Authority Members

Terry E. Newman, Chairman

Terry is a partner in the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman and concentrates his practice in real estate taxation, specifically ad valorem tax litigation. Prior to joining the firm in 1981, he was a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney in the Criminal Division. Terry is involved in numerous professional, charitable and civic activities, including his role on the Board of Trustees of The Museum of Science and Industry, as Life Trustee of After School Matters and member of the Economic Club of Chicago. He also served from 1989 through 2011 as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the City Colleges of Chicago. Terry attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University Chicago and earned his law degree at DePaul University College of Law.

Karen Davis, Vice-Chairman

Karen is the principal of Community FrameWorks LLC, a community development consulting firm with in-depth experience managing and providing strategic direction to community-based initiatives. Prior to this position, she was the Senior Vice President and Regional Community Affairs Manager for Regions Bank, where she identified, promoted and directed community development initiatives in the Midwest. Before Regions Bank, Karen served as Executive Director of the Springfield Urban League Community Development Corporation. There she orchestrated the development of single-family affordable housing units. Karen received both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management, and a Master of Arts degree in Community Development from the University of Illinois.

Mary Kane, Treasurer

Mary is currently Senior Vice President, Public Finance for Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., As a senior investment banker, she has been responsible for transactions totaling over $5 billion since January 2000. Prior to this, Mary served as Executive Director for the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority where she guided the issuance of more than $150+ million in economic development bonds and created the Community Development Corporation to provide loans to small businesses. Earlier on in her career, Mary was the Director of Administration for Madison County, Illinois, one of the ten largest counties in the state, and also oversaw the Madison County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Mary earned a Master of Science degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Cristina Castro

Cristina is a marketing and public relations specialist at Elgin Community College and member of the Kane County Board, where she serves on the Executive, Finance and Budget and Human Services committees. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Northern Illinois University.

Harlan Karp

Harlan is the president and managing director of the SouthBlock Group, a commercial and residential real estate development and asset management company. He formerly served as a lead advisor for Mergers and Acquisitions for KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers and spent a decade consulting companies around the world such as UPS, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Aflac and GE Power Systems. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is a Certified Public Accountant.

William J. Malleris

As a retired developer, Bill understands first-hand the responsibilities of affordable housing construction. He has been a passionate advocate of accessible housing in Illinois and Minnesota, having developed, owned, managed, and was the general contractor for a 48-unit affordable housing development in Naperville. The development has become a national model for integrating accessible affordable housing with fair market housing. Since 2003, Bill has served on the Governor's Illinois Housing Task Force, providing guidance and assistance towards increasing the supply of affordable housing in Illinois. Prior to this, he chaired the City of Naperville's Fair Housing Advisory Commission for six years. Bill has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.

Melody C. Reynolds

Melody is an entrepreneur whose passion is accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. She served as the Executive Director of Advocates for Access, a non-profit organization based in Peoria that empowers people with disabilities to live independently in the community. She created a homeownership program that assisted families with disabled members to become homeowners in Central Illinois and was the Co-Creator of the Peoria Special Needs Advisory Panel for Emergency Preparedness for the City and County of Peoria. Melody holds an associate degree in Computer Science from Illinois Central College, and is a Nationally Certified Webmaster. She was a recipient of the 2011 WEEK 25 Women in Leadership Award.

Deborah H. Telman

Deborah currently serves as Division Counsel in the Corporate Transactions Department of Abbott Laboratories. She is an attorney with more than 15 years of legal experience and has a strong financial background, serving as Chief Counsel for the Boeing Company between 2002 and 2008. Deborah has also provided corporate and public finance legal advice to housing agencies, non-profit organizations and municipalities during her three years at Chicago-based law firm Hopkins and Sutter. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from the Boston University School of Law.

Salvatore (Sam) Tornatore

Sam is a principal in the Tornatore Law Office located in Bloomingdale and Roselle, and DuPage County Board member. He is a former Trustee for both the Village of Roselle and Bloomingdale Township, and former member of the Roselle Zoning Board of Appeals. Sam is a graduate of the John Marshall Law School and DePaul University in Chicago.