Kaia, Executive Director of NeighborWorks Montana, is passionate about creating opportunities for Montanans to have safe, quality homes where they can thrive. She uses that passion to guide NeighborWorks Montana and advance financing, education and counseling, and collaborative housing solutions across the state.

Kaia has a BA from Bates College and an MBA from the University of Washington. She is a member of the Missoula Housing Authority and the Providence St. Patrick Hospital Western Montana Community Ministry Boards. She lives in Missoula, Montana where she enjoys spending time with her family outdoors in all seasons.

Kevin Lee joined NeighborWorks Montana in June 2007 as a consultant and after five years became a part-time employee whose responsibilities included grant reporting and compliance. He was named Acting Director of Finance in January 2018 and Chief Financial Officer in April 2018.

Prior to joining NeighborWorks Montana he spent 11 years working as a Certified Public Accountant specializing in financial statement audits of corporations, nonprofits and local governments and another 11 years working for private companies as an Accounting Manager for a large steel wholesaler and recycler, Controller for a general construction contractor, and Finance Director for a wholesale medical and welding gas supplier. Kevin oversees all elements of accounting and finance.

Kevin is inspired by people who put others needs above their own. When Kevin is not at work, he enjoys spending time with his family and building his large collection of Hot Wheels cars.

Katie Biggs serves as the Director of Operations, overseeing all aspects of resource development, marketing and outreach, and organizational operations within NeighborWorks Montana. She also works to build capital through grant writing and investor relationships to grow the NWMT loan pool. Katie has worked for NWMT since 2016 and is passionate about making a difference in the lives of Montanans.

Katie is a National Development Council (NDC) certified Affordable Housing Finance Professional. She sits on the boards of the Montana Cooperative Development Center and the Alluvion Health Foundation.

Katie lives in Great Falls, MT with her husband, two kids and two dogs. When she’s not at work she can be found enjoying all that Montana offers while skiing, hunting, fishing and camping with her family.

Danielle Maiden provides leadership to the NWMT resident owned community (ROC) and cooperative housing programs. She works with homeowners in multi-family units and manufactured housing communities to promote cooperative community purchases, support housing cooperative and ROC team members and residents in development of cooperatives, develop and deliver training for community members and on-going support to housing cooperatives and ROCs.

Danielle holds a BS in Political Science and Nonprofit Administration from the University of Montana and a MA in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. Most of her career has been spent working in various human service agencies.

Danielle lives in Kalispell, MT with her husband, son, and pup. She serves on the Boards of the Samaritan House and Flathead Senior Mobile Home Repair. Danielle is a fourth generation Montanan who enjoys all the wonderful outdoor activities it has to offer. She is passionate about ensuring all Montanans can live safely and affordably in the place they call home.

Larry Phillips is the Real Estate Lending Manager at NeighborWorks Montana. He works in the Real Estate Development and Acquisition program, underwriting and closing loans to support multifamily affordable developments in the state. Larry also works in compliance, managing reports for NWMT's various grantors.

Larry holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Great Falls as well as a Housing Development Finance Professional Certificate from the National Development Council. Larry started at NeighborWorks Montana in 2015 as an accounting intern and was hired at the end of his internship as the Accounting and Payroll Specialist.

Larry lives in Great Falls, MT and enjoys traveling and photographing the beauty of the state in his free time. What NeighborWorks Montana does to assist hardworking Montanans drives his work every day.

Hanna Tester is the Homeownership Director. She began her career in nonprofit homeownership in 2012 when she worked as a housing counselor in the Flathead Valley. Hanna has worked for NWMT since 2014. Hanna works closely with NWMT’s statewide network of housing counseling organizations, supports NWMT’s other nonprofit partnerships and works on capacity building and expansion in lending and shared equity homeownership.

She believes safe and stable homeownership is the key to generational wealth building for Montana families and is passionate about NWMT’s mission to reduce barriers to that opportunity for families.

Hanna is a National Development Council (NDC) certified Affordable Housing Finance Professional and has certifications from NeighborWorks America in HUD compliance and credit counseling.

Hanna is involved and active in her small Frenchtown community, serving on the Freedom Gardens board of directors. Hanna spends her free time with her family: enjoying Montana’s outdoor spaces, gardening, and attending to the Tester’s plentiful hoard of well-loved animals.

Kristen works in our Great Falls office as an Administrative Assistant. She has an extensive customer service background and loves to use her skills to offer support to the many programs and services provided by NeighborWorks Montana.
Outside of work, Kristen enjoys spending time with family, friends, and her cat.

Matt is the Data & Compliance Specialist here at NeighborWorks Montana. Matt joined the team in the summer of 2021 with six years of experience in the nonprofit world. However, both of his parents have been active in the nonprofit world his entire life, and with that his exposure goes beyond the typical nonprofit work environment. He looks forward to bringing his knowledge to NWMT, as well as developing and learning a whole new set of skills on top of more information.

Outside of the office world, Matt enjoys spending time with his family and friends, as well as traveling and adventuring across Montana with his girlfriend.

Linda has been with NeighborWorks Montana as the Loan Servicing Specialist for over 15 years. She is responsible for all aspects of servicing the loans made by NeighborWorks Montana. Linda loves working for NeighborWorks Montana because she believes everyone at NeighborWorks is working for the same goal – providing successful homeownership opportunities to those who deeply need it.

