Meet Our Board

Bios

Rex Bennett 

Rex has been in the insurance industry for 30 years. He worked for Pacific Standard Life Insurance Company for 10 years, followed by 5 years with CalFarm Life Insurance company in Sacramento. He joined VSP Vision Care in June of 1994. He was the Director of Provider Networks up until 2008, when he transitioned to the VSP Optics Group where he is currently the Vice President of Opthalmic Supply Chain. He helped lead the effort of VSP’s Mobile Clinics Program, which officially launched in June 2007. The program’s primary purpose is to provide replacement glasses for anyone who may have lost their glasses during a disaster, such as hurricanes, tornados, and fires. To date, the program has helped over 9,000 people see better.

Theresa Paige

Theresa is the managing partner and CEO of LPAS Architecture and Design, one of the largest architectural firms in Sacramento.  As a Northern California native, Theresa was raised with a large family in Yuba City. She studied architecture at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Santa Monica.  After school, she returned to Northern California to work with a small firm in the Marysville area. Theresa is a licensed Architect with over 34 years of experience in various types of housing, healthcare, and commercial office buildings.  She joined the Sacramento Habitat board in 2008 and is currently serving as Board President.

Paul Ainger

Paul Ainger has developed over 100 single family homes and over 1,000 apartment units in his 20 year career in affordable housing development. He has developed apartments and subdivisions throughout the California Central Valley from Fresno to the Greater Sacramento area. Through his work, Ainger has raised over $150 million in development capital. He has managed the entire development process, from entitlements through construction to occupancy. His projects include a mix of developments, including new construction, infill development and acquisition and rehabilitation of existing apartments and single family homes. Many of these projects were affordable housing developments in which he assembled complex financing packages that included tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, tax-increment and public funding. Ainger serves on the Boards of the Sacramento Housing Alliance and Solano County Affordable Housing Coalition. He is the treasurer for the California Reinvestment Coalition. He has a Masters of Business Administration from U.C. Davis and a Bachelor’s degree from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.

Karalee Browne - Chair

Karalee Browne currently works for the Institute for Local Government.  Karalee is the former program manager in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Charitable Contributions department where she was directly responsible for managing the company’s philanthropic solar initiatives including the award winning PG&E Solar Schools Program and the PG&E Solar Habitat Program. Prior to joining Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Karalee worked as a television news writer and producer for Sacramento’s KOVR13 News. Karalee has served on the board of the Sacramento American Women in Radio and Television Association and has held several positions with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life planning committee. Karalee has a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Southern California and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco. 

 Richard G. Fathy

Richard Fathy is a Family Law Attorney.  He was born in San Francisco and received his B.A. with high honors from University of California, Davis.  Richard attended Harvard Law School.  He was admitted as a member of the State Bar of California in 1972 and has been practicing law ever since.  His extensive experience prior to starting his own firm, Richard G. Fathy Law, includes working as a Litigation Counselor for the Director of State Department of Consumer Affairs and working as a Deputy State Public Defender.  Richard joined the Sacramento Habitat board in 2010.  Both he and his wife, Joan Burke, the Director of Advocacy for Loaves & Fishes, are very interested in improving housing issues in Sacramento.

 Mark Krausse

Mark Krausse is a Director at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).  Mark attended California State University and graduated with a degree in Government.  He went on to receive his law degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and was admitted as amember of the State Bar of California in 1995.  Prior to his work at PG&E, Mark has worked as a Senior Consultant for the California State Assembly, the Director of Government Relations for The Doctors Company, a Senior Consultant for the California State Senate, and the Executive Director for the Fair Political Practices Commission.  Mark joined the Sacramento Habitat Board in 2011.     

 R. Miguel Ramirez

Miguel was born and raised in Sacramento where he graduated from Highlands High School before moving on to earn a BS in Finance from the University of Southern California. After a career in commercial and buy side investment banking, Miguel returned to graduate school at Stanford, where he earned his Master’s in Public Policy and an MBA.  As a telecommunications executive Miguel worked assignments in the United States, Northern Europe, and the Middle-East.  He now serves as the Operations Director for the California Institute for Mental Health. In his spare time, Miguel stays active in his community by rehabilitating and managing affordable housing for families and serving as an external board member of the Elyn R. Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Southern California.