Meet Our Staff

Kaia, Executive Director of NeighborWorks Montana, is passionate about creating opportunities for Montanans to have safe, quality homes where they can thrive. She uses that passion to guide NeighborWorks Montana and advance financing, education and counseling, and collaborative housing solutions across the state.

Kaia has a BA from Bates College and an MBA from the University of Washington. She is a member of the Missoula Housing Authority and the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center boards. She lives in Missoula, Montana where she enjoys spending time with her family outdoors in all seasons.

Mona joined NeighborWorks Montana during the summer of 2021 and became our Director of Finance in May 2023. She works to ensure our finance team is adhering to the daily requirements of financial monitoring within proper regulation, as well as, continuing to assist in the organization’s financial development opportunities for future projects. Mona also works hand in hand with our loan servicing team to provide fast and innovative services to all of our borrowers.

Prior to working with NeighborWorks Montana, Mona lived in a small Kansas town where she managed a local bank for five years after serving within the United States Army as a Military Intelligence Analyst. With hopes of continuing her career within the financial sector, Mona obtained her MBA in Corporate Financial Management through Upper Iowa University.

Outside of work Mona’s family will always come first. With her husband and four amazing children there is always something keeping the Williams family on the go, especially during hockey season. However, when the opportunities arise they love to do anything outdoors. From hunting and fishing to hiking and taking their boat out – if they aren’t home, they can be found in the mountains.

Danielle Maiden provides leadership to the NWMT resident owned community (ROC) and cooperative housing programs. She works with homeowners in multi-family units and manufactured housing communities to promote cooperative community purchases, support housing cooperative and ROC team members and residents in development of cooperatives, develop and deliver training for community members and on-going support to housing cooperatives and ROCs.

Danielle holds a BS in Political Science and Nonprofit Administration from the University of Montana and a MA in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. Most of her career has been spent working in various human service agencies.

Danielle lives in Kalispell, MT with her husband, son, and pup. She serves on the Boards of the Samaritan House and Flathead Senior Mobile Home Repair. Danielle is a fourth generation Montanan who enjoys all the wonderful outdoor activities it has to offer. She is passionate about ensuring all Montanans can live safely and affordably in the place they call home.

Hanna Tester is the Homeownership Director. She began her career in nonprofit homeownership in 2012 when she worked as a housing counselor in the Flathead Valley. Hanna has worked for NWMT since 2014. Hanna works closely with NWMT’s statewide network of housing counseling organizations, supports NWMT’s other nonprofit partnerships and works on capacity building and expansion in lending and shared equity homeownership.

She believes safe and stable homeownership is the key to generational wealth building for Montana families and is passionate about NWMT’s mission to reduce barriers to that opportunity for families.

Hanna is a National Development Council (NDC) certified Affordable Housing Finance Professional and has certifications from NeighborWorks America in HUD compliance and credit counseling.

Hanna is involved and active in her small Frenchtown community, serving on the Freedom Gardens board of directors. Hanna spends her free time with her family: enjoying Montana’s outdoor spaces, gardening, and attending to the Tester’s plentiful hoard of well-loved animals.

Larry Phillips is the Real Estate Lending Director at NeighborWorks Montana. He works in the Real Estate Development and Acquisition program, underwriting and closing loans to support multifamily affordable developments in the state. Larry also works in compliance, managing reports for NWMT's various grantors.

Larry holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Great Falls as well as a Housing Development Finance Professional Certificate from the National Development Council. Larry started at NeighborWorks Montana in 2015 as an accounting intern and was hired at the end of his internship as the Accounting and Payroll Specialist.

Larry lives in Great Falls, MT and enjoys traveling and photographing the beauty of the state in his free time. What NeighborWorks Montana does to assist hardworking Montanans drives his work every day.

Chelsey Lyle is the Communications Manager at NeighborWorks Montana.

Chelsey has called Montana home for nearly five years and has enjoyed exploring all that Big Sky Country has to offer. She loves to spend her time hiking, camping, and experimenting in the kitchen! Chelsey resides in Great Falls with her husband Chris, newborn son Palmer, and their two pups.

Tyler is the Montana Native Homeownership Program Manager at NeighborWorks Montana, dedicated to promoting and supporting homeownership opportunities in Native American communities across Montana. He works closely with the Montana Native Homeownership Coalition to achieve this mission.

A member of the Blackfeet Tribe, Tyler was born and raised in Browning, Montana. Tyler earned his B.A. from Salish Kootenai College and his M.B.A. in American Indian Entrepreneurship from Gonzaga University.

In his role, Tyler is committed to empowering Native American communities through sustainable homeownership initiatives.

Outside of work, Tyler enjoys spending quality time with his family, camping, outdoor activities, and traveling.

Matt is the Data & Compliance Specialist here at NeighborWorks Montana. Matt joined the team in the summer of 2021 with six years of experience in the nonprofit world. However, both of his parents have been active in the nonprofit world his entire life, and with that his exposure goes beyond the typical nonprofit work environment. He looks forward to bringing his knowledge to NWMT, as well as developing and learning a whole new set of skills on top of more information.

Outside of the office world, Matt enjoys spending time with his family and friends, as well as traveling and adventuring across Montana with his girlfriend.

Jessica Chriswell is the Accounting & Admin Specialist, working within our accounting department.

