Housing for the Good Life: The Good, the Bad and the Path Forward.

Shannon R. Harner, will talk about the state of housing in Nebraska, including challenges and solutions for increasing the supply of housing. She is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, also known as NIFA. She has worked in the real estate industry for over thirty years in a variety of roles, first as an attorney in private practice, specializing in real estate law and creditors rights. She returned to private practice after a brief sabbatical at a start-up in Hong Kong and then moved in-house, as general counsel, for a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, where she specialized in legal issues surrounding mortgage, title, insurance and brokerage operations. In 2013, she transitioned to the business side and served as General Manager and then CEO of HomeServices of Nebraska, prior to taking the helm at NIFA in August of 2020.  Shannon is active in her community and serves on several boards and organizations, including the Board and Executive Committee of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, and the Bryan Medical Center. She is an honorary Board member and past Board chair of the Nebraska Community Foundation, and has served on the Boards of Nebraska Humanities, TedxLincoln, Bryan Health Systems, the Lincoln Arts Council and a variety of other community organizations. Shannon holds a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Shannon and her husband both grew up in Imperial, Nebraska. They have two daughters, a cat, and a lot of music all around. In her spare time, she loves to hang out in at the family lake house, travel, read, cook, and engage in lively conversation.