Philadelphia Affordable Housing Summit

While completing his Masters Degree from The American University in Cairo, Egypt, Rushdy began his construction engineering career with a position as a Planning Engineer on the construction of the first-ever cement plant in Sinai, Egypt. He then moved to Kuwait for two years, where he served as the planning and project controls Engineer for the construction of Kuwait’s first Olympic stadium. Rushdy moved to the United States in 2004. He took a position with Toll Brothers and enrolled in the company’s one-year Assistant Project Manager-in-Training program, which typically is followed by a three-year assignment as an Assistant Project Manager. Within just three months of starting the training program, though, Rushdy’s skill set in analyzing and leading teams was recognized. He was pulled out of the training program and given his first assignment: a 128-unit single family development in East Bay, San Francisco. That project was one of 10 jobs in a Master Plan community, and Rushdy used his experience to develop systems and methods to get the development contracted in record time and within budget -- a rarity for a development of that size. Within months of getting his Assistant Project Manager assignment, Rushdy was promoted to Project Manager. In that new role, he was asked to work with Toll Brothers’ Philadelphia Division to lead an effort to build, sell and deliver phase 1 of Naval Square -- one of Toll Brothers’ highest profile new developments in the city at the time. Within less than a year in Philadelphia, Rushdy exceeded closings projections by over 30% and was promoted again to Naval Square’s Senior Project Manager. By age 27, Rushdy was leading a team of 25 people and responsible for a budget of more than $100 million. In early 2007, Rushdy was recruited by a regional developer, Westrum Development Company, as General Manager to launch, contract and hire a team for Philadelphia’s largest active adult community: The Arbors at Eagle Pointe, consisting of approximately 400 homes. Following the financial crash in late 2008, Rushdy also was assigned all of Westrum’s Philadelphia developments and took over the acquisition role for Westrum in 2011. Once the financial crash hit, Rushdy teamed up with Larry McKnight, a colleague from Westrum, to start developing single lot infills in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood. Their investments in the area have contributed to the revival that the city’s river wards neighborhoods -- Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Kensington, Port Richmond, etc. -- are experiencing. Now nearly 10 years later, Rushdy and McKnight are business partners at The Riverwards Group, which employs 12 staffers and 30 contractors. What started as five homes per year in 2012 has grown to 110 homes completed in 2019, and plans to deliver 400 homes over the next three years. In 2018, The Riverwards Group brought in revenues close to $35 million. The Riverwards Group, where Rushdy serves as Managing Partner, has completed more than 60 projects in Philadelphia’s booming riverwards neighborhoods, totaling close to 500 mainly single-family homes delivered over the last eight years. Under Rushdy’s leadership, the company currently is working on the following projects:

Lindsey Samsi joined Pennrose in 2016. As a member of the real estate development team, she assumes full responsibility for the successful completion of multi-faceted real estate development projects – affordable, mixed-income, and market-rate – from inception through construction completion and lease-up. She is responsible for the leadership of an in- house team of Associate Developers and Assistant Developers, and simultaneously assembles and manages an external team of financiers, architects, designers, engineers, attorneys, and contractors. Lindsey manages multiple projects in varying stages of development throughout the City of Philadelphia, PA, and NJ. In addition to her work at Pennrose, Lindsey is a member of the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAF) Impact Development Roundtable (IDR), Women in Housing and Finance of Pennsylvania (WHF-PA), Facilities Committee of the Board of Directors for the Community Partnership School (CPS), Signature Events Development Committee of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC), and the Annual Giving Committee of the Pennrose Foundation. Lindsey graduated from Temple University.

Ken is an active entrepreneur and real estate developer in the Philadelphia area. He serves as President of Philly Office Retail, which has renovated and restored more than 300 vacant and deteriorated commercial and residential units in the Philadelphia region during the past 30 years. Philly Office Retail currently owns and manages more than 800,000 square feet of commercial and residential space in the Philadelphia region and has received four Preservation Alliance Awards for its adaptive reuse projects. Ken founded and operated Cresheim Cottage Cafe from 1996 until 2004, Trolley Car Diner, Deli and Ice Cream Shoppe in Mt. Airy from 2000 until 2019 and Trolley Car Cafe, serving breakfast and lunch and hosting private events in East Falls since 2010. Previously, Ken served as Chief of Staff for Philadelphia City Councilwoman Happy Fernandez from 1991-1995 and currently serves as President of the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), as a Mayoral appointee, and Chair of the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District which he co-founded in 2007. Ken is Founder of the Trolley Car Teacher’s Fund, which contributes $25,000/year in grants to public school teachers and Trolley Car Table Tennis Club, the only full-time table tennis club in the Philadelphia region. Ken was an Organizer/Board Member of Valley Green Bank for 8 years until it was sold to Univest Bank in January 2015. Ken regularly lectures on subjects ranging from real estate development to entrepreneurship to social impact investing and taught a graduate level class, entitled “Empowering Communities Through Real Estate Development,” at University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. In 2015, Ken founded Jumpstart Germantown, an award-winning community development program that works to revitalize the Germantown section of Philadelphia, and surrounding communities, by providing training, mentoring, networking and financial resources to local aspiring developers. Now with seven Programs throughout the City of Philadelphia, Jumpstart Philly has graduated more than 1,000 mentees from its training programs and made hundreds of loans to its participants. In 2004, Ken was awarded the Business Leader of the Year Award by West Mt. Airy Neighbors, in 2005 was given the Community Service Award by the Center City Proprietors Association, in 2006 was named one of Philadelphia’s 101 Connectors by Leadership Philadelphia, in 2009 received the Distinguished Leadership Award by Community College of Philadelphia, in 2010 received the My Block, My Business Award by the Empowerment Group, in 2011 was awarded the Edgar Baker Community Service Award by East Mt. Airy Neighbors, the 2012 Retailer of the Year Award by the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and was honored by the Philadelphia Parks Alliance in 2013. In 2015, Ken received honors by the Waldorf School of Philadelphia, the Wissahickon Charter School and the Philadelphia Business Journal as “Do Gooder of the Year.” In 2018, Ken was honored by Mt. Airy USA and Historic Germantown as a community champion, by the Commonwealth Youth Choirs with its Founder’s Award, by SustainPHL with its Social Impact Award and by the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia with its ImpactPHL Award. Ken’s mission is to revitalize neighborhoods by renovating vacant, deteriorated properties along Philadelphia’s commercial corridors. He believes that you can do well by doing good.

