Board of Directors

Patricia Algaze is Senior Vice President for Citi Community Development in Florida, is also a small business investor, and serves as board Chair for Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida. Her experience includes a variety of management roles in retail and commercial banking in the Florida market over 25 years, including the formation of a corporate consulting business.

Her areas of expertise include governance and risk management for regulatory compliance, strategic planning, market research, commercial and consumer loan portfolio review, development of performance and production improvements, product development and relationship building.
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Willie L. Duckworth currently serves full time in the ministry.  As such, he is the pastor of the Emanuel Church of God in Christ (COGIC) of Florida where he recently celebrated his 5th year in that capacity.  The Emanuel COGIC of Florida is part of the South Miami District COGIC, an organization of eight churches who are also part of the Eastern Florida Jurisdiction COGIC that consist of approximately 129 churches.

Mr. Duckworth serves as President of the South Miami District Evangelist Department.  He also serves the Eastern Florida Jurisdiction as Corresponding Secretary of the Pastors and Elders Council of the Jurisdiction.  
Mr. Duckworth is retired from the United States Air Force where he served our country for nearly 21 years.  
Mr. Duckworth recently began pursuing a master’s degree with the hopes of graduating in 18 months.
Mr. Duckworth envisions changing the landscape of the Brownsville Community by providing jobs and social services as starters.
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Beverly Kovach, Vice President and CRA Officer for Mercantil Commercebank, a $6.6 billion national bank. Beverly has been working in the banking industry for more than 40 years. Her experience ranges from operational positions, eleven years as an Internal Auditor, and the last 15 years in the area of regulatory compliance. Although her duties mandate a working knowledge of all the national banking regulations, the one she enjoys most and accounts for most of her time is the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

Beverly feels her love for people and the community motivates her to make a difference. In addition to her work on the NHSSF Board and Committees, Ms. Kovach serves on the Local Advisory Board of Accion USA, Miami, is a board member of the Community Reinvestment Group (CRG), and is a member of South Florida Community Development Coalition. She is a Past President of the South Florida Compliance Association where she continues to serve as a Director. Ms Kovach served for many years as a trustee for MMAP and board member of Neighborhood Lending Partners, Inc.

Ms. Kovach has resided in Miami-Dade for more than 40 years. She remains active in her church and in various ecumenical and prison ministries.

Dennis serves as a contract CFO for not-for-profit organizations, including as the part-time Business Manager at Coral Gables Congregational Church and as an Executive Coach for senior leaders in the Medical Equipment, Software, Financial Services and Consulting fields.

Prior to that, as a Partner at KPMG LLP, Dennis founded and managed the Risk Advisory Services practice in South Florida and Puerto Rico. In this capacity, Dennis provided IT audit co-sourcing services to Fortune 500 and private companies and performed project risk management projects for Oracle and SAP ERP system implementations, monitored project management risks and designed internal controls; performed needs assessments and tested system configurations and data conversions; advised several banking clients in their business process and IT controls documentation and testing efforts to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. Dennis also led the documentation and standardization of policies and procedures for all IT, operational and administrative processes for a Fortune 200 public company and managed security reviews and security policy and procedure development assignments for industrial and financial services clients.

Prior to his role at KPMG in Florida, Dennis served with KPMG in São Paulo, Brazil for 15 years, the last seven as a Partner in the Audit and Risk Advisory practices. Born and raised in São Paulo, Dennis speaks native English and Portuguese and is fully fluent in Spanish. Dennis has a B.A. Degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle and is a Certified Public Accountant.
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A graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Eric worked in the banking industry for nearly 25 years. He moved to South Florida at the beginning of 1992, and began work in Affordable Housing in 1993, where he has remained and dedicated his resources and efforts in residential mortgages, community and economic development lending.

Eric has worked for Miami Dade County with the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust (formally Metro Miami Action Plan Trust) for the past 4 years administering the Homeownership Assistance Program (HAP) and coordinating their housing outreach activities. He sits on various boards & loan committees, and enjoys speaking to potential homeowners on a monthly basis at various 1st-Time Homebuyer Seminars and conducts training sessions for industry professionals on Downpayment Assistance Programs (DAP). .

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Leo Toca provides leadership to the Community Bank, Business Banking, Home Mortgage Corporation, Government Relations, Marketing, Communications and Market Executives in his role as Senior Community Development Officer at Wells Fargo. Leo became a team member at Wells Fargo Home Finance in Garden City New York and was later recommended for the Miami CDO position.

In 2009, prior to joining the Social Responsibility Group at Wachovia, Leo spent 15 years in various capacities at JPMorgan Chase serving the Long Island and Metro New York market. In his role as the Community Relations Officer for Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Leo managed the Community Development Grants, Sponsorships, and Summer Arts Programs. He was later promoted to manage the National Community Advisory Board.

Mr. Toca’s plays a very active role in the community as he serves as a board member with both Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida and Overtown Youth Center Advisory Board. He is also the manager of Miami Operation Hope Relationship and is currently working with the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo’s Integrated Hispanic Strategy..

A graduate of Rutgers University of New Jersey with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, and the University of Phoenix, Florida with a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Mildred has worked in financial institutions for approximately ten years before working for the local government.

She has worked for the Broward County Housing Finance and Community Development Division for the past 15 years, the last three as a Housing Program Manager, administering the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program, and more recently the First Time Homebuyer’s Program, and the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) Program.

Mildred enjoys promoting these programs by attending various housing events as well as being a front line staff for the County..

Tony Prado holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Boston University, magna cum laude. Mr. Prado has over thirty years of experience as residential and commercial real estate developer (www.hamiltongroupmg.com). He served twenty five years as Director of Pacific National Bank, Miami (www.pnb.com), retiring in 2009 as Board Chairman.

Currently serves as a Board Director of FIAC/Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. Formerly served as Board Director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami, Kairos Prison Ministry International, East Little Havana CDC, YES Institute, and Haitian Women of Miami.

Extensive experience as volunteer in the areas of affordable housing, community development, immigration, prisons, the homeless, book discussion groups, support to persons living with AIDS, and foster care review.

Marie Brea Hyppolite was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and immigrated to the United States at a very young age. She Graduated from Miami Northwestern High School and went on to obtain a Bachelor Degree from Barry University in Business with an area of concentration in Telecommunication. Later, she attended Nova Law School and eventually acquired a Master Degree in Business Administration, with concentration in Finance and Marketing from Barry University in Miami.

Currently, she’s the President/CEO Director of First Business Consulting, which focuses in assisting and facilitating minority businesses in translating their business ideas into reality, hence providing them with necessary assistance and resources, namely: Planning, Managing, Alternative Financing, Marketing, Loan Packaging and Business Plans. Because or her multi-cultural background, she has client all over the world and travels extensively to Europe, South and Latin America. She has been a guest speaker numerous times on business symposiums, television and radio programs at home and abroad. Presently, she is also the financial underwriter for different financial institutions.

Her clients include: technology companies, radio stations, training institutions, manufacturing companies, transportations, daycares, restaurants, beauty salons and many other businesses.

Prior to this endeavor, she worked as a Business Development Consultant for the Minority Business Development Center (MBDC), where she provided management and technical assistance to businesses in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward Counties.

Since 1998, Mrs. Hyppolite has taught micro-business classes at Florida Atlantic University and developed business seminars for Florida Memorial College.

She’s an active member of several Chambers of Commerce and served on the executive boards of the Metro Miami Action Plan Trust and the City of Pembroke Pines. She has written and published several business articles. Mrs. Hyppolite has obtained numerous certifications from national and international organizations. She is fluent in French, Creole and Spanish.