At the May 23 Annual Meeting, WHF members will gather for the annual election. The slate for new board members and new officer positions is below. If you are not able to attend the Annual Meeting and would like to vote, please contact WHF before May 15, 5pm.
At the Annual Meeting, we will conduct elections via secret ballot. Only two slots are open on the board for new members but there are four nominees and self-nominations are allowed from the floor during the meeting per the by-laws. Not everyone nominated will be elected, despite their excellent credentials. Your vote matters!
In alphabetical order by last name:
Nicole M. Clare currently serves as Senior Vice President for Housing Development at Bowery Residents' Committee (BRC), having joined the organization in April 2017 with over 15 years of experience in the government, private and non-profit sectors. She holds a B.A. from Brown University and a Master's in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining BRC, Nicole was the Director of Housing Development for Settlement Housing Fund, where she spearheaded all housing development projects, including new construction and rehabilitation, and oversaw asset management and in-house property management. Before that, she was a Community Development Project Manager at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, where she was directly responsible for the development of affordable housing units. She was previously an Associate in the NYC office of AECOM Economics (formerly Economics Research Associates), a well-respected real estate development consulting company, and held several positions at the City of New York / Parks & Recreation.
JaVonna James serves as Director of Business Development for Apex Building Company, a NY-based, MBE-certified general contractor and emerging affordable housing developer in Harlem. In this role, she is responsible for site selection, producing feasibility studies, pre-development coordination with City- and State-agencies, management of design professionals, coordination with general contracting team, as well as general marketing of the firm, and client relations and engagement. Prior to joining Apex, Ms. James interned and eventually transitioned to full-time project management with NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) in the Inclusionary Housing Program where she assisted developers navigate the IH application. Through that experience, she contributed to the creation of 429 permanently affordable units and discovered her passion for affordable housing. She also serves on the board of USC Alumni Club of New York as Philanthropy Co-Chair. Ms. James holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Southern California and a MS in Real Estate Development from New York University.
Emily Kurtz is the Deputy Housing Director for Real Estate at Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizen's Council, where her primary responsibilities are the day to day oversight of ongoing development projects and management of the 1,800 + unit affordable portfolio. Since joining the non-profit in 2004, Ms. Kurtz has worked on the development of nearly 1,100 units of housing financed by HPD, HFA, HCR and HUD. Earlier in her RBSCC career, Ms. Kurtz project managed a 26 unit Assisted Living facility that is housed in a larger complex for low income seniors. The facility is licensed by the New York State Department of Health to provide Assisted Living services including housekeeping, three meals daily, social programming, and assistance with personal care functions such as medication management, bathing, and dressing. In addition to shepherding the project through the licensing and start up processes for the Assisted Living facility, Ms. Kurtz also oversaw the predevelopment, construction, and rent up of the larger complex for low income seniors. Before joining RBSCC, Ms. Kurtz interned for the New York City Department of City Planning, where she worked on the first iterations of the NYC Bike Map and pedestrian access studies. Prior to that, she worked as an IT Professional for IBM Global Services, where she served multiple functions on teams addressing IT capacity issues facing clients in the financial services industry. Ms Kurtz graduated with honors from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and completed a Master's of Science in Urban Planning at Columbia University where she concentrated on housing and transportation issues of seniors.
Lori S. Moses is Assistant General Counsel at TF Cornerstone Inc. (TFC), a real estate developer located in New York City. She has been at TFC for the past nine years working on the development and management of residential and commercial properties located in New York City and Washington, D.C. Before joining TFC, she worked as an Honors Associate for the New York City Housing Authority Law Department. During law school she served as a Legal Intern/Research Assistant to the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and as a Legal Intern for the Community Development Clinic focusing on land use and urban expansion issues. Prior to entering the legal profession, Lori worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations including Homes for the Homeless and Lawyers Alliance for New York. Lori holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.
All four of these women are excellent candidates with a demonstrated commitment to WHF. We are sorry to not be able to offer all nominees a seat and hope you will be thoughtful in your selections, as they all would make great board members.
The following are current board members who are running for officer positions:
President - Jen Trepinski
VP of Programming - Blanca Ramirez
VP of Operations - Julie Behrens
Treasurer - Nancy Solomon
Secretary - Amy Boyle