Experienced Real Estate Developer and Professor. Skilled in Construction, Finance, Affordable Housing, and Asset Management. Academic professional with a Master of Science in Real Estate Development degree from New York University.

James H. Bason is an experienced financial executive with a 30-year history of providing comprehensive community development impact solutions, lending and management expertise. Currently President and CEO of TruFund Financial Services a 501(c)(3) National Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) whose mission is to help historically under resourced individuals and communities create thriving and resilient small businesses and entrepreneurial ecosystems. A vital component of TruFund’s mission is to serve entrepreneurs who traditionally have been disconnected from mainstream financial institutions as well as under resourced low or moderate-income (LMI) communities. As Chief Executive Officer, he oversees the operations and staff of more than 60 professionals nationally and is responsible for strategic and day-to-day operational oversight. This includes a National Impact Developers Fund that provides private equity to under resourced developers of affordable housing, a National CDE-New Market Tax Credit platform that makes equity investments into large-scale catalytic economic development projects in low-income and underserved communities and a newly launched Community Climate Lending and Investment Platform. TruFund is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Birmingham, Alabama, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; and Houston and Dallas, Texas, since its inception TruFund has provide over $700 million in capital to over 3,842 underserved and under resourced small business of which 80% have been minority own. James earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Oswego, a Banking Diploma in Finance from the American Institute of Banking, and a Master’s Degree in Non-profit Leadership from Fordham University. He completed his Formal Bank Credit Training Program at the Bank of New York and an Industry Sponsored Leadership Development Program for Community Development Financial Executives at Wharton University. James currently serves as a member of the Morgan Stanley New Market Tax Credit Advisory Board, a Commissioner on the Greenburgh Housing Authority Board, the CDFI Coalition Board, the Mt. Hope Community Development Corporation Board, Climate United Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of Pursuit (formerly New York Business Development Corporation), where he serves as Chair of the Audit Committee. He was recently appointed to serve on the NYS Governor’s CDFI/MDI Advisory Board and NYC Mayor’s MWBE Advisory Board. James is married and a proud father of three sons and one grandchild. He enjoys sports, particularly golf and basketball, teaching leadership development programs, and leading community and faith-based financial literacy and economic development initiatives.

David Davenport is a Managing Director at NY Green Bank on the Investment and Portfolio Management team. He is responsible for leading NY Green Bank’s disadvantaged community lending activities, including financing high-performance affordable housing and beneficial building electrification that serves historically marginalized New Yorkers. Mr. Davenport has over 30 years’ experience in real estate, finance, and government. Prior to joining NY Green Bank, Mr. Davenport served as Senior Vice President at Urban American Management and Managing Principal of its Urban Greenfit subsidiary, where he successfully led financing and development of energy efficiency & renewable energy projects in over 6,000 units of multifamily affordable housing that have been recognized as best-in-class in performance and financial innovation. Mr. Davenport previously served as a Vice President and Investment Officer at Citi Community Capital where he led nationwide programs investing in mixed-use real estate and affordable housing with debt and equity instruments utilizing new markets tax credits, low-income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, and other leveraged financing structures. Mr. Davenport earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

Jay Norris, CEO and Co-Founder of Guesst Software, is an innovative leader and entrepreneur who is working to bridge gaps within retail, real estate, technology and community. Jay serves as Co-Chair of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, advocating for over 129,000 SMBs who contribute $939 billion to the annual GDP of New York City. He is also a board member of the New York Urban League, helping to empower underserved communities through education, employment, and advocacy. Jay lives in Westport, Connecticut, where he plays a pivotal role in shaping the town’s innovation ecosystem as the Co-Founder of StartUp Westport and fosters inclusion for people of color as the Founder of Westport 10. He also supports youth and local development through his board leadership roles at the Westport Library, Westport-Weston Family YMCA and Westport Downtown Merchants Association. At Guesst, Jay continues to disrupt traditional business models with creative software solutions, all while remaining dedicated to mentoring the next generation of changemakers. Jay attended the prestigious Howard University in Washington, D.C. on a Division I swimming scholarship, where he received a B.A. in Sociology and minored in Economics.

From a background in the residential real estate finance industry through the 08 market crash, Dean has built a luxury home services company with over 35k customers in metro Atlanta which led him to the challenge of solving a customer need that created what is now his latest venture, Kairos. It's a digital water technology company focused on asset protection and water conservation through a patented metering and leak detection system. Having personally witnessed the aftermath of over 3,000 water damage cases and working closely with insurance providers lends to a unique perspective on exactly why 14,000 water damage claims are filed every day.