FOUNDer & PRINCIPAL
Courtney Horwitz
Courtney worked at Omni New York LLC, an affordable housing real estate development company for over nine years where she had many different titles and roles as the company grew from a 16-person operation to a 500-person company during her tenure. During this time, Courtney worked with a team to manage the acquisition, secure the financing, and oversee the rehabilitation of over 3,400 units of housing with a total transaction size of over $650 million. As Vice President, she created and grew an asset management department, integrated new acquisitions into Omni’s portfolio, and ensured financial and regulatory compliance. Additionally, she oversaw Omni’s energy efficiency initiatives.
Prior to joining Omni, Courtney worked at HR&A Advisors, Inc., a real estate consulting firm, where she co-managed the NYSERDA’s Assisted Multifamily Program. She also worked at TAG Associates, LLC, a consulting firm that assists public housing authorities throughout the U.S. She is currently on the Real Estate Advisory Counsel of The Fifth Avenue Committee. She is a former board member of Women in Housing Finance and the past treasurer of the board of Neighbors Helping Neighbors. She is an alumna of the Coro Leadership New York program. She holds dual master’s degrees in Public Policy and Urban & Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University. She is a credentialed LEED Green Associate.
Director
Dara Yaskil
Dara Yaskil leads Strada’s Asset Management practice and brings more than a decade of experience in affordable housing policy, finance, and asset management across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors in New York City. At Strada, she provides direct asset management services, supports the repositioning of distressed portfolios, and develops strategies that strengthen long-term financial, operational, and physical performance across multifamily properties.
Previously, Dara served as the Executive Director of Multifamily Stabilization Programs in the Division of Preservation Finance at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). In that role, she oversaw a team that closed more than 25,000 units of affordable housing transactions and advanced major mayoral initiatives to improve energy efficiency, expand financial and technical assistance for small building owners, and reduce rising operating costs across the affordable housing sector.
Earlier in her career, Dara worked in supportive housing at HPD and Breaking Ground and served as a legal advocate at the Urban Justice Center, assisting tenants facing housing instability.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Director
Evan Easterbrooks-Dick
Evan joins Strada after seven years working at the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD). Most recently, he served as a Senior Credit Analyst on the Credit & Special Underwriting Team in the Division of Policy and Strategy. In this role, Evan was responsible for reviewing and approving all HPD development projects and transactions involving subsidy and/or tax exemptions to ensure that they demonstrated sound financing and were consistent with Agency and City-wide policy goals. These projects spanned all HPD loan programs involving the preservation and new construction of affordable housing, including both rental and homeownership. Additionally, Evan led several policy initiatives, including co-leading HPD’s efforts to develop a broadband policy that has already ensured free broadband for all residents in dozens of HPD-financed new construction projects.
In his previous role at HPD, Evan worked as a Senior Planner in the Office of Neighborhood Strategies where he managed the RFP process for developing affordable housing on City-owned land. In one noteworthy example, he wrote and managed the RFP process for the SustaiNYC RFP in East Harlem, which brought 650 units of affordable housing to the neighborhood and resulted in one of the largest passive housing projects in the world. Prior work experience includes time at Abt Associates, a public policy research firm, and the Cambridge Housing Authority in Massachusetts.
Evan received his Master in City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University with a major in Sociology.
Deputy Director
Avery Dement
Avery Dement joins the Strada team after working at the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) as an Underwriter, during which time she completed due diligence and secured internal loan approvals for a variety of acquisition, predevelopment, and construction loans for new construction and preservation projects in New York, California, Washington DC, and South Carolina. Prior to LIIF, Avery held multiple roles during her three-year tenure at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), including most recently Director of the Moderate Rehabilitation and Stabilization Loan Programs. During her time at HPD, Avery managed a pipeline of over 80 projects, closed numerous construction loans for preservation projects, identified strategies to stabilize and preserve HDFC co-ops and projects owned by small landlords that were in financial and physical distress, supported agency negotiations, collaborated with other City and State agencies, as well as private lenders, and trained project managers. She also oversaw the Aging in Place initiative, which provides in-unit upgrades that allow seniors to safely live in their current apartment as they age. As an Intern at HPD, she provided support for the initial implementation of the Basement Conversion Pilot Program in East New York. Prior to HPD, she was a Planning Intern at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office.
Avery has a Master’s of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Parsons the New School for Design.
Deputy Director
Alison Glaser
Alie joins Strada after over six years at the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), where she served as an Assistant Vice President of Development. In that role, she underwrote and structured financing for complex new construction, preservation, and NYCHA PACT projects across the five boroughs, including Linden Plaza, the largest remaining Mitchell-Lama rental complex in Brooklyn.
During her tenure at HDC, Alie closed 23 affordable housing projects totaling $1.6 billion in HDC financing and over 7,000 units, in addition to converting numerous deals to permanent financing. She also led competitive RFP processes, coordinating with HPD and internal stakeholders to score proposals and deliver recommendations under tight timelines.
Earlier in her career, she worked as a paralegal case worker at the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), advocating for low-income New Yorkers in public benefits and health insurance matters.
Alie holds a Master of Public Administration from the New York University Wagner School of Public Service and a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University.
