The Leadership Team

Executive Leadership Team, leading more than 50 employees driving projects in eight different states
  • Marc Daigle

    Principal/CEO

    Marc Daigle

    Principal/CEO

    Marc’s primary role as CEO is to reinforce to the growing, expanding Dakota Partners team the vision of Creating Housing That Matters, enabling them to live this message daily and articulate it to the outside world. He also relishes his role as trainer and mentor to the bright, enthusiastic young people in and joining the firm. An architect by discipline, he co-founded Dakota Partners to build a company that helps to address the affordable housing crisis in our society. With this as a guiding principle, and Marc as a leader, Dakota is creating communities that help individuals and families thrive, while also developing responsible, sustainable projects that conserve precious resources and reflect the nature of the surrounding neighborhoods. An avid outdoors person and novice pickleball player, Marc’s wife and two daughters are the loves of his life.

  • Roberto Arista

    Principal/President

    Roberto Arista

    Principal/President

    Roberto sees great things ahead for the firm he co-founded and helps to lead as president. Dakota’s transformation from a relatively small developer of affordable housing to a mid-sized, multidiscipline company working throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic has resulted in an impressive in-house increase in overall expertise and ability to navigate complex world of regulations and rules that come with the territory, Roberto points to the Capital Lofts project in Hartford, which houses 112 families in a renovated, historic Pratt & Whitney factory, as a defining project in his career with Dakota. He lives by the advice to think long and hard before building anything because it will be there for a long time and will serve as his and his firm’s legacy. Roberto loves to travel and play soccer.

  • Judi Hilton

    Chief Operating Officer

    Judi Hilton

    Chief Operating Officer

    Judi Hilton develops and oversees the multidiscipline strategy that aligns Dakota Partners’ existing team members with the need for future resources to fulfill the company’s growth trajectory and achieve its mission of Creating Housing That Matters. This includes crafting a structure of internal systems and processes necessary to drive the team through all phases of the affordable housing development process – from acquisition and development, through construction, all the way to the birth of communities that operate successfully. With more than 25 years of experience in user-centric real estate, Judi brings exceptional organization and consistency to how we communicate and collaborate internally. An avid golfer, skier and world traveler, Judi divides her time between rural Maine, where she was raised, and Boston’s Back Bay.

  • Cheryl Stulpin

    Executive VP, Acquisitions & Development

    Cheryl Stulpin

    Executive VP, Acquisitions & Development

    An experienced real estate executive with more than 30 years in development with specialization in affordable housing, Cheryl brings a strong background in structuring complex development and financial transactions. As Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Development, Cheryl is responsible for identifying, analyzing and structuring multi-family and mixed-use housing developments. Cheryl is focusing on expanding Dakota’s footprint into new states. Having developed over 50 development projects and 3,000 units of affordable housing, Cheryl’s expertise in financial structuring incorporates combining public and private financing mechanisms such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits, Brownfield Tax Credits, Community Development Block Grants, HOME funding and HUD insured debt to ensure successful project execution. Cheryl has been an active advocate for affordable housing as a former member of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing Executive Committee and Upstate Policy Committee, and as Co-founder and Emeritus member of the Pennsylvania Developers Council.

  • Alan Regan

    Chief Financial Officer

    Alan Regan

    Chief Financial Officer

    The hard work of Creating Housing That Matters requires financial expertise that is forward thinking and that serves as the backbone for every project. At Dakota Partners, Chief Financial Officer Alan Regan leads this vital function. With 36 years of experience in all aspects of affordable housing, Alan is driven by an ability to help provide everyone with the opportunity to live in safe, secure housing. Since joining Dakota Partners, he has led the effort to improve upon and upgrade the processes that help ensure that we can build affordable housing efficiently and cost-effectively, while also supporting the company’s ability to grow and evolve. Alan is a proud husband, father and grandfather, and he relishes the many hours and years he has spent mentoring and coaching youth sports.

  • Gary Williams

    Executive Vice President of Construction

    Gary Williams

    Executive Vice President of Construction

    The complexities involved in building a housing structure are beyond the understanding of most people, but as Director of Construction for Dakota Partners, Gary Williams’ mission is to ensure that every detail of our projects is considered and well-coordinated. With 24 years’ experience in construction, Gary is intensely focused on encouraging collaboration, efficient standardization and a Lean-based approach to his team’s day-to-day work product. He promotes a culture of constant process improvement that enhances stakeholder value. “Construction has the privilege of putting great ideas into motion, fulfilling our vision,” he says, adding that his team’s commitment to schedule management is a core critical success factor in delivering what is needed exactly when it’s needed. Married with two daughters, Gary enjoys tinkering with boats, cars and projects around the house.

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