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History of the WHEDA Conference
The WHEDA Conference is held annually at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center as a networking and engagement opportunity for industry professionals to learn about innovative practices and cutting-edge projects that are advancing affordable housing and economic opportunity. From panels featuring developers and property managers to engagement opportunities with financial experts and affordable housing leaders, WHEDA's Annual Conference offers industry-leading insights.
The WHEDA Conference was conceptualized in 1997. The annual event began in 1998 as a small symposium where 40 to 50 developers would come together to discuss affordable housing. Because the conference was so small for the first four years, there is very little documentation related to topics or attendance.
When former WHEDA Executive Director Antonio Riley was appointed in 2003, he wanted to put more resources into the WHEDA Conference. In 2005, an Asset Management Conference was held at the Marriot Madison West located in Middleton. Thanks to Riley's vision, for the first time in WHEDA Conference history, there was a theme (Roads to Preservation), keynote speaker (Denise B. Muha), motivational speaker (Elaine Beaublen), breakout sessions, expert speakers, and a full program with an accompanying agenda. Riley doubled attendee numbers and helped shape the conference into what it is today.
From 2006 to 2011, the WHEDA Multifamily Conference took place at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, and several changes began taking place. In 2011, the Authority made a change to the curriculum and the WHEDA Multifamily Conference became the WHEDA Multifamily Housing and Economic Development Conference— further expanding the program’s content.
Under former WHEDA Executive Director Wyman B. Winston, in 2012 and 2013, and then again in 2017 and 2018, WHEDA experimented with holding two separate annual conferences; the Wisconsin Home Ownership Conference, which was held in the Spring at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Baraboo, and the WHEDA Multifamily and Economic Development Conference, which took place during the fall. In November 2014, the WHEDA Conference transitioned to its new home—the Monona Terrace.
The Risk & Compliance Team lead annual conference planning for many years, but beginning in 2021, the reigns were handed to WHEDA’s Marketing and Communications team. The Annual WHEDA Conference continues to grow to be bigger and better each year. Some of the breakout session options you may experience when you attend the annual conference are Q&A sessions, panels, roundtable discussions, presentations on a wide variety of topics, Tax Credit Compliance Training, a networking reception and happy hour, and a vendor marketplace to learn more about WHEDA's partners.
| 29 Conferences | 6+ Locations | 10,000+ Attendees |
|---|---|---|
| Industry Experts | Speakers | Sessions |
1998
WHEDA Executive Director: Fritz Ruf
No statistical information available.
1999
WHEDA Executive Director: Fritz Ruf
No statistical information available.
2000
WHEDA Executive Director: Fritz Ruf
No statistical information available.
2001
WHEDA Executive Director: Fritz Ruf
No statistical information available.
2002
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
No statistical information available.
2003
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
No statistical information available.
2004
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
No statistical information available.
2005
Asset Management Conference - Roads to Preservation
May 11-12, 2005 - Marriot Madison West
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
Keynote Speaker: Denise B. Muha
Motivational Speaker: Elaine Beaublen
2006
WHEDA Multifamily Housing Conference - Putting the Pieces Together
November 30, 2006 - Alliant Energy Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
Keynote Speaker: Greg Schwem
2007
WHEDA Multifamily Conference - Building Blocks for a Better Wisconsin
November 27, 2007 - Alliant Energy Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
Keynote Speaker: Eric Alexander
2008
WHEDA Multifamily Conference - Building Strong Neighborhoods
November 5, 2008 - Midwest Airlines Conference Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
Keynote Speaker: Bill Strickland, President & CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation
2009
WHEDA Multifamily Conference - Game On Wisconsin
October 15, 2009 - Alliant Energy Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
Keynote Speaker: Bill Strickland, President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation
2010
WHEDA Multifamily Conference - How We Live
October 21, 2010 - Alliant Energy Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Antonio R. Riley
Keynote Speaker: Steven Lopez, Author of The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
2011
WHEDA Multifamily Housing and Economic Development Conference - Build. Live. Grow.
