Kevin G. Chavers, is a member of the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Chimera Investment Corporation, Toorak Capital Partners and the Board of Trustees of the Optimum Funds. He was formerly a Managing Director, and member of the Global Fixed Income Securitized Asset Investment Team at BlackRock. He was also a Co Leader of the BlackRock Impact Opportunity fund and formerly a member of the Global Public Policy Group and Government Relations Steering Committee. He began his career at BlackRock in the Financial Markets Advisory Group. Mr. Chavers has extensive experience in the mortgage capital markets and housing finance policy in both the public and private sectors. He was the Co-Chair of the Black Professionals Network at BlackRock.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2011, Mr. Chavers was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where he served as a Senior Relationship Manager with coverage responsibilities for the mortgage Government Sponsored Enterprises and related clients. He previously headed the global mortgage operating businesses of Morgan Stanley during their strategic repositioning. He also led strategy, execution and banking for the mortgage principal finance team within the Securitized Products Group.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was a vice president in the Mortgage Securities Department at Goldman Sachs & Co. Mr. Chavers served as the President of Ginnie Mae in the Clinton Administration. He also formerly served as Majority Staff Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. He began his career with the law firm of Milbank, Tweed Hadley and McCloy.

Mr. Chavers is a graduate of Harvard Law School and earned a Bachelor’s in City Planning from the University Of Virginia School Of Architecture.

He currently serves as Chairman of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and on the boards of directors of Enterprise Community Partners, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the University of Virginia Foundation and the Penn Institute for Urban Research. He is a former Partnership for New York City David Rockefeller Fellow.

Kevin is a native Philadelphian.

Erika is Citi’s Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer and Global Head of Talent, responsible for developing global diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and driving Citi’s agenda on talent planning, succession planning and leadership development. Prior to joining Citi, Erika was Chief Diversity Officer at Goldman Sachs from 2018 to 2021 and Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg from 2015 to 2018.

Prior to this, she led executive and diversity hiring efforts at Bank of America and Lehman Brothers. Erika’s background includes a range of banking and finance roles, including Head of Business Development for Black Entertainment Television, Senior Associate in High Yield Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley and Senior Policy Analyst for Domestic Finance for the United States Department of the Treasury. She began her career as an Analyst in Public Finance at Lehman Brothers.

Erika is Vice Chair of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and serves on the Board of the Riverside Hawks. Erika earned a BS in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Marisha Clinton is the Former Senior Director of Research – Tri-State, and Client Advisor, Avison Young. She joined Avison Young in 2016 as Senior Director of Research, Tri-State, based in the firm’s New York City office. A well respected professional in her field, Clinton led the research efforts in the region to help elevate the platform for the firm and clients.

As the former Senior Director of Research, Tri-State, Clinton worked with and developed the research teams in New York, New Jersey and Fairfield-Westchester counties, as well as collaborated with the other regional and national departments. Clinton produced cutting-edge research reports, white papers and other deliverables useful in pitches, presentations and other business development efforts.

Prior to joining Avison Young, Clinton was the Director of Capital Markets Research at JLL (formerly Jones Lang LaSalle) for over three years. While there she was the point person within the Americas research team to establish the baseline capital markets research platform, as well as develop a process for capturing and cultivating granular local investment insights, creating best practices and publishing valuable market analysis. Prior to that, she spent over 10 years on Wall Street as an equity research analyst at various prestigious firms.

Clinton is a Certified Public Accountant, a graduate of Howard University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she respectively earned her B.B.A. in Accounting and an MBA with a dual major in Finance and Strategic Management. Her overall experience has given rise to speaking engagements at real estate and accounting industry conference sessions. Clinton also serves on the Board of Directors of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the nation’s first community development corporation.

Tim Simons is the Co-founder of Forethought Advisors, LLC. Mr. Simons works with Congress, state and local housing constituents throughout the United States, and the financial service industry to ensure the continued viability of mortgage lending for all communities.

Before leading Forethought Advisors, Tim spent 14 years organizing grassroots and grasstops advocacy campaigns, working with Congress and Presidential Administrations at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, where he served as Vice President. Tim was also instrumental in the establishment of the $100M Donor Advised Fund created by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco to promote job growth and future home ownership opportunities. The initiative drew the praise of several key members of Congress, the Senate, and Presidential Administrations, with House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters recognizing “the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the contributions of Lawrence Parks and Timothy Simons.”

In addition to his extensive legislative and regulatory network, Tim has a deep background in financial and operational compliance developed while working for KPMG and Cable & Wireless in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America. He has an MBA from University of Maryland College Park and an undergraduate degree in Accounting from Hampton University.

