HOMESIGHT

STAFF

Darryl Smith
Executive Director

BIO | EMAIL
Tony To
Director Emeritus &
Othello Square Project Director
BIO | EMAIL
Sekai Senwosret
Director of Resource Development

BIO | EMAIL
Eddie Roldan
Director of Finance

BIO | EMAIL
Joseph Thomas
Director of Human Resources and IT

BIO | EMAIL
Uche Okezie
Director of Real Estate Development

BIO | EMAIL
Moussa Samb
HomeOwnership Center Director

BIO | EMAIL
Ali Sheibani
Portfolio Manger
Sr. Loan Originator
BIO | EMAIL
Sarah Valenta
Director of Community & Business Development
BIO | EMAIL
Patty Cokus
Executive Assistant

BIO | EMAIL

Department Contacts

Darryl Smith  |  Executive Director
Tony To  |  Director Emeritus & Othello Square Project Director
Patty Cokus  |  Executive Assistant

Eddie Roldan  |  Director of Finance
Tom Jacobi  |  Chief Portfolio Officer
Kristin Storm  |  Finance Controller
Wayne Parse  |  Senior Staff Accountant
Betty Flojo  |  Staff Accountant
Carolyn Draper  |  Loan Servicer

Moussa Samb |  Homeownership Center Director
Renai Mielke  |  Homeownership Center Manager
Chloe Wattles  |  HOC Front Desk Coordinator

Lending Department

Robin Finley  |  Underwriting and Compliance Officer
Rita Sanchez-Fasso  |  Senior Mortgage Loan Processor
Ali Sheibani  |  Senior Loan Originator
Brooke Gibson  |  Loan Originator
Melanie Chavez  |  Loan & Grant Processor
Jeff Lombard |  Post Closing Assistant
Janet Jaime Rodriguez  |  Loan Officer Assistant
Jennifer de Montigny  |  Processing Closer

Counseling Department

Pat Montgomery  |  Homebuyer Counselor
Wanda Luz Maldonado  |  Homebuyer Counselor

Uche Okezie  |  Director of Realestate Development
Faduma Ahmed  |  Integration Manager, Real Estate Development
Sarah Valenta  |  Community & Business Development Manager
Maria Vargas  |  Community Development Administrative Coordinator

Joseph Thomas  |  Director of Human Resources and IT

Marc Bartel  |  Communications & Marketing Manager

Sekai Senwosret  |  Director of Resource Development
Rachel Eagan  | Capital Campaign Manager
Meron Kasahun  |  Grants and Contracts Manager

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Darryl Smith, Executive Director

Darryl has a long history of experience in real estate brokerage, neighborhood revitalization, municipal government, workforce development, and place-based community development. In 2009 Darryl was appointed Deputy Mayor of the City Seattle and served four years overseeing the depts of Neighborhoods, Civil Rights, Housing, Human Services, and Economic Development. He has held a variety of civic roles including President of Rainier Valley Chamber, board member of Seattle Planning Commission, and appointed member of the Mayor’s Economic Opportunity task force. Darryl has been an active resident participant in racially and economically diverse SE Seattle for over 25 years.

Tony To, Director Emeritus/Othello Square Project Director

Tony To is an activist, developer, and executive officer in the community development sector in Southeast Seattle, one of the most diverse zip codes in the US. His 27 years at HomeSight, including his role as Executive Director from 2004-2019, resulted in 500 new homes built and over 3,000 low and moderate-income first time homebuyers, several new cultural facilities including the Wing Luke Asian Museum, and adoption of race centered equitable development policies and resources in Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. Currently, the Director Emeritus of HomeSight, Tony is also the Project Director for Othello Square, a 3-acre community owned campus located at a light station at the heart of the Rainier Valley community.

