Stuart Appelbaum
President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union

Stuart Appelbaum became President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union on May 1, 1998.  He was reelected in 2002, 2006, and 2010.  Appelbaum previously served as International Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, Executive Board Member, Assistant to the President and Coordinator of Special Projects for the union.

Appelbaum is also an International Vice President and member of the Executive Board of the 1.4 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

He serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store International Union and Industry Benefit Funds.

Appelbaum is the President of the Jewish Labor Committee.

He is an officer of two global union federations:  IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations) and UNI (Union Network International). He is a Vice President of the Consortium for Worker Education.

Prior to the disaffiliation of the UFCW from the AFL-CIO, Appelbaum served as a Vice President of the national AFL-CIO and a member of the federation’s Executive Council from 1998 until 2005. He also currently serves as a vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO and the New York City Central Labor Council.

Appelbaum previously served as Chief House Counsel of the Democratic National Committee. He also previously worked for the Michigan State AFL-CIO, and as Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the State of Connecticut.
 
Appelbaum was elected a delegate to the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Democratic National Conventions and an alternate delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention.  In 2008, he served as a member of the Electoral College as an Obama elector from New York.

Appelbaum is a summa cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, where he was named a Louis Dembitz Brandeis Scholar and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  He graduated with honors from Harvard Law School.  He is a member of the bar of the State of Connecticut.  Appelbaum resides in New York City.

Dan Glickman
Former Congressman and U.S. Agriculture Secretary; Current Executive Director, Aspen Institute Congressional Program

Dan Glickman is the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program, a nongovernmental, nonpartisan educational program for members of the United States Congress. The program provides lawmakers with a stronger grasp of critical public policy issues by convening high-level conferences and breakfast meetings in which legislators are brought together with internationally-recognized academics, experts and leaders to study the issues and explore various policy alternatives.

He served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Under his leadership, the Department administered farm and conservation programs; modernized food safety regulations; forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets; and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights. 


Before his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture, Glickman served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. Moreover, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee; Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy.

Glickman is also a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.  The BPC was formed in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell to develop and promote bipartisan solutions to the country’s problems and to promote civility in government.

Glickman served as Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) from 2004 until 2010.

Prior to joining the MPAA, he was the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (2002-2004).

Before his election to Congress in 1976, Glickman served as president of the Wichita School Board; was a partner in the law firm of Sargent, Klenda and Glickman; and worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from The George Washington University. He is a member of the Kansas and District of Columbia Bars.

Glickman is also on the board of directors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Communities in Schools; Food Research and Action Center, a domestic anti-hunger organization; National 4-H Council; and the Center for U.S. Global Engagement, where he is Chair of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.  He co-chairs an initiative of eight foundations, administered by the Meridian Institute, to look at long-term implications of food and agricultural policy.  He chairs an initiative at the Institute of Medicine on accelerating progress on childhood obesity. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a senior fellow of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, the Council on American Politics at The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, and is Vice-Chair of the World Food Program-USA.  He is the co-chair of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' global agricultural development initiative.  He is the author of “Farm Futures,” in Foreign Affairs (May/June 2009).

David Hopkins
Vice President and Director of Aviation, New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC)

David Hopkins serves as Vice President and Director of Aviation at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Note: (Affiliation provided for identification purposes only).

Hopkins represents the City of New York on aviation related issues and is responsible for on-going coordination and negotiations with the Port Authority under the terms of the master lease for Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports; overseeing policies related to EDC’s aviation assets such as the Downtown and E. 34th St. Heliports in Manhattan. 

David leads the City’s policy efforts at the state and federal level to ensure that the New York region’s air traffic congestion and delay issues continue to be addressed.  And he works to implement policies and programs that strengthen aviation related businesses and industries in the City, including overseeing a study of the air cargo industry.  In previous work at EDC, David helped launch the successful East River Ferry service.

Earlier in his career, David worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation, where he ran the Government Relations and Communications group in the Seattle office. He also served as the transportation policy analyst for King County Executive Ron Sims and worked for the King County Council and for Metro Transit.  In New York he has worked for BFJ Planning and for the New York City Comptroller.

He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science/History and a master’s degree in Regional Planning. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Jared Kushner  
CEO of Kushner Companies and Chairman and Publisher of The Observer Media Group

Jared Kushner is the President of Kushner Companies, a diversified private real estate organization involved in the ownership, management, development and redevelopment of numerous properties. Headquartered in New York City, Kushner national reach consists of nearly 20,000 multifamily apartmentsas well as 7 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. At 31, Kushner has been involved in $7 billion of real estate transactions from 2007 to 2012.

Kushner is currently the Chairman and Publisher of the Observer Media Group, which includes in its holdings the venerable New York Observer. Read by an audience of affluent, educated and influential consumers, the weekly paper offers insightful coverage of politics, finance, media, real estate, culture and entertainment in Manhattan. Since acquiring the company in 2006, Kushner has grown the Observer Media Group into a digital as well as traditional media entity, adding properties such as the Commercial Observer, VeryShortList.com, BetaBeat.com and PolitickerNJ.com.

Kushner graduated with Honors from Harvard University and was awarded JD and MBA degrees from New York University in 2007.

Mitchell Moss
Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy & Planning, New York University Wagner School of Public Service

Mitchell L. Moss, Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, teaches and does research on urban planning and politics, with special emphasis on economic development, telecommunications, and the governance of New York City.

 From 1988 to 2004, Professor Moss served as Director of the Taub Urban Research Center. He is the author of a study on the need for reform of The Stafford Act, the principal federal legislation governing federal disaster policies. Professor Moss's essays have appeared in The New York Times, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, The New York Post, and The New York Observer. 

