The founder and chairman of Samuels & Associates, Steve Samuels has built a team of professionals committed to the core principles of the firm — place making, community engagement, and positive street level experiences. “I see the intersection of creativity and functional practicality as the firm’s greatest strength,” he notes, “we come up with out-of-the-box solutions and bring them into reality. Everybody here carries a very distinct tool to the dance to be able to get the job done.”A third generation developer, Steve has been involved in the development world since he entered Ohio State University to study real estate.

Steve is also an avid guitarist, skier, tennis player, and hiker, with a penchant for making things with his hands. “I have a multitude of interests outside of the business,” he points out.

Steve serves on the Board of Trustees at The Park School on Building & Grounds Committee in addition to his Board of Trustees role at Emerson, where he has been an important supporter of the institution’s expansion in downtown Boston and Los Angeles. He also holds an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Emerson College.

Kenzie Bok is a lifelong Bostonian who grew up in the small downtown neighborhood of Bay Village. She cares passionately about making Boston a great city for people from all walks of life and all stages of life to flourish and put down roots. With a background in affordable housing, budget analysis, and civic engagement, Councilor Bok was elected to represent District 8 on the Boston City Council on November 5, 2019. Her district includes Mission Hill, Longwood, Audubon Circle, Fenway, Kenmore, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the West End. At 30, she is currently the youngest serving Councilor.

Prior to her election, Councilor Bok was the Senior Advisor for Policy and Planning at the Boston Housing Authority. She also previously served as Budget Director for another city council office. As a citizen, Bok helped lead the successful 2016 ballot initiative campaign to enact the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in Boston. She serves on the board of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) and on the vestry of Trinity Church in Copley Square. Bok also formerly held community leadership roles as part of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, the Back Bay Gateway CAC, the Spark Boston Council, the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee, and the Democratic State Committee. She lives on Beacon Hill, where her family has been deeply involved in neighborhood life for more than 65 years.

Councilor Bok’s priorities include increasing housing affordability (both rental and homeownership) at every income level to anchor our families and seniors, improving our transportation system and public infrastructure to move people around more safely, efficiently, and equitably (whether by foot, bike, bus, subway, or car), ensuring excellent schools for all Boston’s children and great career opportunities for our youth, and making Boston a model for how to tackle climate change. In an increasingly unequal city, she is invested in partnering with the city’s non-profit and for-profit institutions to accountably share resources in pursuit of greater equity. Councilor Bok is committed to providing excellent constituent services, a voice for community planning of responsible development, and strong stewardship of public land and public assets like parks and libraries.

After graduating from Harvard College, Bok earned an M.Phil and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Cambridge in England as a Marshall Scholar. She holds a lectureship at Harvard University, where she has taught courses on “Justice in Housing” and the philosopher John Rawls.

Residential Architecture Magazine named David to their Hall of Fame as “the person we call to ask about cities.” In recent years he created the City of Boston’s first plan for what became Boston’s Seaport District, led planning for post-Katrina New Orleans, revitalized downtowns for cities large and small, and initiated a broad reappraisal of the role of density in building more livable, resilient, and equitable communities.

His impact has not gone unnoticed—he’s won dozens of awards from Congress for the New Urbanism, the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, and the International Downtown Association. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, David was honored with the Institute’s Thomas Jefferson Medal for “a lifetime of creating livable neighborhoods, vibrant civic spaces, and vital downtowns.”

David co-authored Urban Design for an Urban Century (Wiley, 2015) with Lance Brown FAIA and co-edited Suburban Remix: Creating the next generation of urban places (Island Press, 2018) with Jason Beske AICP.

Ronald M. Druker, President of the Druker Company is publicly known in Boston for the mixed-use developments he has created

throughout the City such as Heritage on the Garden, The Colonnade Hotel and Residencies on Huntington Avenue and Atelier/505 in

Boston’s South End. His allegiance to Boston is evident in the finely designed buildings he creates and the extraordinary efforts he expends in helping guide the design of Boston’s growth. Privately he is known for his commitment to the Boston community and the city’s arts and cultural life.

