Fahe’s 45^th Annual Meeting: Housing Can’t Wait

We’re excited to announce that the Fahe 2025 Annual Meeting will take place September 30–October 2 (with an optional pre-Conference day on September 29) at the Meadowview Conference Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.

This year’s theme, Housing Can’t Wait, underscores our shared urgency and commitment to meeting the region’s housing needs—together.

Pre-Conference: Monday, September 29

9 AM–12 PM

Possible Activities:

• Local Volunteer Activity
• Tour of Local Member Projects

12–5 PM

Achieving Our Mission Assembly

Tuesday, September 30

Morning

Vendor/Sponsor Table Set-Up

9–11:30 AM

Achieving Our Mission Assembly

10:30 AM

Member Day Registration/Check-in begins

12 PM

Lunch

12:45–2:15 PM

Membership Meeting

1:30 PM

Guest Registration Begins

2:15–2:30 PM

Break

2:30–2:40 PM

Welcome to Tennessee & Tri-Cities Area
Conference Highlights

2:45–3:00 PM

Where We’ve Been & Where We’re Going: Taking on the Big Challenge Now

Fahe’s story is one of rising to the occasion—whether scaling up housing production or unlocking the power of our network through efforts like the Berea Performance Compacts. Time and again, we’ve proven there’s strength in numbers. Now, with the housing crisis demanding bold leadership, we ask: If not us, who? This is our moment to lead with confidence and commitment. We’re not backing down—we’re stepping up to meet the Big Challenge head-on!

3–3:45 PM

Where We Are Today: Caucus Impact, Progress, And Strategies for the Big Challenge

Caucus leaders will kick things off by highlighting how far we’ve come—sharing stories of housing successes, community wins, and real impact from the past five years. Then, we’ll dive into the unique strengths each group brings and how we can tap into that expertise to meet the moment together as we harness the power of our network.

3:45–4:45 PM

Beyond a Home: The Broader Economic Impact of Fahe Members’ Work

Housing is more than a roof—it’s an economic engine for community prosperity. Join Fahe’s Camila Moreno and WVU’s Daniel Eads as they reveal key insights from our Economic Impact Report. We’ll explore how housing production drives lasting local, state, and regional economic growth—and why investing in Member capacity is catalytic beyond a single project or address. Let’s rethink what housing really delivers.

4:45–5 PM

Wednesday Preview

6–6:45 PM

Opening Reception

6:45–8:30 PM

Dinner

• Keynote Speaker

Wednesday, October 1

7:30–9 AM

Networking Breakfast

9–9:15 AM

Welcome Back

9:15–10:15 AM

Learning in the Aftermath: Disaster Recovery in Central Appalachia

One year after Hurricane Helene, we’ll hear directly from Members who stepped up in the face of crisis. What have we learned? Why is innovation essential in disaster recovery? And how can we strengthen our collective cross-network response? This is the space to share strategies, spark ideas, and build stronger partnerships to respond when communities need us most.

10:15–10:45 AM

Break

10:45–11:45 AM

Bigger Impact Through Flexible Funding, Creativity and Capacity

Fahe Members bring creativity, expertise, and resourcefulness to their work every day to solve big challenges with a deep commitment to community. This session will spotlight how Members are innovating and breaking new ground as they build capacity, develop solutions and turn vision into action. With the right resources, there’s no limit to what we can achieve together

12 PM

Lunch

1–2:45 PM

Member Innovation and Opportunity: Stories from the Field

Fahe Members are on the frontlines of change—finding ways to innovate, seize opportunities, and tackle challenges in their communities. In this showcase, up to five Members will share with us to highlight the diverse, powerful work happening across our network. Expect big ideas, honest insights, and plenty of inspiration!

2:45–3 PM

Member Survey is HERE!

January Advisors Introduction

3–3:30 PM

Break

3:30–5 PM

Communities of Practice: What We’ve Learned and How We Are Taking Action

Let’s get to work! We’ll break out into practice groups—single-family, multi-family, community services, financial services and others—to reflect on what is working, what’s not, and where we go next. We will hear updates since our Spring Retreat, share progress and explore how Fahe and Members will work together collectively. This is collaboration in action, and it’s how we’ll tackle the Big Challenge together.

5–5:15 PM

Recap of Today and Thursday Preview

6:30–8:30 PM

Reception and Dinner

Thursday, October 2

7:30–9 AM

Networking Breakfast and Checkout

9–10:30 AM

The Road Ahead: How Fahe and Our Partners Will Meet the Challenge

We’ve heard how Members are growing their capacity and innovating for greater impact, they have big goals—and so does Fahe. This session we share how Fahe is evolving—through new operations, business lines, and partnerships—to support the network. We will hear from a panel of funders, policymakers, and private sector partners about why they believe in Fahe’s work and why they are investing in the momentum of Housing Can’t Wait. We’ll close with a conversation on how we can move forward, united and energized.

