NYS Senate Confirms Karen Philips to State of New York Mortgage Agency Board

ALBANY, NY (06/21/2007)(readMedia)-- Karen A. Philips was confirmed today by the New York State Senate to become a member of the board of directors of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA).

“Karen brings tremendous experience in building communities to the SONYMA board,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer. “Her perspective will be very valuable as we expand opportunities for working families to achieve homeownership. I commend the State Senate for confirming her nomination.”

“Karen will be a tremendous addition to the SONYMA board,” said Priscilla Almodovar, President and Chief Executive Officer of SONYMA. “Her long experience in urban planning and development and her exemplary record of building housing in the Harlem community are just the kind of expertise we need at SONYMA.”

Ms. Philips, upon her confirmation, said, “I am honored to be joining the SONYMA board and to have the opportunity to work with Governor Spitzer and President Almodovar to expand homeownership throughout New York State. This is a challenging time for the housing market, and government must do all that it can to increase homeownership in every neighborhood in New York.”

Ms. Philips fills an unexpired term on the SONYMA board that will run through 2009.

Ms. Philips has had a distinguished career in the housing and community development field. She provides professional consulting services in community development to private planning and development firms, community development corporations and municipalities. She served as president and chief executive officer of the Black Equity Alliance of New York City and was the 2002-03 Community Development Fellow at the Milano Graduate School of the New School University.

In 2002, Ms. Philips was appointed to the New York City Planning Commission by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

Ms. Philips was one of the founders and later President and Chief Executive Officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC), a community-based, not-for-profit that invested nearly $200 million in the Harlem community under her leadership, creating more than 1,000 units of housing, and fostering proposals for commercial projects.

Before joining the ADC, Ms. Phillips worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York State Urban Development Corporation, where she managed real estate development, commercial revitalization and economic development projects.

Ms. Philips received a Bachelor of Landscape from the School of Environmental Design of the University of Georgia and was graduated with a Master’s Degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design with a concentration in real estate development and urban planning.

Ms. Philips serves on the boards of the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, the Studio Museum of Harlem, and The New York Women’s Foundation. She is active with Wall Street Without Walls, the Women’s Forum of New York City, the Manhattan Council of the Boys Scouts and the American Society of Landscape Architects. She formerly served on the Fannie Mae North East Regional Office Housing and Community Development Advisory Board, the State Farm Bank Community Reinvestment Advisory Board, and the JPMorgan Chase Community Advisory Committee.

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SONYMA was created in 1970 with the mission of helping low- and moderate- income families become homeowners. It offers a variety of low down payment mortgages that provide below-market fixed interest rates, as well as closing cost assistance through a network of participating lenders across the state.

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