Speaker Bios - Housing Law and Low-Income Arkansans
The Promise of Justice Conference
November 13, 2009
Little Rock, AR
Housing Law and Low-Income Arkansans
Speaker Bios
Nate Coulter
B.A. magna cum laude, 1982, Harvard University
J.D., 1985, Harvard University
Nate Coulter was appointed to the Access to Justice Commission in 2005 by the Arkansas Bar Association. He is a member of the Commission’s Education Committee.
Mr. Coulter is in private practice with the law firm of Wilson, Engstrom, Corum & Coulter. He specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice law, real estate and zoning litigation, commercial litigation and employment litigation. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Assistant Legal Counsel to Governor Bill Clinton from 1988 through 1989. He was a Law Clerk for Chief United States District Judge, G. Thomas Eisele in the Eastern District of Arkansas from 1985 through 1987. Mr. Coulter is a highly respected attorney who is listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.
Mr. Coulter is a member of the Pulaski County, Arkansas and American Bar Associations, the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Angela Duran
B.A. Political Science, University of Tulsa
M.P.P., John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Angela Duran is President of Southern Good Faith Fund (SGFF), a nonprofit organization in Pine Bluff, Ark., that helps low-income families buy houses, start businesses, and go to college. She oversees five programs and manages a staff of 22 with a budget of $2.3 million.
In 2004, SGFF was named Nonprofit Organization of the Year by Arkansas Business. In 2006, SGFF was named one of four Families Count Honorees by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. And in 2007, Ms. Duran was named Nonprofit Executive of the Year by Arkansas Business.
In addition to her work at SGFF, Ms. Duran is a governor appointee to the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission, where she serves on the Legislative Committee. She also serves on the boards of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the Jefferson County Single Parent Scholarship Fund, and Mount Saint Mary Academy. She is on the Advisory Committee for the National Network of Sector Partners. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Pine Bluff, and she is a graduate of the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Program.
Jana Kinkade
B.A. Baylor University, 1994
J.D. University of Texas School of Law, 1997
Jana Kinkade is a staff attorney at the Little Rock office of the Center for Arkansas Legal Services (CALS). She primarily handles administrative law cases at the agency level and in Court (Social Security Administration, Department of Human Services, Department of Workforce Services, Housing Authorities), as well as landlord/ tenant matters.
Before coming to CALS, Ms. Kinkade practiced school and employment law for a teacher’s association and for a private firm. She handled state tax litigation for the Texas Attorney General’s office. And she took estate planning and probate cases as a volunteer attorney for Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas.
Ms. Kinkade was admitted to practice law in Texas in 1997, and she was admitted to practice law in Arkansas in 2007.
Jeanette Whatley
B.A. History, Arkansas State University, 1980
J.D., University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, 1985
Jeanette Whatley is the Director of Housing and Managing Attorney for the West Memphis office of Legal Aid of Arkansas (LAA). She has worked for Legal Services offices in Helena, Little Rock, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Blytheville and now in West Memphis for a total of 17 years. Ms. Whatley has also been in private practice, employed by the State of Arkansas, and spent three years working exclusively in the enforcement of fair housing rights for a nonprofit agency in Memphis, Tennessee.
Although she handles a variety of issue for legal aid clients, Ms. Whatley serves as a resource to other advocates at LAA on the issues of subsidized tenancies and foreclosure prevention, and she is the only housing counselor at LAA who provides pre-purchase and reverse mortgage counseling.
Ms. Whatley has been a trainer for various organizations, including ACHANGE, Housing and Urban Development, University of Arkansas and University of Memphis Law Schools, and Arkansas Legal Services Partnership. She has been a volunteer for ACLU, Habitat for Humanity and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and she has been on the board of directors of Families in Transition, a local domestic violence shelter, as well as that of a local school.
