Joshua Lockwood, Executive Director of Habitat-NYC, is leading Habitat-NYC into innovative new directions and positioning the organization at the forefront of affordable housing development, both locally and among Habitat affiliates nationally. Josh's priorities include advocating for public policies that address today's affordable housing challenges and spearheading Habitat-NYC's efforts to serve more homebuyers and more communities than ever before. Currently, Josh is leading Habitat-NYC as we build the largest and greenest multifamily building in the history of Habitat for Humanity worldwide, our 41-unit condominium building in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, which is being constructed with the help of 10,000 NYC volunteers. Under Josh's direction, Habitat-NYC is entering into innovative co-development agreements with private developers, partnerships that will enable us to serve new family partner homebuyers in new areas of New York City.
Prior to joining Habitat-NYC, Josh spent eight years as a Principal at the firm of HR&A Advisors, focusing on the firm's nonprofit strategic planning practice, which serve an array of non-profits and foundations. These clients included Urban Pathways, the New York Association for New Americans, the Randall's Island Sports Foundation, Gay Men's Health Crisis, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the Friends of Van Corltandt Park, among others. Josh also oversaw a number of major economic development and affordable housing plans, working on behalf of both public- and private-sector developers. These included urban revitalization projects throughout New York City; Flint, MI; Baltimore, MD; and Miami, Florida. Josh has an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and a Master's Degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He was a fellow with the Coro Foundation's Leadership New York program and a Presidential Management Intern at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Josh currently serves on the board of Urban Homesteading Assistance Board.
Rachel Hyman, Chief Operating Officer, brings with her an extensive knowledge of affordable housing and public policy. Prior to joining Habitat-NYC, she served as a Senior Vice President in the Bank of America's Community Development Real Estate Group, where she marketed and structured financing products for affordable housing developers. She served in similar roles with Citibank and JPMorgan Chase Bank. Throughout her banking career, Rachel financed more than $270 million of projects, resulting in more than 3,500 units of affordable housing.
Rachel also has experience in government and has led economic revitalization efforts both in New Rochelle and Peekskill, NY.
She is active in community affairs, including being a Member of the Board of the Community Partnership Development Corporation. In the past, she has served as a Member of Habitat-NYC's Junior Board and with Women in Housing and Finance.
Rachel earned a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a Master in Regional Planning from Cornell University.
Ann Kone , Director of Development, Volunteers and Communications, has spent her career in non-profit administration, specializing in institution building of small organizations. A founder of the National Organization of Rare Disorders coalition, she has been the Executive Director of the Paget Foundation, where she currently serves on the board of trustees, and most recently, of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy. While at the Academy, Ann managed a capital campaign and oversaw the building project for a new $2.5 million headquarters. Her prior experience includes working as a consultant to arts and voluntary health organizations for program development, fundraising and board relations. She has been the Director of Exhibitions at Pratt Institute on their Brooklyn campus and Director of the Pratt Manhattan Center. Ann is a graduate of Wellesley College and is an active volunteer in local organizations.
Paige Bellenbaum, Director of Advocacy, combines expertise in policy, government and housing with her hands-on experience in social
work with low-income families and their children. Most recently, Paige headed the advocacy department at The Partnership for the Homeless, where she
oversaw public policy initiatives aimed at ending homelessness. Paige created an effective campaign to register homeless New Yorkers to vote and become active community leaders, managed a network of volunteer-run faith-based homeless shelters and organized volunteers as advocates. Prior to that, she led community services at the Center for Family Life in Brooklyn, a position that combined public policy, advocacy and direct service for low-income, at–risk families. She started her career in San Francisco in 1997 in a program that helped homeless families obtain permanent homes. A graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work and UCLA, Paige heads Habitat-NYC’s advocacy and faith organizing programs.
