Steven Rubenstein became ABNY’s Chairman on January 1, 2018. He is the President of RUBENSTEIN, the legendary New York City strategic communications agency founded by his father, Howard J. Rubenstein, in 1954.

Serving New York has been in Mr. Rubenstein’s DNA since his father co-founded ABNY with Lewis Rudin in the 1970s. Through his professional work as an advisor to a wide range of New York leaders, as well as his personal pursuits in support of City philanthropy and civic organizations, Mr. Rubenstein has been a committed champion for New York City.

At RUBENSTEIN, Mr. Rubenstein oversees the day-to-day operations of the firm, drives innovation and growth across 13 practice groups, and sets the direction for RUBENSTEIN’S continued leadership within the strategic communications field. He has helped organizations in finance, real estate, media, culture, social service, entertainment, and sports tell their stories and expand their reach in New York, as well as nationally and globally.

Outside the firm, he serves on the boards of directors of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, Friends of the High Line, 92nd Street Y, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and Reboot, a national idea incubator that strives to make Jewish life meaningful to a new generation.

Prior to accepting the Chairmanship of ABNY and the ABNY Foundation, Mr. Rubenstein served on their Boards of Directors and as Vice-Chair.

Alan van Capelle is a nationally recognized leader in the field of civil rights and social justice. He is the Executive Director of Friends of The High Line. Previously, as President and CEO of Educational Alliance, he led a network of community centers that bring together and partner with diverse communities in Lower Manhattan, offering individuals and families high-quality, multi-generational programs and services that enhance their well-being and socio-economic opportunities.

Mr. van Capelle began his career as an organizer and contract negotiator in the labor movement, eventually running the day-to-day political operations of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ. As CEO of Bend the Arc he catapulted the organization to the forefront of the national progressive landscape. Mr. van Capelle won major legislative victories for LGBTQ rights as Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, and was the leading architect of the campaign for marriage equality in New York. Prior to joining Educational Alliance, Mr. van Capelle served as Deputy Comptroller for the City of New York, advising the agency on all matters involving public policy, media, and community relations, and was a member of the New York City Banking Commission.

City & State ranked Mr. van Capelle #33 on its 2021 Nonprofit Power 100 list, which ranks figures who have spearheaded major accomplishments, dug into political and policy issues, connected with powerful elected officials, and provided for their communities across New York State. He was also recognized on the Crain’s New York Business 2021 Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives list. He has also been named to The National Leadership Council’s 40 Under 40 list, and the Jewish Daily Forward’s Forward 50, and was recognized by the New York Observer as one of New York’s top “power gays.”

A lover of all things New York, Mr. van Capelle serves as treasurer of the Board for the Association of a Better New York (ABNY) and is a member of the City University of New York (CUNY) LGBTQ Council. He is also a trustee of the City University Construction Fund (CUCF), having been nominated for its Board by Governor Andrew Cuomo. He served on the transition committees for Governor Eliot Spitzer, then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Attorney General Letitia James, was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to the Children’s Cabinet Advisory Committee, and is a former member of Manhattan’s Community Board 3. He was also selected as an elector of the 2008 New York Electoral College. Mr. van Capelle earned his MPA from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, where he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor and teaches on organizational culture, and a Bachelor of Science from the City University of New York. Mr. van Capelle lives with his husband, Matthew Morningstar, on the Lower East Side where they are raising their two children, Ethan and Patrick.

Teresa Gonzalez is a partner at Bolton St. Johns, where she brings her expertise on stakeholder and community engagement, land use matters and city lobbying to nonprofit, real estate, and corporate clients. She is also a co-founder of DalyGonzalez, an M/WBE boutique lobbying firm, where she helps public and private institutions build and increase capacity, establish meaningful partnerships, and navigate complex government and community issues.

Ms. Gonzalez has an extensive background in government and public relations in New York City, including serving as Communications Director and Chief of Staff at the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU), and as Deputy Press Secretary at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs during the Bloomberg administration. She has held several leadership positions at cultural institutions throughout her career including at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Brooklyn Arts Council and Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York, and at the Museum for Contemporary Crafts in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Gonzalez has been recognized for her work by the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as a “Women in Business” award winner in 2019 and as part of City and State Magazine’s “Above & Beyond” list of accomplished women leaders in 2020. She received her bachelor’s degree in English/Professional Writing from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and received a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Milano – The New School.

Ms. Gonzalez sits on the boards of the New York Immigration Coalition, NYIC Action, The New Majority NYC, the New York Women’s Foundation, Hester Street Collaborative and is a member of the Fund for Public Housing’s Advisory Council. She resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where she was born and raised.

Bob Lehrman serves as Special Counsel and Senior Advisor to several organizations in the banking, real estate, and not-for-profit fields. He is a Trustee of the Community Capital Trust (including the CCM Community Impact Bond Fund) and is Governance Committee Chairman.

