currently serves on the Board of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
Prior to his work at ULC, Aaron was the Executive Director of Thistle Community Housing, providing oversight on one of the fastest growing non-profit housing providers in Colorado. In his nine years at Thistle, the organization’s affordable housing production grew from 100 homes to 1,000 rental and ownership homes valued at over $70 million. Most importantly, Thistle grew from serving 250 people a year to over 3,000 people annually in need of affordable housing.
Before moving to Colorado, Aaron worked in Baltimore running two inner city nonprofit community development corporations, Southwest Visions and The Loading Dock. He was a Goldsmith Scholar in International Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has his BA in History & International Studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, and a Masters in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Erin Clark, Esq.
Vice President of Master Site Development
About Me
Erin Clark joined Urban Land Conservancy in September of 2018 and brings significant experience in redevelopment, planning, due diligence, and real estate financing, sale and acquisition, and leasing. As Vice President of Master Site Development, Erin leads efforts to create long term community benefits on large, multi-phased and multi-use sites throughout the Denver metro area, particularly in transit-oriented development areas.
Erin is committed to seeing development of thoughtful and sustainable urban infill projects that promote walkability and community cohesion. A Denver native, Erin has worked in the fields of planning and development since 2001, starting with a role in real estate and affordable housing at the Lowry Redevelopment Authority. She later spent five years in the City of Pasadena, CA, as a planner in both long-range planning and economic development. There, she participated in the drafting and adoption of a citywide Recreation & Parks Master Plan, and also oversaw large commercial and institutional development projects.
Immediately prior to joining ULC, Erin worked as a transactional real estate attorney and land use consultant in Denver and Boulder. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brown University, a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Southern California, and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Erin is a current member of the Denver Planning Board and the Real Estate Section Council of the Colorado Bar Association.
Trisha Wolfe
Vice President of Finance and Administration
About Me
Since January 2015, Trisha Wolfe has been the ULC Accounting Manager where she manages all ULC finances, accounts payable, accounts receivable, program and property financials, annual budget and oversees audit preparation. Trisha is also the point person for ULC as a supporting organization to The Denver Foundation.
Prior to moving to Denver in late 2014 and starting with ULC, Trisha spent 15 years working with Covenant House Michigan in Detroit, where she most recently was the Finance Director for this 43 year old nonprofit organization, dedicated to providing homeless crisis shelters for youth.
Trisha now takes advantage of living in the beautiful state of Colorado, and has big plans for many outdoor adventures. She has also taken up archery, loving the precision of hitting a target.
Mark S. Marshall
Vice President of Real Estate
About Me
Mark Marshall joined the ULC team in November 2015 as the Real Estate Director and brings over 28 years of experience in the building/development industry. Mark ‘s wealth of knowledge spans a variety of development types that include government facilities and military family housing, affordable housing, mixed-use, mixed-income, market-rate and student housing. As a developer, he has participated in the construction, rehabilitation and preservation of over 2,300 single-family and multi-family affordable housing units valued at over $273 million, as well as over 1,700 units of market rate housing valued at over $280 million. His extensive work experience encompasses deal sourcing, acquisitions, housing development, land development, budgeting, scheduling, architectural design and project management. In the summer of 2020, Mark was promoted to Vice President of Real Estate.
Before becoming a member of the ULC team, Mark had lived in Chicago for the past 20-years – where he began his career in community development and affordable housing. He has had the opportunity to work with a number of well-respected regional and national development companies, granting him the opportunity to gain valuable experience in development financing through the use of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits, HOME, CDBG, Federal Home Loan Bank AHP grant, IHDA Trust Funds, State Donation Tax Credits, TIF, McKinney Section-8 and a number of other grant and subsidy programs. He was able to leverage these financing tools to develop deals that include HOPE VI, New Homes for Chicago, SRO housing for the Homeless and at Risk, Historic redevelopments and single-family and multi-family housing communities.
