Lee H. Perlman is the Chair of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation. Lifelong New Yorker Lee H. Perlman has dedicated his career to serving others. From 1983 to 2020, he was the driving force behind, and longtime President of, GNYHA Ventures, Inc., the for-profit business arm of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA). As GNYHA Ventures President, Mr. Perlman oversaw a portfolio that included subsidiaries engaged in group purchasing, management outsourcing, and health care consulting. He managed the development of the companies created under GNYHA Ventures, many of which were ultimately sold to Premier, Inc., a national health care improvement company. Under Mr. Perlman’s leadership, GNYHA Ventures developed and sold four companies to Premier, Inc. Mr. Perlman continues his 40 years of service at GNYHA as President of GNYHA Management Corporation and GNYH Foundation and Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative and Financial Officer of GNYHA. A dedicated volunteer and philanthropist, Mr. Perlman devotes significant energy to not-for-profits involved in health care, education, and the arts. In 2023, he received City and State’s Responsible 100 Award, which honors a selection of New Yorkers for their social responsibility and community involvement. In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul appointed him Chairman of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation (Javits Center). Additionally, he is Chairman of the Friends of EverGreen Meadow Academy, Inc., a state-of-the-art residential treatment center and school under construction in the Catskills for middle-school girls recovering from trauma. He also serves as Chairman of the International Sports and Music Project, which brings sports and music opportunities to kids facing hardship across the globe. He previously served as Chairman of LiveOnNY, the New York metropolitan region’s organ procurement organization, and was on the Board of Ronald McDonald House New York. Mr. Perlman is Board President of the Berkshire Theatre Group in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Vice Chair and Compliance Officer of the American Theatre Wing. He also serves on the Boards of Musicians on Call and the Entertainment Community Fund (where he previously served as Treasurer for many years) and was recently named Board President of the Actors Fund Home in New Jersey. Mr. Perlman also serves many Jewish philanthropic agencies. He was recently named Chairman of Commonpoint, a citywide set of Jewish community centers and social services agencies. Additionally, he serves on the Board of the UJA Federation of New York, where he was previously Chair of the Healthcare Executive Committee. Mr. Perlman received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cornell University, where he is a distinguished lecturer for the Brooks School of Public Policy.

Hugh L. Carey II serves as a public-sector restructuring and bankruptcy consultant for Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in advising financially troubled companies. He previously served as a trader at Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, NY, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Joseph Chan serves as the Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Property Management at the YMCA of Greater New York and has more than two decades of experience in community and economic development. Prior to the YMCA of Greater New York, Mr. Chan served for five years as Executive Vice President, Real Estate and Public/Private Partnerships at Empire State Development (ESD), New York State’s chief economic development agency. During his tenure, he oversaw the agency’s large-scale public/private development projects and priorities. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Chan was the founding president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a nonprofit local development corporation. Under his leadership, the company promoted and advanced the growth of downtown Brooklyn, New York City’s third largest central business district. Previously, he served for four years as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development in the New York City’s Mayor Office during the Bloomberg administration. He also has held leadership positions in the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Local Development Corporation of East New York. In 2008, Mr. Chan was named one of Crain’s New York Business’ "40 Under 40." The following year, he received the NYU Wagner School of Public Service Torch Award for Distinguished Young Alumni.

Christy Ferer founded Vidicom a multi-media agency creating branded content and connecting consumers and brands through digital video communities. Its subsidiary, Citybuzz, is a travel channel that is broadcast on the web, in taxis, elevators and in NYC hotels. Ferer began her career as an Emmy award- winning political news reporter and as a lifestyle contributor for the network morning news shows. She also served as a special assistant to Mayor Bloomberg on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site after the 9-11 attacks. Ferer served as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for five year. She has served on boards of The World Trade Center Performing Arts Center and American Corporate Partners. She currently serves on the boards of American Corporate Partners, the 92nd Street Y and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan. In 2010 she was awarded the French Legion of Honor.

Ronald Goldstock is Of Counsel with the Chicago-based law firm, Pugh, Jones and Johnson, P.C. He provides Independent Private-Sector Inspector General (IPSIG), expert witness and investigative services for corporate, union and individual clients. For 10 years, Mr. Goldstock served as the New York State Commissioner of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor and previously served for 13 years as Director of the New York State Organized Crime Task Force. He also has served as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, Director of the Cornell Institute on Organized Crime and Chief of the Rackets Bureau in the New York County District Attorney's office. He is a Past Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section, Past Chairs of the ABA Criminal Justice Standards Committee, the Investigative Function of the Prosecutor Task Force, the Fair Trial Free Press Task Force and is currently Chair of the Monitors Task Force. Mr. Goldstock is on the faculties of New York University, Cornell University and Columbia Law School and has recently served three Northern Ireland Secretaries of State as adviser on matters relating to international organized crime.

