Board of Directors 2021-2022

Officers:

Richard Gross, President

Rick Gross: President (incumbent Executive Vice Pres.) - Rick and his wife, Roberta, moved to Rittenhouse Square ten years ago, enchanted by the neighborhood and the city. Rick is Senior Manager of his company, BW Realty Advisors LLC, which finances large public/private projects throughout the country; Rick chaired the Stakeholder groups for both The Harper (Pearl Property’s project on 19th and Chestnut) and The Laurel (Southern Land’s project on Walnut Street at Rittenhouse Square) and has been active in developing and negotiating Community Benefits Agreements with the developers of all other major projects proposed for Center City West over the past several years. Roberta is active in the local arts community. Rick won a Tony in 2013 for co-producing the revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on Broadway. Rick hopes to contribute, as President of CCRA, towards the reopening of Center City and the restoration of the vibrant community we so much enjoyed before the pandemic.

Richard Speizman, Executive Vice President and Treasurer

After 35+ years away from “home,” Rick returned to Philadelphia in 2019. His wife, Faith Horowitz, was kind enough to join him. This move was enabled by Rick’s retirement as a partner at a “Big Four” accounting and consulting firm, based in its Washington, D.C. office, and the sale of Faith’s engineering firm. At his firm, Rick had national responsibility for the practice that provided tax services to nonprofit clients. Rick was well prepared for his return to Philadelphia, having remained an avid fan of the city’s sports teams and keeping well informed of developments in the area. While Rick is particularly fascinated by the built environment, he is interested in all things Philadelphia. He looks forward to contributing to CCRA and helping to make Center City a better place to live and work for all.

Michele Ettinger, Vice President and Chair of the Membership Committee

 Michele, a retired Dental Hygienist and her husband Joel moved to Rittenhouse Square almost 3 years ago. Within a few months of joining CCRA, she joined the Board and assumed the role of Membership Chair, orchestrating its exciting growth with a myriad of new initiatives and an emphasis on relationship building. Michele has been a prominent community leader for almost 3 decades; serving as President of Jewish Family and Children’s Service of SNJ and as VP of The Jewish Federation of SNJ. Michele and Joel are the proud parents and grandparents of 3 little boys under the age of 5.

Barbara Halpern, Vice President and Chair of the Communications Committee

Barbara is a retired attorney and has lived in the Fitler Square area of Center City for 11 years. She has served as Membership Chair and is currently on the Executive Committee as V.P., Community Relations. As part of that role, she’s also the chair of the Communications Committee, which publishes CCRA This Week and the Center City Quarterly.

Charles Robin, Vice President and Chair of the Remapping Committee 

Charles has been a Center City Realtor since 1990. He currently manages a third-generation real estate company, Robin Apartments, that has been on the same corner – 20th & Chestnut St. – since 1937. Charles and his wife of 25 years, Miae, have two beautiful children who are attending Temple University. Charles has been an active member of CCRA since 1992, serving as Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. He is currently co-chairing the Remapping Taskforce and has previously served on Finance and House Tour committees, among others. Charles also served in the past as CCRA’s Ninth Police District Advisory Council Representative.

David Rose, Vice President and Chair of the Clean, Safe, and Green Taskforce - Clean Division

David have served as PDAC rep, Streets Chair, and spearheaded the LED Street lights grant Taskforce. He has served on the Executive Committee, and CCRA's Liquor, Education, Garden, High Rise Membership, and Government Relations Committees. He ran the 19th St Congestion Taskforce, was a member of the remapping Committee. He also served on the Major Development Taskforce for: IPIC, 1901 Chestnut, The Harper, The Laurel, Harper 2, CVS, Freeman's, One Riverside, Morgan Lewis, Culinary Institute, and 1919 Market St. Facilitator of the Stakeholder Groups for Harper, Laurel, Harper 2, and CVS assemblages.

Susan Kahn, Secretary

Susan came to Philadelphia many years ago to attend Penn Law School. She practiced law and then taught high school history. Susan and her husband moved to Center City in 2010. She currently leads the Schuylkill River Park PHS Tree Tenders and serves as a board member of Need In Deed, the Friends of Schuylkill River Park, and CCRA.

Nathaniel Parks, Assistant Secretary  

Nathaniel Parks is an entrepreneur who, throughout his career, has focused on utilizing technology to help progressive candidates and organizations. He lives on Rodman Street with his wife Sallie, their daughter Celia, son Wes and dog Wrigley.

Matthew Fontana, Assistant Treasurer

Matt Fontana is a labor and employment attorney with the law firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle and Reath. Matthew has lived in Center City West for nearly 10 years and has been a CCRA Board Member since 2016. As a CCRA Board Member, Matthew has focused his service on addressing quality-of-life issues impacting our community.

Directors:

Judith Axler ●  Tina Breslow ●  Elena Cappella ● Jim Duffin ● Kate Federico ●  Gil Feinberg ● Jared Gluskin ● Lawrence Goldberg ● William Goldstein ● Richard Huffman ●  Susan Kahn ● Wayne Macfadden ● Douglas Mellor ● Ryan Mulholland ● Harvey Ostroff ● Lauren O’Donnell  ● Nan Robinson ● Richard Vaughn ● Benjamin Weinraub ● Irena Wight ● Ben Zuckerman

Past Presidents (from most recent)

Maggie Mund ● Matthew Fontana ● Wade Albert ● Charles Goodwin ● Jeffrey Braff ●  Louis Coffey ● Kristen Davidson ● Lenore Millhollen ●  Stephen Huntington ● William J.D. Jordan ●  Samuel Weinberg ●  Eugene Dichter ●  George Brodie ● Lolly LaGreca ● Pamela Thistle ●  Vivian Seltzer ●  Adam Schneider