Beverly Cheuvront, Director of Communications, has a long history of reporting and writing on housing and policy issues in New York City. She comes to Habitat-NYC from The Partnership for the Homeless, where she headed the communications office, developed cause-related marketing projects and worked closely with the advocacy department to promote policy initiatives. A former newspaper reporter and editor for both dailies and weeklies, Beverly edited City Limits magazine and co-produced Journey through New York, a series of public-television shows on New York City civic topics. In her public relations career, Beverly has worked in city government and with non-profit organizations that strive to improve opportunities for low-income New Yorkers and their communities. At Habitat-NYC, she is delighted to use her communications skills to help create bricks-and-mortar solutions to the city’s housing crisis and to foster the public policies that will help all New Yorkers have decent, affordable homes.
Petra-Ann Van Buckley, Director of Family Partner Programs, brings top-notch "people" skills and strong management ability to her work with Habitat-NYC's future homeowners. Prior to her current role, Petra spent six years as Habitat-NYC's Volunteer Program Manager, where she capably juggled volunteer schedules on construction sites and in the office, arranged sweat-equity hours for family partners and helped organize numerous events. Before joining Habitat-NYC, Petra-Ann served as administrative assistant and community organizer for Weed & Seed Community Empowerment Initiative in East New York, Brooklyn, where she helped create and support initiatives to decrease crime and improve the community's quality of life. Earlier, Petra-Ann honed her interpersonal and management expertise as supervisor of the customer service and warranty department for Liberty Marketing, a watch company, where she solved customer service issues in coordination with major retailers, such as Macy's and JCPenney. Petra-Ann has been an active member of the New York Association for Volunteer Administration's professional development committee, coordinating seminars for more than 1,000 members. She is active in a number of additional non-profit organizations and serves as youth leader and treasurer of her church. Petra-Ann is a graduate of Caribbean Union College (now University of the Southern Caribbean) of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
Neeraj Nagpal, Director of Finance & Administration, has a background in both finance and technology. Born and raised in India, he worked as an accountant and financial consultant before moving to the United States. Most recently, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Friends House, an organization that provides housing and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS. While there, he managed finances of the organization and oversaw accounting functions. Though much of his time was spent assisting the Executive Director, preparing fiscal reports, managing tax credits and optimizing investments, he still found time to assist with the design and content of the agency's website. He now heads Habitat-NYC's Finance & Administration Department while overseeing the organizations Information Technology needs. Neeraj has an undergraduate degree from the University of Delhi, in India, and dual Master's degrees in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Delaware. He is also a certified Cost and Management Accountant.
Joshua Lockwood, Executive Director of Habitat-NYC, is leading Habitat-NYC into innovative new directions and positioning the organization at the forefront of affordable housing development, both locally and among Habitat affiliates nationally. Josh's priorities include advocating for public policies that address today's affordable housing challenges and spearheading Habitat-NYC's efforts to serve more homebuyers and more communities than ever before. Currently, Josh is leading Habitat-NYC as we build the largest and greenest multifamily building in the history of Habitat for Humanity worldwide, our 41-unit condominium building in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, which is being constructed with the help of 10,000 NYC volunteers. Under Josh's direction, Habitat-NYC is entering into innovative co-development agreements with private developers, partnerships that will enable us to serve new family partner homebuyers in new areas of New York City.
Rachel Hyman, Chief Operating Officer, brings with her an extensive knowledge of affordable housing and public policy. Prior to joining Habitat-NYC, she served as a Senior Vice President in the Bank of America's Community Development Real Estate Group, where she marketed and structured financing products for affordable housing developers. She served in similar roles with Citibank and JPMorgan Chase Bank. Throughout her banking career, Rachel financed more than $270 million of projects, resulting in more than 3,500 units of affordable housing.
Rachel also has experience in government and has led economic revitalization efforts both in New Rochelle and Peekskill, NY.
She is active in community affairs, including being a Member of the Board of the Community Partnership Development Corporation. In the past, she has served as a Member of Habitat-NYC's Junior Board and with Women in Housing and Finance.
Rachel earned a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a Master in Regional Planning from Cornell University.
