Darlene A. Dugo joined the Cook County Land Bank Authority in July 2016. She is responsible for overseeing property acquisition and disposition, and developing strategies to assist the CCLBA acquire new properties and ready these properties for productive use. In this role, she works with other CCLBA staff and outside developers and private and public stakeholders. In her position, Darlene also provides strategic leadership to the organization as part of the senior management team.
Darlene comes to the Cook County Land Bank Authority from Mercy Portfolio Services, a subsidiary of Mercy Housing, Inc. where she served (2009-2016) as Vice President responsible for operations, management, and oversight of the City of Chicago’s $168 Million Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Award.
For more than a decade-and-a-half before joining Mercy Portfolio Services, Darlene served as Regional Director, Housing and Community Development for Fannie Mae. Darlene was responsible for business development activities and operations for an 18-state Central Region with 20 Community Business Centers. Working through these centers, she helped to build public and private partnerships with lenders, developers, not-for-profits, housing finance authorities and municipalities.
Darlene received a Master’s of Science in Communications from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Finance from DePaul University. She is a licensed Illinois Real Estate Managing Broker.