Dionna Sargent earned a B.B.A with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance from Temple University and holds a M.P.A. from the University of Delaware. She has over fifteen years of educational and professional experience in business and public administration within the real estate and finance industry. She has focused her career development goals and objectives on issues surrounding affordable housing, community development, and homelessness. Dionna currently serves as the Vice President of Community Connection for Cinnaire Corporation, a nonprofit organization in Wilmington, Delaware, where she helps advance comprehensive community development objectives in Wilmington neighborhoods. In her role she works with local organizations to help implement revitalization objectives through technical assistance and obtaining access to capital in order to create healthy and sustainable communities. Dionna is a lifelong community servant, always searching for opportunities to serve and expose herself to different cultures and experiences to understand diverse needs and perspectives. She is passionate about improving communities and serves on the board of the Central Baptist Community Development Corporation, Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County, REACH Riverside and Theatrical Delights. She is also a proud member the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc., Delaware Chapter and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Zeta Omega Chapter. Dionna’s service work is driven by her “Why” – her belief that all communities should have access to the resources they need, and that people should live in an environment where there is hope, opportunities, and advantages.

Joseph Duffey is CEO and President of NewCourtland, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit dedicated to improving health equity by accelerating access to coordinated health, housing, and social services in Philadelphia. NewCourtland services include operating a nursing home, senior centers, and supportive housing for older adults, veterans, and previously homeless individuals.

Ben helps create places that empower communities and ecosystems to thrive. A licensed architect and graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Ben has been part of Union Studio since 2014 and started their Philadelphia office in 2019. Ben was drawn to Union’s mission-driven work at a variety of scales and their commitment to the civic & environmental responsibility of buildings. He has worked on community planning initiatives, existing building retrofits, and affordable, student, and net-zero housing projects across the country. Ben is an active ULI member, a volunteer with the Community Design Collaborative, and sings with the Chestnut Street Singers.

Scott Zuckerman has been with Domus since 1998 and has been a partner for the last 16 years. He brings over 35 years of construction experience to the Domus team. Scott joined Domus with a background in real estate, financing, and project management. He currently directs the firm’s business development, marketing and estimating team and sits on the board of PAGP and the Development Committee of PACDC.

Matt is VP of Commercial Risk Management & Insurance at JKJ and co-leads the Real Estate and Construction Practice. The two industries have always been an area of interest for Matt, coming from a labor background working as a homebuilder and commercial roofer years ago. Matt is an active member of the Philadelphia Chapters of the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) and NAIOP, The Commercial Real Estate Development Association.

Heidi joined Inglis as the Executive Director of the Inglis Housing Corporation (IHC) in 2023. She leads the development and management of IHC, including its 11+ properties throughout the Philadelphia area and New Jersey. She brings more than 20 years of experience specializing in non-profit strategy, overseeing investment portfolios, and reshaping processes to improve optimal operational efficiency while aligning them with organizations’ mission and values. Prior to joining Inglis she served as the Senior Community Manager at Conifer, LLC, and as a Consultant/ Assistant Housing Director at Pathways to Housing PA. Heidi is a graduate of Pierce College and Capella University, with a Masters in Non-profit Management & Leadership, as well as an MBA.

Dyann Roth is the President & CEO at Inglis, bringing over three decades of nonprofit leadership experience with a strong focus on human services and housing. She is deeply committed to empowering people with disabilities by providing long-term care, accessible housing, and comprehensive support services. Throughout her career, Roth has held key leadership roles where she successfully spearheaded program development and strategic planning initiatives. At Inglis, she has been instrumental in expanding innovative housing solutions that foster independence and community integration for individuals with disabilities. Her expertise in aligning mission-driven goals with sustainable growth continues to position Inglis as a leader in creating inclusive living environments. Dyann holds a Bachelor of Arts from Penn State University and a Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.