Mr. Lehrman was formerly President/CEO of the Community Bankers Association of New York, and of the American Forest Foundation. Previously he served as a Con Edison senior executive and government lawyer. He also had been a Board Member of Community Capital Bank and Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

He has been active in various civic and philanthropic groups, including ABNY and the ABNY Foundation (Founding Chair of the Audit/Finance Committee), Citizens Housing and Planning Council, Community Preservation Corporation, FEGS Health and Human Services (formerly President), New York Society of Association Executives (former Chair), and One Hundred Year Association/New York. He served for nearly twenty years as Chairman of the New York/National Housing Conference Annual Awards Luncheon.

Patricia Ornst serves as managing director for Delta’s state and local government affairs efforts in New York, where her work helps Delta develop and achieve its key strategic objectives throughout the state. Ornst brings more than 15 years of experience in the aviation industry. Prior to joining Delta, she was a director of state and local government affairs for the Northeast region at American Airlines. She also served as vice president, aviation, for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she led aviation strategy for New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. Earlier in her career, she spent nearly seven years at Airports Council International-North America as director of legislative affairs.

Ornst, who grew up in New York and the Czech Republic, has a degree in political science from Susquehanna University. She was named to City and State’s “40 under 40” list of rising political stars in New York in 2012. She currently serves as a Mayoral appointee on both the Workforce Development Board and the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Alliance, Queens. She also serves on the board of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden on Staten Island.

Jennifer J. Raab is the 13th President of Hunter College, the largest college of the City University of New York.

Since her tenure began in 2001, President Raab has been responsible for raising more than $400 million in philanthropic support for Hunter College. Major accomplishments include the renovation and reopening of the historic Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt House, which is now the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, and the construction of a $131 million home in East Harlem for Hunter’s renowned School of Social Work.

The Princeton Review ranks Hunter College among the best in the nation and has hailed Hunter as the “crown jewel of the CUNY system.” The College has also risen steadily in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings, now standing at 6th among top public regional universities in the North.

As a leader in public higher education, President Raab continues her long career in public service, from lawyer to political campaign adviser to government official.

President Raab previously served as a litigator at two of the nation’s most prestigious law firms—Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Quickly earning a reputation as a strong but fair advocate, she was appointed Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, where she was known for her effective and innovative leadership of the agency that protects and preserves the city’s historic structures and architectural heritage.

Crain’s New York Business named her one of New York’s “100 Most Influential Women in Business” in 2007 and one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” in 2009 and 2011. In 2018, President Raab was honored as a champion of educational opportunity by the Harlem Educational Activities Fund. That same year, she was inducted into the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame and named by City & State to its “Women Power 100” and “Manhattan Power 50” lists. In 2019, she joined the advisory board for Women.nyc, a mayoral initiative to make New York City “the best place in the world for women to succeed.”

A graduate of Hunter College High School, President Raab received a BA with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University, an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Bill Rudin joined the family real estate business in 1979, after graduating from New York University’s School of Business and Public Administration with a Bachelor of Science degree. Bill’s grandfather, Samuel Rudin, founded Rudin Management Company in 1925. In December of 1993, Mr. Rudin was appointed President of the company.

Mr. Rudin worked closely with his family – his father Lewis, uncle Jack, and his cousins and sister alongside the dedicated professionals at Rudin Management Company to manage the Rudin portfolio. The portfolio includes 17 office buildings comprising more than 10 million square feet of Class-A space and 20 luxury apartment buildings. Mr. Rudin has been intimately involved with every major development the Rudin family built since 1979, including 560 Lexington Avenue, 40 East 52nd Street, 1675 Broadway, 3 Times Square, and 32 Avenue of the Americas. Mr. Rudin puts his own personal mark on the family business, giving new life to existing properties through conversion to technology-smart buildings and helping lead the turnaround of Lower Manhattan.

In carrying on the Rudin family tradition of hands-on personal management, Mr. Rudin not only embraced his family responsibilities, but like his grandfather, father, and uncle is actively involved in New York City’s political, civic, and philanthropic life. Mr. Rudin serves on the board of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), an organization co-founded by his father over 50 years ago. ABNY is a coalition of business, labor, and political leaders created in the 1970s to help make New York City a better place to live, work, and visit.

Mr. Rudin serves as Chairman of The Battery Conservancy and former Chairman of The Real Estate Board of New York; he is also the former Chairman of The Real Estate Roundtable. He is a Board Member of the following organizations: The Partnership for New York City, The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University, The New York Center for Autism, The Alliance for Downtown New York, and The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation.

Mr. Rudin is also a member of The Economic Club of New York, The Council on Foreign Relations, and The New York City Marathon Committee.

In addition to lecturing at various educational institutions and real estate industry functions, Mr. Rudin has appeared on many televised shows to discuss real estate and issues that impact New York City.

Mr. Rudin resides in Manhattan with his wife Ophelia, his grown children, Samantha and Michael, and their respective spouses, David and Sabrina. He is a grandfather of two.