The Druker Company, begun by Ron’s grandfather and recognized as a leader in downtown revitalization, remains one of

the oldest and most respected real estate development firms in Boston. Today, Ron’s commitment to preserving the city’s history is largely responsible for the company’s continued reputation as a force in creating a livable and manageable city.

Damien Chaviano is a real estate professional with strengths in all aspects of real estate financing, management and development. Damien marries a vision for outstanding placemaking with an understanding of how to permit, finance and market projects. He has applied this skill set to projects ranging from free standing single use buildings to large mixed-use projects in urban and suburban communities.

At MARK Development (MD), Damien is involved in all facets of the development process, including leading roles in permitting, project design and marketing. He has direct responsibility for the capital structuring and deal underwriting of the company’s mixed-use projects. Since joining MD, Damien has helped source a pipeline of 2.0+ million square feet of development, with an estimated total project cost of $1.0 Billion. To capitalize the portfolio, Damien has identified strategic partnerships with both high net worth investors and institutional capital sources with a long term “generational” investment horizon.

Before joining MD, Damien was part of the Samuels & Associates team responsible for bringing several notable projects to the Fenway and Allston neighborhoods in downtown Boston. In addition to participating in acquisition efforts, Damien sourced structured debt (including EB 5), preferred equity and common equity for projects such as Pierce Boston, Continuum, Van Ness, Verb Hotel and Landmark Center (401 Park).

Outside of the office, Damien serves on the board of Milagros Para Ninos at Children’s Hospital and serves as a Director of O’Brien Brothers, a Burlington Vermont based development company. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Urban Mixed use Product Council and volunteers with College for Every Student, a nonprofit that helps underserved youth “prepare for, gain access to and succeed in college.” Damien also sits on the real estate committee of the Newton Needham Chamber. He was recently named to Boston Business Journal’s “40 under 40.” Damien is graduate of Middlebury College and received a MSRED from MIT.

At Fenway CDC, Suneeth’s focus is on sourcing development opportunities and bringing them to life in order to strengthen the Fenway community. He enjoys building connections with development partners, local institutions, financing sources and government agencies to ensure results for internal and external stakeholders alike. Suneeth has 15+ years of experience working on domestic and international projects and has worn multiple hats in his career including those of architect, landscape architect, urban designer, real estate development manager, underwriter among others.

Suneeth’s career has been informed and enriched by volunteer leadership positions in participatory planning and affordable housing development. He is the President of the Board of Metro West Collaborative Development, a CDC focused on improving affordable housing opportunities in Boston’s western suburbs. Suneeth is also a former member of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in Watertown, MA. Trained in architecture and landscape architecture, Suneeth also holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED).

In addition to his work and commitment to thoughtful community driven development, Suneeth continues to explore developing more cost effective building methods with a focused effort on modular construction and enhancing offsite fabrication capacity in the Northeast.

Jerrod Delaine, Chief Executive Officer of Legacy, he has a Bachelor’s Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Architecture from Florida A & M University School of Architecture and Environmental Technology as well as a Master of Science degree from New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate. As a seasoned Real Estate Developer with over a decade of experience, Jerrod has amassed a skill set that includes Design, Construction, Finance, Affordable Housing, and Asset Management.

Jerrod spent the first five years of his career at Forum Architecture and Interior Design, the majority of his efforts focused on project managing affordable housing projects in the southeast region of the United States. As an academic, he serves as an adjunct professor at both his alma mater, NYU, and Pratt, educating Graduate and Undergraduate students on development, public-private partnerships, urban economics, and portfolio management. After spending 8 years as the Director of Development at Carthage Real Estate Advisors, Jerrod cemented his role as a thought leader in urban housing policy. He is committed to utilizing access to capital markets, improving communities through real estate finance and development.

Ben Pleat is CEO and Founder of Cobu, a real estate technology and services company that is changing the apartment living experience by powering genuine community through technology, experiences, and analytics. As a New York native, Ben has seen first hand just how impactful a sense of community can be toward bringing a sense of belonging to a physical space. Ben is constantly fascinated by innovation in the built world, and has explored the nexus of real estate and technology while with companies like WeWork, Goldman Sachs, and Israel Cleantech Ventures. Ben is based in Downtown Boston with his team.