She is originally from Great Falls and lives here with her son, Taylor. When she’s not busy working at the family establishment or selling real estate she enjoys playing golf, billiards, kayaking, traveling and spending time with her friends and family.

Rachel Clarno is a ROC Program Specialist at NeighborWorks Montana. She supports and trains the west side of Montana’s Resident Owned Communities (ROCs) post-purchase as they navigate running their Board of Directors, financials and budgeting of their community and ensuring the community stays a safe and an affordable place to live.

Rachel has nine years of Real Estate experience, a passion for helping others and a desire to grow with those around her! She enjoys supporting and educating homeowners. She believes everyone should have the opportunity to become a homeowner and that the sense of pride that comes with turning a house into a home brings communities together and gives safety and security to individuals and families.

Rachel moved to Montana to be closer to family and explore all the state has to offer. She enjoys camping, boating and swimming around the beautiful Montana lakes, a plethora of music – especially live entertainment, and her trusty companion dog, Red.

Vickie is our Staff Accountant, joining our growing finance team located in Great Falls. She comes to us with 12 years of accounting experience and 5 years of nonprofit experience, coming back to the NeighborWorks family with NWMT after previously working at NeighborWorks Great Falls.

Rebecca serves as a ROC Program Specialist, working with the Resident Owned Community Program.

She has called Montana her home for over 20 years and recently moved to beautiful Park County with her Springer Spaniel, Rosie. She enjoys growing her own food and cooking enough to share with friends and family. She also spends as much time outdoors as possible, taking in the beauty of our state through hiking, biking, and camping.

Maggie Hodges serves as a ROC Program Specialist with our Resident Owned Communities team.

Having previously served as a social worker, Maggie has been involved in work surrounding health equity, community engagement, and state level policy changes. In her free time, Maggie enjoys skiing, white water rafting, cooking, and spending time with her family. She is located in Central Montana.

Julia has been with NeighborWorks Montana for two years, serving as a Loan Officer on the Homeownership team. She is dedicated to driving strategic growth and development for the single-family lending team, with a deep passion for helping individuals and families achieve their dream of homeownership. Outside of work, Julia enjoys spending time with her husband and their four daughters, embracing the joys of family life.

Molly Kirkham is a ROC Program Specialist with our Resident Owned Communities team. She comes from a background in food systems work, where she managed state-wide farm to school programs designed to increase access to local, healthy foods. She recently moved back to Missoula from Dillon and is excited to work closely with the Resident Owned Communities in the area. Molly enjoys anything that gets her outside to explore Montana! In the winter, she prefers to stay inside to cook and read.

Adam Poeschl is ROC Acquisition Specialist at NeighborWorks Montana. He educates and organizes manufactured home communities that are interested in pursuing resident ownership and guides them through the process of purchasing their communities and converting them to resident-owned, cooperative, nonprofit neighborhoods. He is dedicated to finding sustainable, affordable housing solutions for all Montanans.

Adam is a proud AmeriCorps VISTA alum and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Albania, 2015-2017) and enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time outdoors.

Michelle works with our marketing and communications department and also handles the organization's IT and tech needs. She loves working for NeighborWorks, in fact she began her time with NeighborWorks Great Falls before joining the NeighborWorks Montana team!

Michelle has had a long history of administrative work and customer service and has always been committed to having compassion and empathy for others. This position gives her the perfect opportunity to realize her dream of being in marketing while helping others. She is currently serving as secretary on the Montana Shares Board, as well as a president on the board for Alliance for Youth in Great Falls.

Away from work, Michelle and her husband enjoy a wonderful life together with their seven fur-kitty-children. They also enjoy collecting vintage items, working on old cars, and camping.

Naomi is the Housing Network Coordinator for NeighborWorks Montana, working with our partners across the state to help Montanans to improve their financial situations, find housing they can afford, and give them the tools to be successful renters and homeowners. She serves as primary point of contact for education and counseling services for NWMT partners and clients and she maintains and helps build partner relationships with other important partners outside current NWMT partner networks.

She is a familiar face with NWMT having previously worked for our partner in Kalispell, providing homebuyer education and counseling to hopeful homeowners. She brings an extensive background in helping people in vulnerable situations and is a HUD Certified Housing Counselor.

Naomi is a fourth generation born and raised in Montana. She graduated from Flathead High and attended college at Eastern Washington University, graduating with a BA in Psychology.

Outside of work she is the President of Kalispell Lion's Club and also serves as the Community Service Coordinator for the club. She is a member of both the Montana Coalition to Solve Homelessness and the Montana Native Homeownership Coalition. She is married with two daughters, a stepdaughter, and two grandsons. Naomi loves being home in Montana and enjoys hiking, kayaking, traveling, and reading.

Naomi is passionate about bringing people across the state together to help Montanans improve their financial situations and find and maintain safe affordable housing.

Lori has been with NeighborWorks Montana for 13 years working in the lending department as a Loan Specialist. Lori brings a vast amount of knowledge to the world of lending. She spends her days processing, underwriting and closing subordinate mortgage loan applications for closing cost assistance, down payment assistance and GAP financing. She’s known around the office to occasionally break out in random song and dance. Lori is highly motivated by finding purpose in her work and feeling like she’s part of a movement to help repair the world.

When she’s not at work, she loves spending time with her family, especially her grandson Ralston and her rescue cat, Adele.