Think Tank Members

Adrian Adams, Esq., 2022 – 2023 President, Foundation for Community Association Research
Honorary Member
With an extensive background in the community association industry, Adrian Adams is one of the leading attorneys in California specializing in common interest developments. Adrian founded ADAMS | STIRLING PLC and quickly grew the firm into a preeminent boutique firm specializing in high-rise condominiums, stock cooperatives, business parks, lake associations, golfing communities, equestrian associations, and ocean-front communities.

Michelle Baldry, RS, Northeast Regional Executive Director
Reserve Advisors, LLC
Michelle Baldry, PE, PRA, RS, joined Reserve Advisors in 2010. As a Regional Executive Director, she is responsible for the development and implementation of the firm’s corporate objectives throughout the Northeast region. She also oversees the production, marketing and sales functions at the regional level. Michelle has been influential at the foundational level, where she serves on Community Associations Institute’s (CAI) Board of the Foundation for Community Association Research.

Michelle holds her Reserve Specialist (RS) designation, Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA) designation, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in several states. She received her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. As an industry expert, she is frequently invited by industry trade organizations and management companies to speak on the topic of reserve studies and proper capital planning.

Tyler P. Berding, Esq., Principal
Berding & Weil, LLP
Tyler Berding, founding partner of Berding & Weil LLP, has represented the commercial and residential real estate industry since 1974. Mr. Berding has litigated numerous building product and construction failures. The firm has resolved over 700 complex construction-defect claims in California, Florida, Arizona and Hawaii. His special expertise has been in water intrusion, soil issues, failed building systems, and building-product failures. He primarily represents residential building owners and commercial investors. Mr. Berding is a seasoned trial lawyer who has successfully litigated hundreds of construction defect cases. Full bio.

Steven Y. Brumfield, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, Vice President & National Director, Community Association Group
Toll Brothers
In his role as a Vice President for Toll Brothers (“Toll”), Steven is National Director of Toll’s Community Association Group. He leads a team of seasoned community association professionals and is Toll’s primary liaison for community association matters in all fifty of their markets across twenty-two states.

Steven was the Assistant Director of Community Associations for Toll from 2003-2007. He re-joined Toll in 2013 after several years as Vice President of Operations for one of the nation’s largest community association management firms. In that capacity, he was responsible for a team of hundreds of community association management professionals across seven different states. Prior to 2003, Steven worked as a Senior Property Manager for a firm in northern Virginia, and a firm in central Florida. He holds numerous industry designations, has been licensed by the state of Florida as a community association manager and real estate broker, and has been certified in California as a community association manager. Previous to his career in community association management and development, Steven spent several years as Vice President of a family-owned custom home building company.

Steven is a past national President of CAI, past President and current director of the Foundation for Community Association Research,  and serves on national and chapter-level committees for CAI, as well. He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Steven is based at Toll’s corporate headquarters in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Eric Collins, PE, Principal/Vice President MEP
Becht Engineering BT, Inc.
Eric has over twenty-five years of mechanical engineering experience ranging from traditional HVAC to plumbing to fire protection to hydronic system design. His responsibilities include working with client management personnel to identify and define projects, overseeing design documents from schematic through bid documents, and overseeing construction administration work from bid phase through final commissioning and punchlist. He has demonstrable expertise and feature projects in the Commercial, Education, Laboratories/Life Sciences, and Multi-Family Residential markets, and has done work across the US and internationally.

Lincoln C. Cummings, Principal
Cumming & Leeds
Linc was an IBM executive and a founder and president of the Community Associations Institute and its Research Foundation and has been consulting to developers and community associations ever since. He is an educator, author, and problem solver.

Andrew Daniels, Vice President, Business Development
Allied Universal
Andrew Daniels is the Vice President of Business Development for the Southern Region. He manages all new business and client relationships throughout Florida. He also is AlliedBarton’s Vice President of Residential Communities, which includes collaborating with sales and operations on the pursuit of this vertical market. Andrew has extensive sales and customer service experience and has previously worked for Schering-Plough Corporation as well as Amerbelle Corporation. He is an active member of Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from Ithaca College in New York.

Kevin Davis, CIRMS, President
Kevin Davis Insurance Services
Kevin Davis is the President of Kevin Davis Insurance Services, Inc., currently the Managing General Agent for Travelers Insurance and is one of the largest writers of specialty insurance coverage for community associations in the country. He currently insures over 40,000 community association and is the largest writer of this type of business throughout the US. Kevin has worked in the insurance industry for 30 years focusing on community associations for the past 25 years. He started Kevin Davis Insurance Services, Inc. in 2000 and has grown from two employees to over 65 employees.

