Agenda - Strength Matters Financial Management Conference San Diego

San Diego Walking Tour

If you're in town, put on your walking shoes and join us for a visit to three member developments in downtown San Diego. We’ll head over first to Kettner Crossing, home to BRIDGE’s new San Diego offices and 64 affordable senior apartments built on surplus county land. We’ll then walk to the Atmosphere, a 205-unit urban infill development owned and operated by Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, including 51 units of supportive housing for individuals exiting homelessness. Our final stop before heading back to hotel will be to Community HousingWorks’ Jacaranda on 9th, an 88-unit, five-story affordable housing community that includes 14 units set aside for formerly homeless individuals. We will meet in the lobby of the Westin Bay View at 1:00pm (walking tour is limited to 30 participants). 

Opening Plenary: Optimizing Portfolio Performance

Over the past few years, we have often tackled the issue of portfolio optimization at Strength Matters. In doing so, we are learning that portfolio optimization is far more than doing the same things better.  Optimization requires a new business model. A different culture. The traditional nonprofit business model was designed to survive, barely. Survival is necessary, but not sufficient.

Our opening plenary will take us right into the heart the issue, illustrating the optimization journey with the work that Mercy Housing has undertaken. We will hear what their vision is, what they have accomplished, and what they have learned.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 1

Consulting the Consultants: Insights on AI Tools and Implementation

Through the eyes of a team of consultants who have worked with a variety of clients on implementation, roll out and staff engagement, we will explore effective approaches to AI implementation. This will include evaluation of various tools in the market and ensuring that they fit your needs and budgets.

Lenders and Borrowers in a Challenging Market

There is a perceived shift in the approach lenders are taking to evaluate their nonprofit affordable housing borrowers. This has included increased scrutiny of REO schedules, slower and more difficult conversion to permanent financing, and more rigorous sponsor/guarantor analysis. Come hear a panel of lenders address these topics and take questions on the changing view of the lending community.

Portfolio Performance and Market Fundamentals

What is the general state of the affordable housing industry as reflected by portfolio performance? Three large syndicators will provide a briefing on portfolio performance nationally and by region, focusing on the fundamentals of occupancy, collections, rent increases, and expense trends.

Succession Planning

Ensuring a smooth succession for all essential leadership positions, not just the C-Suite, is critical for every organization. This session will outline a process and discipline for identifying staff capacity, creating development plans, and ensuring a smooth succession process. Important elements could include cultivating internal talent, identifying potential succession candidates, and understanding new skills that might be needed.

Troubled Assets Resolution 2.0

Three case studies will focus on workouts for troubled assets. This will highlight the use of tools covered in the 2025 Strength Matters Workout Fundamentals panel.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 2

Housing Policy Today: What’s at Stake for Affordable Housing?

This session will review current housing policy and the hot topics of the day related to combating homelessness, strengthening financial security for vulnerable populations, and expanding housing access. This session will bring you up to speed on several bills in Congress targeting these issues and their impact on our work advancing affordable housing.

Managing Through Change: AI, Outsourcing, and Your Team

The introduction of AI and increased use of outsourcing require different approaches to organizing and managing your teams. How far should you go in allowing staff to use AI in the completion of their work? How are you managing and integrating outsourced functionality? Your peers will share how they have been approaching the incorporation of these new tools and workflows and what that means for team management.

Property Management – Shift to Third Party Management

What drives the decision to shift to third-party property management and what are the outcomes achieved or expected? CEOs and other senior leaders will reflect on this. This session will also include a primer outlining the "how to" of evaluating and managing the selection and implementation of a change in property management services.

The Technical Side of Troubled Assets: Key Accounting Considerations

This technical session will focus on accounting topics of impairment, going concern analysis, write-downs and allowances for receivables.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 3

A New Insurance Captive for the Industry

The Housing Partnership Network (HPN) is exploring a new insurance captive for the broader industry (not just HPN members as is the case with HPIEx) to provide comprehensive insurance coverage tailored to the unique needs of affordable housing communities. With a goal of safeguarding member mission, strengthening organizational resilience, and reinforcing best-in-class risk management, this member-owned captive would not only strengthen member organizations, but also advance the broader affordable housing industry by raising the standard for transparency, accountability, and long-term value for mission-driven owners. This session will provide an update on the initiative and seek feedback and key elements to consider.

Investment That Pays: The Case for Sustainability & Resilience Upgrades

What is the business and mission case for investing in sustainability and resilience improvements across multifamily affordable housing portfolios? This session will demonstrate how proactive benchmarking, water waste prevention, and efficiency upgrades can reduce operating expenses, stabilize cash flow, and enhance long-term asset performance. Attendees will also explore innovative financing vehicles can help unlock and scale sustainable and resilient, cost-effective portfolio improvements.

Capital Strategies for financing Single Family Development at scale

The New Markets Tax Credit program continues to provide one meaningful source of capital for single-family residential financing and other investments in distressed communities. Other capital strategies and financing vehicles are available for deploying single-family development. Our panel including a developer, lender, and consultant specializing in NMTC will share insights into these tools.

Solving for Enterprise Capital

Credit ratings aren’t just for the largest organizations, and this session proves it. Panelists will share how they’ve successfully accessed capital to support growth, including S&P ratings and other innovative approaches that may be more within reach than you think. Walk away with new ideas for funding your organization’s future.

