2015 MAS Summit for New York City

In 2015 Sophia Koven founded GoKid, a mobile application that provides a complete carpool solution for families. GoKid will reduce driving time and carpool management stress for parents, and also reduce traffic congestion and harmful emissions in communities everywhere. She has focused on sustainable development and strategic planning for fifteen years, serving a broad range of clients, including municipalities, environmental advocacy groups... Read More →

Vicki Been is Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the nation’s largest municipal housing agency. She is charged with implementing Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York Plan to create or preserve 200,000 affordable homes over 10 years. Previously, Been was Director of NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, a nationally renowned academic research center devoted to the public... Read More →

Les Bluestone has been involved in the real estate development and construction industries for over 35 years working in New York City and surrounding counties. The co-founder of Blue Sea Development Company and Blue Sea Construction Co., his firms developed and built New York State's first affordable Energy Star Homes and New York State's first three affordable LEED Platinum multifamily buildings. A former Board Chair of Habitat for Humanity NYC... Read More →

For the past three years, Claudia Coger has acted as the President of Astoria Houses Resident Association. An advocate for the residents of the Astoria Houses projects, Coger is responsible for speaking on behalf of members of her community. She takes care of everything from registering residents to vote to dealing with maintenance issues. “I do whatever I see fit to empower the community,” said Coger. | | In 1993, Coger retired from... Read More →

Benjamin Dulchin is the Executive Director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), a membership association of one hundred neighborhood-based community development groups in New York City committed to the preservation and production of affordable housing, and to equitable economic development. ANHD supports the activist community development movement with high-impact policy research, strategic advocacy, and capacity... Read More →

Sam Roberts has been the New York Times' urban affairs correspondent since 2005. He joined the Times in 1983 from the Daily News. He is also the host of The New York Times Close Up, the Times's weekly interview program on Time Warner Cable New York 1 News. He is the author of a number of nonfiction books, including A History of New York in 101 Objects, The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Atom Spy Case and Grand Central: How a Train... Read More →