10:30–11:30 AM

The Future of the Field: Leadership, Fresh Perspective, Bold Ideas

We will meet a panel of the emerging leaders shaping the future of housing and community development. They’ll share what brought them to this work, what inspires them—and what they believe it’ll take to make lasting change. We’ll also unpack insights to be gained from our network survey and explore how we can build stronger partnerships, fill service gaps, and shape strategies that move us forward

11:30 AM–12 PM

Closing Remarks

12 PM

Boxed Lunches

Jim King

Jim King serves as the CEO of Fahe—a nationally recognized membership of 50+ community-based organizations serving Appalachia. For more than 3 decades, he has worked to advance opportunity for people and communities primarily in Appalachia. Mr. King has experience across all aspects of community development and finance. A national leader in the field he is a regular speaker at national and regional conferences and his advice is sought by policy makers and financial industry leaders.  He has served alongside executive leadership at Truist Bank, First Citizens Bank and Fannie Mae as part of advisory boards. He has served as board chair to Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the leading membership of Community Development Financial Institutions nationally.  He has been a contributor to numerous books and publications including “Forces for Good”, “Wealth Creation” and “Appalachia Revisited. He is a recipient of a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, the Nation NeighborWorks Association Lifetime Achievement award and the National Housing Conference Visionary Award. 

Under King’s leadership Fahe pioneered a collaborative model, bringing scale and performance to nonprofits servicing rural and remote communities. Brining over $4.5 billion in impact that has benefitted nearly 1 million people in one of the economically challenged regions of our country.  He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School’s three-year owner/president management (OPM) program. He holds an MBA degree from Eastern University, a BA from Bluffton University.

Sara Morgan

Sara Morgan has worked for over 25 years to improve the economic strength of Appalachia. She is an expert in financing housing, infrastructure, community facilities, nonprofits, public-private partnerships, and community development. As President of Fahe, Ms. Morgan oversees senior management, resource development for the corporation, and serves as the lead resource development expert for several multi-state and national organizations, including Partners for Rural Transformation, and Invest Appalachia. She led a successful application to the CDFI Bond Guarantee program, resulting in $60M coming to Appalachia and raised $50M from the USDA Community Facilities Relending Program for communities of persistent poverty. Under her leadership, Fahe became one of just a handful of CDFIs to achieve Seller-Servicer designations from two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). With her guidance, Fahe is also the first nonprofit in the country to be approved to launch a Regional Broker Network, and became a USDA 502 Direct Intermediary that brings over $115M in new mortgages to Appalachia annually.

Camila Moreno

Camila Moreno is a Senior Research Associate at Fahe. She graduated with a M.A. in Geography & Planning, from Appalachian State University. Camila has worked in the nonprofit sector in rural Appalachia for 4 years, specializing in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to support rural development and evidence-based ​narratives.

Carol Clarke

Carol E. Clarke is the Chief Executive Officer of Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham (NHSB), bringing decades of public and private sector experience to family stabilization and affordable housing work. She began her career in energy engineering, served in the Birmingham Mayor’s Office as Director of Capital Projects and later, Director of Economic Development, and held community development roles in banking (Regions, IBERIABANK). Most recently she served as general manager of Southside Development Company, where she led planning and predevelopment for the 22-acre Southtown Court redevelopment. Clarke is active on local and national boards and committees and has been publicly recognized for her long-term community leadership.

Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones, MA, has served as Executive Director of the Religious Coalition for Community Renewal (RCCR) since August 2019. Based in Charleston, WV, RCCR provides affordable housing services across a six-county region, including homeless services, recovery housing for men, pre-purchase housing counseling, rental housing for low- to moderate-income families, and single-family homeownership opportunities. The organization also operates a satellite homeownership office in Huntington. Kevin holds a master’s degree in leadership and is deeply committed to community development and housing equity. He currently serves as the West Virginia Caucus Chair.

Chris Mullet

Chris Mullett serves as President and CEO of the Garrett County Community Action Committee (GCCAC), where he leads a staff of 165 who advance community development, economic opportunity, and social equity in Garrett County Maryland. With a deep commitment to collaborative leadership, Chris works closely with regional partners and state agencies to address housing issues, aging, nutrition, HeadStart, homelessness, and other vital issues. His work reflects a strong dedication to empowering underserved populations and fostering sustainable local economies.

Lynn Pannell

Lynn Pannell is a native of Eastern North Carolina but has lived in Bristol VA since the summer of 1999.  A former schoolteacher, she has been in the world of Social Work for more than 25 years.  Lynn began working with the Bristol Redevelopment and Housing Authority (now Beyond Housing) in April of 2006 where she was the Family Self Sufficiency Coordinator.  Now, as the Resident Services Director, she supervises that program along with other self-sufficiency and enrichment programs through the EnVision Center.  Lynn is the mother of two adult children and  Mawmaw to the three most adorable grandchildren in the world!!

Ralph Perrey

Ralph Perrey is the Executive Director of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.  Appointed in November 2012 following nine years’ service on THDA’s Board of Directors, he now the longest serving executive director in the agency’s history.

His tenure as THDA’s Executive Director has seen the agency revamp its mortgage products and down payment assistance program; establish its own loan servicing division; significantly increase support for affordable housing development; and base THDA staff regionally to better interact with partners across the state. 

Perrey serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the National Housing Conference, the nation’s oldest housing advocacy organization.  He is a past Board Chairman of the National Council of State Housing Agencies.