Mark’s former employers include: the US Air Force where attained the rank of Captain while serving in the Civil Engineering Squadron as a Base Architect and Community Planner; Lakefront SRO, as Assistant Director of Development; Heartland Housing, as Director of Development; Mercy Housing as Regional Director of Real Estate Development; and AIMCO, as Midwest Region Senior Director of Development. Mr. Marshall earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Tennessee / Knoxville and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Indiana University / Bloomington.
John Bissell
Director of Property Assets
About Me
John joined ULC September of 2017 as the Director of Property Assets, and oversees the Assets department. In his new role at ULC, John not only manages the Assets team, but is responsible for making decisions that impact the financial performance of ULC’s property assets. In the Director position, John works closely with our third party property managers (as some of ULC’s assets are not directly managed in house) to ensure the overall success of these properties. He is the lead for all properties managed by ULC, with responsibilities including cash flow management, third party contract negotiations, capital improvement projects and the overall guidance of property assets.
John has over 24 years of experience in the multi-family and building management industry. Most recently he was the Regional Maintenance Director for Pinnacle, overseeing all aspects of property maintenance operations for the Colorado portfolio. This included capital improvements, building maintenance programs, assistance with building operations, training, recruitment and hiring, budgeting, etc. Before that, he had spent more than 15 years as a Regional Manager for a family owned, owner/operator property management firm. He oversaw and supervised portfolios of 6 to 7 properties, consisting of 1500+/- units. His duties encompassed all aspects of building operations, capital improvement planning and execution, property financial health and growth, customer relations, employee development and budgeting. John Started his adult career in the US Army in an Engineering Battalion as a Draftsman working closely with the Battalion Officer/Engineers on many different types of civil engineering and construction projects for both the Military and in Civil Action Projects.
Angelle Fouther
Director of Communications
About Me
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Angelle served as the founding chairperson of Montbello Organizing Committee (MOC), a nonprofit organization in Far Northeast Denver, where she and her family have lived since 2003. MOC is committed to engaging and equipping residents to address issues such as food access, economic development, and affordable housing.
Angelle has co-launched two publications: Give Magazine, a publication through The Denver Foundation, distributed via the Denver Post and Denver Business Journal highlighting philanthropic giving in Metro Denver and Montbello Urban Spectrum Edition (MUSE), a publication featuring news, perspectives, and events of the Far Northeast Denver community.
Angelle has received the Public Relations Professional of the Year Award from the Colorado Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) as well at two CABJ Scribes in Excellence Awards. She’s also received a Community Leadership Award from Steps to Success, a program of University of Colorado’s Boulder’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. She has served in leadership roles on the board of directors for Girls, Inc. Metro Denver, with Jack and Jill of America Metro Denver, and as a mayoral appointee to the Denver African American Commission, Blueprint Denver Task Force, where she strongly supported an equity analysis and implementation focus for the city’s 20-year plan, and the Denver Planning Board.
Angelle holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters of Arts and Culture from the University of Denver. She is married to Rev. Dr. James E. Fouther, Jr. and has two adult daughters, Danielle and Daryn (both graduates of Colorado State University). In her free time, she enjoys word games, travel, movies, reading, creative writing, and is a gospel and jazz singer.
Assets
Aaron Martinez
Facilities & Sustainability Manager
About Me
Aaron joined ULC in June of 2020 as our Facilities & Sustainability Manager. He is responsible for the efficient and effective operations of ULC’s buildings and assets, as well as long-term planning and project management for ULC’s renewable energy and sustainability projects. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector; focusing on social issues such as environmental sustainability, affordable housing, energy equity, food access, and youth development.
After growing up in Pueblo, CO, Aaron has spent equal time working in both the construction industry and the non-profit sector. From framing houses in the heat of the Texas summer to leading at-risk youth development programs in Pittsburgh, PA and Denver, CO, to implementing emergency home rehabilitation programs in Boulder, CO after disastrous flooding in 2013, he has a broad range of experience. Most recently, Aaron served as Deputy Director for one of the nation’s largest Weatherization Assistance Program providers.
Aaron loves all things outdoors, including skiing, cycling, hiking, camping, and motorcycles. Most evenings you will likely find him on a patio enjoying a cold beverage, preferably near a campfire.