Tony serves on the following boards and community advisory committees (CAC):

Sekai Senwosret, Director of Resource Development

An experienced development professional with an emphasis on proposal development and strategy. Sekai began writing grants in 2000 from her home in order to spend more time with her three boys, who are now adults. Sekai came to HomeSight in 2019 as the Grants Manager and is currently the Director of Resource Development. In this role, she is responsible for managing all aspects of the organization’s resource development including grants, individual and corporation donations, reporting and donor relations.

Her strengths include strategic thinking, strong teamwork skills within diverse groups, and complex problem-solving skills. Sekai specializes in projects involving Millennials across all subjects including education, workforce development, media, and leadership development.

Additionally, Sekai has collaborated with local and national clients including Young Women Empowered, The Happiness Initiative, The Compassion Games, The Y of Central Maryland, Camp Korey, and various public-school districts. Countless people benefit from the grants for which she secures funding. Some examples include a $225K grant to fund a statewide out-of-school-time network; a $500K grant to provide scholarships for diverse and deserving students to attend summer enrichment programs at top-tier universities; and a $200K grant to provide childcare and enrichment programs for low-income families in Baltimore County.

Sekai earned her B.A. in Black History with a minor in English from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She previously worked as an executive director of a Girl Scout Council and held management and leadership roles at The College Board and Sylvan Education Solutions (Catapult Learning). Since relocating to Seattle in 2011, she has freelanced as a consultant, and held roles as Grants Manager at Seattle Theatre Group and Cornish College of the Arts.

In her spare time, she enjoys watching horror movies with her husband of 20 years, and spending time with her granddaughter – Violet, taking long walks, mentoring young professionals, and cooking up a storm.

Eddie Roldan, Director of Finance

Eddie Roldan has called Seattle home for the last 28 years, he joined Homesight in early September 2020, as their new Director of Finance. He was born and raised in El Salvador C.A. In the mid-1980s, after graduating with a degree in Business administration in his native land he made the hard choice to leave due to the civil unrest in the area; he landed in San Diego CA, where he honed his English and accounting skills for a few years, he then moved to Seattle WA to join the now long departed NBA team The Seattle supersonics where he worked as an accounting coordinator and subsequently became the assistant controller.

He continued to build his executive experience working in for profit businesses and entrepreneurial startups, he began his nonprofit career with a stint at the UW; he then joined The Society of St Vincent de Paul as a consultant, once bitten by the laborious but rewarding bug of Social service work he decided to stay to become their Finance Director and spent the next 13 years helping develop and implementing visions for four different generations of Executive Directors. He enjoys his family, the outdoors and could not think of a better place to live can call home but the legendary Northwest.

Joseph Thomas, Director of Human Resources and IT

Joe Thomas was born and raised in Eastern Tennessee then joined the US Army after college and was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska.  After leaving the Army, Joe and his family made Fairbanks home for 26 years where he met his current wife while she was consulting for a Native American Corporation.  Together they moved to what Alaskans call the Lower 48 where they lived in Coeur D’Alene, ID for 5 years before moving to Puyallup, WA. Joe worked as a staff accountant and Payroll Administrator for 5 years before transitioning into Human Resources. Joe has over 25 years of experience and has held various HR positions in both for profit, not for profit and non-profit organizations with the majority being health related.  Joe worked on serval software implementations, both large and small, throughout his career. Before coming to HomeSight Joe was the Director of Human Resources for The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations, which is a drug treatment facility and Indian Health Services organization in Spokane, WA. Joe has served on several non-profit boards and was an original board member of Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing which is now a part of NeighborWorks.

Joe has a BA in Business Administration and holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources Credential (SPHR), and the Credential of Certified Payroll Professionals.

Uche Okezie, Director of Real Estate Development

Uche Okezie is the Director of Real Estate Development at HomeSight, a nonprofit Community Development Corporation in Southeast Seattle whose mission is to promote social and economic equity in order to preserve and enhance economically and culturally diverse communities through affordable homeownership, business development, and community advocacy.

