Brian E. Lawlor
President and Chief Executive Officer
In April 2010, Brian E. Lawlor was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Agencies that make up "nyhomes": New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA), the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) and their affiliated Agencies and subsidiaries. At the same time, he was appointed Commissioner of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) as part of Governor Paterson's initiative to create a single management structure for the two agencies.
The Agencies are dedicated to providing affordable housing to New Yorkers. "nyhomes" is the state's affordable housing bank whose mission is to expand affordable housing opportunities for eligible New Yorkers. DHCR is responsible for the supervision, maintenance and development of affordable low- and moderate-income housing in New York State.
Mr. Lawlor has had an extensive career in the affordable housing field, serving in a number of high-level, policy-making positions, including Assistant Secretary to the Governor for Housing and Counsel to the State Director of Housing.
Prior to his appointment to lead "nyhomes" and DHCR, Mr. Lawlor served from as DHCR's Executive Deputy Commissioner, overseeing the administration of more than $700 million in stimulus funds, including the largest allocation of Weatherization grants in the country, and more than $260 million for Tax Credit Assistance Program resources and the State Community Development Block Grant funds. Previously during his tenure at DHCR, Mr. Lawlor helped improve coordination among the State's housing agencies,maximizing the use of limited resources and achieving efficiency goals and savings.
From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Lawlor worked as Assistant Secretary to the Governor for Housing and in 1994 as Counsel to the State Director of Housing. He has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Housing Trust Fund Corporation and Chair of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. He is a member of the board of directors of HFA, AHC, the Homeless Housing Assistance Corporation and the Harlem Community Development Corporation.
Mr. Lawlor is a co-founder of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Low Income and Affordable Housing and served as its first Upstate Co-Chair. In 2005, the New York State Association of Affordable Housing named him Advocate of the Year.
Mr. Lawlor received a Bachelor of Arts from Hofstra University and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School. He lives in Niskayuna with his family.
Marian Zucker
Executive Vice President
Marian Zucker, who was named to her position in February 2007, oversees housing programs and debt issuance and plays a key role in guiding the overall direction of the agencies. Ms. Zucker has spent her career in the area of affordable housing. Prior to joining the agencies, she served as the first Director of Affordable Housing for Suffolk County. In that capacity she was responsible for developing and implementing programs and initiatives that supported the creation of more than 900 units of affordable housing. For more than 16 years, Ms. Zucker was an investment banker specializing in housing finance and tax-exempt derivatives. Ms. Zucker also served in several capacities at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, including director of disposition of city-owned sites. Ms. Zucker received her masters in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University and is a summa cum laude graduate of SUNY College at Buffalo. She also attended the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Joy F. Willig
Senior Vice President and Counsel
Joy F. Willig joined the agencies in November 2007. An attorney and member of the New York State Bar, Ms. Willig is responsible for all legal matters regarding the administration, operations and financing programs for the agencies. Previously, Ms. Willig was General Counsel to L&M Equity Participants, Ltd., where she was the chief legal officer for the organization's affiliated real estate, development and construction companies. From 1998 to early 2007, she served as Deputy General Counsel for the New York City Housing Development Corporation, serving as a legal and policy advisor on financing structures, bond compliance, asset management and general corporate matters. From 1990 to 1998, she served on the HFA legal staff, rising to become associate counsel. She also was an associate at Cahill Gordon Reindel and clerked in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. Ms. Willig received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and her J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law.
Catherine Johnson
Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer
Catherine Johnson, who was named to her position in May 2010, oversees information technology, building facilities and human resources for "nyhomes" She also serves as Deputy Commissioner for Administration at DHCR, where she oversees information technology, human resources, budget and finance and support services and serves as treasurer of the Housing Trust Fund Corporation. Ms. Johnson has worked in various capacities at DHCR since 1998. Prior to her current position, she served as Vice President for Operations at the Roosevelt Island Operation Corporation and Director of the Office of Financial Administration. Ms. Johnson began her career in state government in 1973 at the NYS Division of the Budget and subsequently worked at the NYS Department of Education.