Shawn Huston
Facilities Technician II
About Me
Shawn joined ULC as the Field Maintenance Technician in May of 2018. He is a Colorado Native, and few people have a deeper love or knowledge of all that Colorado has to offer. He spends his free time on the highest majestic mountain trails to the hidden charms of the Denver’s urban grottos.
Shawn has an associate’s degree in renewable technology and sustainable energy from the Echo Tech Institute as well as his Journeyman in industrial mechanics. He also has extensive knowledge of electrical and building maintenance and experience in landscaping, as he is attentive to bringing the beauty of Colorado into its cityscapes.
Shawn has over 15 years of experience in customer service reconciling the human element with professional objectives. He is grateful to use his experience to work for a nonprofit whose mission he feels passionate about, and he is really looking forward to giving back to the state he loves with his career at Urban Land Conservancy.
Autumn Buehler
Property Manager
About Me
Autumn joined ULC in March 2019 as a Property Manager, bringing an array of experience in property management sector. Autumn started in vacation rentals and eventually moved into single family residential to apartment complexes and finally transitioned into commercial asset management. She earned an Associates Degree in Computer Network Engineering from Westwood College of Technology in Denver.
Autumn is originally from the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. She enjoys the outdoors as much as possible and loves local culture, music, food, arts and events. You will also catch her playing kickball in the summer with the Denver Kick Ball Coalition.
Erin McMillin
Property Manager
About Me
Erin joined ULC in October 2019 as a graduate school intern in the Real Estate Department. In January 2020, she joined the Assets Team full time as a Property Manager. Erin has worked as the President and Executive Director of the Denver Handmade Alliance, as well as an artist and jeweler. As a Real Estate Broker since 2017 and a life-long community organizer and volunteer, she is thrilled to combine her love for Real Estate and social equity in her work.
Erin moved to Colorado in 2003 and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from CU Boulder. She is currently in the New Directions Political Science Graduate program at CU Denver. When she is not working or studying you can find Erin cooking, hiking, at a community meeting, making art or walking around the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Carson Draper
Facilities Technician I
About Me
Urban Land Conservancy welcomed Carson to our Facilities and Management Team in November 2019. Carson joins ULC with experience in building maintenance and will add valuable skills and knowledge to ULC’s team.
Carson is from a small town in Utah and grew up scouting and camping almost every weekend. He’s an eagle scout who also loves working on computers. Carson is currently studying at BYU Idaho for animation after teaching himself how to use Adobe Animation in high school.
Autumn Brennan
Properties Assets Coordinator
About Me
Autumn joined Urban Land Conservancy in June 2020 as the Property Assets Coordinator and has over five years of experience working in residential property management and commercial real estate. She began her career in Washington, D.C. after graduating with a history degree from George Mason University. She worked with luxury apartment homes and then transitioned to commercial real estate. Autumn is excited to use her real estate experience to help create sustainable communities in the Denver metro region.
Autumn is originally from the Washington D.C. metro region and is happy with her choice to move from the East Coast a few years ago. Like many people living in Colorado, she loves the outdoors and adventuring in different parks and trails. You can also catch her in the air practicing aerials, listening to podcasts, or reading a good book while drinking copious amounts of coffee.
Master Site Development and
Real Estate
Katy Hulac
Associate Real Estate Director
About Me
Katy joined ULC in January of 2020 as the Associate Real Estate Director, bringing 22 years of real estate experience. Katy started her real estate career in college at her family’s property management company in Omaha, Nebraska. After graduating with an Accounting degree from the University of Nebraska, she moved to the mountains and spent 6 years in Breckenridge working at Land Title before settling in the front range.
Katy’s title background led to a closing position at Signet Partners working with OAHP on the Mark to Market Program. This was the start of acquiring an appreciation for the complex world of affordable housing. Prior to joining ULC, she has spent time at Mercy Housing, AIMCO, and Alden Torch Financial, gaining a wide variety of affordable housing and real estate experience.
In her free time Katy loves running, traveling to relay races, and spending time with her daughter and two mini Australian Shepherds.
