CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Community Relations & Organizational Development
Meeting Facilitation & Leadership Development
Research & Data Analysis
Lending & Underwriting
Change Management & Organizational Development
Multi Family Affordable Development
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Human Resources
Public Affairs
Disability Advocacy & Inclusion
Storyteller, Social-Impact Marketing
Nonprofit Development
With over 20 years of experience in the housing industry, Lorena Dione-McDowell has dedicated her career to helping communities tackle a broad spectrum of housing affordability issues. As the leader of Balance Community Advisors, Lorena leverages her vast network of experts to provide local leaders with instant expert capacity and innovative solutions. These solutions foster systems that support residents across all socioeconomic levels and promote healthy housing ecosystems that spur positive economic growth.
Lorena draws upon her deep experience in some of America’s fastest-growing regions, like Minnesota, Northern Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina. These areas have presented unique challenges, such as an imbalance between sprawl, density, and population growth. She knows that fast-growing communities all too often create opportunities for many and deep challenges for others. Lorena believes in the power of research and data, thoughtful planning, and bringing together coalitions of stakeholders to create greater opportunities and a better quality of life for all.
When she’s not leading this dynamic group, Lorena enjoys spending time with her beloved family, listening to live music, reading, and traveling.
Mauri Nichols is the Executive Assistant at Balance Community Advisors. Known as the glue that holds the team together, she supports the company’s executives. Mauri’s efforts ensure smooth business operations and effective communication within the organization. Her professionalism and attention to detail make her an invaluable asset to the team. Simply put, Mauri keeps the firm running.
André Anthony is the son of Nigerian immigrants. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he spent eight years living in three different countries in Africa as a child. He began his career as a youth sports instructor and camp counselor, and spent over 18 years working for the YMCA in various roles across the country, most recently as Chief of Staff and Vice President of Organizational Advancement & Strategy at the YMCA of Central New York. André also worked for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities and served in a number of roles nationally and internationally with the YMCA.
André and his family relocated to the Triangle in February 2021 when he took on the role of Executive Director/CEO of the North Carolina Global Health Alliance. In October 2022, André began his new role as the CEO of Dorcas Ministries, a 56-year-old nonprofit dedicated to helping neighbors thrive by providing much-needed assistance and a full suite of wrap-around services, as well as a best-in-class retail operation. His passion for organizational strategy, mission advancement and developing people has now led him to Balance, where he will have the opportunity to share his expertise more broadly and positively impact organizations across America.
André is a husband to his lovely wife, Maya, and a dad to his beautiful two-year-old baby girl, Alaya (uh-lay-ah).
Jessica Day grew up in Knightdale, NC, and has seen it grow from a small community to one of the fastest-growing cities in North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and recently graduated with her MBA at the North Carolina State University Jenkins Graduate School of Management.
In 2017, Jessica became the first African American female to be elected to the Knightdale Town Council and in 2021 she became the first African American Female to hold the seat as Mayor for the Town of Knightdale. She continues to serve in this capacity.
Jessica has combined her passion for helping the community and her leadership experience to become an executive coach, training and supporting leaders in operational excellence. She provides coaching and consulting services to facilitate change, increase value creation and improve business efficiency and effectiveness.
Vanessa Kopp is a BBQ-lovin’, sweet tea sippin’ North Carolinian, currently residing in Philadelphia while she pursues a PhD in Social Welfare at the University of Pennsylvania. She joins Balance Community Advisors with nearly a decade of expertise in data-driven affordable housing policy and program analysis. Resolved to end homelessness in her lifetime, Vanessa is excited to contribute to the growing body of research and action plans that provide answers as to how we’ll do it. Her goal in life is simple – create evidence with integrity and get that evidence into the hands of communities that are hungry for change. She is excited to join a team that so thoroughly embodies this value!
