AFHDC Board, Staff & Advisory Committee

Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation Board of Directors

Scott Weiner, President & CEO, AFHDC
Joseph Benincasa, President & CEO, The Actors Fund (Chair)
Robert Wankel, Co Chairman & CEO, The Shubert Organization (Vice Chair)
Tonio Burgos, CEO, Tonio Burgos & Associates
Rose Cali, Trustee, Montclair State University
Barbara Davis, COO, The Actors Fund
Kristen Madsen, Sr. VP, The Grammy Foundation & MusiCares Foundation
David Steiner, Chairman, Steiner Equities
Connie Yoo, CFO, The Actors Fund

Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation Staff

Scott Weiner, President & CEO, AFHDC
917.281.5906 | sweiner@actorsfund.org

Scott Weiner is the President, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, a Not For Profit Corporation that develops affordable, supportive and senior housing for individuals engaged in the performing arts and entertainment industry. Prior to being elected to those positions in May 2010, Scott served as the Chairman of the AFHDC and as a Trustee of its parent organization, The Actors Fund.

Scott is an experienced executive who has successfully led public agencies and private enterprises. From 2006 through 2008, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority and its predecessor, the New Jersey School Construction Corporation. In that capacity, he was responsible for the state’s multi-billion dollar initiative to develop and construct public schools in New Jersey’s poorest districts. The agency’s responsibilities spanned the development process from need assessment through land acquisition and construction. During Scott’s tenure, among other accomplishments, 40 new schools were opened and an additional 50 projects were funded and commenced. Immediately prior to that position, Mr. Weiner served as a member of the transition team for New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and also served as the Governor’s Special Counsel for School Construction.

Previously in his career, Scott has practiced law with a concentration in land use and municipal finance where he represented public agencies seeking to raise funds through the sale of tax-exempt bonds.

Scott has also had a distinguished career in the energy industry having served as a senior executive in a number of private and public corporations. Prior to his current role at the AFHDC, Scott led an initiative to commercialize solar energy applications in the commercial real estate and utility sectors. He is the founding Director of the Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy at Rutgers University and has served as a Senior Policy Fellow and Faculty Fellow at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

In addition to his tenure at the Schools Development Authority, Scott has held a number of other senior executive positions in the public sector. These include serving as the President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy and Chief Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio. During the Florio Administration, Scott served as Vice Chair of the New Jersey Executive Commission of Ethical Standards. Scott also served as a member of the Clinton-Gore EPA Transition Team.

Rebecca Sauer, Project Analyst
917.281.5926 | rsauer@actorsfund.org

Rebecca Sauer has devoted her professional activities to the development of inclusive and prosperous urban communities. Rebecca brings to the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation experience in community development and housing policy in Buenos Aires and New York City. While residing in Buenos Aires, Rebecca assisted Habitat for Humanity Argentina by preparing a brief on the history of and conditions in an informal settlement and analyzing the implementation of Habitat’s expanded programs there. Immediately prior to joining the AFHDC, Rebecca worked as the community development officer for operations at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) New York City. There, her responsibilities comprised management of HUD funding, including drafting work plans, writing reports, and coordinating compliance with sub-grantees. Additionally, she organized workshops for community development corporations aligned with LISC’s strategic capacity building goals and managed a housing program for youth aging out of foster care. Rebecca received a bachelor of arts in Urban Studies from Brown University and a master of science from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Urbanization and Development. She has also attended a course in the history of housing policy at Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento in Buenos Aires and served as a research fellow for MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. In addition to her work in housing and the revitalization of urban communities, she is an advocate for financial access and asset building policies. She has authored an article about a new model for asset building programs and is a certified volunteer tax preparer serving low-income households.
 

Affordable Housing Development Advisory Committee

Paul Ames
Paul V. Ames (AEA/SAG/AFTRA) has served on the Council of Actors' Equity Association since first being elected in 2002, and was previously chairman of Equity's Housing Committee. He is also currently a public member of Manhattan Community Board 4's Health Housing & Human Services and Quality of Life Committees.

Steven R. Burns
Steve Burns is the Founder & President of PointProspect, Inc., a private-equity investment and advisory company focused on the management and growth of early-stage companies. He is a Principal and founding member of Crawford Street Partners LLC, a high-growth real estate company committed to the revitalization of neighborhoods for Newark, NJ residents. Steve retired from Accenture after 24 years in 2006 where he was Managing Partner of the U.S. Health Insurance Industry Program.

Abby Hamlin
Abby Hamlin is president of Hamlin Ventures, LLC, a real estate development company and creative studio that focuses on select, design-driven projects that engage urban issues. Currently, the firm's focus is the Hoyt Schermerhorn Urban Renewal site, a pivotal two acre parcel of land in downtown Brooklyn, encompassing the market rate development 14 Townhouses (www.14townhouses.com) and the Schermerhorn.

David Lebenstein
David Lebenstein is the Senior Managing Director a Cassidy Turley commercial real estate services, where he oversees the Not for Profit Specialty Practice. Prior to joining Cassidy Turley, he served as Executive Director and Director of Sales and Leasing at Time Equities, Inc. and a Founding Executive of Interface, a not-for-profit public policy group. He also worked in the former Honorable Mayor John V. Lindsay's office.

Robert O. Lehrman
Robert O. Lehrman is Advisory Board Chairman of Lodestone Banking Consultancy, a management consultant firm for the banking industry. Mr. Lehrman also serves as Special Counsel and Senior Advisor to several organizations in the banking, real estate, and not-for-profit fields. He is a Trustee of The CRA Fund, and chairs its Governance Committee.

Thom Mayne
Thom Mayne founded Morphosis as an interdisciplinary and collective practice involved in experimental design and research. As design director and thought leader of Morphosis, Mayne provides overall vision, project leadership and direction to the firm. The firm currently employs over 40 architects and designers. Mayne's distinguished honors include the Pritzker Prize (2005), the Centennial Medal from the American Academy in Rome (2009), the McDowell Medal (2008), and the National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt (2006).

Preston Pinkett
Preston Pinkett serves as CEO of City National Bank, where he has been Interim Chief Executive Officer and Interim President of City National Bank of New Jersey since March 2011. Prior to his role at City National Bank, Preston was Vice President and Head of Prudential's Social Investment Program.

Richard Wright
A resident of Princeton, New Jersey, Rick led a construction and development company that rehabilitated multifamily homes in the area. Rick has served as a member of the board of The Fund for New Jersey since 1996. He previously served as a member of the board of the Union of Concerned Scientists and as the director of the Washington, DC office of Amnesty International. Rick has also held a number of senior positions in federal and New Jersey state government.