Outside of work, Linda enjoys knitting, hiking, and spending quality time with family and friends. She currently serves as a board member on the Education Board of First Congregational United Church of Christ.

Julia is our Real Estate Lending Specialist on the Real Estate Development and Acquisition (REDA) team. She assists the REDA Department including reviews of the current portfolio, market analyses, and processing work. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s in communication at MSU Billings.

Jo has a BA in Communication Studies and an MA in Counselor Education, both from the University of Montana. Prior to joining NWMT she spent six years as a school counselor.

She lives in Missoula with her husband, three daughters, dogs, and horses. She is a firm believer that adequate housing is a fundamental human right.

Adam Poeschl is ROC Acquisition Specialist at NeighborWorks Montana. He educates and organizes manufactured home communities that are interested in pursuing resident ownership and guides them through the process of purchasing their communities and converting them to resident-owned, cooperative, nonprofit neighborhoods. He is dedicated to finding sustainable, affordable housing solutions for all Montanans.

Adam is a proud AmeriCorps VISTA alum and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Albania, 2015-2017) and enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time outdoors.

Michelle works with our marketing department, as well as our partner network on marketing and communication. She loves working for NeighborWorks, in fact she began her time with NeighborWorks Great Falls before joining the NeighborWorks Montana team!

Michelle has had a long history of administrative work and customer service and has always been committed to having compassion and empathy for others. This position gives her the perfect opportunity to realize her dream of being in marketing while helping others. She is currently serving as secretary on the Montana Shares Board, as well as a secretary on the board for Alliance for Youth in Great Falls.

Away from work, Michelle and her husband enjoy a wonderful life together with their five fur-kitty-children. They also enjoy collecting vintage items, working on old cars, and camping.

Joanna (Jo) Schapley serves as a ROC Program Specialist for our Resident Owned Communities (ROC) program. She offers support for existing ROCs, giving technical support and guidance to residents who reside in the manufactured home communities.

Autumn is NeighborWorks Montana’s ROC Program Specialist. She offers support and assists with the ROC program. She is passionate about creating home ownership opportunities for families.

She has lived in Great Falls all her life and outside of work Autumn enjoys photography, cooking, and spending time outdoors.

Naomi is the Housing Network Coordinator for NeighborWorks Montana, working with our partners across the state to help Montanans to improve their financial situations, find housing they can afford, and give them the tools to be successful renters and homeowners. She serves as primary point of contact for education and counseling services for NWMT partners and clients and she maintains and helps build partner relationships with other important partners outside current NWMT partner networks.

She is a familiar face with NWMT having previously worked for our partner in Kalispell, providing homebuyer education and counseling to hopeful homeowners. She brings an extensive background in helping people in vulnerable situations and is a HUD Certified Housing Counselor.

Naomi is a fourth generation born and raised in Montana. She graduated from Flathead High and attended college at Eastern Washington University, graduating with a BA in Psychology.

Outside of work she is the President of Kalispell Lion's Club and also serves as the Community Service Coordinator for the club. She is a member of both the Montana Coalition to Solve Homelessness and the Montana Native Homeownership Coalition. She is married with two daughters, a stepdaughter, and two grandsons. Naomi loves being home in Montana and enjoys hiking, kayaking, traveling, and reading.

Naomi is passionate about bringing people across the state together to help Montanans improve their financial situations and find and maintain safe affordable housing.

Mary Jo is NeighborWorks Montana’s Accounting Specialist. She is responsible for employee payroll, accounts payable, and the posting of bank transactions. She also handles the employee credit card statements. Mary Jo came to work for NeighborWorks Montana believing in the work they do. Their dedication and commitment contribute to helping the low to moderate income individuals and families achieve the American dream; to own their own home.

In her spare time, Mary Jo enjoys camping and fishing with her dogs. She also enjoys gardening and crocheting.

Mona joined NeighborWorks Montana as Staff Accountant during the summer of 2021. She works closely with our Chief Financial Officer to ensure our financial department is continuing their development opportunities for future projects, as well as, adhering to the daily requirements of financial monitoring within proper regulation. Mona also contributes her expertise within mortgage lending to our current lending department with review and development of procedural updates.

Prior to working with NeighborWorks Montana, Mona lived in a small Kansas town where she worked as a bank manager for five years after serving within the United States Army as a Military Intelligence Analyst. With hopes of continuing her career within the financial sector, Mona obtained her MBA in Corporate Financial Management through Upper Iowa University.

Outside of work Mona’s family will always come first. She currently lives in Great Falls with her husband and four amazing children. When school is out, and everyone is home from work they love to do anything outdoors. From hunting and fishing to hiking and taking their boat out – if they aren’t home, they can be found in the mountains.

Lori has been with NeighborWorks Montana for 13 years working in the lending department as a Loan Specialist. Lori brings a vast amount of knowledge to the world of lending. She spends her days processing, underwriting and closing subordinate mortgage loan applications for closing cost assistance, down payment assistance and GAP financing. She’s known around the office to occasionally break out in random song and dance. Lori is highly motivated by finding purpose in her work and feeling like she’s part of a movement to help repair the world.

When she’s not at work, she loves spending time with her family, especially her grandson Ralston and her rescue cat, Adele.