Dan Klaff

Starting Crow Island

New Markets Tax Credit expert and long-time community development professional, Dan Klaff is the founder of Crow Island Community Capital. He focuses on providing community development finance consulting services to non-profit and for-profit organizations that are working on deeply impactful community development projects. He prides himself in utilizing complex financing tools from as early in the deal process as possible through the closing of the project and beyond to revitalize communities.

Representative projects include multi-tenant commercial real estate projects, mixed-use real estate projects, campus-wide multi-stage redevelopment, opportunity hubs, schools, federally qualified health centers, homeless shelters, operating businesses and more.

Background

Before Crow Island, Dan had over a decade-long career at Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C., a leading affordable housing and community development law firm. He became one of the nation’s leading attorneys representing developers (or QALICBs) in New Markets Tax Credit transactions. In addition to representing developers, Dan’s practice included the representation of lenders, including Community Development Financial Institutions, and investors in community development and affordable housing with projects that utilize new tax credits and other forms of private and government financing.

Dan graduated from Harvard Law School in 2008. Afterward, he worked as a Skadden Fellow at Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. His work there included legal, policy and advocacy efforts to address the foreclosure crisis and affordable housing shortage in Illinois. As part of that work, he helped pass an aggressive state law intended to help municipalities around the state better address the foreclosure crisis. He also worked closely with municipalities and community groups to implement that law and other solutions to foreclosure crisis.

As Vice President, Carmen Jaeger brings a wealth of New Markets Tax Credits and community development finance expertise to Crow Island. Before joining the firm, Carmen served as Portfolio Manager for the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), a nonprofit CDFI and a leader of the supportive housing movement. Her career also includes roles at JPMorgan Chase Bank and LISC’s New Markets Support Company (NMSC), where she managed the accounting, audit and tax returns functions for NMSC and the subsidiary community development entities and funds it managed. In her current role, Carmen supports Crow Island clients from project intake through the closing processes, managing financial, diligence, and impact information to ensure efficient and successful closings.

Carmen holds an MBA from DePaul University.

Quincy Johnson is a Vice President at Crow Island supporting NMTC transactions from intake through closing. Prior to joining Crow Island Quincy was a Senior Loan Officer at Enterprise Community Loan Fund, where he structured and originated debt for affordable housing and community development projects nationally. Past employers include Bellwether Enterprise, where he underwrote affordable housing transactions for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and was a transaction manager for 4% private placement bond transactions, Citi Community Capital where he supported organizations and underwriting with the closing of affordable housing projects nationwide, and Freddie Mac where he was a conventional housing production analyst.

Quincy Johnson holds a master’s degree in management from the Kogod School of Business at American University and a master’s in policy studies from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Jessica Herzog brings over 15 years of experience in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to her role at Crow Island. She most recently served as Program Manager at the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, where she supported the Medical College of Wisconsin's research project teams through the grant application process. In her previous role at the Burke Foundation, Jessica managed grant applicants and partners focused on urban education, youth, and community development, and helped implement systems, processes, and communications for the organization. As Manager at Crow Island, Jessica helps manage the firm’s operations, marketing, and communications, and assists with client activities and funder outreach.

Jessica holds a master’s degree in public service from Marquette University where she served as a Trinity Fellow, a graduate program dedicated to community development and positive social change. Her career in public service began as a member of AmeriCorps VISTA and AmeriCorps NCCC, and includes program management, fund development, and volunteer roles at multiple nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee and Chicago.