Ep. 290 - Dive into the journey of Ashley Northcutt, the dynamic President of the National Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN), an organization passionately advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
WAHN, under Ashley's stewardship, empowers women in the industry through education, active allyship, and fostering meaningful connections.
With a diverse network spanning government agencies, financial institutions, developers, and nonprofits, WAHN is truly reshaping the affordable housing landscape.
Join us as we explore Ashley's inspiring pivot from a seasoned accounting professional to spearheading this pioneering network full-time.
Tune in for an enriching conversation about affordable housing, diversity, and the power of women in the industry.
Listen in to learn how to pivot from your career and still find success in following the path led by your strength and passion. You will also learn the value of choosing a career in affordable housing, working for a diverse company, and prioritizing community housing.
Key Takeaways:
- The importance of supporting other women to help you sustain your level of success
- The power of saying yes and getting involved with a lot of things in helping you get to the top
- How to utilize your strengths and passion to pivot your career and still find success
- The importance of building a career in an organization focused on diversity
“If you cannot have a home to go to that is safe and clean for your health and sleep, it’s very hard to be a productive member of society.”- Ashley Northcutt
In this episode, you will learn:
Ashley on why she decided to pivot to the National Women's Affordable Housing Network [01:42]
She defines affordable housing plus the creative affordable housing solutions they’re focused on [04:58]
She explains how WAHN is open to all creative affordable housing solutions [06:23]
The role of women in affordable housing, plus how we can sustain our levels of success [07:40]
She describes some of the initiatives that WAHN is planning and the impact they’ll make [09:03]
How WAHN is committed to bridging the gap in the affordable housing industry [15:59]
How she was able to pivot from a secure corporate career and embrace a role at WAHN [18:41]
The three takeaway points Ashley would like to leave you with on housing and career [22:47]
CAREER
Ashley Northcutt is the President of National Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN), a 501(c)(3) organization focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
WAHN provides support to and empowers women working in the industry with intentional connection, education and active allyship. The Network includes representatives from government agencies, lenders and other financial institutions, investors, developers, professional service providers, and nonprofit organizations.
Ashley’s prior career was in public accounting and she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and other national accounting firms. Northcutt left her job as Tax Partner at an accounting firm that specialized in the Affordable Housing industry in December 2022 due to the growth of WAHN. She specialized in the areas of real estate taxation, not-for-profit organizations and affordable housing. Northcutt is deeply committed to serving historically underrepresented communities and advocates for fair and equitable housing practices and policies.
Ashley has more than 10 years of experience in tax planning and compliance for multifamily real estate, commercial real estate and construction companies. She has extensive knowledge of tax credit programs at the federal and state levels, including low-income housing tax credits and historic tax credits. Her focus was partnership and individual tax law. Ashley also reviews, implements and applies cost segregation studies.
Additionally, Ashley was a key member of the tax leadership team and excels at training, supervising and mentoring.