Georgi Banna, Esq., NCC

Georgi Banna is an affordable housing and redevelopment lawyer with more than two decades of experience navigating the intricacies of regulations involving public housing, Section 8, fair housing, community redevelopment, and government grant programs. He most recently served as Senior Attorney at Ballard Spahr, LLP. He has testified before Congress and state officials on a multitude of issues involving housing and redevelopment.

At Ballard Spahr, Georgi represented housing authorities, non-profits, and stakeholders in all aspects of affordable housing preservation, development, and strategic planning. He focused on compliance issues with non-profit requirements and Federal affordable housing statutes and regulations; providing governmental relations support to local jurisdictions including mayors, senior county & state officials; and training on HUD programs as subject-matter expert including public housing authority management, resolution of audit findings, and improving internal controls.

During Georgi’s previous tenure at NAHRO as Director of Policy and Program Development, Georgi managed relationships with partner housing organizations; analyzed and interpreted relevant financial data; provided technical assistance with fair housing, public housing, and Section 8 programs; and provided legal analysis of non-profit and affordable housing issues. He maintained key relationships with HUD, congressional staff, and industry groups, and both tracked and initiated policy action for legal, legislative, and regulatory issues.

Prior to his work at NAHRO, Georgi served for nearly a decade as a senior analyst and program manager for FirstPic, Inc., where he conducted subject matter expert training sessions across the country on HUD housing programs and oversaw housing voucher programs at troubled housing authorities. He also established program guidelines and Fair Housing requirements.

His experience also includes work with various loan programs of the U.S. Small Business Administration, landlord-tenant issues, and commercial real estate matters. He is a former adjunct clinical instructor and staff attorney at Michigan State University College of Law.