Richard N. Gottfried served as a Member of the New York State Assembly for 52 years, elected in 1970 while still in law school. He retired in December 2022, making him the longest-serving member of the Legislature in New York State history. He was a Democrat representing a Manhattan district including Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown, and part of the Upper West Side. In 1979, he was the Assembly sponsor of the legislation creating the New York Convention Center Development Corporation and the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation and was also the author of the law creating Hudson River Park. Since 1987, he had chaired the New York State Assembly Committee on Health and worked to protect funding for Medicaid, community health centers, school health clinics, and other safety net providers, and creating and expanding public health insurance programs in New York, including Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan. He sponsored the N.Y. Health Act to create a universal “improved Medicare for all” single-payer health plan for New York. He was a leading proponent of patient autonomy and reproductive freedom and was the sponsor of the law to allow medical use of marijuana in New York and the HIV Testing and Confidentiality Law. His other legislative work included promoting primary and preventive care; the Health Care Proxy Law; the Family Health Care Decisions Act; and expanding and strengthening the professional stature of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and midwives. He introduced the first Assembly bill to recognize same-sex marriage and sponsored the bill to protect transgender rights under the state Human Rights Law. Mr. Gottfried is a graduate of Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences and Columbia Law School. He is a member of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Art Students League and the China Institute.

Steven C. Koppel serves as a partner at the law firm, Sidley Austin LLP, where he specializes in all aspects of real estate private equity and real estate finance, including a national practice in community development law. With more than 25 years of experience, he represents institutional equity investors throughout the United States and in Europe in the acquisition, development and financing of office buildings, hotels, multifamily housing, public storage facilities, shopping malls and condominium projects. Mr. Koppel sits on the Board of Directors of The Doe Fund, the advisory board of the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the International Advisory Board for the Peres Center for Peace and also serves as a Board Member at Congregation Bnai Jeshurun. He is a graduate of Columbia University and earned his Juris Doctor degree from The George Washington University Law School.

Gary J. Lavine is counsel to Bousquet Holstein PLLC on administrative law. Previously, Mr. Lavine was senior vice president & chief legal officer of Niagara Mohawk Holdings, Inc. and senior vice president, legal & corporate relations of Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation. He served in the U.S. Department of Energy as Deputy General Counsel for Environment & Nuclear Programs managing a portfolio including Assistant General Counsel for International & National Security Programs, Assistant General Counsel for Environment, and Assistant General Counsel for Civilian Nuclear Programs. Mr. Lavine served in a number of staff positions with the New York State Legislature, including Legislative Counsel to the Minority Leader of the Assembly, Counsel to the Senate Committee on Insurance, Executive Director of the Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities & Commissions, and Assistant to the Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment.

Andrew M. Murstein is the founder, Board Member, President and largest shareholder of Medallion Financial Corp., a publicly traded finance Company (NASDAQ:MFIN). Medallion's predecessor company was started in 1937 and has invested over $10 billion since its I.P.O. Mr. Murstein and Medallion Financial Corp. have been featured in articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, American Banker, U.S. Banker, Forbes and many other media outlets. Mr. Murstein received a B.A. graduating cum laude from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from New York University.

Brian O’Dwyer serves Of Counsel to O’Dwyer & Bernstien, LLP, a law firm founded by his late father, Paul, where he specializes in immigration rights, personal injury, labor relations and general commercial litigation. As a strong advocate for immigrants’ rights, Mr. O’Dwyer founded the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, the largest Irish immigrant center in the United States, and has served as chairman and counselor to the Asociacion Tepeyac de New York, which provides advocacy and services to the Mexican community. Mr. O’Dwyer is a graduate of The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish-American literature. He earned his Masters of Arts degree in Spanish-Language literature from Middlebury College in Madrid and received his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University and a Masters in Law from The George Washington University.