Michael Miera
Manager of Neighborhood Relations
About Me
Michael Miera has over 37 years of community relations experience in the City of Denver. He previously served as a Community Development Representative with the Denver Office of Economic Development, where he collaborated with stakeholders in select low-income neighborhoods to advance economic and neighborhood development. He is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Community Wealth Building Network and is a member of the Denver Foundation’s Economic Opportunity Committee.
Michael Miera has been working to improve the quality of life marginalized communities and communities of color for more than four decades – actively serving on the boards of directors and advisory committees for numerous nonprofit agencies .
Michael began his higher education career at Metropolitan State University of Denver in 1981 as an Admissions Counselor responsible for recruitment of Latino students. Minority student recruitment was in its infancy. He assisted in the developed of minority student recruitment strategies at Metro. Michael delivered thousands of motivation presentations to minority youth throughout Colorado. He especially enjoyed motivating and connecting with at-risk youth who had the potential to be successful in college.
Michael is best known as the founder of The La Raza Male Youth Leadership Conference. Created in 1991 and now in its 27th year, the effort annually serves over 1,500 Latino youth providing them with instructional and motivational seminars, role models and more–all to help them realize their full potential while instilling in them a respect and responsibility for their communities. In another notable effort, in 2004 he created the La Raza Youth Leadership Program which motivates a select group of high school Latino students to explore their leadership potential.
Currently, Michael is the married father of two, grandfather of six and great grandfather of two. He loves to act, sing, and dance. He is proud to be part of the ULC family as Manager of Neighborhood Partnerships.
Anna Mercurio
Master Site Development Project Manager
About Me
Anna Mercurio joined ULC in September of 2019. Anna has worked with a mix of land development and special district clients for the last decade and a half, providing an amalgam of legal and project management services.
As Master Site Development Project Manager for ULC, Anna provides technical, research and project management expertise as ULC creates large scale, multi-phased and multi-use developments. Anna works to ensure all projects are completed in alignment with ULC goals and community identified needs.
Immediately before joining ULC, Anna worked in civil engineering, splitting her time between project management work, including regulatory permitting, survey and GIS projects, and operations management, focusing on financial and project reporting, team and client relationship building and process implementation and improvement.
Anna has also served as a Special District Administrator; handling statutory requirements and other operations of metropolitan districts in the greater Denver area. Similarly, she provided legal support to metropolitan districts, working with developers, consultants and local governments assisting in the creation, management and dissolution of special districts.
Anna received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado State University, her paralegal certification from an ABA-approved college and is PMP certified.
Carmen Atilano
Manager of Neighborhood Relations
About Me
After nearly 25 years of community relations and civil rights work with the City of Boulder, Carmen became a Manager of Neighborhood Partnerships with the Urban Land Conservancy in 2018. While in Boulder, she addressed delicate community-relations issues through relationship building, program management, grant making, policy development, team leadership and ordinance enforcement. Among the policies she prepared for presentation to City Council are a Living-Wage Resolution, a Failure to Pay Wages ordinance, expansion of anti-discrimination legislation to include gender variance and the establishment of an Immigrant Advisory Committee. As the Manager of Community Relations she supervised Boulder’s Youth Opportunity Program and Community Mediation Services.
In her newly created role, she will serve as a proactive link between ULC staff and members of the neighborhoods in which real estate developments are planned. Her goal is to maximize community awareness and engagement to achieve a positive impact of each development project.
Carmen is a graduate of the Colorado College and earned a masters degree in social anthropology at the Escuela Nacional de Anthropologia e Historia in Mexico City. She is a native of southern Colorado and has lived in northwest Denver since 1987.
Communications and
Office Support
Alexa Culshaw
Communications & Grants Manager
About Me
Alexa joined Urban Land Conservancy in October of 2019 as the Communications and Grants Manager. Alexa is responsible for the design, creation, and publication of ULC’s outreach and marketing materials, in addition to ULC’s grant processes and efforts. She also leads event coordination.
