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About Urban Solutions - Staff Bios
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Jenny McNulty, Executive Director
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 Jenny oversees all Urban Solutions' programs and initiatives. She joined Urban Solutions in early 2002 to provide loan packaging and technical assistance to small business owners and to work on the creation and implementation of the Six on Sixth economic revitalization program. After serving as a Small Business Development Specialist and then Deputy Director, she moved into the role of Executive Director in 2005. In 2009, she also became CEO of California Lending Partners, a new SBA certified development company affiliated with Urban Solutions.
Jenny has extensive financial experience in both the non-profit and private sectors. She worked for four years in micro-credit programs, including two years in West Africa, where she was part of the management team for a micro-credit program providing credit and health education to 12,000 women. She also spent a year in a nature reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon teaching environmental education and promoting community health initiatives.
Jenny's family has been in San Francisco for five generations. Prior to working at Urban Solutions, Jenny worked as a financial manager at Providian Financial in San Francisco, doing financial planning and profitability analysis. Jenny holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Bristol, with a focus on Finance, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She is fluent in French, Spanish and Bambara.
| Helen
Branham, Director of Small Business Services
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 Helen
works with small businesses and entrepreneurs
and helps them obtain financing by packaging
SBA loans, assisting in developing strong business
plans, financial projections and marketing strategies.
Helen developed and manages the Urban Solutions
Fillmore office and splits her time between
the two neighborhoods of SOMA and the Western
Addition in the provision of services to small
businesses. She helped create and supervises
the Buzz on Biz Youth Entrepreneurship Training
program currently offered at the organization.
She organizes the technical assistance workshops
for business owners and is responsible for day-to-day
management of the small business services program
and staff supervision. She has a background
in business development, training, technical
assistance and loan packaging. She has worked
with micro-enterprise programs in the nonprofit
and private sectors, including five years as
Project Director at Women's Initiative for Self-Employment,
where she worked with over 2,000 women business
owners, and four years running her own small
business consulting company, The Saba Group,
which she still operates part time. Helen completed
graduate studies in Business and Industrial
Psychology at Tennessee State University and
holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration
from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
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Tracy Everwine, Project Director
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 Tracy
Everwine oversees Urban Solutions’ economic development
efforts in the South of Market Redevelopment Project
Area. Her ability to attract community-serving
businesses, provide business consulting services,
form coalitions and organize merchants has significantly
contributed to the revitalization of this community.
She has been involved in economic development
and urban revitalization for over ten years. A
graduate of the University of California, Berkeley,
she began her career in Philadelphia's historic
downtown district marketing a two-million square
foot shopping center for The Rouse Company. In
Philadelphia she also worked with community organizations,
the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City's
Redevelopment Authority on economic and business
development programs. Subsequently Tracy settled
in San Francisco, first doing business attraction
and retention in Richmond, then overseeing retail
facility operations and construction for large
retail clients throughout Northern California.
Tracy also leads contemporary art tours nationwide
and volunteers with senior citizen and at-risk
youth programs throughout San Francisco. She is
a member of CREW, SPUR and ULI, and a board member
of CATS.
| Michel Ottolia, Business Development Officer of California Lending Partners
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Michel L. Ottolia is Vice President and Business Development Officer of California Lending Partners. He has over 35 years of management experience in large corporations as well as small and medium size businesses. His expertise lies in SBA programs, real estate financing, strategic marketing, general management and corporate finance specializing in the banking, manufacturing, wholesale and retail distribution, hospitality and food, health care services and technology industries.
From 2007 to 2009, Michel served as Vice President of SBA Financing in the San Francisco Bay Area for Popular Small Business Capital (PSBC), the fourth largest SBA lender in the United States with an SBA loan portfolio over $1 billion. PSBC is a division of Banco Popular North America (BPNA), the number one Hispanic bank in the U.S. Prior to joining PSBC, Michel was Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending with RAF Investment Services in Berkeley, California. He received his education in France. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Lyon University and an undergraduate degree in Marketing/Distribution from Toulon Institute of Technology. Michel is fluent in English, French and Spanish, and holds a current California Real Estate License.
| Aaron
Burke, Project Manager / Managing Broker
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 Aaron
manages property improvement projects associated
with the Sixth Street economic revitalization
program. He also supports business and property
owners in commercial lease negotiations in an
effort to attract a complimentary mix of community
serving businesses and support local economic
development. Born and raised in San Francisco,
Aaron is a strong advocate for, and has built
his career serving, small business. He believes
that supporting small business in communities
creates measurable advantages that significantly
contribute to social change. With a degree in
Finance and International Business from Georgetown
University, Aaron has served as a consultant
for over ten years helping clients to build,
buy and finance small businesses. He is a Certified
Business Opportunity Appraiser and a licensed
Broker. Aaron’s enthusiasm for small business
has led him to owning several small restaurants
himself. He is proud to be a part of Urban Solution’s
team, and happy to have the opportunity to focus
his efforts in the South of Market Redevelopment
Project Area.
