People

Our Passion

The people who work at NYCEDC are passionate about NYC, committed to building a sustainable and inclusive economic future for the city, and excited to help bring our business programs, infrastructure projects, groundbreaking studies, and more to fruition.

There's no such thing as a typical NYCEDCer. We're experts in everything from urban planning to real estate to marketing and public relations, and everything in between. Learn more about the individuals who move NYCEDC—and the city—forward.

Our Leadership

Andrew Kimball
President & CEO

Andrew Kimball is President & CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation, where he leads NYCEDC’s work growing an innovative and inclusive economy for all New Yorkers. Prior to his appointment in 2022, Andrew served as the CEO of Industry City, where he directed the transformation of the long-underutilized industrial facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Under his leadership, Industry City invested over $450 million in infrastructure and place-making initiatives, and grew thousands of jobs and hundreds of businesses, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Andrew previously served as President and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, overseeing the transformation of the 300-acre former Naval ship-building facility into a national model for the creation of innovation-economy jobs, sustainability, and community partnerships.

Prior to his time at the Navy Yard, Andrew served as director of operations for NYC2012, the privately funded bid to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to New York City, and as vice president of the New York Public Library.

Up until his appointment to NYCEDC, Andrew sat on numerous boards, including the Coro New York Leadership Center, where he served as chair; Prospect Park Alliance; Gowanus Canal Conservancy; Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; Citizens Budget Commission; and the NYS Regional Economic Development Council.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College and is a graduate of the Coro Public Affairs Fellowship program. A life-long New Yorker, Andrew lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife, Sarah Williams, and two children.

Meredith J. Jones     
Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Before joining NYCEDC, Meredith worked at corporate law firms and as counsel to a multi-national engineering and construction company. She also served as general counsel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and as Chief of the Cable Services Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Joshua Kraus
Executive Vice President and Chief Infrastructure Officer

Josh Kraus is the Chief Infrastructure Officer at NYCEDC, where he works across divisions to ensure successful delivery of the corporation’s highest-priority capital and planning projects. Prior to Joining NYCEDC in April 2021, Josh served as Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Capital Project Development. There, since 2013, he managed complex, multi-stakeholder capital and planning projects across the five boroughs, from Pre-K sites and post-Sandy rebuilding to cultural institutions, parks, public plazas, and COVID care facilities. Josh also coordinated the City’s engagement on planning for regional infrastructure projects, such as the Gateway project, Moynihan and Penn Stations, and Port Authority Bus Terminal—a role he now continues to play at NYCEDC. Josh previously spent seven years in the Lower Manhattan Borough Commissioner’s Office of the NYC Department of Transportation, where he supported the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site as well as reconstructing streets and utilities across Lower Manhattan following the 9/11 attacks. Josh holds a master’s in urban planning from McGill University and a bachelor’s in social geography and urban development from Boston University. He lives in the Bronx with his wife and three children.

Cecilia Kushner
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Cecilia Kushner is the Chief Strategy Officer, a role in which she leads multidisciplinary teams to deliver projects and programs focused on developing emerging sectors equitably and building neighborhoods of economic success. Prior to her current role, Cecilia spent over a decade working for the City on a range of infrastructure, transit operations, land use, and community development programs and policies, most recently as the Executive Vice President for Planning and NYC Ferry at NYCEDC, and earlier at the Department of City Planning in the Brooklyn, Resiliency, and Executive Offices.

Prior to immigrating to New York City in 2005 from France, Cecilia lived in London for two years, working on economic analysis for historic preservation. Cecilia received her bachelor’s degree from La Sorbonne and holds a master’s degree in historic preservation from the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London, and a master’s degree in city planning from Hunter College, where she has taught planning as an adjunct. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Jennifer Montalvo
Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff

As NYCEDC’s Chief of Staff, Jennifer Montalvo serves as the chief strategist to the President & CEO, overseeing the management of the President’s Office, External Affairs, and the Community Impact & Diversity divisions. In this capacity, she helps advance NYCEDC's agenda and propels critical projects forward. Since joining NYCEDC in 2019, Jennifer has held roles as Senior Vice President and Vice President of the Government and Community Relations department. In these positions, she managed government and community affairs initiatives, strengthening external relationships, public engagement, and community support for NYCEDC’s wide-ranging projects. She led inclusive community outreach and strategy for NYCEDC’s legislative agenda, citywide transportation and industry initiatives, and projects requiring land use and public approval.