Veronica Sullivanis Senior Vice President and Head of Global Production External Affairs & State and Local Government at NBCUniversal.  In this role she is responsible for supporting NBCUniversal production platforms, which include Universal Filmed Entertainment, Universal Studio Group, Telemundo and NBCU’s streaming service Peacock with government regulations, economic development and public affairs initiatives. NBCUniversal, with more than 49.000 employees around the world, was founded in 2004, and today is a leading global entertainment, news and is an audiovisual reference worldwide.

Spain Film Commission recognizes with this mention the professional career of Veronica Sullivan. Her appointment will contribute to strengthening the ties between the powerful North American industry and the Spanish audiovisual ones, which is experiencing a moment of global positioning and expansion, being recognized as the most attractive and competitive European Audiovisual Hub.

With this appointment as Honorary Ambassador, Veronica Sullivan joins a list of relevant personalities such as the ex United States ambassador in Spain, James Costos, the actress Aitana Sánchez Gijón, the actress Emily Blunt, the director of photography, Javier Aguirresarobe, as well as the Indian producer Ramji Natarajan and the filmmaker Terry Gilliam.

Spain Film Commission awards each year this distinction to outstanding professionals in the audiovisual industry who contribute to positioning Spain as a destination for international audiovisual shootings.

Jill Sung is the President & CEO of Abacus Federal Savings Bank. Abacus Bank was started in 1983 by her father, Thomas Sung, to meet the banking needs of the Asian-American community in New York City and later expanded into Edison, NJ and Philadelphia. Abacus Bank is a minority depository institution as defined under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. Abacus Bank’s mission is to provide financial services to consumers and small businesses within its community, the majority of which are low-to-moderate income and first-generation immigrants. Abacus’ goal is to ensure that all members of its community have fair and equal access to the banking system to achieve economic success. Abacus Bank focuses on providing credit to its community for homes and small real estate properties, and also providing credit to small businesses – a need that has taken particular importance given COVID-19. Ms. Sung takes pride in Abacus Bank’s work to help its customers establish their financial “roots” here, from opening their first savings account to buying their first home, to becoming successful small business owners. Ms. Sung has been elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and has served as Chair of ICBA’s Minority Bank Council and Consumer Financial Services Subcommittee for several years. Ms. Sung has an MBA from Wharton, JD from NYU, and a BA from Wesleyan University.

Travis Terry is the Founder and CEO of Immortal Strategies.

He has been at the forefront of change in New York City creating billions of dollars of value for his clients by providing expert advice on public affairs, government relations, branding and business strategy.

His clients have included some of New York City’s most recognized corporate and non-profit brands such as Macy’s, UPS, Times Square Alliance, Rudin Management, Industry City, Friends of the High Line and the Museum of the Moving Image. His work has changed the landscape of NYC— creating public parks, securing billions of dollars in procurement deals, financing and economic incentives, creating impactful laws and gaining approval for historic land use projects.  Travis has also worked closely with hundreds of businesses to help them successfully expand or enter the New York City market.

He has a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing from Cornell University and is a graduate of Coro Leadership New York. Travis lives in Forest Hills, Queens with his wife and three kids and is a passionate sports fan.

Matthew S. Washington is Vice President & Chief of Staff of Phipps Houses, New York City’s oldest and largest nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing. He is responsible for external affairs, government relations, communications and office operations. Matthew also helps coordinate all land use projects and integration of services between Phipps Houses and its social service affiliate, Phipps Neighborhoods.

Prior to joining Phipps, Matthew served as Deputy Manhattan Borough President in the office of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. In that role, he oversaw the distribution of over $130 million in funding to enhance parks, theaters, hospitals, museums, affordable housing developments, community centers and public schools. He was appointed by the Borough President to be on the board of more than 15 organizations, including Business Improvement Districts, Park Conservancies, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, the NYS Regional Economic Development Council for NYC and as a trustee of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System which is the pension fund for over 350,000 active and retired NYC workers. Matthew was named to the 2018 New York City 40 Under 40 Rising Stars list published by City & State New York.

Matthew has a diverse professional background in real estate and non-profit organizational management. He was Deputy Director of External Affairs at The Durst Organization where he managed public affairs for a new development in Queens, worked with the construction and external relations teams on One World Trade Center and worked on other projects including supporting the operation of New York Water Taxi. Matthew was also Deputy Director of Friends of Hudson River Park where he was a part of the team that successfully advocated for the funding to build Hudson River Park on Manhattan’s West Side.

Matthew was a member of the board of numerous organizations over the years and he is particularly proud of the 10 and a half years, he was on Manhattan’s Community Board 11 which represents East Harlem where he was born and raised. He was elected as Chair of the board at 26 and served in that role for 6 years as the youngest community board chair in New York City.

Today, Matthew serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Waterfront Alliance, Green City Force and Randall’s Island Park Alliance. Matthew is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Alfred University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Cultures.