David Walsh
Senior Vice President, Multifamily Programs
David Walsh joined the Agency in April of 2008 as Senior Vice President of Multifamily Programs and presently oversees Construction and Environmental Services, Housing Portfolio Management, Loan Servicing, Multifamily Finance and Special Projects units of the agency. Previously, Mr. Walsh served for five years as Director of NYC Housing Development for Common Ground Community, a non-profit housing development organization specializing in housing for the homeless, overseeing the design and development of approximately 1,000 units of supportive housing in the metropolitan area. Prior to working at Common Ground, Mr. Walsh served for two years as the Director of Brokerage in the Real Estate Investment area of the Wafra Investment Advisory Group, which is a U.S. registered investment advisor wholly owned by the Public Institute of Social Security for Kuwait. Prior to working with Wafra, Mr. Walsh served as Senior Vice President of the LCP Group, LP, a privately held real estate investment holding company acquiring net leased properties of behalf of in-house investment partnerships and institutional clients. Mr. Walsh received a Masters Degree from Columbia University's School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation and an undergraduate degree from Western New England College.
George Leocata
Senior Vice President, Single Family Programs
George Leocata was appointed Senior Vice President in charge of SONYMA's single family programs in May, 2007. In his role, he manages the Agency's single family mortgage programs. Mr. Leocata has been at SONYMA for 25 years. He first joined the agency in 1982 as a compliance analyst. He became a senior loan officer in 1986, assistant director of mortgage financing in 1988, assistant vice president of single family housing in 1993 and vice president in 2004. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Michael Friedman
Senior Vice President and Director of the Mortgage Insurance Fund
Michael Friedman joined the State of New York Mortgage Agency in December 1996 as director of finance for the Mortgage Insurance Fund (MIF). Mr. Friedman became Senior Vice President and Director of MIF on June 12, 2003 and Senior Vice President of the Housing Finance Agency on October 18, 2006. Mr. Friedman previously served as a vice president of Asset Guaranty Insurance Company, where he was responsible for the insurance of multifamily housing revenue bonds nationwide. Prior to that, he covered homebuilders, mortgage bankers and thrift institutions for New York City-based banks and investment banks. Mr. Friedman graduated from the City College of New York and Harvard Business School.
Arlo Chase
Senior Vice President for Policy Initiatives
Mr. Chase joined the agencies in May 2007. He works closely with senior leadership on the development of new housing programs as well as building strategic alliances with other state agencies, non-profit organizations and private developers. Previously, Mr. Chase was a senior associate at Nixon Peabody LLP, where he represented developers of affordable housing and syndicators of low-income housing tax credits. Prior to working at Nixon, Mr. Chase worked in the New York City office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP (formerly Kalkines, Arky, Zall & Bernstein). He graduated in 1999 from the New York University School of Law, where he was a member of Order of the Coif and a Root Tilden Public Interest Scholar. Following law school, Mr. Chase clerked for Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Circuit Judge Robert Katzmann on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He has also published several articles in law journals.
Philip Lentz
Senior Vice President and Director of Communications
Philip Lentz, who was named to his position in May 2007, oversees the agencies' marketing and communications strategies. Mr. Lentz is a veteran writer and strategic political advisor, having served in government, politics, journalism and the private sector. Prior to joining the agencies, he was vice president at Geto & de Milly, a public relations firm, and vice president for government affairs at the Partnership for New York City, the city's leading business advocacy organization. In his journalism career, Mr. Lentz was a senior reporter at Crain's New York Business and the founding editor of The Crain's Insider, a daily fax of government and politics. He was also a political reporter at the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Bulletin and the Newark Star-Ledger, and an editorial writer at the New York Daily News. Mr. Lentz was a manager of client services at the public relations firm of Burson-Marsteller, and served in several political campaigns, including as press secretary for Paul Tsongas during his 1992 presidential campaign. Mr. Lentz is the author of The Corcoran Affair, a political novel, and a graduate of Northwestern University.