November 7, 2011 - Monona Terrace Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Dr. JP Pawliw-Fry
2012
Home Ownership Conference
May 3, 2012 - Kalahari Resort and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Matthrew Ferrara, Matthew Ferrara and Company
Keynote Speaker: Guy Cecala, CEO and Publisher, Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, Inc.
WHEDA Multifamily and Economic Development Conference
December 4, 2012 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Bart Starr
2013
Wisconsin Home Ownership Conference - Homeownership Heros
May 7-8, 2013
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Cary Mullen, World Champion Skier
WHEDA Multifamily Conference - Making Spaces. Creating Places.
November 19, 2013 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Matthew Ferrara, CEO of Matthew Ferrara & Company
Special Guest Presenter: Toni Blake
2014
WHEDA Conference 2014
November 6, 2014 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Terry Watson, President of Easify, Inc.
2015
Your Dream. Our Mission.
November 17, 2015 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Terry Watson, President of Easify, Inc.
2016
Wisconsin Home Ownership Conference - Transforming the American Dream Together
May 9-10, 2016 - Kalahari Resort and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Terry Watson, President of Easify, Inc.
Together we build communities.
November 14, 2016 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Janine Driver, CEO of the Body Language Institute
2017
Support. Sustain. Stabilize.
September 12, 2017 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Jimmy Wayne, Author of Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and A Homeless Kid Who Found the Way
Wisconsin Homeownership Conference
October 3, 2017 - Kalahari Resort and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Steve Richman, Genworth
2018
Strong communities start here.
August 21, 2018 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Wyman B. Winston
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Matthew Desmond, Author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Special Guest Speaker: Faith Kohler, Director of 30 Seconds Away: Breaking the Cycle
2019
Moving Communities Forward
September 25, 2019 - Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
WHEDA Executive Director: Joaquin J. Altoro
Keynote Speaker: Jake Wood, Co-founder and CEO of Team Rubicon and Author of Take Command
Special Guest: Mary Ross, President and CEO of Ross Business Development
Featured Speaker: Stockton Williams, Executive Director of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA)
2020
WHEDA Conference 2020 cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021
Cultivating an ecoystem for housing and economic opportunity
September 1-2, 2021 - virtual event
CEO: Joaquin Altoro
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Tiffany Manuel, President and CEO of The Case Made
2022
Celebrating 25 Years of the WHEDA Conference in conjunction with WHEDA's 50th Anniversary!
50 Years Stronger Together
#50YearsofWHEDA
September 28-29, 2022 - Monona Terrace Commmunity and Convention Center & online (hybrid event)
CEO and Executive Director: Elmer Moore, Jr.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Andre Perry, Senior Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings Metro; Scholar-in-residence at American University; Columnist for the Hechinger Report; Author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America's Black Cities
Featured Speakers: Kurt Paulsen, Professor in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Diane Shelley, HUD Region VI Adminstrator
Special Guests: Sam Rikkers, WEDC Deputy Secretary; Garth Rieman, NCSHA Director of Housing Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives
2023
How Housing Happens
November 6-7, 2023 - Monona Terrace Commmunity and Convention Center
Attendees: 721
CEO and Executive Director: Elmer Moore, Jr.
Keynote Speaker: Esther Sullivan, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado - Denver; Researcher with a focus on poverty, spatial inequalities, urban governance, and housing; Author of award-winning book Manufactured Insecurity: Mobile Home Parks and Americans' Tenuous Right to Place (2018)
Featured Speakers: Kurt Paulsen, Professor in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dr. Katherine Wilson, Co-Founder and CEO of Santiago Global Consulting; Katrina Van Valkenburgh, Managing Director for the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
Special Guests: Steven Sobiek, Director of Business Development and Planning at the City of Portage; Mike Ward, WEDC Vice President of Business and Community Development; State Representative David Armstrong; State Senator Dan Feyen, Assistant Majority Leader