Joseph E. Spinnato is President and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc., which represents over 200 hotels, employs over 30,000 people and generates billions of dollars in revenues for the City. He served as Fire Commissioner of New York City during the Koch administration, as First Assistant to the Special Prosecutor for Nursing Homes, and First Assistant to the District Attorney at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors of City Harvest, the Cardinal’s Committee for Charity, Board of Directors of Just One Break, Inc., Board of Directors of the Big Apple Greeters, Inc., and the Board of Trustees of St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in Manhattan. A quintessential New Yorker, Mr. Spinnato was born in Queens and attended public schools there until he entered LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale, NY. He graduated from St. John’s University and received his law degree from the University of Miami Law School in Coral Gables, Florida.

Julie Coker is the President and CEO of New York City Tourism + Conventions, where she heads efforts to promote the five boroughs as one of the world’s leading destinations for leisure and business travel. In her role, Coker oversees initiatives to inspire visitors to discover everything they need to know about what to do and see in NYC, along with a market development team focusing on group, meeting/convention, leisure and events-motivated travel, as well as a communications network and satellite offices across the US and around the globe. She was formerly the President and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA), which, under Coker’s leadership, has been recognized as one of the best, in the business. With Coker at the helm, San Diego was one of the top-performing, US destinations in 2023, ranking third in the nation in hotel occupancy at 73.5%, and SDTA’s groups and conventions business returned to full recovery, surpassing 2019 figures. For fiscal year 2023, under her leadership, San Diego County’s Transient Occupancy Tax generated more than $420 million for regional services; SDTA’s sales and marketing programs delivered a $33 to $1 return on investment, the highest in the organization’s 69-year history; and the retention rate among SDTA members was 99%. Coker’s commitment to serving on boards gives her unique insight and notable influence in the tourism industry. She serves as Vice Chair of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, joining 31 other leaders from the domestic travel and tourism industry in providing advice to the Secretary of Commerce on travel priorities. She is also a member of the executive board of the U.S. Travel Association, and has previously served on the executive boards of Visit California, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the San Diego Lodging Association and Sharp Health Care, and advisory councils for Tourism Diversity Matters and Biocom SD. Additionally, Coker is a member of the San Diego Chapter of the Links, incorporated. In December 2023, she received the Pioneer Award for outstanding contributions to the meeting industry by the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals. She also was recognized as one of the San Diego Business Journal’s 2023 Most Influential People in San Diego and inducted into the All-Time Hall of Fame by Smart Women in Meetings. Previously, Coker served as the President and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), where she oversaw the 2017 NFL Draft and the 2016 Democratic National Convention, which had a combined economic impact of $325 million for Philadelphia. Prior to that, she was PHLCVB’s Executive Vice President, Convention Division, and managed a staff of 25 sales and services professionals responsible for selling the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center and hotel packages to customers across the country. Prior to joining the PHLCVB, Coker was the general manager for the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, where she led all operational aspects of the 350-room hotel. A 21-year Hyatt veteran, she began her career in 1989 as a corporate management trainee at Hyatt Regency Columbus. Throughout her more than two decades with Hyatt, she rose through the ranks in a variety of positions, including assistant front office manager, front office manager, hotel assistant manager, assistant executive housekeeper and general manager. From January 2018 to 2020, she served as co-chair for the U.S. Travel Association’s Meetings Mean Business Coalition and secretary-treasurer for International Association of Exhibitions and Events Executive Committee. From 2016 to 2019, Coker co-chaired the Shared Spaces Initiative to combat homelessness with Philadelphia’s mayor, and in 2016, she served as the chair of Mayor Jim Kenney’s transition team for the Democratic National Convention. In 2021, she was named a Phenomenal Woman in Business in the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Phenomenal Women series. In both 2012 and 2019, the Philadelphia Business Journal named her among their Women of Distinction honorees. She was the 2017 United Negro College Fund Mayor’s Ball Honoree for Civic Leadership and was named one of the Network Journal’s 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business. She also received the Cradle of Liberty Good Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America Cradle of Liberty Council and was the recipient of the 2011 John Wanamaker Award given by the YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity. Coker is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management and graduated magna cum laude.

Jessica Lappin is the President of the Alliance for Downtown New York. The organization manages one of the country’s largest Business Improvement Districts (BID) and provides sanitation and public safety services downtown, serves the street homeless, runs a free bus service, and uses research and marketing to advance Lower Manhattan as a global model of a 21st century Central Business District. A lifelong New Yorker, Lappin has a distinguished record in civic life and public service. Prior to her tenure, Lappin was elected to serve two terms in the New York City Council, representing the Upper East Side, East Midtown, and Roosevelt Island. She serves on the boards of the FDR Memorial and Four Freedoms Park, the NYC BID Association, the American Skin Association, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and the NY Convention Center Operating Corporation - Javits Center. She sits on the Executive Committee of NYC Tourism + Conventions, the Steering Committee of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), and is an Ex Officio board member of the “people’s theater” founded in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello Laguardia, New York City Center. Lappin lives in Manhattan with her husband and two sons. She graduated from Georgetown University, Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude, and from Stuyvesant High School.

