Hermina Harold, Executive Director
Hermina got her community land trust education from working at the North-Missoula Community Development Corporation (NMCDC), Montana’s longest-running community land trust organization, for ten years. During her time at NMCDC, she co-managed the development of NMCDC’s CLT commercial food hub building, establishing Burns Street Center’s neighborhood food programs. She also worked with home owners in the 47-unit CLT housing program.
Hermina advocates for the prioritization of the CLT tool in community housing policies with state government, local civic organizations, city and county planning offices and governing bodies, and has produced demonstrable successes at the State Legislature, and in Missoula, Madison County, the Gallatin Valley, Red Lodge, and Helena. Hermina has forged partnerships that leverage the limited resources available to increase access to land for low-income people. This networking and collective action has increased the number of permanently affordable homes in Montana, modelling strategies to magnify the state’s limited subsidy dollars to endure beyond single projects.
Hermina grew up in the Flathead Valley and attended the University of Montana, where she graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Social Work in 2009. She is passionate about securing land for affordable housing and farmland in order to build more vibrant and equitable Montana communities. Email her at hermina@trustmontana.org.
Kristin King-Ries, Staff Attorney
Kristin King-Ries provides legal services for Trust
Montana and other community land trusts in the state.
She assists the Executive Director with outreach, project development, and contract negotiations involving community groups, governmental entities, and developers. Kristin travels the state to educate attorneys, housing professionals, land use planners, title agents, lenders and others about the community land trust model and shared-equity ownership. Kristin has served as a supervisor and mentor for the University of Montana’s Alexander Blewett III School of Law’s transactional legal clinic. Her work for Trust Montana is funded by a generous grant from the Montana Justice Foundation.
In February of 2019, Kristin co-organized the Montana Summit on Agricultural Finance,
sponsored by the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The summit
focused on tools that can preserve access to agricultural lands for Montana family farmers. Her article on the topic was published in the print and online versions of Shelterforce Magazine. Kristin serves on the board of the Northwest Community Land Trust Coalition with CLT leaders from a five-state region. Kristin has participated on a national committee developing best practices and legal documents for farm and ranch CLTs. She received her law degree from Washington University where she wrote for the Law Review. She clerked for the Honorable David McDonnell of the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Email her at kristin@trustmontana.org.
Lori Freeman, Staff Attorney
Until early 2020, Lori worked at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana as the Director of Admissions and Career Development, more recently focusing solely on Career Development. She also worked to establish a program to promote wellness for students in the law school. Lori taught classes in legal writing and offered workshops for law students on resume and cover letter writing, networking, interviewing skills, financial planning, and more. Lori made legal connections throughout the state in an effort to connect law students with varied legal opportunities. Her work for Trust Montana is funded by a generous grant from the Montana Justice Foundation.
Lori graduated from the University of Montana with degrees in Economics and Russian and received her law degree from the University of Montana School of Law in 1990, with high honors. She practiced law for eight years with the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Billings, Montana, focusing her practice in the areas of Bankruptcy, Banking, Loan Workout Agreements, and Insurance Defense. She then took time off to stay home with her children, during which time, she earned a Masters of Education degree from the University of Montana and continued to perform legal research and writing on a contract basis.
