Launching Your Development Company
1pm - 1:45pm - Room LER 555
Karim Hutson - Moderator
Founder & Managing Member
Karim founded Genesis in 2004. Under his stewardship Genesis Companies has grown rapidly into a full-service real estate development firm focused on the development of affordable and mixed income housing. Over the years, Genesis has developed a reputation for turning around underutilized or under-performing real estate assets into quality, energy-efficient projects that enhance urban centers while remaining accessible to the residents of these communities.
Karim’s dedication to community development extends to his personal life as well. A resident of Harlem, he is actively involved in a multitude of community and charitable organizations. Karim is a Member of the Board of Advisors for the NYC Independent Budget Office, Member of the Dean’s Council for Harvard Divinity School, Trustee of the New York Theological Seminary, Trustee of the Randall’s Island Park Alliance Board, Member of the Reform Leadership Council for Vera Institute of Justice and Trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission.
Karim holds a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from Amherst College, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School. Prior to founding Genesis, Hutson was a Vice President at Full Spectrum of NY, Investment Banker with Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs in New York City and a Private Equity Investor with General Atlantic in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Karim is married to Luz Elenia Gandulla-Hutson and has two daughters.
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Valerie White
Executive Director
As Executive Director of LISC NYC, Valerie is responsible for advancing a platform of racial and economic equity by building on $3.1 billion in LISC NYC investments to spur affordable housing, economic development, health equity, and workforce development in underserved neighborhoods. In this role, Valerie leads the team in developing a vision, and advancing strategic policies and programs that foster equity and inclusion in disinvested communities. Before joining LISC NYC in April 2020, Valerie was executive vice president at Empire State Development (ESD), as well as executive director of the New York State Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development. Previously, she was vice president at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. Valerie also spent 17 years at Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P); leading the public finance structured and affordable housing business as managing director. In addition to her extensive professional experience, she also serves on the advisory board for the Fordham Urban Law Center, and is a director on the Fordham Law Alumni Association. Valerie holds both a bachelor’s degree in communications and a law degree from Fordham University, as well as a master’s degree and certificate in organization development from The New School. Email Valerie
Chris Bramwell
CEO
R. Christopher Bramwell, Jr. is a second-generation real estate professional and investor with over 25 years of industry experience. His passion for community development led him to co-found CB Emmanuel Realty LLC (CBE) with his partner Ben Upshaw in 2005. He is also a founding member and co-chair of the New York Real Estate Chamber (NYREC).
His leadership, combined with CBE’s innovative investments, has garnered widespread recognition from notable organizations such as the Citizens Housing Planning Council of New York City and the Westchester Clubmen. Chris actively seeks opportunities to mentor young professionals of color to expose them to the myriad opportunities in the real estate industry.
Chris has served as President of Shinda Management Corporation (SMC), a MBE certified property management firm which he now co-chairs. He sits on various boards and serves as a trustee of Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Chris is a proud graduate of SUNY New Paltz and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business, NYS real estate brokers license and multiple Tax Credit and Property Management certifications
Randall Powell
Co-Founder and CEO
Randall holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Urban Affairs with a concentration in Housing and Community Development from CUNY’s Hunter College and is a licensed New York State Real Estate Broker. Throughout his career Randall has served in various leadership positions for nonprofit affordable housing development companies; during which time he closed on over 1000 units. He is a Certified Property Manager (CPM) with the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) as well a Real Property Administrator (RPA) with BOMI International (BOMI). He received an award from Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) for Certified Property Manager of the Year for 2019. Throughout the years, Randall has served as a project, construction and property manager in the public and private housing development industry. His experiences include project and construction management, underwriting modeling/analysis, managing the predevelopment due diligence process and project closeout. Randall has worked with various developers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, banks, community and civic leaders, always with the commitment of completing projects on time and within budget.
Thomas Campbell
Founder
Thomas Campbell is a founder and principal of Thorobird Companies LLC, leading development, acquisitions and operational strategy. Thomas also serves on the Albany Budget and the New York City Budget Committees of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing. Prior to founding Thorobird, Thomas worked in Finance for Merrill Lynch managing a $300,000,000 portfolio of investments and later for Morgan Stanley as an institutional advisor to corporations.