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Dolinka Group Staff

Maggie Acosta, Associate, works within the Marketing and Sales team to prepare proposals, organize conferences and events, and develop materials to better communicate with local education agencies. Maggie holds a B.A. in Business Administration (Management) from Pensylvania State University. Andrew Bishop, Associate Director, has provided financial, demographic, and cartographic services to over 75 LEAs since 2005. His areas of expertise include: Special Assessments, Developer Fee Analyses, Geographic Information Systems, and Demographic Analysis. Andrew holds a B.A. in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles. Justin Bjorgan, Associate Director, specializes in assisting local education agencies in the utilization of Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts, including all aspects of formation, bond issuance, secondary market disclosure, and administration. Since joining Dolinka Group in May 2006, Justin has participated in the formation and bond issuance for several CFDs and currently manages more than 44 CFDs and $1 billion of related debt. Justin holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Blake Boehm, Associate Director, provides a wide range of financial expertise to LEAs throughout the State of California. Since joining Dolinka Group in 2005, Blake has assisted LEAs in all aspects of capital facilities planning and financing. Blake has utilized his background in bond finance to help numerous LEAs develop and implement strategic bond solutions for their capital facilities needs. Blake holds a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance) from San Diego State University. Rachel Chang, Associate Director, provides a range of financial advisory services including the issuances of general obligation bonds, bond anticipation notes, lease revenue bonds, certificates of participation, Mello-Roos community facilities district bonds and all other public finance financing vehicles. During her tenure with Dolinka Group, Rachel has successfully handled more than 60 financings totaling over $1.5 billion for school districts throughout the State of California. Rachel graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Business Management. Amanda Conklin, Associate, provides demographic and financial consulting to local education agencies throughout the State. In addition to preparing developer fee reports, Amanda has a background in mathematical and statistical analyses and utilizes that expertise in demographic projections. Amanda earned her B.S. in Mathematics and B.A. in Sociology from California State University, Fullerton. Benjamin Dolinka, President/CEO, focuses on creating new financial and demographic services, identifying potential public-public and private-public partnerships, and establishing long-term client relationships. For over two decades, Benjamin has also collaborated with various vendors and organizations throughout the country to find the best solutions for LEAs in their facilities planning needs. His efforts have resulted in the timely funding and construction of scores of facilities for LEAs across the State of California. Benjamin holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. Adrienne Duerst, Senior Director, manages redevelopment audits and OPEB funding services provided by Dolinka Group, and leads a team of consultants in performing customized analyses related to funding both facilities and operational costs. These services increase education agency revenue by millions of dollars annually, providing much-needed general fund relief. Adrienne holds a B.A. from Cornell University. Anabel Ednave-Bui, Associate Director, specializes in assisting local education agencies in the utilization of Mello-Roos Community Facilities and currently manages more than 60 Community Facilities Districts and their related debt. Prior to joining Dolinka Group, Anabel conducted compliance audits on public works projects. Anabel is multilingual and can conduct business in Tagalog and Vietnamese. She holds a Bachelor's Degr?e in Information Systems from Saint Columban College, Philippines. Ann Feng-Gagne, Executive Director, is one of the key members of Dolinka Group and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the financing and demographic services provided by the firm. Since joining Dolinka Group in 2001, Ann has assisted local education agencies with the following services: master plans/funding programs, property negotiations, formation and administration of CFDs and assessment districts, redevelopment, OPEB funding, and GO bond campaigns and issuances. Ann holds a B.S. in Policy Analysis/Management from Cornell University. Larry Ferchaw, Senior Director, has assisted a wide range of LEAs identify the impact of new development, levy fees against such development, and plan for future school facilities. Since joining Dolinka Group in 2003, Larry has prepared various demographic and financial analyses and has assisted school districts that range in size from small, rural elementary school districts to the largest urban and suburban school districts in the State. Larry holds a B.A. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. Steven Gald, Senior Director, brings an extensive background in finance and investment analyses, and local agency funding to each project he undertakes. Since joining Dolinka Group in 2002, Steven has assisted numerous school districts in meeting their facilities needs. These solutions have included the formation of over 80 CFDs, the issuance of almost $1 billion in related debt, and several school site acquisitions. Steven has also presented to governing boards and industry groups and facilitated community forums on subjects ranging from asset management to general obligation bonds. Steven holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. Julie Goodson, Administrative Assistant, has experience in both private and public administration. Prior to joining Dolinka Group, Julie assisted in administering grant programs, implementing public outreach campaigns, preparing reports, drafting grant proposals, and conducting studies for more than 15 municipalities. Julie holds a Certificate in Real Estate Finance and has completed the Paralegal Studies Program at Riverside