Leslie joins Balance with over 20 years of mortgage finance and real estate industry experience. She holds an MBA in Finance from the Minnesota School of Business and an Undergraduate Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
A Chicago native currently residing in Atlanta, Leslie has a strong passion for helping people, whether in a public or private setting. She has channeled this passion into helping to increase the availability of affordable housing by working with financial institutions, local bodies of government, and affordable housing developers.
In her spare time, Leslie enjoys spending time with her family and friends and has recently become an avid Pickleball player.
Alice brings 40+ years of experience in nonprofit management including serving as CEO/ Executive Director in leadership roles and as a board member for various nonprofits. Her list of credentials are long and include: CFRE, Duke University Nonprofit Leadership Advanced certificate in nonprofit management, Leadership NC alum, Harvard Performance Measurement graduate, Disney World Executive Leadership program, Bank of America Neighborhood Builder recipient.
Alice’s areas of expertise include: Operations and change management, Organizational restructuring, Talent identification and coaching, Resource management, Board Development, Donor and volunteer cultivation and stewardship, Special event fundraising and Service Delivery Design.
When she’s not helping her community, Alice is passionate about the great outdoors, hiking, Kayaking, SUP, gardening, playing pickleball, walking her German Shepherd, and providing Canine Service Therapy for those in need.
Danya Perry has served as a community developer, youth advocate, and social justice activist for over 20 years. Perry’s passion comes from being immersed in a community and familial culture of servant leaders.
Currently, Perry serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusivity with Wake County. In this role, Perry leads Wake County’s efforts to advance diversity, build equity, and accelerate inclusion. From creating a clear vision and providing strategic direction, Perry seeks to promote belonging and support working environments where all have an opportunity to succeed.
Perry provides consultation to help communities facilitate courageous conversations on race and develop opportunities to work across differences. As a Community & Organizational Development Consultant, Perry enjoys supporting public and private organizations in reimagining systems to build inclusive prosperity.
Perry is native to North Carolina, hailing from New Bern before earning a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration from North Carolina State University. Perry is a child of Hip Hop, loves music, laughs, and seeks every opportunity to work across differences. He lives by the acronym coined by a former mentee – P.E.A.C.E. (Proper Education Always Causes Elevation).
Nathan has dedicated his career to all facets of people services as a human resources professional. He focuses on fostering employee engagement and strives to create an employment environment that “works” for employees and managers alike. Nathan is committed to helping build a workplace culture of inclusion and belonging. With over 20 years of experience in various sized organizations, Nathan is able to address challenges faced by small and large organizations.
Nathan is committed to addressing issues facing communities, particularly food and housing insecurity. Since 2001 he has been active in the nonprofit community, working to end food and housing insecurity. In a volunteer capacity, Nathan has provided human resources guidance and structure to the non-profit organizations in his community.
Nathan received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Religion and Philosophy from Belmont University and a Master’s of Divinity from Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond. He is married to Libby Stephens and they have one son, Henry. The family enjoys traveling, working in the garden and cooking together.
Dr. Terrance Ruth received his PhD in Public Affairs from the University of Central Florida. He received his Master in Education from Nova Southeastern University and his BA from Oglethorpe University. Dr. Ruth completed national fellowships through both Harvard and Boston College with a certification in nonprofit leadership.
Dr. Ruth is an advocate for public education, once serving as a teacher, principal and the parent of a son who attends public schools in Wake County. Dr. Ruth led social justice organizations at the national, state and local levels with a reputation for being the implementation expert. He served as the NC NAACP Executive Director under Dr. Barber and Dr. Spearman and has served as National Director of Programming for the Repairers of the Breach. Recently he partnered with United Way of the Triangle to launch a community investment fund for local community organizers.
Dr. Ruth has work in K-12 schools across Florida and in Wake County. Currently, Terrance is a Professor at NCSU and is the former President of the Justice Love Foundation. He is deeply engaged in diversity, equity and inclusion work across the city of Raleigh and the Triangle. You can find more information at TruthforRaleigh.com. Dr. Ruth was a Raleigh Mayoral Candidate for 2022 and 2024. He received over 42% of voter support, equating to over 61 thousand votes, during his 2022 campaign for Mayor.