Alexa is a Colorado native who has dedicated her professional career to serving our community through access to healthcare at Children’s Hospital Colorado and is ecstatic to be working for ULC as they continue to better the outcomes of Coloradans in underserved communities.
Alexa holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College, and a Masters of Renaissance Literature from the University of York in York, England. She is a book nerd, an avid traveler, and lover of all things outdoors, especially skiing and road biking.
Chris Leding
Executive Coordinator
About Me
Chris joins ULC after spending the bulk of her career as Communications Director at Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) moving from the important issue of preserving the outdoors to the important issues of neighborhoods and housing at ULC.
Chris spent 19 years at GOCO, which was created by the voters in 1992 as a dedicated funding source for outdoor projects. In her tenure there, she was responsible for all media relations, collateral materials and public outreach efforts across the state in addition to overseeing legislative affairs. Prior to joining GOCO, she had wide-ranging responsibilities in a Colorado-based strategic planning, business and political consulting firm.
As executive assistant, she will be using her years of experience in staffing executive directors and board members. She will also be assisting ULC’s public policy advocacy efforts.
Chris hold a bachelor’s degree in political science. In her spare time, she loves being with her husband, daughters and cats.
Shannon Luedke
Office Manager
About Me
Shannon joined Urban Land Conservancy in April of 2019 as the Office Manager. Shannon’s background includes over 20 years of experience as an administrative assistant and executive assistant for a variety of for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Shannon is passionate about customer service in her role and is dedicated to supporting ULC staff members and ensuring office management runs as efficiently as possible. Shannon is excited to be back working for a nonprofit who she believes has an amazing mission to support great communities in Colorado.
Shannon is a native of Colorado and enjoys all that our state has to offer. Her biggest pride and joy is her son Barry who plays college football at Colorado State University. Shannon is usually at Barry’s games both in and out of state during football season, and always finds an excuse to talk about football any time of year. Go Rams!
Finance
Victor Hernandez
Director of Accounting
About Me
Victor joined Urban Land Conservancy in August of 2019 as the Director of Accounting. Victor is responsible for overseeing the general accounting and financial reporting functions of ULC and its subsidiaries. He brings a diverse background with over 25 years of affordable housing and accounting experience. Victor has worked in affordable housing at the national, state and local levels.
Before joining ULC, Victor was a manager at a public accounting firm which specialized in accounting and fund administration for private equity firms. Victor holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Masters of Accountancy from Texas State University. Victor is a certified public accountant licensed in Colorado and Texas.
2020 Board of Directors
Bill Pruter, Board Chair
Nichols Partnership
Bill Ryan, Chair-Elect
Colorado State Land Board
David Fine, Secretary
General Counsel, Metro State University
Rob Holway, Treasurer
M&T Bank
Anne Garcia, Past Board Chair
Retired – Rose Community Foundation
David Younggren, Past Board Chair
Piton Foundation, Gary Community Investments
Denise Denslow
CliftonLarsonAllen
Tim Howard
Former ULC Executive Director and Founding Board Member
Dawn Bookhardt
Butler Snow
Matthew Barry
National Western Center Authority
Molly Urbina
Urbina Strategies, LLC.
Past Board Members
Rus Heise, Past Board Chair
Retired – RBC Capital Markets
Sue Casey
Former Denver City Councilwoman
Beverly Haddon
Former CEO of Stapleton Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities
Diane Barrett
City and County of Denver
George Beardsley
Inverness Properties LLC
Scott Beasley
Inverness Properties LLC
Peter Bowes
Bowes and Company
Mary Cronin
Former President, The Piton Foundation
Renee Desai
Neighborworks
Jamie Fitzpatrick
Corum Real Estate
Tom Gougeon
Gates Family Foundation
Ismael Guerrero
Denver Housing Authority
Myrna Hipp
Former Deputy Director, Denver Office of Economic Development
David Miller
Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise
Skip Miller
Miller Real Estate
Cec Ortiz
John Parvensky
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Rick Pederson
Foundation Properties
Susan Powers
Urban Ventures LLC
George Shaw
Shaw Construction
Mark Smith
East West Partners