Alan De Tata, Managing Director
Community Association Banking & CondoCerts
Alan DeTata oversees and directs the Community Association Banking and CondoCerts sales teams at Mutual of Omaha Bank. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, DeTata manages sales executives dedicated to serving property management companies and homeowner associations in all 50 states. He has been involved in the HOA industry for over 14 years. His vast understanding of the needs in the CID industry has contributed to CondoCerts and Community Association Banking becoming catalysts for Mutual of Omaha Bank’s significant deposit and revenue growth.

DeTata is a member of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) President’s Club and has served as a board member for several local CAI chapters over the past 14 years. DeTata also serves on the Board of Directors for the East Valley Boys & Girls Club in Arizona.

Todd El-Taher, EBP, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Hann & Hann Construction Services
Todd is the Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Hann & Hann Construction Services and has been working in the trades since 1987 and with the firm since 2005. He is the cochair of the Education Committee for the Washington Metropolitan Chapter of CAI, &. He is a inventor, having received multiple patents from the United States Patent and Trademark of Office, holds a BA Cum laude in International Relations from Canisius College, Buffalo NY and is a US Army Veteran.

John Hammersmith, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, CEO
Hammersmith Management, Inc.
John Hammersmith, along with his mother Donna, and brother James founded Hammersmith Management in 1981. In 1994, John became the sole owner, and has lead Hammersmith Management to continued success. John’s experience spans the spectrum of needs and problems that confront community associations today. His professional, educational, and extensive industry background contributes significantly and he is always eager to share his knowledge of Community Management. John enjoys working with the team, partnering with each client, and prides himself on brining new ideas and solutions to our industry.

John holds the CMCA (Certified Manager of Community Associations), AMS (Association Management Specialist), and PCAM (Professional Community Association Manager) designations. He currently severs as a member of the Board of Trustees for CAI. For 7 years, he served as one of nine NBC-CAM Board of Commissioners (now known as CAMICB). For John’s entire tenure on the Board of Commissioners he served as the Ethics Review Panel Chair, with the responsibility to review each and every complaint against any CMCA around the world. The total number of CMCA’s across the world is now over 14,000 strong.

Sabine Liedel, CMCA, Vice President, National Account Executive
Union Bank
Sabine Liedel is a vice president and national account executive for the Union Bank Homeowners Association Services division. Her territory includes the eastern half of the United States.

Sabine previously served as CEO of the Management Resources Center and Community Archives, a provider of products and services to the community association industry from 2009-2012. Prior to that, she served as vice president at ADMS, Inc.

Sabine holds a Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) designation. She is actively involved with Community Associations Institute (CAI) and Alliance of Community Association Managers (ACAM). Sabine attended the University of Phoenix and has completed professional development courses at Stanford University and the University of Maryland.

Lori Ann Long, CIRMS, President/CEO
Community Association Underwriters of America, Inc.
Prior to being appointed President/CEO Lori was senior Vice President of Claims. Before joining CAU in 1993, Lori was a Claims Manager with Transamerica for five years, 1988-1993. She also held the position of Senior Liability Claims Adjuster with Citizens Insurance Company and then Amerisure Insurance from 1985-1988. Lori attended Albion College in Albion, Michigan, and earned a BA in both History and Political Science. She has completed nine parts of the CPCU curriculum and is a licensed producer in thirty states.

Lori is one of the original recipients of the Community Insurance Risk Management Specialists (CIRMS) designation that was developed by the Community Association Institute (CAI) in 2002 and is a sought after speaker for numerous CAI events and other industry forums.

Michael Mendillo, President & Principal
FirstService Residential Mid-Atlantic / Carolinas
Michael A. Mendillo is President and Principal of FirstService Residential’s Mid-Atlantic Region. For the past 17 years, Mr. Mendillo has been an equity partner with FirstService Residential, the largest residential management company in North America servicing more than 6,500 communities and 1.5 million homes. Full Bio

Margey Meyer, CMCA, PCAM. President
CADRExperts
Margey is president of CADRExperts (Community Association Dispute Resolution Experts) providing professional, knowledgeable, impartial and effective developer transition specialists, expert witnesses, mediators and arbitrators serving residential, mixed-use and commercial condominiums, cooperatives and homeowner associations. Margey is also a certified mediator with the American Arbitration Association and the Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston. She is a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Florida State University in Florence, Italy. Margey owned her own management company for 21 years and, after selling it to Associa, was Dean of Associa University and VP-Industry Education, Integration and Outreach for the next decade. Full Bio

Peter Miller, RS, EBP, Principal
Miller + Dodson Associates
Peter B. Miller, RS, EBP, a Principal in the firm of Miller + Dodson Associates, is widely recognized as a leading authority in the field of Reserve Studies and Strategic Reserve Planning for community associations. Peter is a graduate of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Virginia Tech. He began his work with Reserve Studies for community associations during the “Condo Boom” in the mid-1980’s.