Prior to her tenure at NYCEDC, Jennifer served as the Senior Deputy Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). There, she advanced NYCHA's legislative priorities, public policies, and managed interdepartmental initiatives. Her career also includes serving as a Legislative Policy Analyst in the New York City Council under former Speakers Christine Quinn and Melissa Mark-Viverito, where she contributed to the enactment of key legislation, including IDNYC.

Jennifer is an alumna of Siena College and has been recognized with the City & State's 2023 Above and Beyond Innovators award and NYC's 40 Under 40 award.

Jeanny Pak
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Jeanny has spent the last 25 years working in public finance investment banking. Most recently she was head of UBS’s East Region Public Finance Division. Jeanny has spent most of her career working with public sector clients at the state and local levels where she developed and executed financial strategies, large bond transactions, and forward-thinking financial structuring. She has led large teams and is very active in groups and initiatives that promote women and people of color in the finance industry.

Jeanny holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cornell University and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Melissa Román Burch
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Melissa Román Burch is NYCEDC’s Chief Operating Officer and leads the Real Estate Transaction Services and Asset Management divisions. As COO, she oversees public/private developments involving City-owned property, and manages NYCEDC’s portfolio of 200+ unique and iconic assets spanning 64 million square feet and composed of commercial and industrial real estate, critical infrastructure, and energy assets. Melissa also leads the Strategic Investments Group, which structures impact investments through discretionary tax benefits and tax-exempt financing, and initiates catalytic investments that mobilize private capital and support the growth of strategic sectors.

Melissa joined NYCEDC in April 2022 after two decades as a leading property executive and developer of large-scale, mixed-use projects distinguished by investments in transportation infrastructure, environmental leadership, and innovative partnerships. Prior to NYCEDC, Melissa served as Executive General Manager for Lendlease, where she initiated and led all acquisition and development activities for the NY region. Melissa was previously Executive Vice President for Forest City Ratner, where she oversaw the development of Pacific Park Brooklyn, anchored by the Barclays Center Arena and composed of new market-rate and affordable housing, office space, transportation improvements, and parks.

A committed civic leader, Melissa proudly serves as a Trustee of the Henry Street Settlement and Coro New York Leadership Center. She was previously a Trustee and on the Executive Committee of the Citizen’s Budget Commission. Melissa is an active member of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Urban Land Institute (ULI), and W/X New York Women Executives in Real Estate. Melissa graduated magna cum laude in government from Harvard College and received her MBA from the Harvard Business School. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

ShehilaRae Stephens
Executive Vice President, Equity and Community Impact

ShehilaRae Stephens serves as Executive Vice President of the Equity and Community Impact division. In this role, ShehilaRae plays a pivotal part in shaping NYCEDC’s equity and community impact strategy, which includes the economic mobility strategy encompassing M/W/DBE procurement, workforce development, and diverse entrepreneurship initiatives. She also leads NYCEDC’s accessibility, measurement, and evaluation efforts. Her mandate is to ensure that NYCEDC's projects align with broader priorities for the city's economic recovery, with a strong emphasis on equity and community impact.

Before joining NYCEDC, ShehilaRae held executive-level positions at the Greater New York Hospital Association and Encore Community Services. She has over 18 years of experience dedicated to serving disadvantaged communities, including the unhoused, individuals living with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and others facing significant social challenges. She has a proven track record of leading large-scale, innovative programs that drive equitable economic development. ShehilaRae holds a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Tampa.