Senior Project Manager
Colleen Patterson
During her time at Strada, Colleen has specialized in the predevelopment and financing for tenant-in-place rehabilitation projects. These projects include a 48-unit moderate rehabilitation and a 6-unit substantial rehab in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a moderate rehab of a 40-unit SRO for formerly homeless HIV-positive residents on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and the repositioning of a scattered site twelve-building project comprising over one hundred units in Brooklyn. Each of these projects is supported by city and/or state subsidy, and Colleen has developed deep familiarity with HPD's and HCR’s preservation programs and procedures. She has assisted clients with underwriting and navigating HPD's internal funding approvals, including the credit memo and compliance package submission process. Colleen has also assisted with leveraging additional subsidy related to energy efficiency upgrades for these projects. In addition to preservation projects, Colleen has worked on multiple new construction projects in upstate New York financed with tax credits and state subsidy sources. She also has a strong track record of successful financing applications, including Project-Based Vouchers, FHLB Affordable Housing Program, and other competitive state and local capital sources.
Colleen joined the Strada team after working in Transactions Operations at Compass, Inc., a publicly traded real estate brokerage based in New York City. Prior to that she was the head of the Personal Services Department at Level Group Ltd, a music business management firm that oversees all aspects of business and finance for a roster of musical artists and bands. In her four years at Level Group, Colleen built and managed the Personal Services Department, where she handled personal cash flow planning and facilitated residential and commercial mortgage applications, refinancing, and other loan approvals on behalf of clients.
Colleen holds a Master's in Urban Planning from Hunter College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California with double minors in Music Industry and Communication Design.
Senior Project Manager
Abaye Steinmetz-Silber
Abaye Steinmetz-Silber is a Senior Project Manager in Strada’s Asset Management practice. He has over ten years of experience in New York City real estate, having held roles in leasing, property management, construction management, and most recently, as a Senior Project Manager at Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc. (FAC) in the Affordable Housing Development department. While at FAC, Abaye directly managed over $200m of new deeply affordable housing in all stages of development, with an emphasis on construction period management and project closeout.
Abaye holds a Bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.
Project Manager
Susue Li
Susue is a Project Manager dedicated to expanding affordable housing and helping build stronger, more equitable communities through the built environments. Throughout her career, she has become familiar with the full lifecycle of residential development and the complexities of multi-family building rehabilitations.
Most recently, at RiseBoro Community Partnership, she managed a diverse range of projects, from new construction to tenant-in-place rehab preservation, and has worked on construction finance closing to lease-up and permanent conversion. Susue started her career in California at Eden Housing, where she assisted with many funding applications, including TCAC 4% and 9%, MHP, and AHP applications.
Susue holds a Bachelor’s degree in Community, Environment, and Planning from the University of Washington.
Project Manager
Ben Schwartz
At Strada, Ben has contributed to a range of affordable housing projects, spanning both new construction and preservation. This includes underwriting and managing HPD compliance for two new construction projects in predevelopment in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, totaling $349 million and 435 units. On the rehabilitation side, Ben has worked on tenant-in-place renovations supported by HPD and HCR funding, including a 6-unit property in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and a 77-unit building in St. Albans, Queens. Ben has also assisted clients with a 9% LIHTC application, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) compliance, and HCR and NYCHA RFP responses.
Before coming to Strada, Ben worked as a Data Analyst at the Boston Planning and Development Agency managing over 18,000 free college savings accounts through Boston Saves, a city program available to all public school students. He also served a year with AmeriCorps NCCC, building affordable housing in fire-impacted communities in Northern California.
Ben holds a Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies from Harvard University.
Assistant Project Manager
Betsy Hu
Betsy Hu is a public policy and economic development professional with experience in public finance, housing and infrastructure-related initiatives, and community development. She has worked across the public and nonprofit sectors, including roles at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the University of Chicago Policy Lab, and Covenant House Toronto. Her work has focused on economic development research and strategy, program development and implementation, and policy analysis.
She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago. Betsy is particularly interested in housing, real estate development, projects that strengthen local communities, as well as the role of public investment and finance in shaping stronger, more equitable communities.
Assistant Project Manager
Walter Goldberg
Walter Goldberg is an Assistant Project Manager in Strada's Asset Management practice, where he helps develop long-term management strategies for distressed portfolios of varying scale. Prior to joining Strada, he worked as a transportation planner, including for the City of Cambridge's Community Development Department, and for a sustainable real estate start-up.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in History from Harvard University and a Master's in Geography from the University of Cambridge.
Assistant Project Manager
Max Jean-Louis
Max Jean-Louis is a multilingual community engagement specialist with over a decade of experience working with underserved communities across New York City and internationally. He holds an MBA with Distinction from the University of Essex (UK) and has pursued studies in filmmaking in France and community development in Japan — bringing a uniquely multidisciplinary and cross-cultural lens to his work. His career spans direct social services, government advisory roles, and large-scale outreach programs across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. At Strada Ventures, Max serves as Assistant Project Manager.
Assistant Project Manager
David Ross
David Ross serves as an Assistant Project Manager focused on resident outreach, transitioning into the affordable housing sector following a 14-year career as a department coordinator in film and television. His experience in media has fostered a meticulous approach to coordination and an aptitude for navigating administrative and regulatory processes. At Strada, he leverages a deep background in high-pressure logistics to deliver direct assistance to residents and high-quality results for clients.
David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.