As a women-owned small business enterprise, MNC Consulting is dedicated to creating, preserving, and enhancing affordable housing options. Our mission is to cultivate vibrant communities and ensure the stability of families.

To implement its mission, MNC has worked with locally based nonprofit organizations, housing authorities and community action agencies across the Pacific Northwest to deliver housing opportunities, along with social and economic supports. Over the years, its principals have trained, advised and mentored real estate development teams to efficiently identify viable affordable housing pathways and engage experts to support development. 

Our Process

Pre-Development

Project feasibility analyses, capacity studies, and funding assessments are conducted well in advance of groundbreaking. Long-term community success begins early and involves asking many questions.

Pre-development enables us to understand community needs, land characteristics, and financing options. Using our unique perspective, we identify potential pathways for the project. If a clear direction isn't evident, we create our own.

Construction Management

Creating enduring affordable housing relies on strong relationships, proactive issue management, and a commitment to quality. This approach results in well-constructed communities that effectively support residents' needs.

Our construction management team collaborates closely with general contractors, municipalities, consultants, and industry experts to ensure projects are completed on time and within budget.

Capacity Building

Long-term impact depends on more than bricks and mortar, it requires strengthening the organizations behind the work. Our capacity building approach helps nonprofits and housing authorities clarify their purpose, sharpen their systems, and align their strategies. We guide teams through assessments, planning, and infrastructure development to ensure they have the right tools, processes, and people in place to lead effectively.

From governance support and organizational design to policy audits and portfolio reviews, we provide tailored assistance that prepares partners not just to deliver housing—but to do so sustainably, strategically, and with community at the center.

Financial Engineering

Our backgrounds in government and nonprofit sectors provide us with a distinct understanding and perspective on affordable housing financing.

We have extensive experience working with a wide range of funding sources, both public and private, and we maintain strong relationships with lenders, investors, foundations, and government agencies. We are committed to being responsible stewards of these resources, treating our funders as genuine partners for the long term.

Preservation

Our expert consulting services focus on preserving existing affordable units, navigating regulatory frameworks, and identifying funding opportunities.

We work closely with developers, nonprofits, and local governments to create tailored strategies that protect vulnerable populations and enhance community resilience. Together, we can safeguard the future of affordable housing and ensure everyone has a place to call home.

Meet The Team

Mariana Crawford | Owner/Founder

After receiving an MBA in finance from the University of Oregon, Mariana pursued a career in community lending and commercial real estate with a Eugene-based community bank. There she also began her board service, joining Reach CDC’s board in 2004. In 2008, Mariana served as the Tax Credit Programs Manager for Oregon Housing and Community Services. In 2011, she joined HUD’s Seattle office as Senior Underwriter for Region X. She has engineered, analyzed, and recommended financing strategies with total development costs exceeding $3 billion across 12 states, with primary focus in the Pacific Northwest. Mariana has been instrumental in creating permanent supportive housing, housing for vulnerable populations, including ex-offender housing, promoting new pilot projects and program that celebrate innovation and creativity to ensure that marginalized communities and individuals have access to housing and services to build a life and thrive.  Mariana steers the company's daily operations with precision. To deliver our mission and amplify impact, MNC leverages a nationwide network of expert consultants. This synergy of talent ensures MNC remains at the forefront of innovative and effective affordable housing solutions.

Marie Allen | Senior Consultant

Marie holds an MBA from the University of Missouri and brings over a decade of experience in affordable housing development, finance, and policy. She began her career at Travois, Inc., specializing in tribal LIHTC projects across the West Coast, and later held key roles at Chelsea Investment Corporation and Affirmed Housing in San Diego. As a Senior Project Manager at Affirmed, Marie led the development of more than 15 affordable housing projects totaling over $225 million, managing active pipelines of 7–10 projects annually with combined budgets exceeding $155 million. Her expertise spans federal funding sources, complex capital stacks, and the delivery of housing for tribal communities and vulnerable populations, including several permanent supportive housing developments in Southern California.

Amy Edwards| Senior Consultant

Amy brings 20+ years of experience in real estate across disciplines including commercial and community lending, affordable housing development and finance, asset management, and strategic planning. Her experience with Portland Housing Bureau, Prosper Portland, and the City of Portland's Office of Management and Finance gives her valuable local knowledge. Amy is currently working with several affordable housing developers to recapitalize assets, identify effective leasing and financing strategies, and optimize operational efficiencies through capacity building. Amy’s focus within the MNC team has been capacity building, asset management audits, strategic organizational planning, specialized project support and transaction management.

Peter Yoon| Associate Consultant

Peter began his affordable housing career in 2019, focusing on funding components for more than thirty projects in California and Oregon. By 2024, he had managed the development and construction of more than 1,000 affordable units. Peter holds a master's degree in real estate from NYU and a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Oregon, providing a strong technical foundation for housing development projects within the MNC team. Peter’s expertise within the MNC team has been project development management and construction oversight.