Principal

Karen Muchin

Karen Muchin, Founder and Principal of BRicK Partners, LLC, has managed complex projects involving finance, policy and real estate for over 25 years. With BRicK Partners, Karen has supported the Illinois Attorney General’s funding for revitalization, housing counseling and technical assistance through the National Foreclosure Settlement awards to a variety of organizations throughout Illinois. Through BRicK, Karen has also worked with a group of employers in Buffalo, NY and Chicago-area developers to design and implement employer engagement strategies. Karen has also helped financial institutions with projects related to the Community Reinvestment Act and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.

Prior to forming BRicK, Karen was Executive Director/Senior Relationship Manager in the Investment Bank at JPMorgan Chase. In this role, Karen and her deal teams evaluated, underwrote and closed over 40 Low Income Housing Tax Credit transactions, representing over $300 million in equity investments. Her 14-year tenure at JPMorgan Chase (1995-2009) spanned senior level duties in the Corporate and Investment Banks, primarily in the Tax Oriented Investments division, Affordable Housing Group. In addition to her originator duties, Karen also worked at JPMorgan Chase as a credit underwriter and Partnership Manager, and served as a member of the Chase Foundation Advisory Committee, IL Housing Council Board, Neighborhood Housing Services Board, and on a Preservation Compact Working Group.

In addition to her experience as a banker, Karen has worked in the nonprofit and public sectors. She was Executive Director of the Affordable Housing Investors Council, a national trade association; Director of Public Policy at the Illinois Facilities Fund, a regional CDFI; and Co-Director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives. Karen was also a Principal of Celadon Holdings LLC, a real estate development company, in 2010-2011. Karen currently sits on the board of the Housing Opportunity & Development Corporation.

Karen is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government Master in Public Policy Program, where she was a Kennedy School Fellow.