BOWEN A. ARNOLD

Member of Advisory Board

Bowen is a Manager/Principal of DDA Development, an integrated real estate development company with capabilities in development, investment, finance, asset management and construction. Bowen has overseen the design, financing and development of over $600m in investment property, including the syndication of $250m in federal tax credits, raising over $200m for various partnerships. A Miami native, Bowen held various executive positions within the real estate industry prior to forming DDA.

EDUCATION

Juris Doctor, cum laude, University of Miami School of Law
BBA, Finance, University of Miami School of Business

LICENSES

Member, Florida Bar
Real Estate Broker

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

ULI Tampa Bay Executive Board
Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission
Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Commission
Greater St Petersburg Economic Development Council

CALVIN REED

President and Chairman of the Board

Calvin Reed’s sixty-four-year career began with five years’ service in the U.S. Navy, followed by thirteen years working in engineering and management positions in the metal processing/manufacturing industry. In 1976 Calvin purchased a steel fabricating and construction company, located in Tampa where, over the following forty four years, he worked to develop and expand the business, until retiring in 2020.

In 2014 Calvin joined a group of private business executives, brought together by Mayor Pam Iorio, to explore how the private sector might work with local government to solve the growing homeless problem in the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County. Following months of interaction and consultation with national experts in the field, including visits to cites having some success addressing homeless issues, it became apparent that the key to a long term positive outcome was to provide housing first, in combination with 24/7 wrap-around services. The Tampa/ Hillsborough need was single-occupant furnished and maintained apartments focused on the chronic homeless population.

Housing First-Steps Forward was formed as a “nonprofit” and is managed and operated by a small board of pro-bono dedicated members.
STEPS currently provides 150 rooms to the Tampa/Hillsborough Homeless Initiative and, with strong State, County, and City support, continues to develop additional facilities to meet the need.

DAVID H. REED

Treasurer

David H. Reed is the founder and principal of Shepard Capital Partners and is currently making and managing equity and junior capital investments for the firm. Since 2002, Mr. Reed has led or participated in over $300 million in fundings for buyouts, startups and growth capital across multiple industries.

Mr. Reed received a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Emory University in 1987, and completed the Sloan Fellows Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management in 2002, where he earned a Masters of Business Administration. Prior to Sloan, he was a CPA in the State of Florida and was involved in three successful start-ups in the business services/consulting field.

Mr. Reed is a co-founder of The Sustany Foundation, Housing First Steps Forward, Inc. and CRISP of Tampa and serves on the Boards of Bankers Financial Corporation and Precision Build Companies, among others. He is a member of the Florida Chapter of YPO Gold, and a former member of the Board of Governors of the Sloan Fellows Program at MIT.

JOHN M. SCHILLING

Member of Advisory Board

John is a Manager/Principal of DDA Development. Since joining DDA in 2009, John has developed over 1,500 multi-family units with a combined cost of $300m. Prior to joining DDA, John was a Development Associate in the Residential Division of Crosland, LLC, where he managed multi-family and mixed-use projects throughout Florida. John worked as a financial advisior for a boutique investment research firm prior to entering real estate.

EDUCATION

MBA, University of Florida
BS, Finance, University of Florida
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

LEED AP

University of Florida Friends and Alumni of Real Estate
Greater St Petersburg Economic Development Council

JOHN DELAVERGNE

Secretary and Board Member

John DeLaVergne is a native of Tampa, FL where he has been practicing commercial real estate for over fifteen years and is currently President of the boutique commercial real estate brokerage & advisory firm DeLaVergne & Company. John graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a BS in Business Administration and a minor in Real Estate. He is a member of the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors as well as the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute where he has earned the prestigious designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). John has been involved in successful commercial real estate transactions valued at over $150,000,000 since heading up the firm 8 years ago and $500,000,000 in his career. John is actively involved in local civic and social clubs, such as Tampa Chamber of Commerce (member of the Board, chair of the Workforce Housing Committee), Leadership Tampa Alumni (Leadership Tampa Class of 2015, Sponsor Committee Chair and Cabinet Member), Tampa Downtown Partnership, Westshore Alliance, Economic Club of Tampa, and Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (former 2nd Lieutenant and Board Member). John also serves on The Salvation Army Tampa Area Command Advisory Board where he was the 2020-2021 Board Chair and is Secretary of the Board for Housing First Steps Forward, a non-for-profit he helped start that focuses on housing the chronically homeless and providing them with wrap around services.

