Nichol Dehmer is a Bank CEO, Housing collaborator and YardHomesMN CEO.  Nichol has spent over 25 years in the Banking and finance arena in addition to consulting.  This finance background has been uniquely favorable as YardHomesMN has partnered with financial institutions to bring ADU’s to market rate and affordable housing customers.  Nichol’s housing experience, market rate mortgage background, and experience in affordable housing development programs in many of her volunteer housing Board positions brings unique insight to each transaction.  Nichol has an incredible ability to bring resources together to accomplish a common goal.

Jamie Stolpestad is a real estate entrepreneur, advisor and educator. He is a partner of YardHomes and has other personal and professional investment and development interests across Minnesota that have a social investment focus. Jamie’s corporate institutional real estate career spans over 25 years and over $13 billion of investment transactions. He was the first employee and CEO of Allianz Real Estate of America and grew that platform to 16 domestic team members with an $8.6 billion debt and equity portfolio across 45 markets in the U.S. Prior to this he held executive positions at GE Real Estate and The Mills Corporation. He began his career in acquisitions and development officer roles at private equity, investment management and insurance companies in Chicago. His real estate experience spans the U.S., select major markets across Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, the U.K. and Singapore.  Jamie earned his B.A. in Political Science and Urban Studies from Northwestern University, an MBA from the Kellogg School, and is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business.  

Worthington Advisors is a consultancy focused on governance and policy advising, leadership and team building, and land use and strategy guidance all through a racial equity lens.  As the founder and principal of Worthington Advisors LLC, Heather brings 25 years of leadership in local government organizations, including most recently as Interim Community Development Director in Bloomington, MN.  As Director of Long-Range Planning in Minneapolis, her team led the creation, engagement, and policy adoption of the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. 

Previously she was the first Deputy County Manager appointed in Ramsey County in June 2010, where she led the Economic Growth and Community Investment service team.  She was the overall project manager for the cleanup and redevelopment of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP), the state’s largest Superfund site; as well as leading the redevelopment of the former West Publishing site in downtown St. Paul.  Heather also served as the City Administrator of Falcon Heights, MN and Assistant City Manager of Edina, MN, where she worked on a broad range of policy issues including public safety, human resources, and organizational development.

Heather is committed to seeking authentic community engagement and leading racial equity efforts to strengthen communities that have experienced disparities, disinvestment and marginalization.  She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Hamline University, a BA in History/Historic Preservation from Michigan State University, and a certificate from the State and Local Executives Program from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. 

Front Door Development partners with mission-oriented organizations including non-profits, Housing Authorities, and communities to develop affordable and workforce housing and housing oriented renewable energy projects. We also provide technical assistance for navigating public and private affordable housing initiatives including U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Public Housing repositioning programs.

Grace Moran joined YardHomesMN in the summer of 2020 as a Summer Associate. She now assists YardHomesMN part time as our social media expert while attending college classes at the University of MN. Grace Moran is a 2019 Honor’s graduate from Buffalo High School. While in high school she was the Captain of her lacrosse team, National Honor Society member, participated in Students Stepping Up, and was the first female to receive the Construction Technology Award. Grace just completed her freshman year at the University of Minnesota and has applied for acceptance in the Bachelor of Design in Architecture program at the University of Minnesota. Grace’s architectural passion focuses on residential design, with significant interest in historical restoration. Grace is excited to be part of the team at YardHomesMN because of the impact it will have on Minnesota communities and the opportunity to further develop her design skills.

Matt Mithun owns Mithun Enterprises, a Real Estate, Sports and Entertainment company, and runs Somerset Amphitheater, an outdoor concert venue in Somerset, Wisconsin. In addition to YardHomes, Matt’s recent Board involvement includes 826 MSP and YMCA.  He lives with his wife, Sarah, and three children, in Wayzata, MN. 

Terri Thao is passionate about building power with community. She is currently a program director at Nexus Community Partners, a non-profit community building intermediary where she runs the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI).  Terri has spent most of her professional career in the fields of community economic development, community building, leadership development, and philanthropy. She also teaches classes on leadership and advocacy at Metropolitan State University. She serves on the boards of the F.R. Bigelow Foundation, Minnesota Housing and Voices for Racial Justice. She obtained her Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees from the University of Minnesota. She lives with her family on the East Side of St. Paul and loves to read in her spare time.

Terri's LinkedIn

Eugene (Gene) Nicolelli, Jr. started his architectural career in California winning several Gold Nugget Design awards while employed with a local Orange County architectural firm. Throughout his career his love of and involvement with residential architecture has led him on a journey from residential tract homes and land planning to custom homes. During his tenure in addition to large private homes he has designed and won local and national awards for affordable housing. He has become an expert in agingin-place/universal design, frequently giving lectures on the subject and has won the coveted National Association of Home Builder’s 50+ Gold Achievement Award. Gene says his residential design philosophy is very simple-- “I design spaces that address my client’s present and future needs.” Gene is excited to have the opportunity to join with YardHomes to expand into what he sees as the future of residential living with modular premanufactured homes bringing his years of experience to the organization.

Kevin G. Augustyn is a Vice President at DBRS Morningstar’s North American CMBS Group. DBRS Morningstar is a debt rating agency and investment research firm headquartered in Chicago Illinois. His focus is rating CPACE - Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy loans and other esoteric finance instruments. He also serves on the firm’s ESG methodology subcommittee. Mr. Augustyn has over 25 years of real estate development and finance experience with several national real estate development firms and financial institutions including Bank of Montreal, Trammell Crow Companies, OPUS and CIII Capital Partners.

His professional career has centered on urban infill development and commercial real estate finance. Chicago development projects include Piper's Alley, River East Plaza (the former North Pier), and River East Center. Mr. Augustyn began his career as an urban planner in Northwest Indiana where he started the City of Hammond’s historic preservation program and worked on several urban economic development initiatives. He has a long standing interest in the private use of capital for the public good and corporate sponsored urban economic development programs.

Kevin has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and an MBA with a concentration in finance, Kellogg School of Management, Evanston, IL.