Tashyanna Mixson
Background
I am an emerging developer and 2026 graduate of Marquette University’s Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) Program, with 20 years of experience leading regional operations for affordable, workforce, and market-rate multifamily portfolios. I am now focused on translating that operational foundation in project feasibility, asset management, construction oversight, and the long-term stewardship of housing into development capacity for the nonprofits, community land trusts, and public partners working to expand affordable homeownership across Wisconsin.
Why did you want to be part of this fellowship pilot?
I wanted to learn development by doing it, on a real site, with a real capital stack, and alongside partners who are already delivering homes. As a recent ACRE graduate, this fellowship offers the rare chance to contribute meaningfully to a project while still learning from practitioners with decades of experience in rural housing delivery. Equally valuable is the network. This work is relationship-driven, and the fellowship connects me directly to the developers, lenders, nonprofits, and local officials expanding attainable homeownership in the parts of Wisconsin with the greatest need. Those relationships are what make the next project possible—as well as the one after that.
What are your goals for the next year?
First and most important: to see new homeowners receive the keys to their homes. Beyond that, I want to help make the case for the community land trust model as a practical, proven tool for expanding homeownership in Wisconsin, one that keeps homes affordable for the next buyer and the one after. I also want to demonstrate that projects like this one are an ideal training ground for emerging developers: small enough to learn on, real enough to matter, and structured in a way that builds development expertise from day one.
What will you be working on during the fellowship?
I’ll be working on a modular pocket neighborhood of eight owner-occupied homes in Washburn, developed through a public-private partnership among Bayfield County, the City of Washburn, Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity, and CheqBUILT Community Land Trust. Alongside the project, I am developing a capstone that documents a replicable model: a roadmap other emerging developers and small communities can use to bring this type of housing to their own regions of Wisconsin.
Location
City of Washburn
Host Organization: Bayfield County
