Housing Action Council

Board of Directors
OFFICERS

Casey Kemper–Chairman
Casey Kemper, has over 30 years of experience in the fields of real estate and finance, holding positions that include Chief Financial Officer of the Equitable Life Real Estate Group, Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Olympia & York (USA), and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Bank Capital Realty. He is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Collegiate Church Corporation, where he is responsible for management of the church endowment and business affairs. Casey is a member of Urban Land Institute, the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE), Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), Real Estate Board of New York, and the Downtown Association. In addition to his Housing Action Council position, he is a board member of SHORE, Blanton Peale Institute, and the New Amsterdam History Center. He is past president of Habitat for Humanity of Westchester. Casey resides in Scarsdale, N.Y. with his wife, Mary.

Paul Vitale–Treasurer
Paul Vitale formerly Vice President, Government & Community Relations for The Business Council of Westchester, the county's largest and most influential business organization. He was responsible for advancing the Business Council's legislative agenda and area/economic development projects on the local, state and federal levels. Prior to that Paul served as Executive Director of the Service Station Dealers of Greater New York, a trade association representing 1,000 independent service stations, auto repair shops and related businesses. His career includes 25 years of senior management experience in the media, entertainment and sports industries, having served as VP & CFO of the SFX Sorts Group; VP, Business Development, Sony Music Entertainment Inc.; and VP, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. and its predecessor, CBS Records Inc. Paul is a cum laude graduate of Fordham University and earned his MBA at Columbia University. He lives with his wife Janet, and their two children in Pelham Manor.

Ellen Levy–Vice Chair and Secretary
Ellen Levy, was the founding Executive Director of Washingtonville Housing Alliance, a not-for-profit Neighborhood Preservation Company that develops and rehabilitates housing and provides other supportive services to low and moderate-income families in the Mamaroneck community and served in this position to September 2003. She served as Chair of the Westchester Not for Profit Housing Coalition, a countywide group of housing developers and activists. She also serves on the Board of Westchester Interfaith Housing Corporation and was the founder of COOL, a coalition of Mamaroneck/Larchmont social service providers. She currently resides in New York City.

BOARD MEMBERS:

Chuck Bell, is Programs Director for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, based in Yonkers, NY. Chuck works in Consumers Union's advocacy program on a wide range of consumer policy issues, including health care, financial services, the internet, international trade, and the environment. He also manages grant-funded projects and provides financial and technical assistance to U.S. and international consumer organizations. Since 1990, Chuck has served on the board of directors of Residents for Equitable and Affordable Permanent Shelter (REAPS) Community Land Trust, a nonprofit housing organization based in Yonkers, where he currently serves as board president. He also is vice-chair of the National Jobs for All Coalition, an organization working for full employment and living wage jobs for all, based in New York, NY.

Steven Cahn, of Warwick, Orange County, NY, formerly Vice-President of the DML Mortgage Corporation. He recently moved from Westchester where, since 1995, he has been involved with the Bridge Fund and was formerly with Chase Manhattan Mortgage in New York. Steve is a graduate of Hofstra College, where he majored in economics..

Richard M. Cherry, the founder and President of Community Environmental Center, Inc. (CEC). He has overseen the expansion of the firm from a Weatherization Program contractor to a firm with in-depth expertise in energy analysis, new technologies and consulting for green building design. Prior to founding CEC, Mr. Cherry was Executive Vice President and General Counsel and President of Housing Subsidiary Companies at the New York Urban Coalition. In 2007 Mr. Cherry received The Purpose Prize, a national award that recognizes leaders who are ushering in a new age of social progress

Colin Dacres, works for HSBC at Central Avenue in Yonkers as the Branch Manager. He was a former manager of Citibank in Greenburgh, and served for 11 years as a mortgage loan officer and business development officer at Citibank. A resident of Yorktown, he has been active in Habitat for Humanity, for which organization he went to Ghana for three weeks.

Gregg DeAngelis, A.I.A. of Mamaroneck, established an architectural practice in 1998 which has completed a wide range of commercial, institutional and residential projects throughout Westchester County, New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut. Prior to starting his own firm, Gregg worked for 17 years in New York City on several notable educational, institutional, health-care, airline, restaurant, retail and residential projects. In addition to serving on the HAC Board, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Architectural Review and Co-Chair of the Logistics Committee of the Historic Harbor Street Fair for the Village of Mamaroneck, as well as on the Financial Advisory Committee for the Rye Neck School District, and the Area Development Committee for the Westchester Business Council.