KEVIN L. GARDNER

Member of Advisory Board

Kevin is the most recent Member of DDA Development. He has constructed and developed over $250m worth of multi-family units, including affordable housing, student housing, and mixed-use market rate development. A Florida licensed GC, Kevin has intimate knowledge of building systems and construction means and methods. Kevin served as Vice President of Construction for North American Properties, a nationwide development firm.

EDUCATION

BS, cum laude, College of Design, Construction & Planning, Univerity of Florida

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Florida Licensed GC
LEED AP BD + C
United States Green Building Council, Board Member – Capital Area Chapter

MICHAEL MERRILL

Board Member

Michael Merrill’s forty-five year career includes senior executive leadership positions in both the private and public sectors. He recently retired after serving ten years as the County Administrator of Hillsborough County, Florida reporting to an elected seven-member county commission as the chief executive responsible for all day-to-day operations of a major urban county with a $6+ billion budget and over 5,000 employees who provide wide-ranging municipal services to a population in excess of 1.2 million, including services to homeless residents and military veterans. For twenty years prior to becoming County Administrator, Mr. Merrill was responsible for the issuance of municipal debt to pay for the capital and infrastructure needs of the County. Following that assignment, he served for two years as an Assistant County Administrator.

Mr. Merrill’s private sector experience includes seven years with a large U.S. national bank where he managed the commercial and residential real estate holdings of a major REIT over a four-year period, followed by three years as Vice President of Public and Corporate finance. He then served briefly for one year as Vice President of Corporate Finance with a regional investment banking firm before taking an assignment in Europe where he served as Financial Controller and a Director of the French and UK subsidiaries of a U.S. capital goods manufacturer.

Mr. Merrill had the opportunity during his tenure as County Administrator to serve with amazing individuals and community non-profits who shared one goal: to do everything possible, and sometimes doing the impossible, to improve the lives of the County’s homeless individuals and families. This rewarding experience enabled him to meet and work closely with the principals and directors of Steps Forward, and he is very grateful for the opportunity to now serve on the Board with these dedicated servant leaders.

KAMALA CORBETT

Board Member

Kami Corbett has extensive experience in the areas of land use, comprehensive planning, annexation, zoning, variances, tree removal permits, design exceptions, subdivisions, sign permitting, alcoholic beverage permitting, concurrency agreements, development agreements, and all aspects of governmental permitting, including stormwater and environmental permitting. In addition to her land use practice, she also has experience with matters relating to, real estate transactions, code enforcement, public records laws, sunshine laws, the Fair Housing Act, ADA accessibility, with unique experience specializing in hospitality facilities and sports facilities.

Prior to joining Hill Ward Henderson, Kami was Of Counsel for an Am Law 100 international law firm providing land use and real estate advice to clients across the firm’s state-wide, five-office platform and served as the Director of Due Diligence and Entitlements for the Tampa/Orlando Division of one of the largest public homebuilder in the United States.

Her clients include public and privately-owned homebuilders and residential developers, multi-family builders and developers, mixed-use and commercial builders and developers, affordable housing owners, builders and developers, medical marijuana license holders, and landowners.

Kami is active in the business community and serves in leadership roles for NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association Tampa Bay Chapter, and the Tampa Bay Builder’s Association.

She is also passionate about helping the most vulnerable members of our community.