Dr. Ruth is leading a coalition of leaders to engage in local solutions through impact investing, design thinking, and creative collaborations. Right now he is facilitating a process to increase the use of faith based assets in improving the affordable housing stock. He is also working with United Way of the Triangle to offering a human centered design lens to the philanthropic network in the Triangle. He is a proud husband to Kiara and father of Miles.
Anastasia Somoza, known to her friends as Tas, began her advocacy work in 1993, when, at the age of 9, she had the opportunity to ask then President Bill Clinton to help mainstream her twin sister (Alba) into the New York City public school system. Anastasia is now leading the inclusion revolution as a human rights defender, speaker, and consultant.
On the first night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, she gave a moving speech about her relationship with Hillary Clinton and Americans with disabilities. Following her appearance at the DNC, Anastasia traveled the country as a surrogate speaker for the Hillary for America campaign.
Post Election 2016, Anastasia became the first ever Community Liaison to serve a represent disabled New Yorkers’ in the city of New York under former Speaker Corey Johnson. During her time at the City Council, she was appointed by the Speaker to the Civic Engagement Commission where she remained an active commissioner until 2024.
From 2022 through mid 2023, her advocacy and work brought her to serve as consultant and coalition co-leader for Accessible Fueling Efforts in California where she worked on helping push for legislation to increase access to mobile fueling technology. Then from mid 2023 – early 2024, she joined United Spinal where she worked in collaboration with the Director of Advocacy and Policy to grow their national network of grassroots advocates with a focus on accessible transportation.
Most recently, in the Fall of 2024, Anastasia had the honor of serving as the National Director of Disability Engagement on the Harris for President campaign where she worked with fellow advocates, organizations, and constituents across the country to mobilize, energize, and educate disabled voters during the 2024 campaign cycle.
As a passionate advocate for women’s rights, she has received the Susan B. Anthony Award (2016) from the National Organization for Women, Martha H. Ziegler Founders Award (2017) from the Federation for Children with Special Needs, and most recently the David B Kriser Medal (2020) from NYU College of Dentistry.
Her advocacy work has also taken her across the globe as a keynote speaker for the 25 Year Anniversary of the ADA at US Embassy (2015 China), Springboard Consulting’s Disability Matters Conference & Awards (2017), Zero Project at United Nations Headquarters (2019 Austria), International Disability Summit ‘Bridge for Sustainable Dialogue (2021 Turkey) and the Summit on Women with Disabilities hosted by the World Events Disability Coalition at the World Expo (2021 Dubai). Presently, she serves on the board of The New York Women’s Foundation.
Aaron’s mission is to dovetail creativity and humanity to their greatest potential. His background as a Producer, Creative Director, and Entrepreneur cultivated an ever-growing love of collaboration and people. His empathy and drive for everyone’s voice to be included shapes his storytelling style and human-first approach to his work. He’s an inclusive, human-centered, storyteller and innovation advocate that believes co-creation of quality content will lead the way to successful communications and thriving communities.
With over 10 years of experience in the creative industry, Aaron Thaddeus has partnered with startups, government initiatives, and Fortune 500 companies to create ambitious campaigns as a Creative Director and Project Lead. Working directly with clients, he outlines a brand’s vision and provides quality assurance to every aspect of the project.
With 15 years of executive-level experience in the non-profit sector, Ashley possesses a wealth of knowledge and has demonstrated success in program development, project management, and resource coordination within the nonprofit sector.
As a domestic violence survivor and Executive Director of a domestic violence agency, her tenacity to “step outside of the box” and explore new innovative strategies to address housing barriers has proven to increase housing sustainability and long-term success amongst the unhoused and domestic violence populations.
When she is not providing community awareness and emergency housing to victims of domestic violence, she enjoys quality time with her two sons and their dog, Amina.
Ashley holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work from Georgia State University.
