Who We Are

Anthony  Simpkins is a leader in Chicago’s affordable housing community and has held multiple roles serving the City of Chicago. As Managing Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Housing, he administered housing and community development policies, programs, and strategic investments. In 2014, he was appointed a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Illinois Supreme Court and served until 2016.

Previously, he was Deputy Commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD), focusing on asset management, intergovernmental affairs, housing preservation initiatives and economic development policy. While at DPD, he helped to develop and administer many groundbreaking programs focused on revitalizing struggling communities, including the Troubled Buildings Initiative and the Micro-Markets Recovery program.

Mr. Simpkins earned his law degree and a Master’s in Political Science from Loyola University and began his legal career as a Skadden Foundation fellow at the Legal Assistance Foundation and Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing, where he represented renters who were victims of illegal evictions called “lockouts.”

After graduating with a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois, he worked for the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, the Chicago fair housing organization founded by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Anthony maintains an active civic life as well. As a 2011 Emerging Leader for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, he co-authored a published report on immigration. He is a board member and past-president of the Muslim Bar Association of Chicago, the first association of Muslim lawyers organized in the United States, and a former board member of the Cook County Bar Association, the country’s oldest association of African-American lawyers. He is also a Board member of the Downtown Islamic Center, the RTW Veterans Center, and former Managing Editor of the Journal of Islamic Law and Culture.

Most recently, Anthony was named Chair of the Steering Committee for the Homeownership Alliance, an initiative from the National Community Stabilization Trust, which advocates for more resources and better policies to promote affordable homeownership opportunities for American families.

Donna Clarke joined the NHS staff as Chief Operating Officer in November of 2017. In this role, she has been instrumental in driving operational efficiency throughout the entire organization. She is responsible for achieving the overall goals and coordinating activities for NHS including identifying key sources of funding.

Ms. Clarke has always been attracted to transformative and socially responsible projects.

Originally from New York, Ms. Clarke went to El Paso, Texas where she took on the monumental task of managing the rehabilitation and revitalization of the city’s entire public housing program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) initiative.

Ms. Clarke has also held leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company and Time Warner, primarily in print media and digital operations. While at Time Inc., she moved from the print to digital platform to run daily operations at Money.com. She was subsequently tapped to launch and sunset revenue operations for CNNMoney.com, a 13-year partnership between Turner Broadcasting and Time Inc.

Ms. Clarke comes to NHS with a strong background in operations and the ability to bring together different lines of business to optimize strategy and impact, along with her substantial experience creating, launching, and incubating new products and platforms.

She holds a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

Janice brings a diverse background in the financial and business sectors, showcasing expertise in Asset Disposition Management, Mortgage Servicing, and Home Preservation.

In her role as the Chief Credit Officer, Janice assumes responsibility for the credit function, risk management, and product design across the full spectrum of programs and initiatives at Neighborhood Lending Services, Inc. This includes overseeing the growth and expansion of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) through strategic partnerships and cultivating new funding participants, as well as capital formation.

Her duties involve the review and monitoring of internal lending controls, written policies, and procedures, ensuring the loan portfolio’s performance aligns with the requirements of capital providers. As a key innovator for the lending line of business, Janice ensures that NLS’ programs, products, and services remain agile and adaptable to changing demographic and housing markets.

Simultaneously, Janice is pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration, specializing in Management and Organizations. In addition, she holds a Master of Science in Information Technology Management with a focus on IT Project Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Project Management.

Tom Sakos is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) here at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. He serves as a key member of our agency’s top-level management team overseeing financial operations in execution of our strategic vision for the future.

Tom has deep experience in financial planning, analysis, and revenue management from multiple high-level positions in government, the private sector and with non-profits during his extensive career.

As our CFO, he continues the agency’s evolution and growth into an agile, impactful, and self-sustaining social enterprise, positioned to effectively serve our communities for years to come.

Bryan Esenberg is the Director of the NHS Redevelopment Corporation (NHSRC). He comes to NHS with a wealth of knowledge and valuable experience, most recently serving as the City of Chicago’s Managing Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Housing’s Programs.

In this role, he’s committed to improving housing choice for all Chicagoland residents and working to move NHSRC forward in property acquisition and development across the city and suburbs, as well as preserving homes in our historic neighborhoods.

NHSRC is targeting aggressive growth as a vital social enterprise working with residents, government, philanthropic, and industry partners to develop homeownership with the goal of establishing our agency’s leadership role in bringing wealth building opportunities to our great city.

He holds a BA in Economics from Indiana University, a MA in Real Estate from the University of Illinois, Chicago and is a 2019 Alumnus of the University of Chicago Civic Leadership Academy

Karen has been with NHS since 2009 and is responsible for diversifying NHS’ revenue sources through prospecting, vetting, and coordinating major public and private initiatives. This role also seeks catalytic strategic relationships to generate organizational revenue through public grants and contracts.

In her previous role as Director of Homeownership Services for NHS, she was responsible for partnership and program development and led a team of housing counseling professionals in the delivery of services that support the creation of new homebuyers and sustainable homeownership opportunities. She has over 25 years of experience working in affordable housing, community investment and real estate development.

Prior to joining NHS, she worked for General Growth Properties in its Urban Retail Development Group tasked with bringing retail amenities to underserved communities across the country. Throughout her career, she has been committed to advancing affordable housing.

As an attorney, she started her legal career representing multi-family community lenders and then transitioned to representing affordable housing developers serving as legal counsel for the developers of for-sale housing as part of the CHA’s Plan for Transformation Madden-Wells redevelopment.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration in marketing and real estate finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Danielle joined NHS Chicago in 2007 as the Associated Director responsible for managing HUD certified housing counselors, homebuyer education and foreclosure prevention programs. Prior to joining NHS Chicago in 2007, Danielle previously worked in student loan and credit card finance services where she managed department activities to ensure productivity, quality, and client satisfaction; assists in resolving escalated cases; and built strong relationships with partner organizations

Danielle’s previous career experience also included working in real estate development. Danielle holds a B.S. degree from Louis University in Business Management.