Frank Fish, FAICP, is a founding principal at BFJ Planning, a consulting firm providing professional expertise in planning and related fields since its establishment in 1980. Frank specializes in comprehensive planning, real estate development, and public approvals. He has represented more than 30 municipalities throughout the Northeast as well as major private sector clients. He is on the faculty at New York University and is a board member of the New York Planning Federation.

Robert Galvin, has more than twenty-five years of experience in urban planning practices, leading information service companies, demographic and retail database information. He has held senior level management positions with Dun & Bradstreet, Donnelley Marketing Information Services, Claritas, Market Statistics, National Research Bureau and VNU/Nielsen. He is also extensively involved in housing and planning in the Village of Mamaroneck.

He has a professional planning background with a Masters in Urban Planning and is a certified city planner with an AICP designation. Mr. Galvin is a member of ULI, APA’s Metro Chapter and a member of the board of directors of the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, the Housing Action Council and the Washingtonville Housing Alliance. Mr. Galvin currently consults for Urbanomics, a NYC planning/research firm, specializing in economic and demographic forecasting and market feasibility analyses for NYC, other major governmental entities and private developers.

Mr. Galvin’s planning experience has been in consulting, demographic analysis, inclusionary zoning, land use/zoning, and market feasibility for housing and retail projects. Additionally, for over 25 years, he has been a member and chairman of the Village of Mamaroneck Planning Board. During this time, he directed the Village’s first comprehensive plan as well as the recent 2025 update, the master plan for Harbor Island Park, downtown streetscape, infill housing, and workforce housing regulations.

Father Gawain de Leeuw, is the Rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in White Plains, NY. He was graduated from Oberlin College and the University of Chicago.

He has been trained in group relations at the Tavistock Institute and facilitative leadership and coaching at the Interaction Institute for Social Change. He is a Dean of the Westchester Central Clericus, Secretary of the White Plains Religious Leaders, serves on the board of Meals on Wheels .

Vincent Mutarelli, is a Senior Business Banker at Capital One Bank, Business Concierge Group where he responsible for assisting all potential small and mid sized clients in expediting financial solutions regarding cash management, commercial lending, lines of credit, investment services and more throughout the tri-state area. Prior to joining Capital One, Vincent worked for Canon Business Solutions. He is a member many organizations including The Business Council of Westchester, Bronx Chamber of Commerce and the Bronx/ Manhattan Realty Association.

Jean Pollak, of White Plains, serves on the Westchester County Housing Opportunity Commission and on the Housing Committees of the League of Women Voters of Westchester, and White Plains. She is Chair of the White Plains Affordable Housing Committee. From 1977 to 1988, she served as Public Relations Director for the YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester. She is a past President of the LWV of White Plains, and of Westchester and Tri-State Metropolitan Region. She has also served as a member of the White Plains Housing Authority, a Commissioner of the Westchester County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Advisory Board, and a member of the Community Development Citizen Advisory Committee for the City of White Plains. In 1985, she received the Commission on Human Rights Jack and Ira Marash Distinguished Service Award. She edits the Housing Action Council newsletter.

Pierre Poux, of White Plains, an electrical engineer, served with IBM for 38 years in various technical/business capacities and was located in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Poughkeepsie, and White Plains, in addition to Paris, France. He is a representative for St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, White Plains. He is a Vice President and Co-Founder of SHORE (Sheltering the Homeless is Our Responsibility), and performs computer desktop publishing for SHORE and the Housing Action Council.

Winston Ross, of Somers, is Executive Director of the Westchester Community Opportunity Program (WestCOP) in Elmsford, which is a multi-site, multi-program social services agency serving Westchester and Putnam. He is also Westchester Regional Director, NYS NAACP. He holds a BS from NY University, an MSW from Columbia, and has completed work toward a Doctorate at Adelphi University in social policy and planning. He serves on several local, county and state boards and task forces, and has received numerous recognition awards for his involvement and dedication to equal rights, justice and opportunity for all. He is a long-time Westchester resident.

Mary Rubin

HAC Board of Directors
HAC Staff