Lenny currently serves as the Chief of Staff to the Firm’s Corporate Treasury Division, after achieving a long and successful track record within various departments across the franchise. In his new role, Lenny is responsible for overseeing the strategic management and development of BNY Mellon’s relationships with the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as well as managing compliance and corporate policy adherence, human resources, and technology needs for Treasury. In these roles, Lenny directs the IT and capital resource plan for the group, interprets and enforces corporate procedures, and ensures staff planning, recruiting and retention.

Prior to being selected as Chief of Staff, Lenny was responsible for leading the successful integration of new business for the Firm’s Enterprise Foreign Exchange business. In this role, he developed the plans for integration, and ensured successful execution of those plans, across multiple business segments, and to the satisfaction of key and senior level stakeholders. With over 15 years in financial services, Lenny has served in progressively more complex roles, as both a Senior Technology Product Specialist for business development within BNY Mellon’s Asset Servicing Division, as well as a Business Analyst in overseeing the development of critical client facing technology applications.

Prior to his tenure at BNY Mellon, Lenny also served as a Project Manager at Lehman Brothers, in the Global Operations Division.

Lenny is currently the Chairperson of Professional Affiliations & Recruiting for BNY Mellon’s Employee Resource Group, IMPACT. He also is a contributing member of the Steering Committee. As a longtime strong supporter of local civic involvement, Lenny serves tirelessly as a Trustee of The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Director of The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and 2nd Vice Chairman of New York City Community Board 2 (Brooklyn).

Mr. Stein currently serves on the boards of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCOM), where he serves as Audit Committee Chairman, and Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN), where he serves as Risk and Compliance Committee Chairman. He was previously Chief Executive Officer and a director of EJFA and a Senior Managing Director of EJF Capital LLC until June 2022. Prior to joining EJF Capital, Mr. Stein served as Chief Executive Officer of Resolution Analytica Corp., a buyer of commercial judgments, since co-founding the business in 2017 with KCK US, Inc., a family-controlled private equity firm. Mr. Stein was previously a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group of Barclays until 2016. Prior to joining Barclays in 2011, Mr. Stein served as a Partner and Depositories Group Head at FBR & Co., as an executive of GreenPoint Financial Corporation, a bank holding company, and as an Associate Director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Mr. Stein also served as a director of PHH Corporation from June 2017 until its acquisition by Ocwen in October 2018. Mr. Stein is Audit Committee Chairman and has served since 1996 as a Director of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. Mr. Stein received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and his Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mrs. Williams graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and completed a graduate degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She also completed certificate programs in Corporate Community Relations and Social Responsibility at Boston College, and Community Negotiations at Harvard University. Mrs. Williams has also served in an academic staff position at the University of California at Berkeley. She is an Adjunct Professor at St. Francis College. Mrs. Yuille Williams is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Art. Mrs. Williams lives in Brooklyn, is married to Kelvin Williams and has a son, Alexander and a daughter, Adrienne.

Bob Annibale is a Senior Fellow at the University of London, SOAS, focusing on social and inclusive finance, social entrepreneurship, and financial and racial justice. He worked in senior business and corporate positions at Citi in Athens, Bahrain, London, Nairobi, and New York.

He is widely recognized as the founder and Global Director of Citi Inclusive Finance (2005-2020) and his additional leadership of Citi Community Development, which is focused on financial inclusion, immigrant integration, affordable housing, and racial justice in the US. Since inception, Inclusive Finance has mobilized over $3.8bn in financing across 36 countries, developing new products with partner institutions and clients that are focused on serving the financial needs of underserved and low income communities, particularly women, working across Citi’s businesses and geographies.

Bob has served on the boards, including the Citi Foundation, Goldsmiths College, the Centre for African Economies (Oxford), the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (World Bank), the MIX, and the Financial Health Network. He currently serves on the boards of Accion, Grameen America, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., and the advisory board of Center for Inclusive Finance. He served three terms on the FDIC Chairman’s Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion and was a founding member of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs Advisory Council on Financial Education and Inclusion.

He was honoured as a “Champion of Change” by the Obama administration for his work supporting immigrant integration and citizenship in the US, and by Euromoney as a “Global Impact Banking Champion.” For five years Bob was included in the Financial Times’s OutStanding “Top 100 LGBT Business Leaders.” He holds a B.A. in History and Political Studies from Vassar College (NY) and a M.A. in African Studies (History) from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.

Cameron Arrington is Head of Commerical Bank Leveraged Finance Sales at Goldman Sachs. Prior to
that he was a consultant with Accenture. Cameron is a graduate of Duke University – The Fuqua School
of Business and the University of Texas at Austin.

