United Hope Builders United Hope Builders
Paul Bains, Founder and Chairman
Pastor Paul Bains is the founder and chairman of United Hope Builders and WeHOPE. Pastor Paul has been a leader and mentor and working with his community for over two decades to be a better place. He has been leading the congregation of Saint Samuel Church in East Palo Alto since 1999. He is a community leader and an acclaimed speaker, speaking on the issues of affordable housing, food insecurity, and workforce development. Pastor Paul is deeply-rooted in his community and the region. He is a board … [Read More.]
Cheryl Bains, Founder
Cheryl Bains is the founder and director of human resources of United Hope Builders and We Hope. Cheryl has been working in the non-profit sector for over 20 years. She has spent her entrepreneurial career helping organizations in the areas of Human Resources, Accounting, and Business Development. In addition, Cheryl is the founder of Alpha Prime Youth Volleyball Club which provides an opportunity for low-income youth to participate and compete in a competitive league. [Read More.]
Robert Cowan, Founder
Pastor Robert Cowan received his JD in 2001 from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Experienced in large and medium firms, Mr. Cowan is the principal of Cowan Legal Services, a solo practice providing legal counsel and representation to businesses and nonprofit corporations. Since 2004, Mr. Cowan has served as Executive Director of Liberation House, Inc., a transitional housing program, providing support in personal finances, education, physical and spiritual healthfulness.
United Hope Builders Advisory Board
Pete Gombert, UHB Advisor
Pete Gombert is the co-founder of indieDwell, a public benefit corporation focused on building durable, healthy, sustainable, and energy-efficient homes that anyone can afford. A lifelong entrepreneur, Pete has founded or co-founded businesses in several industries primarily focusing on innovative technology-driven solutions. His approach to building businesses centers on building high-performing, humane cultures focused on disrupting stagnant markets.
Brett Mlinarich, UHB Advisor
Brett Mlinarich is the President and founder of Opportunity Real Estate Advisors, an opportunity zone advisory firm based in the Bay Area. Mr. Mlinarich is a seasoned expert in structured finance, having arranged debt and equity financing for some of the most complex real estate development transactions in the region including the very first development by Factory OS, in Oakland, CA.
Elbert Paul, UHB Advisor
Elbert Paul has a diverse background in philanthropy and business. Most recently, his work-related experience includes serving as Executive Director for seven years for a private family foundation, Vice President of Business Development for Trov, and currently President of Northern California National Christian Foundation. In addition to serving on the board of IndieDwell-California, he is on the Board of FRDM (frdm.co), a technology platform that brings transparency to supply chain social risks and helps trace and monitor products at every level of a company’s supply chain. He is a native of Vancouver, Canada, but has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 17 years.
Mike Brock, UHB Advisor
Mike Brock is an influential leader known for his strong commitment to inspiring life and community transformation in the areas of social justice and faith. He thrives in organizational health, innovating systemic change models, quantifying outcomes, and scaling operations. He earned his Master’s Degree in theology from Regent University and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at Transforming the Bay with Christ. His professional experience also includes government and community relations, fundraising, marketing, and public relations.
Alicia Garcia, UHB Advisor
Alicia Garcia has a Master's Degree in organizational leadership and has 15 years of experience building and managing teams. Ms. Garcia has helped launch over 20 small businesses and has assisted over 100 small businesses design their business plans. Her strengths include structuring and leading operations and designing and implementing programs. Since 2012, Ms. Garcia has been Associate Director at WeHOPE where she teaches classes and oversees 6 highly successful programs. The training programs she developed for WeHOPE clients have resulted in approximately 25-30 job placements per year. In the past 5 years, she and her team secured permanent housing for more than 150 homeless men and women. Ms. Garcia published her first book, Overcoming Obstacles, in 2017.
Robert Sherrard, UHB Advisor
Robert Sherrard is the VP of Argus Financial, where he specializes in placing construction, bridge, and acquisition financing. Robert has led over $2.5 billion in real estate financings in his 30 years career. He also a founding board member of the Housing Trust Silicon Valley (www.housingtrustsv.org).
Verne Murray, UHB Advisor
Verne Murray recently retired after a 35-year career with Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. After attending the University of Southern California Mr. Murray joined the real estate finance firm of Bankers Mutual in 1982. He and his partners sold Bankers Mutual in the mid-1980s, and he continued his career in investment banking. An area of interest is in multi-family real estate finance, development including tax-exempt bonds, affordable housing in low-income housing tax credits. He currently serves on three boards and has a special interest and passion in developing affordable housing for the homeless and needy.
William Cralley, UHB Advisor
William Cralley has a long history and deep expertise in factory operations, distribution, route to market, lean manufacturing systems, and plant management. He was previously COO of Alliance Steel, Inc and prior was COO of Tarkett.