Management Team

Dave Bridgewater, CPA
Chief Financial Officer, The Graham Group

Dave Bridgewater is the Chief Financial Officer for the Graham Group Inc., a full service real estate development, property management and construction company, specializing in medical office and industrial warehouse. In addition to CHI, Dave sits on the boards of EveryStep and Variety – The Children’s Charity and serves on several committees. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Iowa Society of CPA’s. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and Real Estate Broker in the State of Iowa.

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Denise Fuller
Manager of Financial Counseling, Horizons, A Family Service Alliance

Denise Fuller has been a financial counselor with the Financial Wellness Center, a Program of Horizons a Family Service Alliance, since March 1, 2016. She earned her HUD Housing Counseling Certification in September 2019. Denise has worked directly with the CHI Resident Services Team and CHI Residents of the Sugar Creek Bend development since 2017. Sugar Creek Bend is a unique CHI property that utilized flood disaster recovery and TCAP stimulus funds to build 20 single family homes in a new residential development in Cedar Rapids. The property was designed as a homeownership incubator where residents maintain their own homes and grounds and participate in Horizon’s homeownership training program. Prior to Horizons Denise spent 27 years as a financial analyst in Corporate Finance with an International Telecommunications company supporting their Facilities Organization. She was responsible for creating budgets, rolling forecasts, and completing month close variance reporting. She has a passion for helping others to improve their financial stability by providing high-quality, one-on-one financial education and counseling. Assisting consumers seeking credit and money management counseling which include resolving clients’ budgeting, debt, expense, credit and savings issues and, if applicable, residential loan guidance. Read more about Denise and her work with Horizons, a Family Service Alliance, here: https://horizonsfamily.org/

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Tim Shanahan
Executive Director, Families Forward

Tim is the Executive Director for Families Forward and has served in that capacity for Hawthorn Hill since 2004 and 2015 for Bidwell. Hawthorn Hill and Bidwell have an established permanent partnership created through a management services organization. Before serving as Executive Director for Hawthorn Hill and Bidwell Riverside Center, Tim worked for United Way of Central Iowa and the Human Services Planning Alliance as a Senior Planner. Previous to working in the nonprofit field, Tim worked in local government for 12 years, including serving as city administrator in North Liberty, Iowa and Hiawatha, Kansas. Tim has a Bachelor of General Studies and a Masters of Public Administration, both degrees from Wichita State University.

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Omar Padilla
Field Specialist, ISU Extension Community & Economic Development

Omar Padilla joined ISU Extension Community & Economic Development in March of 2020. Omar is a Field Specialist in the Local Government & Housing team. Omar received his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice from Simpson College. Omar came to ISU Extension from Habitat for Humanity where Omar spent 5 years working to improve affordable housing in Dallas, Polk, and Jasper Counties. Prior to his time at Habitat for Humanity, Omar spent 5 years working for US Senator Tom Harkin, helping Iowans understand federal programs and navigate federal and state agencies. Omar also brings to ISU Extension significant experience with state politics and local government after having served one term as chair of the Iowa Democratic Party Latino Caucus and another term as a vice-chair for the Iowa Democratic Party. Additionally, Omar co-founded the Iowa Latino Political Network – a non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to identifying, educating, and empowering Latinos in Iowa to run for elected office and to become civically engaged. During his first year at ISU Extension, Omar has been primarily focused on delivering the Rural Housing Readiness Assessment to rural communities around the state. Omar loves to meet new people from all walks of life and is particularly adept at helping people come together to strategize tactics and rally support to achieve complex goals. Omar considers Iowa home even though he is a California native, and he spent his childhood in Guatemala and Mexico. Omar shares his idea of a perfect day – “Help Iowans improve their life, even in some small way, and go home to spend time with my wife and kid.”

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Lauren White
Housing Programs Director, Willis Dady Homeless Services

Lauren White is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Currently, Lauren currently serves as the Housing Programs Director with Willis Dady Homeless Services, in Cedar Rapids. Prior to joining Willis Dady, Lauren was the Family Services Program Manager with Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity, Cedar Rapids. Lauren has worked in the Social Services industry for 17 years, gaining experience in leadership, foster care, juvenile justice, homelessness, and substance abuse. Lauren is passionate about helping others to achieve independence and self-sufficiency. In addition to serving full-time in the field, Lauren is active in the community via volunteerism as a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, serving as the President of the Pi Delta Zeta graduate chapter and the Undergraduate Advisor for both the University of Iowa and Coe College undergraduate chapters. Lauren is also a member of the Junior League of Cedar Rapids and was recently nominated Board member for Families Helping Families. Lauren earned an MS in Nonprofit Management from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from Illinois State University. Lauren is also a graduate (Cohort 2022) of the United Way's Board Orientation & Leadership Development (BOLD) program.

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Bradie Chwirka
Commercial Lender - Lincoln Savings Bank

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Abbie Gaffey
Community and Economic Development Specialist, Iowa State University

Abbie Gaffey is a Community Development Program Specialist for Iowa State University Extension & Outreach. She works on a variety of statewide projects in the areas of affordable housing, economic development, strategic planning, organizational development, leadership development and facilitation. Prior to joining Extension, she spent 12 years as the City of Sioux City’s Community & Economic Development Project Coordinator administering U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development housing, neighborhood revitalization, and economic development programs. She serves on the board of Iowa Community Development (a Community Development Financial Institution-CDFI), the Area Agency on Aging Housing Board (Sioux City), the Iowa Housing Partnership (advocates for funding and policies that promote affordable housing development), and is secretary of the national Community Development Society. She received a B.S. in journalism and political science from Wayne State College in 1989 and an M.S. in Community Development from Iowa State University in 2013.

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Emily Zimmon
Chief Development Officer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids and East Central Iowa

Emily’s passion for assisting individuals and communities to become self-sufficient started when she first witnessed extreme poverty while visiting a family friend in the middle of the Dominican Republic. Since then, she has made it her mission to fight for those who are impoverished and underrepresented. After graduating from Cornell College, Emily moved to Mexico where she lived and taught English on the Pacific coast for three years. In 2015, Emily returned to Iowa and began working at Willis Dady Homeless Services. Notably, Emily developed and implemented the Street Outreach and Employment programs in 2018, and oversaw a large capital campaign to create Willis Dady Works. Currently, Emily is an Independent Consultant supporting non-profits in reaching their mission and vision through grant writing, fundraising support, and more with Strategic Consulting & Coaching, LLC (SCC). Emily loves working at SCC as she recognizes the positive impact it has on the nonprofits they support and the communities they work in. Outside of work, Emily loves spending time with her dogs, reading, traveling, and creating new adventures in life.

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John Zulk
Partner, On Point Strategic Group, LLC

John Zulk is a partner with On Point Strategic Group, LLC, a management and private equity firm based in Spencer, Iowa. He has over 25 years of experience as a CPA and CFO working with and managing both, for-profit and non-profit businesses. John’s passion is the pursuit of solving unique business problems. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of South Dakota and Masters in Business Administration from Walden University. He has served on numerous church, community and non-profit boards. John and his wife, Susan, live in Spencer. They have three children.

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