Robert Nordlund, PE, RS, Founder & CEO
Association Reserves, Inc
Robert Nordlund is founder and CEO of Association Reserves Inc., a recognized industry authority in preparing reserve studies for association-governed communities since 1986. As a registered professional engineer and reserve study pioneer, Nordlund was involved in creating the 1998 National Reserve Study Standards and has greatly influenced the community association industry.

George E. Nowack, Jr., Esq., CCAL, Co-founder
NowackHoward, LLC
George E. Nowack, Jr., co-founder at Nowack Howard., has represented condominiums, cooperatives and homeowner associations since 1981. In addition to his extensive community association work, he is a nationally recognized expert on community association insurance issues, especially Directors & Officer’s claims. He has assisted three national insurance companies in drafting D&O policies and the firm is approved counsel for six insurance companies that specialize in writing for D&O policies. Full Bio

Edward J. O’Connell, Esq., Partner
Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP
Mr. O’Connell has almost 20 years of experience in all facets of common-interest associations, from day-to-day business operations to litigation between boards and owners. This form of ownership, which includes condominiums, co-ops and homeowners’ associations, has spread rapidly in the past few decades and raises its own unique legal issues of relations between boards, who operate in some ways like elected city councils, and homeowners.

Mr. O’Connell, who is admitted in both Washington DC and Virginia, represents communities in both jurisdictions, and has been active in the Washington chapter of the CAI for many years. He has been a board member since 2008 and served as Vice-President prior to becoming the President. He is also a member of the Chapter’s Virginia Legislative Committee and a frequent contributor to Quorum Magazine, the chapter’s publication.

Henry D. Puckett, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, Community Association Manager Resource Team Leader
Ghertner & Company
Henry, a native Tennessean, graduated from Emory & Henry College with a B.A. in Business and Accounting. He has over 20 years of active real estate and property management experience in Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama and is an active member of the National, State, and Greater Nashville Boards of REALTORS. Currently, Henry is Ghertner & Company’s Resource Leader, Community Manager. Previously, he worked with Wyndham Vacation Resorts in property management. Henry has served on the local CAI Chapter Board of Directors and currently serves as Treasurer Emeritus for the chapter.

Vishnu Sharma, CPA, CFE, EBP, 2023 President, Community Associations Institute
Honorary Member

Marc Tamres, Founder and CEO
HomeRun IQ, Inc.
Marc is the founder and CEO of HomeRun IQ, which delivers cloud-based financial tools for multi-unit properties and their provider partners. These data powered tools improve property financials, reduce total costs, and mitigate risk.

Marc is a recognized industry thought leader wanting communities to treat and value their properties as assets. He has presented on financial matters at CAI national and other regional conferences. He has been published in industry journals and involved in industry research efforts. Most recently, he was part of the Surfside industry task force shaping new policies and legislation.

Marc is a seasoned Silicon Valley executive delivering innovative solutions in complex markets for more than 20 years across industry-leading companies. Marc holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School, MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Jared Tunnell

Jared is an advisor to several companies in the Community Association industry and has been involved in related banking, financial services and technology for over twenty years.

His most recent role was heading up the Association Banking line of business for National Cooperative Bank, N.A. Where he built out their treasury services and lending business for condominiums, homeowners associations and management companies.

He is a frequent contributor to the Community Association Institute through various local chapters and is a current member of the Foundation for Community Association Research’s Think Tank.

Debra A. Warren, CMCA, PCAM,  Vice President, Learning & Development
Associa
Since joining the Associa family in 2012 Debra held positions on the operations team supervising branches on the West Coast and Canada as well as contributing in the area of client relations and community manager education. She currently oversees all employee enrichment programs. Her career in community association management spans over 25 years, including 15 years of experience as a management firm principal and CEO. She is a nationally recognized expert in association management operations, specializing in education, communication and customer service.

Sue York Educational Researcher
The UHM Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG)
Susan York has two masters’ degrees and a post-baccalaureate certificate in secondary education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM). The UHM Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) employs Ms. York as an educational researcher, and most recently she evaluated a US Department of Education-funded Early Reading First project, and supervised a project funded by the Superintendent of the Hawai‘i Department of Education. Ms. York currently participates in the data collection process for a Center for Disease Control project, and serves as data specialist for Pihana Nā Mamo, a series of projects designed to improve school success for PreK–12 students of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Ms. York specializes in qualitative data collection and analysis for focus groups, surveys, and classroom observations. Ms. York is a member of a CRDG team that works with indigenous communities to conduct culturally appropriate program research and evaluation.