Panelist Bios - JoAnna Hicks ’96
Director of Development at Ryan Companies
JoAnna’s experience with complex nonprofit development projects has made her an expert in multi-layered financing structures and new market tax credits. At Ryan, JoAnna is responsible for site selection and acquisition, municipal use permits and approvals, design and construction coordination, financial packaging and lease or sale negotiation.
In her prior role as Director of Development at the Neighborhood Development Center, Hicks was the project manager of the Midtown Global Market, a public market within the Midtown Exchange redevelopment project. JoAnna was featured in the New York Times for her work on the Plaza Verde redevelopment in Minneapolis, one of the first projects in the country to use new markets tax credits. Her other development experience includes seven years in housing and community development completing housing projects totaling more than $9 Million, managing all aspects of real estate development including feasibility analysis, financing, construction management, and commercial property management.
JoAnna was selected by Finance and Commerce as one of the “Top Women in Finance” in 2004. She has a bachelor’s degree in urban studies and history from Macalester College and a master’s degree in natural resources planning from the University of Vermont.