Elizabeth T. Arnaiz, AIA     
Executive Vice President, Capital

Elizabeth leads a multidisciplinary team, composed of engineers, architects, landscape architects, and technical project support staff, to deliver on a diverse portfolio of over 100 projects, representing nearly $6 billion in construction costs. The work implemented by the division provides critical citywide improvements, with particular focus on infrastructure, resiliency, open space, and civic projects. The team works closely with other City agencies to align on project goals, delivering projects to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers. As a registered architect, Elizabeth brings expertise to design, construction and the built environment. During her time at NYCEDC, Elizabeth has led the planning and building improvements for Health + Hospital’s billion dollar resiliency program, the reconstruction efforts for Orchard Beach, design and coordination for NYCEDC’s headquarters, and other critical projects across CAP’s portfolio. Before joining NYCEDC, Elizabeth worked at the architecture firm Ennead Architects, focusing on healthcare and resiliency in New York City. She is a graduate of Williams College and Columbia GSAPP, where she earned a masters of architecture. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

PJ Berg
Executive Vice President, Real Estate Transaction Services

PJ co-leads NYCEDC’s Real Estate Transaction Services department, which implements public-private partnerships involving public land. PJ previously served as Director of Real Estate and Planning for the Trust for Governors Island, managed World Trade Center redevelopment for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and negotiated transactions for Brooklyn Bridge Park. PJ began his career as an Urban Fellow with the New York City Department of City Planning. He holds a Masters in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton and a BA in urban studies from Columbia. He lives in Brooklyn with his husband and two daughters.

Bernice Clark
Executive Vice President, External Affairs

Bernice Clark leads the External Affairs division, which comprises three departments: Government & Community Relations, Marketing, and Public Affairs. This division creates connection and engagement with the public, by building relationships with communities and stakeholders and communicating NYCEDC’s work to benefit New York City and New Yorkers. Bernice served as Chief Marketing Officer prior to her current role and spearheaded the launch of the digital-first targeted “Why NYC” business development campaign.

Prior to joining NYCEDC, Bernice was Senior Vice President, Marketing at Macy’s, the $24B omnichannel national retailer, where she held key senior marketing roles across digital media, ecommerce, marketing operations, brand, and product content that were critical to re-positioning and evolving Macy’s as a national brand and top-25 US advertiser. Prior to joining the Macy’s organization, Bernice worked at top-tier advertising agencies such as Leo Burnett, Young & Rubicam, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Bernice holds a BA from Barnard College/Columbia University with a double major in sociology and program in the arts/piano performance. She also holds an MBA in marketing from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Bernice and her husband are the parents of twin teenage sons.

Brinda Ganguly
Executive Vice President, Strategic Investments Group

Brinda leads the Strategic Investments Group, overseeing the organization’s impact investing efforts. She is passionate about using finance as a tool for social change and has more than 20 years of experience in the investment space, the bulk on transactions with a dual mission around generating financial returns and social impact. Prior to joining NYCEDC, Brinda was the Chief Operating and Chief Compliance Officer at Elevar Equity, an impact venture capital firm that invests in Latin America and India. Earlier in her career, she managed impact investing portfolios—across asset classes—at The Rockefeller Foundation, Living Cities, and the Open Society Foundation. Brinda has also worked at Citigroup, in the corporate investment bank, covering healthcare clients; and at Charles River Associates, an economic consulting firm. Brinda graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a BA in economics and Spanish, and she holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Spencer Hobson 
Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Finance

Spencer oversees NYCEDC’s Finance Division, which includes the Accounting, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), and Compliance departments. Previously, he assisted in managing NYCEDC’s Internal Audit group for many years. He is a life-long resident of Queens, NY and received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from CUNY at York College in Jamaica, Queens. He is a certified public accountant as well as a certified internal auditor. Before joining NYCEDC, Spencer spent several years conducting audits throughout the east coast for a hotel and restaurant employee’s union trust fund.

Francisco Pineda
Executive Vice President, Asset Management

Francisco comes to NYCEDC with over 20 years of leadership and operational experience across the private and academic sectors—leading acquisitions, scaling teams, re-positioning assets, and delivering real estate, energy, and construction projects. He was most recently the Program Chair of the Columbia Graduate Program for Construction, a member of the Columbia University Faculty, and Director of the Columbia Construction Diversity Initiative. In addition, he served on President Biden’s Infrastructure Policy Committee and continues to serve in the US Naval Reserves as a logistics officer. 