Community College. Kayla Hoang, Research Analyst, supports Dolinka Group's multiple project teams by interfacing with public agencies and maintaining Dolinka Group's extensive proprietary database resources. Kayla maintains productive relationships with representatives of both county and local governments throughout California. Kayla is bilingual and can conduct business in Vietnamese. Trisha Howard, Research Analyst, has assisted project teams in all areas of Dolinka Group. Trisha utilizes her background in hospitality to help create and maintain relationships with city and county officials across California. Jesse Landre, Associate Director, worked in both the real estate and mortgage industries before joining Dolinka Group where he specializes in assisting school districts form and administer CFDs. Jesse currently oversees the administration of over $16 million in annual special taxes and related debt. Jesse holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. David Lopez, Associate Director, brings more than 20 years of experience managing project teams in the client services industry. At Dolinka Group, David specializes in assisting local education agencies in the utilization of CFDs and has participated in the formation and bond issuance for several CFDs. In addition to assisting clients in the negotiation of mitigation terms, David currently manages over 50 CFDs and $700 Million of related debt. David holds a bachelor's degree in American History from the University of California, Berkeley. Jeffrey Mizokawa, Associate Director, provides capital facilities funding and debt financing services, and has helped education agencies resolve millions of dollars in tax sharing discrepancies with redevelopment agencies. Jeffrey has been instrumental in facilitating communication with multiple state and city agencies, notably the California Community College Chancellor's Office and the California State Controller's Office. Jeffrey holds a B.S. in Finance/Marketing from the University of Southern California. Reena Mohan, Associate Director, has provided financial and demographic services to LEAs since 2005. Her areas of expertise include: Assessment Districts, Developer Fee Analyses, CFDs, and various types of bond financings. Additionally, Reena currently strategizes marketing and sales opportunities for Dolinka Group. Reena holds a B.A. in Economics and Education Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. Fred Padilla, Associate Director, specializes in helping local education agencies with information on projected school facilities needs and identifies solutions to accommodate student enrollment growth. Prior to joining Dolinka Group, Fred worked in the facilities planning division of an architectural firm where he assisted clients with the application process for State funding as well as creating facilities master plans. Fred holds a B.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Justin Rich, Associate Director, has worked with school districts throughout the State of California in all aspects of school facilities planning and strategy since he joined Dolinka Group in 2004. Justin specializes in preparing demographic analyses for his clients and has facilitated several attendance boundary processes, including the modeling of boundary scenarios and the oversight of committee and community meetings. Justin holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. Biljana Seki, Associate Director, specializes in assisting local education agencies in the utilization of CFDs. Since joining Dolinka Group, Biljana has assisted a number of school districts in establishing procedures to manage the collection and expenditure of developer fees. Currently Biljana manages 45 Community Facilities Districts on?behalf of 14 separate local education agencies. Biljana is bilingual and can conduct business in Slavic (Macedonian) and holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of California, Irvine. Heather Sobota, Associate Director, has audited over 260 redevelopment project areas, and assists education agencies with redevelopment project area identification, revenue projections, reporting, negotiations to recover underpayments, and leveraging of redevelopment revenues via the issuance of bonds. Heather also tracks legislation relating to redevelopment, as well as case law and Attorney General Opinions. Heather holds a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance) from San Diego State University. Daniel Tjahjadi, Associate Director, manages administration and audit projects in a wide range of special district functions. Having performed the administration and public reporting for over 50 CFDs as well as auditing redevelopment revenue in 4 different counties, Daniel brings a technical edge to the design and implementation of Dolinka Group's public and private data analysis processes. Daniel holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Jessi Vasile, Administrative Assistant, provides support to various consultants at Dolinka Group. Jessi specializes in creating client presentations as well as coordinating client meetings. She has also assisted on conferences and general obligation bond campaigns. Kajal Vora, Associate Director, specializes in negotiating redevelopment revenue on behalf of large consortiums involving county offices of education, community college districts, and school districts. Additionally, Kajal has saved education agencies more than $2 million in the last year alone by correcting over-reporting of redevelopment revenue to the State. Kajal holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of California, San Diego. Darrin R. Watters, Executive Director, served 16 years as a classroom teacher, coach, site administrator, and district-level administrator. Prior to joining Dolinka Group, Darrin served as an Assistant Superintendent of Business, where he oversaw a $173 million budget and managed a number of departments including fiscal services, facilities, food services, and maintenance and operations. At Dolinka Group, Darrin assists with leading various financing projects, including redevelopment negotiations. These negotiations help school districts receive millions of dollars in underpayments each year. Darrin holds valid California teaching and administrative credentials.