Professor Moss was voted Professor the Year by NYU Wagner students in 2002 and in 2003, he was awarded the American Planning Association's NY Metro Chapter's Robert Ponte Award for his contribution to the vitality of the New York Area. He is the member of a Steering Committee of the Association for a Better New York.

William C. Rudin
CEO & Vice Chairman, Rudin Management Company, Inc. and Chairman of ABNY

As CEO of Rudin Management Company and Chairman of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), William C. Rudin continues to be one of the real estate industry’s strongest and most influential voices.

Committed to advancing pro-business public policy, Bill works tirelessly in Washington, DC, Albany and City Hall on behalf of trade, business and civic  organizations such as the Real Estate Roundtable, The Partnership for New York City, ABNY and the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). Bill’s focus is promoting economic policies that will continue diversifying the city’s economy in order to generate jobs and bring renewed vitality to New York City’s businesses and its commercial and residential real estate marketplace. In addition, Bill, along with his cousin, Eric, President and Co-Chairman, and Uncle Jack, Chairman, oversee the Rudin real estate portfolio of 16 office towers comprising more than 10 million square feet of Class A space and 20 luxury apartment buildings.

The integration of technology and environmental design is a hallmark of the Rudin’s development philosophy.  Unique examples of this integration include 3 Times Square, the Thomson Reuters building, 55 Broad Street (www.55broadst.com) and 32 Sixth Avenue (www.32sixthave.com), where global media, communications and tech firms such as the RAI Corporation, Globo International, Clear Channel, Bartle Bogle & Hegarty and Dentsu Holdings USA are tenants.
Bill currently serves as Chairman of The Battery Conservancy, President of the Empire State Relief Fund, and Board Member of The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, 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 Real Estate Roundtable.  He is also a member of The Council of Foreign Relations, The New York City Marathon Committee and the JP Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank’s Regional Advisory Board.

Together with his family, including sister Beth, cousins, Eric and Madeleine, and children, Samantha and Michael, Bill proudly continues the Rudin family tradition of helping to make New York City a better place to live, work and visit.

Joseph E. Spinnato
President and CEO, The Hotel Association of New York City

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 revenue 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. 

He also serves on the Board of Governors of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation (Jacob K. Javits Convention Center). A quintessential New Yorker, Spinnato was born in Queens and attended public schools there until he entered LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale, New York. 

He graduated from St. John’s University in Hillcrest and received his law degree from the University of Miami Law School in Coral Gables, Florida.

Alvin S. Trenk 
Chairman and CEO of Air Pegasus Corp

Mr. Trenk is currently the Co-Founder, Owner and Director of Sightseeing Tours of America and Liberty Helicopters, Inc., a group of companies specializing in helicopter charter and air tours. He is also the Co-Founder and Director of Saker Aviation, Inc. which operates a chain of Fixed Based Operators (heliports and airports) in the United States.

In 1980 Mr. Trenk helped found the Holding Capital Group, a management buyout firm and investment fund manager. That year, he also founded Air Pegasus Corporation, the company that operates the W. 30th Street Heliport in New York City. Mr. Trenk now serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Pegasus Corporation, a position he has held since 1980.

Prior to this, Mr. Trenk was the Chairman and CEO of International Health Company from 1970 to 1976, which established and operated a national chain of outpatient dialysis centers. In 1976 he sold International Health Company to Kenton Corporation. He went on to serve as Vice Chairman of Kenton Corporation, a diversified publicly-traded corporation, from 1976-1980. He also served as President and CEO of Charles Town Turf Club, owner and operator of thoroughbred race tracks in West Virginia.

Mr. Trenk served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He is a licensed helicopter and airplane pilot and a member of the Helicopter Association International and the Eastern Region Helicopter Council.

Mr. Trenk attended Syracuse University and Seton Hall University from which he earned his Bachelor's degree. Mr. Trenk was born and raised in New Jersey and has resided in Florida the last seven years.

Kathryn S. Wylde
President & CEO, Partnership for New York City

Kathryn Wylde is President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization of the city’s business leaders established by David Rockefeller in 1979. The Partnership is dedicated to working with government, labor and the not-for-profit sectors to build a stronger New York, with a focus on education, infrastructure and the economy.

Wylde has been with the Partnership since 1982. She served for fourteen years as founding President & CEO of the Housing Partnership Development Corporation.  In that capacity, she was instrumental in the creation of a number of pioneering initiatives in affordable housing at the local, state and national levels. Under her leadership, more than $2 billion in private funds were invested in public-private partnerships that produced affordable housing and commercial developments in New York’s most economically distressed communities.

In 1996, she became founding President & CEO of the New York City Investment Fund, the Partnership’s economic development arm. This $120 million civic investment fund, established under the leadership of Henry R. Kravis, has helped to diversify the city’s economy, create thousands of jobs and promote entrepreneurial business initiatives across the five boroughs.

Prior to joining the Partnership, Wylde was the Urban Affairs Officer at Anchor Savings Bank (1979-81) and spent 11 years (1968-79) in various positions at Lutheran Medical Center, where she helped lead the redevelopment of the federally designated poverty area of Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

An internationally known expert in housing, economic development and urban policy, Wylde is the Deputy Chair of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and serves on a number of boards and advisory groups, including the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board, NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC & Company, NYC Leadership Academy, the Research Alliance for NYC Public Schools, the Manhattan Institute, the Lutheran Medical Center, the Sila Calderon Foundation, the Special Commission on Judicial Compensation and the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission for the First Judicial District. She has authored numerous articles and policy papers and has been recognized for her leadership by dozens of educational, professional and nonprofit institutions.

Wylde is a native of Madison, Wisconsin, a graduate of St. Olaf College,’68, and resides in Brooklyn, New York.