Ann Kone , Director of Development, Volunteers and Communications, has spent her career in non-profit administration, specializing in institution building of small organizations. A founder of the National Organization of Rare Disorders coalition, she has been the Executive Director of the Paget Foundation, where she currently serves on the board of trustees, and most recently, of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy. While at the Academy, Ann managed a capital campaign and oversaw the building project for a new $2.5 million headquarters. Her prior experience includes working as a consultant to arts and voluntary health organizations for program development, fundraising and board relations. She has been the Director of Exhibitions at Pratt Institute on their Brooklyn campus and Director of the Pratt Manhattan Center. Ann is a graduate of Wellesley College and is an active volunteer in local organizations.
Paige Bellenbaum, Director of Advocacy, combines expertise in policy, government and housing with her hands-on experience in social
work with low-income families and their children. Most recently, Paige headed the advocacy department at The Partnership for the Homeless, where she
oversaw public policy initiatives aimed at ending homelessness. Paige created an effective campaign to register homeless New Yorkers to vote and become active community leaders, managed a network of volunteer-run faith-based homeless shelters and organized volunteers as advocates. Prior to that, she led community services at the Center for Family Life in Brooklyn, a position that combined public policy, advocacy and direct service for low-income, at–risk families. She started her career in San Francisco in 1997 in a program that helped homeless families obtain permanent homes. A graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work and UCLA, Paige heads Habitat-NYC’s advocacy and faith organizing programs.
Beverly Cheuvront, Director of Communications, has a long history of reporting and writing on housing and policy issues in New York City. She comes to Habitat-NYC from The Partnership for the Homeless, where she headed the communications office, developed cause-related marketing projects and worked closely with the advocacy department to promote policy initiatives. A former newspaper reporter and editor for both dailies and weeklies, Beverly edited City Limits magazine and co-produced Journey through New York, a series of public-television shows on New York City civic topics. In her public relations career, Beverly has worked in city government and with non-profit organizations that strive to improve opportunities for low-income New Yorkers and their communities. At Habitat-NYC, she is delighted to use her communications skills to help create bricks-and-mortar solutions to the city’s housing crisis and to foster the public policies that will help all New Yorkers have decent, affordable homes.
Petra-Ann Van Buckley, Director of Family Partner Programs, brings top-notch "people" skills and strong management ability to her work with Habitat-NYC's future homeowners. Prior to her current role, Petra spent six years as Habitat-NYC's Volunteer Program Manager, where she capably juggled volunteer schedules on construction sites and in the office, arranged sweat-equity hours for family partners and helped organize numerous events. Before joining Habitat-NYC, Petra-Ann served as administrative assistant and community organizer for Weed & Seed Community Empowerment Initiative in East New York, Brooklyn, where she helped create and support initiatives to decrease crime and improve the community's quality of life. Earlier, Petra-Ann honed her interpersonal and management expertise as supervisor of the customer service and warranty department for Liberty Marketing, a watch company, where she solved customer service issues in coordination with major retailers, such as Macy's and JCPenney. Petra-Ann has been an active member of the New York Association for Volunteer Administration's professional development committee, coordinating seminars for more than 1,000 members. She is active in a number of additional non-profit organizations and serves as youth leader and treasurer of her church. Petra-Ann is a graduate of Caribbean Union College (now University of the Southern Caribbean) of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
Neeraj Nagpal, Director of Finance & Administration, has a background in both finance and technology. Born and raised in India, he worked as an accountant and financial consultant before moving to the United States. Most recently, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Friends House, an organization that provides housing and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS. While there, he managed finances of the organization and oversaw accounting functions. Though much of his time was spent assisting the Executive Director, preparing fiscal reports, managing tax credits and optimizing investments, he still found time to assist with the design and content of the agency's website. He now heads Habitat-NYC's Finance & Administration Department while overseeing the organizations Information Technology needs. Neeraj has an undergraduate degree from the University of Delhi, in India, and dual Master's degrees in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Delaware. He is also a certified Cost and Management Accountant.