David is Immediate Past President and CEO at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), who oversaw its diverse tenant base and ongoing expansion efforts. Previously, he was Executive Vice President of Real Estate Transaction Services at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). At NYCEDC, he managed many of the city’s priority economic development projects, including an initiative resulting in Cornell’s Roosevelt Island campus; the redevelopment of vacant land on the Lower East Side known as Seward Park; the Atlantic Yards project; and hundreds of millions of dollars of programs supporting small businesses after Hurricane Sandy. Previously, he coordinated a microenterprise program at South Brooklyn Legal Services. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University, was a Fulbright Fellow in Zimbabwe, and received dual master’s from Princeton School of Public and International Affairs in Public Policy and Urban Planning.

A pioneer in community engagement and public policy strategy, Eric’s 30-year career has spanned both the public and private sectors.

BACKGROUND
Working at Finsbury, Eric crafted communications strategies for major corporations managing through crisis and various transitions where government played a material role. Prior to that, Eric led New York City’s chief fiscal office as First Deputy Comptroller, served as SVP of Citigroup Global Community Relations, and was a Special Assistant for Political Affairs to President William Jefferson Clinton.

Leveraging his reputation as an effective, knowledgeable and insightful counselor, Eric launched Ichor Strategies in 2015.

OUTSIDE OF WORK
When he’s not working with clients or advising staff, he spends time with his family and enjoys hiking and rowing.

Joseph Lynch is a partner in the New York City office and represents for-profit and not-for-profit developers of multifamily housing. He has a particular focus on new development and preservation transactions with complex public and private financing. Joe has extensive knowledge about the New York State Private Housing Finance Law, advising clients on various tax exemptions and their benefits, in addition to financing (FHA, LIHTC, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae), restructuring, and dissolutions. He advises clients on all areas of affordable housing and real estate including development, construction, financing, sales, regulatory matters, and joint ventures.

Joe is also the team leader of the Nixon Peabody Affordable Housing Transaction team.

Blondel A. Pinnock served as a senior executive in banking and public finance, specifically in the area of community and economic development for over 20 years. Before becoming the first female president & CEO of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, she served as  the Chief Operating Officer of Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, the oldest community-based organization in the country. Prior to GJDC, Ms. Pinnock worked for Carver Federal Savings Bank, where she held the role of Chief Lending Officer (CLO) and President of Carver Community Development Corporation (CCDC). 

Notably, Ms. Pinnock served as the first female chair of the 125th Street Business Improvement District and has been appointed by Mayor deBlasio to the boards of New York City’s Community Advisory Investment Committee and New York City’s Residential Mortgage Insurance Corporation. Ms. Pinnock also serves on the board of the Harlem YMCA and is an active member of her church, Abyssinian Baptist, as well as her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  Ms. Pinnock earned a B.A. in History and Sociology from Columbia University and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law, where she received a full-scholarship (a/k/a Dwight L. Greene Scholar). She currently resides in Westchester County and has a son attending college. 

Depelsha McGruder is chief operating officer and treasurer of the Ford Foundation’s executive leadership team in New York, overseeing the global operations and finance for the $13 billion foundation.
McGruder joins the foundation from New York Public Radio (NYPR), where she served as chief operating officer, overseeing internal operations and strategic planning for WNYC, WQXR, Gothamist.com, the Greene Space, and New Jersey Public Radio since 2018. McGruder also served as interim CEO for six months during a transformative leadership transition. During her tenure, McGruder led NYPR in strengthening the organization, cultivating a vibrant, values-driven culture, and improving key processes and systems. She also partnered with senior leadership to chart the course of local news, talk, cultural programming, and digital content to build a sustainable future for NYPR amidst a rapidly changing media landscape.Prior to her role at New York Public Radio, McGruder spent 17 years at Viacom in senior leadership positions at both MTV and BET Networks. During her tenure, she launched mobile, broadband and video-on-demand businesses for MTV. She also developed and operated two new cable television networks with programming designed to serve underrepresented Latino, African American, and youth audiences, resulting in triple-digit increases in audience growth and revenue. McGruder started her career as a broadcast journalist, working as an on-air reporter, anchor, and producer for two commercial television stations in Georgia. A mother of two, McGruder is also the founder and president of Moms of Black Boys United and M.O.B.B. United for Social Change, two sister organizations dedicated to positively influencing how black boys and men are perceived and treated by law enforcement and in society. Since their founding in 2016, the efforts have given birth to a national crusade that has instilled hope, empowerment, and an unwavering commitment from moms of black sons and beyond to take action. McGruder holds a BA from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Wayne J. Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, MACP, was appointed President of The State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees as the 17th president of SUNY Downstate Medical Center in January of 2017, one of four academic medical centers (AMC) in the SUNY System, and the only SUNY AMC in New York City.

