Leadership

Alabama Property Rights Council, LLC

Aaron J. Kowan, Esq., President
Anita Anand, Esq., Treasurer

Jen Howard, Secretary

Ray Clark, Board Member

Michael Guilsher, Board Member

Ken Weinberg, Board Member

Brent Barringer, Board Member

Jonice Marie Vanterpool, Board Member

Officer and Board Member Bios

Aaron J. Kowan ‐ President

Partner at Kowan | Cordon, a boutique law firm specializing in federal, state, and international tax and business planning. His practice is focused on both tax consulting and the structuring, negotiating and closing of corporate and partnership transactions. He routinely advise clients on most of the significant areas of corporate, partnership and individual income taxation, including:
- tax and corporate aspects of mergers and acquisitions
- structuring of partnerships, joint ventures and startup companies
- drafting and negotiation of complex partnership and LLC agreements
- state and local tax planning
- executive compensation matters, including 409A compliance
- formation of and compliance issues relating to tax-exempt organizations, public charities and private foundations
- tax planning and structuring related to private equity and real estate investment funds
In addition, a significant portion of his practice concentrates on the representation of investors, developers and syndicators nationwide in connection with tax-incentivized investments, including conservation motivated real estate funds, low income housing tax credits, renewable energy tax credits, historic rehabilitation tax credits, new markets tax credits, entertainment/film tax credits and other state specific credits.

Anita Anand – Treasurer

Anita is a licensed attorney and a Senior Manager with Brady Ware & Co. She supports the firm’s Tax Practice, State and Local Tax Practice, and serves as a firm wide resource in the area of tax research and consulting. This includes providing taxpayer representation in matters requiring federal and state private letter rulings. She is also responsible for federal, state, and local technical tax support involving a range of industries and clients. Along with these day to day responsibilities, Anita also contributes her expertise to a number of local government agencies, industry organizations, and nonprofits. She is an adjunct professor at Georgia Perimeter College and a guest lecturer at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. Anita is also the author of various articles and white papers on various subject matters.

Jen Howard - Secretary

Jennifer L. Howard is an attorney in the Birmingham office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, & Berkowitz, P.C. She represents banks, captive finance companies and other financial institutions in connection with project finance, equipment leasing and equipment finance transactions across the entire United States. Ms. Howard's project finance experience includes advising clients in connection with construction and term loan financings of energy generation facilities, such as anaerobic digesters, landfill gas-to-energy facilities and natural-gas-fired plants.

Ray Clark - Board Member

Ray Clark is the founder and CEO of RiverCrossing Strategies, a consulting firm consortium working to develop energy, and economic development policies and strategies and specializing in energy matters. Prior to his civilian work, Mr. Clark was formerly the Assistant Secretary of the Army (acting) and the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Environment) where he was responsible for all the US Army facilities worldwide and steward of more than 14 million acres. Mr. Clark was responsible for military construction, military family housing, all real estate transactions and the military environmental and natural resource management program and was also responsible for base closure and transitioning excess military property to economic development.

Prior to his appointment to this Army position, Mr. Clark was Associate Director at the White House Council of Environmental Quality where he acted as advisor to the President, the Chairman of CEQ and Senior White House Staff. Ray came to CEQ from the office of the Secretary of the Army at the request of the President George H.W. Bush Administration and was asked to remain by the President, who later appointed him as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army. He was asked to stay at his post by the George W. Bush Administration and was later was appointed by Republican Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment. In addition to serving the Military, Ray has a Masters Degree from Duke University.

Michael Guilsher - Board Member

Michael Guilsher is a tenured wealth manager and licensed and registered investment advisor located in Birmingham, AL. Mr. Guilsher provides financial planning based advisory services in Alabama through the firm of Meld Financial, Inc.. Michael has a history of community service, having served on various community boards, including as past Board Chairman of the Alabama Ballet, the board of SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) and the Dean's Community Advisory Committee of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry. He is married and the proud father of two wonderful children.

Ken Weinberg - Board Member

Ken Weinberg is a licensed attorney practicing with the law firm of Baker Donelson where Ken is a shareholder in the Firm's Birmingham office . Mr. Weinberg often represents bank-affiliated, captive and independent finance companies in almost all aspects of equipment leasing and finance transactions and a key component of his practice also includes his representation of both lenders and borrowers in connection with recourse and non-recourse energy project financing transactions across the country. Ken is a frequent contributor to the equipment leasing and finance community, and has published almost 100 articles on relevant topics. Ken has advised on numerous project financing transactions involving energy generation facilities, having an aggregate value in excess of $1 billion.

Brent Barringer - Board Member

Brent Barringer is Office Managing Partner at Tidwell Group, Birmingham office. At Tidwell Group, Brent’s expertise is in construction, low income and new market tax credits, real estate development, and closely held businesses. Mr. Barringer responsibilities at Tidwell Group are consulting and tax strategy where he is a trusted among his clients and as a leader in his industry areas. This allows him to provide and assist clients based on their needs in an ever changing economy. Mr. Barringer’s primary area of practice is real estate, with an emphasis on a commercial real estate, low income housing tax credits, HUD assisted projects, and USDA / Rural Development projects. Mr. Barringer is responsible for this area of practice for the firm and is versed in the various industry specific reports that are required including: annual partnership audits, 10 percent tests, 30 percent tests, 50 percent test, and cost certifications (Final Tax Credit Cost Certifications, HUD Mortgagor’s Cost Certifications, HUD Contractor’s Cost Certifications, and HOME Loan Contractor’s Cost Certifications).

Jonice Marie Vanterpool, Board Member

Jonice Marie Vanterpool is the founder and principal consultant of Outerbridge Consulting, LLC (OBC), a diversified consulting firm based in Birmingham, Alabama that provides business development, strategic advisory and public affairs consulting services to businesses throughout the Southeast. Formed in 2009, OBC assists its clients in developing and
pursuing their strategic priorities, building complementary teams of professionals, and communicating with public and private stakeholders and decision-makers. Ms. Vanterpool’s clients benefit from her diverse background in finance, law and business. A licensed attorney, Ms. Vanterpool practiced for six years with local, regional and national law firms, focusing on employment litigation and preventive counseling, as well as public finance and municipal government matters. She was actively involved in minority recruitment at her firms and served on the Diversity Committee of Ogletree Deakins, a
national employment law boutique, where she helped develop minority recruitment and retention policies for the firm.