Plenary: Artificial Intelligence – Adaption and Implementation

AI implementation goes beyond simply adopting AI tools. It involves rethinking work at the task level; identifying which tasks can be automated, augmented, or transformed by AI; and redesigning roles to complement AI capabilities rather than compete with them. The affordable housing industry is adopting AI across a range of functions - including syndication, lending, property management, and real estate development. Understanding how to think through adoption and effective implementation within your organizations is critical to long term success. This plenary recognizes the growing importance of AI and how critical it is for our industry to approach it intelligently.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 4

Disposition Strategies

When and why should you dispose of assets within your portfolio? We will explore the reasons, mechanics, and learnings from asset sales - including how dispositions can change corporate identity - along with strategies to communicate with lenders and investors. If implemented well, disposition is a strategic tool to minimize problems, enhance operational efficiency, recapitalize the organization, or redeploy proceeds for your pipelines.

Evaluating Portfolio Acquisitions: Key Steps and Lessons Learned

Business combinations are on the rise, and finance and asset management teams are increasingly being asked to participate in the evaluation of portfolios. This session will outline the steps to successfully evaluate a portfolio with a focus on lessons learned and keys to success. CFOs who have lived experience in this activity will share their learnings.

Outsourcing in Accounting

Should your organization outsource part of its accounting function? The answer depends on more than cost. Finance leaders must consider capacity, expertise, complexity, service quality, timeliness, technology, controls, scalability, and the organization’s ability to oversee the work effectively.

Through a candid discussion among an experienced client, accounting service providers, and an auditor, this session will examine the outsourcing evaluation and implementation life cycle. The panel will compare delivery models, identify appropriate and higher-risk functions, discuss provider selection and pricing, and explore the governance and communication practices that distinguish successful arrangements from unsuccessful ones. Participants will receive a practical framework for assessing readiness, selecting the appropriate outsourcing model, and maintaining accountability after work is outsourced.

What’s Going on in the Equity Markets?

The increased volume of LIHTC equity appears to have had a negative impact on credit pricing and in most markets the average price per credit is at the lowest levels seen in the last 10 years. Is this the result of the 25% test in the One Big Beautiful Bill or the increase in state allocations? What are the changes that investors and syndicators are dealing with? What are the implications for nonprofit developers? Our investor panel will explore these questions and elaborate on the implications for your organization.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 5

Developing Your Finance Team

Developing your finance team requires discipline, a structured approach, and a toolbox of checklists, training programs, etc. Come hear how your peers have pulled together a programmatic approach to developing their teams. Walk away with the materials to create your own development plan for your staff.

Putting AI to Work

This session will feature AI use case studies from a panel of practitioners. These will be “process” based work examples that go beyond rewriting your emails and scheduling, to uses in screening tenants, finance process applications, and underwriting and evaluating transactions.

Storytelling 2.0

The CFO is called on to represent, interpret and craft an organization’s financial story to lenders and investors. The focus has increasingly shifted away from the audit and quarterly financials and standard covenants to REO schedules. This panel will walk through proactive communication strategies that demonstrate your organization’s active risk management and effective financial leadership.

When Assets Struggle: Engaging Public Partners

When a property faces structural financial challenges — insufficient subsidy, affordability constraints, or expense coverage gaps — your public partners are a critical resource. This session explores how to identify when and how to engage soft lenders, what to ask for, and how to build a compelling case for partnership in asset resolution.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 6

Monitoring Portfolio Performance

As we all know, the health and performance of properties and portfolios is under pressure and heightened scrutiny. Do you have the KPIs and dashboards in place to effectively monitor trends and performance? Do you have timely data to allow for intervention to manage improved outcomes? This panel will focus on industry participants who are excelling in this area who will share their KPIs, tracking mechanisms, and dashboards.

Paying for and Prioritizing Resident Services

Portfolio operating expenses are under pressure due to rising utility, insurance, security, and a long etcetera of costs. This obviously stresses net operating income. Yet engaging residents and providing needed services is more important than ever if we are to get operating costs under control. How do you pay for these essential services across the portfolio amidst other rising operating costs? This panel will address questions and offer proven strategies for paying for and delivering services.

Systems Selection & Integration

The strategic and integrated use of technology can enhance your operating platform and drive down costs through efficiencies. This is particularly critical due to margin compression across our sector. This session is focused on systems selection, integration, and the lessons learned along the way.

The Role of the CFO in Times of Radical Uncertainty

“The Times They Are A-Changin’” — if you recognize this Bob Dylan song title, then this session will speak to you. This session will tackle the changing role of the CFO as a leader during a period of extreme volatility and change. Our group of seasoned panelists (read: contemporaries of Bob Dylan) will discuss how to show up for your team and organization during times of radical uncertainty.

Concurrent Sessions - Block 7

Accounting Experts Panel

A perennial favorite - this accounting panel comprised of CPAs supporting the affordable housing industry will discuss hot topics and trends informed by their audit and consulting businesses and their clients. This is an interactive session where insights and questions from participants are encouraged.

Market Trends Shaping Capital Availability for Affordable Housing

The 2026 affordable housing financing landscape is defined by policy-driven capital expansion, flexible debt structure, and a push to reduce regulatory and operational barriers. There is an inherent tension with lenders and LIHTC investors as the performance of affordable housing portfolios has declined leading to more stringent underwriting and deal selection. This session will discuss the market trends shaping capital for affordable housing.