Our Firm
DGI is a leading woman of color-owned firm based in Oakland with a long history of providing rigorous, bold, and sustainable Affordable Housing Financial Consulting, Housing Development, and Generative Program Development.
As Affordable Housing Financial Consultants, DGI works with partners and provides strategic financial project management that facilitates the development process.
DGI’s Development portfolio includes seven affordable housing properties and three in predevelopment. DGI’s development expertise and experience make us among the few woman of color-owned development companies that meet the experience requirements for private and public funders.
DGI engages in Generative Program Development to increase housing affordability, overcome financing and development barriers, and preserve and create new affordable housing units. DGI works with multi-sector clients and partners to create, test, and deploy innovative tools, strategies, and collaborative structures. DGI effectively guides clients in navigating the challenging public policy landscapes.
Our History
Richard Devine and Howard Gong founded Devine and Gong, Inc. in 1986 to help affordable housing developers utilize the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program, which was a new and innovative affordable housing finance tool. Their early forays into LIHTC-financed projects included developing California and New Mexico farmworker housing communities in partnership with the National Farm Workers Service Center and the country’s first HUD Section 8 Homeownership Project.
Although a small firm, DGI quickly built a solid project portfolio, disrupting conventional affordable housing finance and development practices with creative mixes of multi-sector funding. Chan U Lee joined the firm in 1994.
In 2015 Ms. Lee acquired the company and assumed the helm of the firm’s innovative initiatives to address the affordable housing crisis. Chan U’s leadership, determination, adaptability, and commitment to authentic, respectful, and mutually beneficial partnerships continue to drive DGI as a best-in-class affordable housing finance and development firm.
DGI offers consulting services and develops affordable housing in the spirit of Imua. Imua, “move forward” in the Native Hawaiian language, fuels DGI’s commitment to seeing development projects, no matter how complex and challenging they might be, to their completion. Propelled by the inspiring energy of Imua, DGI bypasses, leapfrogs, and dismantles barriers to financing, building, and preserving affordable housing. Our tenacity and unwavering dedication to partners have enabled us to grow a portfolio of pioneering consulting and development projects across the country.
Our Approach
DGI is committed to creating and preserving affordable housing and structures our partnerships to advance and realize development project goals. DGI’s partnership commitment continuum ranges from project-by-project support or multi-year contracts that can be readily redefined and adapted to reflect changes in partners’ capacities and project conditions. Our creative, responsive, and fluid approach makes us a trusted and desired long-term partner for public housing authorities, local government agencies, and affordable housing developers.
DGI also plays the role of co-developer and general partner valued for our ability to move inventive affordable housing development models from concept to reality utilizing proven industry best practices. For example, DGI has been co-developing the Hunters View public housing revitalization, the first HOPE SF site, for more than fifteen years. DGI leads the strategic financial planning and implementation for this multi-phase project.