Francisco holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and is a PhD candidate in urban infrastructure systems at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering.

Christina Rausch
Executive Vice President, Real Estate Transaction Services

Christina co-leads NYCEDC’s Real Estate Transaction Services department, leading public-private partnerships to activate City-owned property and providing transaction advisory services to support inclusive economic growth. Prior to joining NYCEDC, Christina was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, where she advised strategic transactions including financings. Prior to Goldman Sachs, she worked in community and economic development strategy. Christina has a bachelor’s degree from NYU, a master’s degree in social work with a concentration in community development from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA from Duke University with a dual concentration in corporate and investment finance.

Jonathan Schulhof
Executive Vice President, Initiatives

Jon has 20 years of investment experience in venture capital and private equity serving as co-founder and CEO of FootPrint Coalition Ventures, a VC firm with 26 investments in sustainable technology companies; and GTI Capital Group, an India-focused private equity firm. He previously started and monetized several VC-backed sustainable tech companies including ColdWatt (sold to Flex), Glori Energy (IPO on Nasdaq), and Motivate, operator of Citibike (sold to Lyft). In addition to his cleantech work, Jon is a technology angel investor. He serves on the Board of Saturn Technologies, FootPrint Coalition Ventures, and GTI Capital Group, as well as the Urban Resiliency Board for the New York City Partnership. Jon holds a law degree from Stanford and attended Dartmouth College.

Jennifer Sun
Executive Vice President, Planning

Jennifer Sun leads the Planning Division, which brings together the Land Use, Neighborhood Strategies, and Transportation departments to shape the growth of neighborhoods and business districts, and the sustainable movement of people and goods. She brings 20 years of neighborhood planning and economic development experience in the public and nonprofit sectors, including two prior stints at NYCEDC as the first Executive Director of Sunset Park in Asset Management, and as Senior Vice President leading Bronx and Upper Manhattan projects in Planning. In addition to NYCEDC, Jennifer has managed economic development initiatives in the Mayor’s Office and implementation of the Community Parks Initiative at NYC Parks. Prior to rejoining NYCEDC, Jennifer was Co-Executive Director of Asian Americans for Equality, a NYC-based community development organization. She holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and East Asian studies from UCLA, and a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University. She lives in New York with her husband and two kids.

Robert Vera
Executive Vice President, City Budget and Revenue

Robert Vera leads the City Budget and Revenue division, which includes the Budget, Grants, and Contracts departments. Robert oversees NYCEDC’s capital, expense, and grants budget, which totals over $8B in City funding. He works closely with the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop the mayor’s annual capital and expense budgets and to secure new funding for critical economic development projects for the City of New York.

Robert brings over 10 years of City budgeting experience. His previous roles include Chief of Capital Fiscal Management at New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks), where he oversaw their budget, accounting, grants, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) teams, including the $5B+ capital budget. Prior to NYC Parks, Robert worked at OMB where he oversaw a portion of the $4.2B grant administered by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Hurricane Sandy. Most recently, Robert led NYCEDC’s budget team.

Robert holds a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in political science. He’s a native New Yorker and lives in Queens with his wife and son.

James Wong
Executive Vice President and Executive Director, NYC Ferry

James serves as the Executive Director for NYC Ferry. He began working at NYCEDC in 2014 in a planning role for passenger ferries, a nascent idea when the East River Ferry was still a pilot service. Since then, James has overseen the planning, implementation, and launch of the NYC Ferry system, which opened in May 2017 and now serves over 6 million riders annually. He built a dedicated department and leads an agency-wide effort to ensure the safe and efficient operation of ferries. Today, he manages a team that handles NYC Ferry contracting, finance, operations, and the fleet of vessels, while overseeing other NYCEDC work in connection with landing maintenance and delivery of new ferry facilities.

A transportation planner and engineer by education, James previously consulted on street design, transit operations, and corridor planning projects for cities around the United States and abroad. He has published multiple peer-reviewed research articles on transit data, operations, and system management. James has a bachelor’s of science in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and master’s degrees in civil engineering and city and regional planning from Georgia Tech. He lives in Brooklyn and is an avid volleyball player.