Roland Lewis

New York

A lifetime New Yorker, Roland Lewis has worked in the field of community development since 1984, when he began as a program associate at the Trust for Public Land. A graduate of Columbia University, he then went on to earn a Masters of City and Regional Planning and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers University in 1988. This was followed by nine years as a partner in the law firm of Dellapa, Lewis, and Perseo, whose clients included not-for-profit corporations, civic groups, churches, cooperative corporations, and private real estate developers. In 1997 Roland became the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity – NYC. Roland led the organization for ten years, guiding it to become one of the top producers in the region and a nationally emulated model of Habitat urban success. In the spring of 2007, Roland took the helm of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to making the New York and New Jersey harbor and waterways accessible, healthy, and vibrant. Under his leadership, MWA has organized a growing constituency for a better waterfront, instituted new programs to provide water access, and become the leading waterfront policy organization in the New York region. In addition to his professional experience with community development, Roland has been active with many non-profit community organizations. He served as Co-Chair of Housing First! and is now on the board of the New York Foundation and Chairman of the Board of the New Amsterdam Market. Roland also currently serves as Co-Chair of the Harbor Coalition and is on the Freight and Maritime Advisory Board of the Center for Advanced Infrastructure & Transportation at Rutgers University, the Professional Advisory Committee for the New York Harbor School, the Hudson River Park Trust Advisory Council, and the New York City Waterfront Management Advisory Board.