Melanie E. La Rocca is Chief Operating Officer of BFC Partners, a full-service developer with expertise in mixed-use and mixed-income developments. At BFC she is responsible for overseeing the firm's workflow, strategy and organization of all essential business processes. She also works closely with the executive team to set and meet business objectives. She previously served the Chief Efficiency Officer of the City of New York, having been named to that role by Mayor Eric Adams in March of 2022. Previously she served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, where she regulated and promoted the safe and lawful use of nearly 1.1 million buildings and more than 45,000 active construction sites. As Commissioner, Melanie furthered the agency’s efforts to create a culture of safety on construction sites and enforce laws to protect all New York City residents, workers, and visitors. Under her leadership, the agency redoubled its modernization efforts, improving response times, bringing clarity and consistency to agency operations, and insisting on the highest standards of integrity, both in the construction industry and within the Department. Before becoming DOB Commissioner, La Rocca was Vice President of Development and External Affairs at the School Construction Authority (SCA), where she oversaw the Authority’s Real Estate Group and worked with communities throughout the city to create new schools for the city’s children. As part of this work, Melanie played a key role in implementing Mayor de Blasio’s Universal Pre-K program. And prior to joining SCA, Commissioner La Rocca served as Chief of Staff to Christine C. Quinn, former Speaker of the New York City Council, and was a member of Queens Community Board 1. She received her bachelor’s degree from Fordham University. La Rocca is a native New Yorker and a lifelong Queens resident.

Peter M. Rivera has worked in all three branches of government for over thirty years. He has served as a New York City Detective, Special Agent with the DEA, Assistant District Attorney with the Homicide Bureau of the Bronx DA’s office, member of the the New York State Assembly and New York State Commissioner of Labor. As a Lawyer, he built one of the largest law firms in Bronx County, with nearly thirty employees. In private practice, he handled several highly publicized cases, and also served as President of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, Chair of The Mayor’s Committee on City Marshals, and Board Member of New York City O.T.B His Assembly District in the East Bronx included several large institutions, including Fordham University, The Bronx Zoo, and The New York Botanical Garden. In Albany, he served as Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Chair of the Puerto Rican Hispanic Task Force, and Dean of The Bronx Delegation. His last appointment was as Speaker Pro-Tem of The New York State Assembly. As Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, he sponsored legislation on Mental Health Parity, teaching social and emotional learning in New York schools, creating mental health courts throughout the state, and building a children’s mental health hospital in Bronx County, among other legislation. As Commissioner of Labor, he helped reduce unemployment in the Bronx and Brooklyn by transferring resources to be able to concentrate state resources on underrepresented communities. He established an ad hoc committee of all the Hispanic Consulates, to focus their country’s resources on work force issues for this underserved population. He received a BBA form Pace College, and his JD from St. John University.

Jessica Walker serves as the President and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, where she is a key advocate and voice for over 125,000 businesses in Manhattan, considered the core of New York City's economy. She is recognized as a dynamic thought leader committed to fostering prosperity in New York. Before joining the Chamber, Ms. Walker was the Vice President for Government Affairs at the Partnership for New York City, where she advised on accelerating economic recovery after the Great Recession of 2008. Earlier in her career, she was a prominent advocate for older New Yorkers at the New York Academy of Medicine, successfully launching Age-friendly New York City, an initiative that led to 59 policy improvements implemented by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She also authored a report at United Neighborhood Houses that highlighted social isolation among seniors, elevating it to a national priority for the AARP Foundation. Currently, Ms. Walker serves on the boards of the Javits Center, United Neighborhood Houses, and Pursuit Lending. She is also an appointed member of Governor Hochul's Regional Economic Development Council for New York City. Her achievements have been recognized with inclusions on City & State's "Manhattan Power 100" and "Economic Development Trailblazers" lists in 2024, and as a "Notable Black Leader" by Crain's New York Business in 2022. She is a graduate of Princeton University, a resident of Harlem, and was raised on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.