Personal Information
I was fortunate to grow up in Brookline and attend Michael Driscoll elementary school and Brookline High School. My family struggled financially. My father worked hard as a shoe salesman and eventually was able to become the business owner of Ralph’s Shoes. Perhaps that is where my entrepreneurial spirit was born! My mother was a seamstress in a dressmaking shop in Washington Square as well as a homemaker. My parents sacrificed to make their life’s dream of putting their children through college a reality. I will never forget the day when my dad paid off his 25 year mortgage.
I recently moved back to Brookline after living in Newton for over 30 years. I live with my husband of 25 years, Thomas Rezendes, and our 4-year-old cat, Zoya. I believe in the importance of giving back to the community and of service to others. Among other things, when I lived in Newton, I was an active member of the Newton Housing Partnership, a three term Board Member on The Second Step, for survivors of domestic violence and was the Treasurer of the Ward 4 democratic committee. I also collected donations for the Brookline Food Bank during COVID.
Nothing makes me happier than spending time with my extended family, and nothing puts a smile on my face more than when I answer to the words “Auntie Lynne”. So far, I have been blessed with five great nieces. I enjoy our annual niece’s pumpkin carving, summer outings to Fenway Park and winter outings to Larz Anderson Park. Public Housing is important to me as I have one family member who suffers from mental illness and lives in public housing and another that I helped secure a Section 8 mobile voucher for; both have a roof over their heads due to public housing resources.
Professional Experience
- Earliest: 8th grade as a page for the library at Michael Driscoll Elementary School and my brother and I shoveled sidewalks in our neighborhood during the blizzard of 1978.
- 1984-1996. Paralegal at Mintz, Levin, Cohen, Glovsky and Popeo, where I worked in Howard Cohen’s affordable housing group, working on tax credit deals and performing due diligence, permitting and other matters related to creating and preserving affordable housing. Promoted to manager of the real estate paralegals.
- 1996 MBA Babson College. While at Mintz, I self-funded my master’s degree in business and attended classes in the evening while working full time. My concentrations were in operations management and real estate finance.
- 1996-1999. Founded BRFG senior housing consulting group at Brown, Rudnick working on planning, permitting and financing assisted living facilities in their infancy. While at Brown Rudnick, I sat on the Board of Massachusetts Assisted Living Facilities Association and worked on a white paper with case studies on ideas related to creating affordable assisted living. Sadly, all these years later, there are still no good solutions.
- 1999 to present. Founded my company LDS Consulting Group, LLC – www.ldsconsultinggroup.com : Opened a company bank account with $5,000, signed a 9-month lease, had a laptop and three clients. LDS was profitable in the first quarter.
- LDS focuses on planning, permitting, financing, and preserving housing.
- LDS works with private and public sector clients as they plan, finance, develop and operate apartments, affordable housing, senior living campuses.
- LDS has a comprehensive view of the housing arena because we have sat on all sides of the table.
- Our clients are municipalities, quasi-governmental organizations, for profit and not for profits organization and investors and lending institutions.
- We pride ourselves in our commitment to client service and our ability to bring resources and resourcefulness to meet any challenge.
- Housing Authority clients: My company has provided services to the following Housing Authorities: Acton, Cambridge, Charlton, Framingham, Harvard, Hingham, New Bedford, Sudbury, and Westford.
- We also oversee the long term affordability of several hundred income restricted home ownership units.
- My work on the Lincoln Village affordable housing development in Worcester resulted in 600 new rental assistance demonstration (RAD) vouchers, the single largest RAD award in the country.
- Over the past 25 years, the company I founded has contributed to the creation and preservation of thousands of housing units in New England including many affordable units.
- WBE/MBE: LDS is a certified State of Massachusetts Minority and Women Business Association Certified and a certified Women Business Enterprise in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
- Continuing Education: Most mornings I spend an hour reading articles on local and national housing and community development issues, in addition to the many housing related organizations that I belong to, in order to keep up with existing trends and ideas.
Current Affiliations
Member of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations
Member of CHAPA Housing and Development and Preservation Committee
Board Member of Massachusetts Consulting Planners
Founder and Member of CREW Boston Housing and Community Development Committee
Founder and Member of CREW Boston Entrepreneurial Exchange
Member of American Planning Association
Member of the National Council of Housing Market Analysts: Member of standards committee
Member of the Charles River Chamber of Commerce
Former Affiliations
Member of the Newton Housing Partnership and on its policies and procedures committee and development review committee
Former 3 term board member of The Second Step, a not-for-profit organization for women and children who are survivors of domestic violence
Former board committee of CREW Boston (formerly NEWIRE)
Past director of the Massachusetts Assisted Living Facilities Association (MASS-ALFA)
Past Director of the Rhode Island Assisted Living Facilities Association (RIALA
Mass-ALFA Board of Advisors, Affordability Task Force and Quality Committee
Member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI)
Former Member of the Boston Club
Volunteer Community Tax Aid of Boston
Volunteer for Cradles to Crayons
Volunteer Paws of Plainville, a no kill cat shelter