Before Dr. Riley’s appointment at Downstate, he served as clinical professor of Medicine and adjunct professor of Health Policy at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Prior to Vanderbilt, Dr. Riley served as the 10th president, chief executive officer, and professor of Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Riley is an academic primary care general internist with more than 25 years of progressive senior executive level management, policy, and leadership experiences in academic medicine, patient care, research administration, academic health center administration, health care management, health policy, biotechnology, the corporate sector, government service, advocacy, and organized medicine.

Joseph G. Sponholz has had over three decades of experience in banking and financial services. He retired from Chase Manhattan Bank at mid-year 2000 where he was a Vice Chairman and a member of the Executive Committee. In 2001, he joined a Venture Capital firm as a General Partner; he is currently a private investor. In addition to Restoration, Mr. Sponholz serves as the Lead Independent Director of Hudson City Bancorp of Paramus NJ. He also sits on the President’s Council of his alma mater. Other career assignments: Citigroup 1970-74; Partner, Booz Allen and Hamilton, 1974-81; Chemical Bank 1981-91: Strategic Planning executive, Chief Technology Officer, and, Chief Financial Officer. He led the Merger Office for the landmark combinations with Manufacturer’s Hanover and Chase Manhattan Banks as Chief Administrative Officer. His MBA (Finance) is from New York University; his BA is from Fordham University. He served his country as a US Army Intelligence Officer. He and his wife Nancy live in Manhattan.

Peter M. Williams is the Executive Vice President of Programs at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Mr. Williams has solid experience in leading organizations, managing staff, developing and implementing programs, creating strategic alliances, and conducting policy research projects. Before coming to the NAACP, Mr. Williams was the principal of PW Consulting Group, a policy research and management consulting firm that focuses on enhancing the capacity of nonprofit organizations. He also has served as President and CEO of the Mid-Bronx Desperadoes (MBD) Community Housing Corporation (Bronx, NY); Vice President, School of Continuing Education and Community Programs for Medgar Evers College (City University of New York); Deputy Advocate for Policy and Research, Office of the Public Advocate for the City of New York; Director of Housing and Community Development at the National Urban League; and Legislative Assistant to Congressman Edolphus Towns, 10th Congressional District in Brooklyn. He has developed and taught courses in government and policy at Pratt Institute Graduate School of City and Regional Planning and Medgar Evers College.

Mr. Williams has served as the First Vice President of NAACP’s Brooklyn chapter, and has been a member of a number of corporate and community boards and commissions.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University and a Masters of Public Administration degree from American University. He was also a Sloan Fellow at the School of Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie-Mellon University.

Wayne Winborne is executive director of the Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) at Rutgers University-Newark, the largest and most comprehensive archive and library of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world.

Winborne is also an assistant professor in the Arts, Culture, and Media department and is a frequent presenter on jazz, art and culture, democracy, civic engagement, racial reckoning, non-profit management, and race and intergroup relations. He has numerous publications and is editor of a three- book series on race and intergroup relations.

He is a consultant to corporate, small business, and non-profit clients on strategic planning, fund development, DEI, multicultural marketing, and dialogue facilitation. Winborne has produced several recordings for the MaxJazz, HighNote, Satchmo, and Savant labels. He has also written and produced short documentaries and has won a Cine Golden Eagle award and two Telly awards for Insider Game and Insider Game 2, which focused on Hispanic Americans in corporate board rooms. The short documentary Stepping Up examined caregiving among jazz musicians was an official selection of DOCNYC 2016, the nation’s largest documentary film festival.

He has been honored by the Feminist Press with its Crossing Borders award, the Brooklyn Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc., with its Man of Distinction award, the Asian American Federation of NY with its Spirit of Asian America award, by FraserNet with its Corporate Professional of the Year award, and by the National Council for Research on Women with its Diversity Champion Award.

Winborne holds degrees from Stanford and New York University.

Benjamin Glascoe has extensive experience in public and community affairs as well as in economic development. He worked for the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC), the nation’s first Community Development Corporation, established in 1967. During its early formative years, from 1968-1981, Mr. Glascoe held several leadership posts including Assistant to the first president, Franklin Thomas, Director of Community Programs, and Manager of the RDC Commercial Center. In 1981 he joined the Con Edison team as manager of Public Affairs, where he coordinated media relations, advertising, events and political action for the company in Brooklyn.

From March of 1985 to June of 1988, Mr. Glascoe was the manager of Economic Development at Con Edison and worked to coordinate the company’s business development efforts. He retired as Director of Manhattan Public Affairs at Con Edison, a position which he held since July of 1988. During his retirement, Mr. Glascoe remains active on several boards: the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation; the East Harlem Council for Community Improvement; the Transfiguration Education Association; the Trey Whitfield Foundation and the Trey Whitfield School Board.