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Inemesit Udofia, Small Business Consultant
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 Inem
comes to Urban Solutions with experience in business
operations, real estate, accounting, and computer
science. He has been a sole proprietor of his
own company, Prime Investments, and worked in
Egypt for two years as a business developer for
the Prince Company. At Prime Investments, Inem
was responsible for negotiating commercial and
residential leases. Inem has experience analyzing
financial statements, assessing risk, and evaluating
credit worthiness. Inem received his Bachelor's
degree in international business from Alabama
A&M University. He also holds a California
Real Estate and Real Estate Brokers License.
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Janice Lee, Development and Communications Director
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 Janice is responsible for promoting Urban Solutions’ initiatives and programs with small businesses, generating community support, and working with the organization on its strategic plan. A second-generation native San Franciscan, she has more than 20 years of experience in media, public and community relations for organizations addressing issues of family homelessness, domestic violence, hate crimes, and community and economic development. She holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and was most recently Deputy Executive Director at the national office of the Asian American Journalists Association. She is past president of the Board of Directors of the Asian Women’s Shelter and currently serves on the Board of Hyphen Magazine and as an adviser for the journalism project GoInspireGo.com.
| Anthony
Tsai , Green Business Program
Manager
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 Anthony
oversees efforts to assist small businesses
with “saving costs while saving the
environment” by identifying conservation
opportunities in the areas of energy,
water, waste, toxics, and purchasing
efficiency. Prior to joining Urban
Solutions, he spent two years in management
consulting for Fortune 100 companies
where he developed and marketed new
client programs. He spent eight months
in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he provided
a startup company with business tools
to develop carbon credits to protect
rain forests in Borneo. Anthony has
a Masters of Business Administration
from the Ross School of Business at
the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s
degree in Computer Science from the
University of California, Berkeley.
He is bilingual in English and Mandarin.
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Serge Mokeyev, Green Business Auditor
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 Serge focuses on conducting audits of businesses participating in Urban Solutions' Green Business Program. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, he is a former naval officer of a nuclear submarine in the Russian Navy. He moved to San Francisco in 1996. He has considerable experience managing sustainable building projects in the Bay Area. He spent two years in Moscow as a project manager for the construction of sustainable high-rise buildings with the company Hunter Douglas. He holds an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the Naval Engineering Institute in Russia, and trained in architectural project sales and management in Rotterdam, Holland; last year he graduated from the Green Jobs Academy in Palo Alto.
Claudia Stillwell, Bookkeeper
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 Claudia
serves as a Financial Management Consultant to Urban
Solutions. She has worked in non-profit administration
for over fifteen years, the last seven in financial
management. Her current projects with nonprofits
include advising on accounting, budgeting, nonprofit
compliance and audit preparation. She has presented
workshops on financial management and project management
for local service organizations. Claudia holds an
MBA from Golden Gate University and a BA from Wesleyan
University.
| Michelle
Brady, Executive Assistant
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 Michelle
Brady manages daily office operations and assists
Executive Director Jenny McNulty. A native San
Franciscan, she graduated from UC Santa Barbara
with a degree in history. Prior to joining Urban
Solutions, Michelle was the Executive Assistant
at Co-op America in Washington, D.C.
| Emily
Gerth , Program & Data Analyst
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 Emily
Gerth manages client data, tracks outcomes, and
supports various program staff. Prior to joining
Urban Solutions, Emily worked with a number of
philanthropic organizations tackling research
and writing projects. Most recently, she was a
Tom Ford Fellow at the Walter & Elise Haas
Fund in San Francisco where she examined issues
of leadership in the nonprofit sector, public-private
partnerships, and the role of social service providers
in civic engagement. Emily graduated from Stanford
University with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors
in Public Policy. She grew up in nearby Half Moon
Bay and now enjoys living in San Francisco where
she can enjoy all the city’s theatre, art, and
coffee.
| Tessa
Williams, Development Assistant
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Tessa focuses on fundraising and communications
at Urban Solutions. A graduate of Wesleyan University
with a degree in English, she is very excited
to be working with an organization committed
to helping create strong neighborhoods. Prior
to moving to beautiful San Francisco and joining
the staff, she was a used book trader at Changing
Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, her hometown.
| Ashley
Ortiz, Economic Development Consultant
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Ashley supports the neighborhood economic development
program staff and SOMBA, the South of Market Business
Association. She has been involved in economic
and real estate development for the past ten years
in Colorado. After graduating from the University
of Colorado, Ashley joined the Downtown Boulder
Business Improvement District to assist with economic
vitality and downtown events. While working in
Boulder, she also co-founded a nonprofit entity
to raise funds for the design and construction
of a LEED-certified recreation center in a new
urban city park, and a seasonal event company
to raise funds for the nonprofit’s operation.
Ashley’s commitment to sustainability subsequently
led her to work for a commercial real estate developer,
where she successfully managed a Silver-LEED certification
process for a $30M mixed-use project in the heart
of Downtown Boulder. Now, Ashley is excited to
be back in the Bay Area, where she was born, and
honored to be supporting Urban Solutions’ mission
while learning about the South of Market Redevelopment
Project Area, neighborhood businesses, and citywide
public policy.
| Patty Moore , Sustainability Consultant
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 Patty is a volunteer with the Green Business Program. She is currently enrolled in the Building Performance and Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP) at Laney College. She is a LEED AP certified professional and a Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP).
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