She manages the development of HomeSight’s commercial and affordable homeownership projects and oversees the project management services provided to non-profit organizations in the Puget Sound area. From 2017 to 2019 her role also included oversight of HomeSight’s Community Development work, including the collaborative Communities of Opportunity program, a coalition of coalitions (40 organizations) working to identify and implement community-led policies and programs to improve health, housing, economic development, and community connections in Southeast Seattle.

Most recently she managed the development of single family homes at Greenbridge, King County Housing Authority’s mixed income master planned community and acted as owner’s representative for the Eritrean Association in Greater Seattle during the expansion of their Community Center. In 2017 she completed the feasibility plan for Othello Square, a mixed-use Transit Oriented Development project at Seattle’s Othello Light Rail Station. Currently she is managing the development of HomeSight’s affordable homeownership cooperative project at Othello Square.

She received her Master of Urban Planning from the University of Washington and is also a certified Project Management Professional and Construction Manager.

Moussa Samb, Homeownership Center Director

Moussa holds a Homeownership Counseling Certification for Program Managers and Executive Directors. As Director of the Homeownership center, Moussa oversees seven full-time staff, ensuring efficient service delivery, compliance with all federal / state program regulations, and attainment our performance goals.

He brings an extensive financial background with 20+ years of experience in retail banking, investment services, and mortgage lending, with a proclivity for the nonprofit sector as influenced by his own experiences. Moussa is a community outreach leader who strives to assist underserved low- and moderate-income populations in diverse cultural settings.

Ali Sheibani, Chief Portfolio Officer

Ali has 10 years total lending experience with 6 focused in non-profit lending helping low income families achieve their goal of home ownership. He is a licensed loan originator and works with potential homebuyers that complete HomeSight’s financial counseling program as well as current homeowners that are interested in refinancing to lower their payments, decrease their loan term, consolidate debt or complete home improvements.

Ali has been recognized by the Washington State Housing and Finance Commission as a Premier Partner for 2017,2018 and 2019 by being one of the top 10 producers in the state.

 

SARAH VALENTA, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Sarah Valenta has been a volunteer community organizer in the Rainier Valley since 1999 and has been employed as an organizer by HomeSight since 2007. She has supported the creation of grass-roots organizations and helped to build capacity in several community based groups. Sarah has facilitated beautification and infrastructure improvement projects and helped to organize, fundraise and implement dozens of community connection activities, including business promotions that support small independently owned businesses to thrive in place and park improvement projects that reflect the diverse cultural history of the neighborhood. Sarah had many roles at HomeSight and is currently the Director of Community & Business Development. She oversees the On Board Othello coalition and MLK Business Association. Sarah directly manages community and economic development efforts in SE Seattle to ensure that Othello is a vibrant and welcoming multicultural community where businesses, residents, and visitors gather, explore, connect, and grow. Honoring a rich immigrant history and fostering an inclusive community generates innovative and equitable opportunities for current residents and businesses, as well as newcomers.

Patty Cokus, Executive Assistant

Patty Cokus joined HomeSight as the EA in April of 2015. She provides direct support to the ED, Director Emeritus, Leadership Team and Board of Directors. Patty uses her detail-oriented organization skills to manage calendars, schedule meetings, assist in tracking progress, and manage logistics for retreats, events, trainings, celebrations, etc. She also provides overall general office support and assistance to the finance team. For the Board she provides communication and scheduling assistance, compiles and distributes documents for board and committee meetings, and records minutes.

Patty grew up in Syracuse, NY and received her BFA in small metals at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. She moved to Seattle in 2000 and after focusing time on her artistic career turned to Arts Administration. After 10 years as the EA for the Glass Art Society, she identified with HomeSight’s mission and goals to assist culturally and economically diverse communities focused in SE Seattle, near her home in Tukwila.

Outside of work Patty enjoys exploring the beautiful diverse state of WA, hiking and climbing with her husband and dog. Patty is an active member of The Mountaineers and finds inspiration in people doing what they are passionate about who in turn encourage others to challenge themselves and realize they are far more capable than they had originally thought.