Barney Smith is president of The Smith & Young Company, Fleming Island, Florida. No stranger to affordable housing, Smith was appointed to both the Jacksonville Housing Commission and the Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority by former Mayor John Peyton.

Ray Dubuque is retired and previously served as the regional director of external affairs for AT&T. Dubuque also sat on the City of Panama City’s Planning Board, where he was reappointed seven times for two-year terms. He serves as one of the two citizen representatives on the Florida Housing Board of Directors.

Len Tylka, of West Palm Beach is a successful, second-generation custom single-family home builder and developer, having professional experience since 1971. He is the founding principal in LTL Associates, Inc., a Professional Engineering firm and LTL Builders, a Statewide Certified General Contractor.

He is the past president of the Gold Coast Builders Association and the Florida Home Builders Association where he has also served as a senior officer in both organizations as an associate member.

Len was one of the 27 Commissioners who served on the Governors Building Code Study Commission which lead to the drafting of the Florida Building Code in response to the problems experienced during Hurricane Andrew.

Locally he has also served as Chair of the Town of Jupiter’s Code Enforcement Board and was a member of Palm Beach County’s Budget Oversight Task Force.

Len has dedicated the last 20 years of his career to the affordability and availability of housing for all and looks forward to continue his efforts through his participation on the Florida Housing Finance Corporation Board.

Brian Jeffrey Katz, of Tampa, is an investment fund manager at Katz Capital Management, LLC. Bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience from the banking and mortgage banking industry, he was also the senior vice president at Pilot Bank and Horizon Bancorporation.

Natacha Bastian of Miami, Florida, is the vice president of Thunder Electric Contractors Inc. Bastian has been involved in the construction industry for her entire professional career. Her experience is in the commercial sector, primarily airports, schools and hospitals.

John David Hawthorne, Jr., of Sebring, is the executive director of the Highlands County Habitat for Humanity. A retired Lt. Colonel with the United States Army, Hawthorne previously served as the deputy planning and redevelopment director for the City of Sarasota, and was an education instructor at Albany State University. He serves as the low income advocate representative on the Florida Housing Board of Directors.

Renier Diaz de la Portilla is an attorney, mediator and public servant. He completed his undergraduate studies at Florida International University (FIU), Miami, FL, and later earned his graduate degree in public administration from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Renier’s commitment to public service led him to become the youngest person ever elected to the Miami-Dade County School Board-- and later to serve in The Florida House of Representatives at age 29.

While serving in the Florida House, Renier also worked his way through law school and graduated from Nova Southeastern University. Upon graduating, he was made “Of Counsel” to the GrayRobinson Law firm and worked there until 2009.

Renier is humbled to have been chosen by Governor Rick Scott in 2015 to help serve the needs of Florida’s families on the FHFC.

Renier is currently employed as a lawyer by The Gallardo Law Firm in Miami, where he resides with his family and volunteers for various other civic organizations.

Howard is a Fort Myers native, born to Nancy & Howard Wheeler, Sr. and into the construction industry. His father owned Howard Wheeler Construction and from the time Howard Jr. could hold a broom, he was given chores in the construction trade, such as sweeping debris. Eventually, the chores became more of an apprenticeship, and through years of learning every aspect of construction, Howard established Chris-Tel Company of Southwest Florida, Inc. in 1989.

In 2007, the name was changed to Chris-Tel Construction. Notably to this appointment, Chris-Tel Construction restored the Broadway Apartments from condemnation. Because of the integration of LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design), this project was the first project in the state of Florida to receive a Platinum LEED® for Homes certification for an affordable housing complex. In addition to donating his time to educational advisory boards (Edison State College, Salvation Army and Fort Myers Institute of Technology), Howard is on the Board of Directors for the Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers, a member of Associated Builders & Contractors, local chambers of commerce and the Real Estate Investment Society (REIS).

In addition to his love of boating, fishing, and travelling, Howard recently started flying! Howard expects great things from Chris-Tel Construction and the community in which he lives, works and plays in 2014. He is proud of his appointment to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and is anxiously awaiting positive changes from his involvement.