OUR WAHN HISTORY
MISS RICHELLE PATON!
Richelle has been in the affordable housing development field since 1994 and has been involved in the development or preservation of over 25,000 units of affordable rental housing. She serves as an owner/developer as well as provides development consulting to owners and housing authorities, with a specialty in LIHTCs, Section 8 rental assistance, and HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
Prior to this, she founded and co-led Tapestry Development Group for nine years, a successful development and consulting organization. She previously served with a large non-profit development organization for twelve years, serving as the President of its real estate development arm in her last position. Her expertise includes multi-layered financing and fostering collaboration between public and private sectors to develop mixed-income housing. She serves as subject matter expert in efforts with state and federal agencies to create new and creative financing programs and policies for affordable housing development. She has served as a speaker and trainer to a variety of stakeholder groups in the affordable housing field. She is active with several trade associations to advocate for sound public policies that support affordable housing. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association and serves as Co-Chair of the RAD/Multi-Family Committee of the Georgia Association of Housing and Redevelopment Authorities.
She co-founded and for 11 years, co-chaired the Women’s Affordable Housing Network, an Atlanta-based effort to support women in the industry. She earned a Women in Real Estate Award from the national commercial real estate online platform Connect Media. She was named as one of the top 12 Young Leaders in Affordable Housing in the nation by Affordable Housing Finance magazine. She received a POW! Award from the online publication Womenetics for serving as a model of a purposeful business woman. She is a graduate of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2010. She earned a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and Master of City Planning from Georgia Tech. She completed an Executive Education program within the Social Enterprise Initiative at the Harvard Business School. She serves on several committees at her church and her children’s schools, as well as mentors younger developers in the affordable housing industry.
PRE-1994
Prior to this, she founded and co-led Tapestry Development Group for nine years, a successful development and consulting organization. She previously served with a large non-profit development organization for twelve years, serving as the President of its real estate development arm in her last position. Her expertise includes multi-layered financing and fostering collaboration between public and private sectors to develop mixed-income housing. She serves as subject matter expert in efforts with state and federal agencies to create new and creative financing programs and policies for affordable housing development. She has served as a speaker and trainer to a variety of stakeholder groups in the affordable housing field. She is active with several trade associations to advocate for sound public policies that support affordable housing. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association and serves as Co-Chair of the RAD/Multi-Family Committee of the Georgia Association of Housing and Redevelopment Authorities.
1994
Richelle has been in the affordable housing development field since 1994 and has been involved in the development or preservation of over 25,000 units of affordable rental housing. She serves as an owner/developer as well as provides development consulting to owners and housing authorities, with a specialty in LIHTCs, Section 8 rental assistance, and HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
2005
She co-founded and for 11 years, co-chaired the Women’s Affordable Housing Network, an Atlanta-based effort to support women in the industry. She earned a Women in Real Estate Award from the national commercial real estate online platform Connect Media. She was named as one of the top 12 Young Leaders in Affordable Housing in the nation by Affordable Housing Finance magazine.
2010-PRESENT
She received a POW! Award from the online publication Womenetics for serving as a model of a purposeful businesswoman. She is a graduate of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2010. She earned a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and Master of City Planning from Georgia Tech. She completed an Executive Education program within the Social Enterprise Initiative at the Harvard Business School. She serves on several committees at her church and her children’s schools, as well as mentors younger developers in the affordable housing industry.