ROBERT A. RAPOZA, President and principal, has more than two decades’ experience as a professional lobbyist and is an expert on the federal budget and appropriations process, with special expertise in federal housing and community development policy. He has been responsible for numerous legislative accomplishments including saving federal rural housing and community development programs from budget cuts, establishing the Intermediary Re-lending Program at the Agriculture Department, sustaining and increasing funding for community development programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, promoting the creation of a YouthBuild program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and, most recently, successfully steering the New Markets Tax Credit program to enactment. He first became involved with community development issues while serving with the Massachusetts Department of Community Affairs. After moving to Washington, D.C., he held executive positions with the Rural Housing Alliance, the National Rural Housing Coalition (which he continues to serve as executive secretary and legislative director), and the Rural Coalition before establishing Rapoza Associates in 1984. A graduate of Boston College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he has served on the boards of several housing and community development organizations and has been profiled in the Washington Post and in the authoritative Beacham’s Guide to Key Lobbyists.

bob@rapoza.org

Main: 202-393-5225

Direct: 202-204-3955

ALISON FEIGHAN, Vice President and partner, has been involved in the field of economic development and housing since 1984 and has more than twenty-five years’ experience as a lobbyist in Washington. She has been instrumental in developing successful legislative initiatives on a range of issues including microenterprise development, community reinvestment, rural economic development, community development venture capital, tax credit financing, and appropriations. Before joining Rapoza Associates, Ms. Feighan administered a housing services program for a community action agency in Quincy, Massachusetts and served as a consultant on fair housing and community reinvestment issues in Boston. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University.

alison@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3953

LINDA DAVENPORT, Vice President and Counsel, joined the firm in 2009 from her position at the Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. She advises clients on application funding, reviews and helps prepare tax credit and grant applications, and engages in market analysis and strategic and business planning for clients. She served as the first manager of the New Markets Tax Credit Program in 2002, and later as Deputy Director of Policy and Programs, responsible for overseeing the CDFI Fund’s four grant or tax credit programs. Ms. Davenport was involved in the Fund’s initial planning for the Capital Magnet Fund and with Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, Foreclosure Prevention office (TARP). Prior to her federal service at the Treasury Department, she was with Fannie Mae’s American Communities Fund, and previously she served as both General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Acquisitions, at the Congressionally-mandated National Housing Partnership (NHP), which owned, managed and developed rental housing under a variety of government assistance programs. Ms. Davenport is a graduate of Michigan State University, and received her J.D. from California Western School of Law.

linda@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3958

LANA CHAPMAN, Office Manager, has been a key figure at Rapoza Associates since 1992, involved in all aspects of the firm’s evolution and management. Previously she served as office manager for the consulting firm of Temple, Barker & Sloane (later merged with Mercer Management) and as the administrative assistant to the legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

lana@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3956

COURTNEY MCGRATH SPANGLER, Senior Policy Associate, joined the firm in March 2007. Courtney focuses on appropriations and in particular federal community development programs and also works on clean energy, green jobs and environmental initiatives. Most recently Courtney was the government affairs coordinator at the American Planning Association in Washington, DC where she handled federal policy related to land use planning including transportation, energy, housing and urban revitalization strategies, and helped expand APA’s grassroots advocacy network. Previously, Courtney worked as deputy policy director on a gubernatorial campaign in New York State, served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, and coordinated major art auction fundraising events for the 2000 Presidential election campaign and the 2002 Senate races. Mrs. Spangler received her B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University and is a candidate for a M.S. in Real Estate from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

courtney@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3951

ELIZABETH FIVEASH, Policy Associate, has been with the firm since March 2008. Prior to joining Rapoza Associates she worked with Teach for America and in government relations for an agricultural trade association. Elizabeth is a cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Political Science and History.

elizabeth@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3957

VICTORIA SPEIDEL, Executive Assistant, Victoria has been with the firm since February 2010. Prior to joining Rapoza Associates she worked for The Smithsonian Associates (TSA),  as an executive assistant at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for the federal government. She graduated in May 2008 from the University of Maryland with a BA in Art History and Archaeology.

victoria@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3950