Board of Directors

Board Chair Emeritus

David Robinson, Sr.

David Robinson, Sr., is the co-founder of Admiral Capital Group, a real estate and private equity firm, and the founder of Carver Academy, a public charter school located in San Antonio, Texas. He spent 14 years in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2009. In recognition of Mr. Robinson’s philanthropic leadership, the NBA named its annual community service award the “David Robinson Plaque.” He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in mathematics and received a Master’s in Administration from the University of Incarnate Word.

Board Chair

Mike Maher

Founder and CEO at Houwzer. He drives the company’s vision, strategy, culture, and growth. As a former Naval Officer, Mike believes leadership is what separates the good from the great. A serial real estate entrepreneur with experience in co-working, brokerage, and incubation, Mike is passionate about the paradigm shift taking place in all aspects of real estate. 

Mike received a B.S. in American Politics and Law from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA in Real Estate, Finance, and International Business from the DiLella Center for Real Estate at the Villanova University School of Business.

Board Vice Chair

Jay Minkoff

Jay Minkoff is an entrepreneur with a specialization in creating innovative marketing solutions, particularly for the residential real estate industry.  Most recently, Jay focuses his time and expertise as a lay leader with several Philadelphia area and national non-profit organizations.

Jay recently served as chairman and initial funder of Houwzer, a residential real estate brokerage with a disruptive model.  He is also a general partner in a family commercial real estate development and property management company in suburban MD and VA.  Jay has been a founder of businesses which market the regional and national real estate industries for the past 30+ years.  He is a co-founder of Homebuilder.com, the first national online listing site for new home construction, which he sold in 1999 to the parent company of Realtor.com.  His background includes developing online and print directories of new home communities for real estate agents and the publisher of the regional New Homes Guide and Apartment Shopper Guide consumer real estate magazines. His publishing company ranked #91 on the Inc. 500 List of fastest growing companies in 1990 and was sold in 1996 to a subsidiary of KKR.

Jay served as chair of the Integrative Marketing Task Force for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia where he is a trustee and member of the Marketing Committee.  He is immediate past chairman and a director of the Jewish Publishing Group, publishers of the 137-year-old Jewish Exponent newspaper.  Jay served as a trustee of the Einstein Healthcare Network for 18 years where he served as chair of their Board Marketing Committee and a member of Einstein’s Development and Real Estate Committees.  Jay is a co-founder of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, which opened the Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial Plaza on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in October 2018.  He is also a member of the Eastern PA Board of the Jewish National Fund where he serves as the chair of their marketing committee. Jay recently joined the board of the Philadelphia chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.

Jay earned his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania majoring in entrepreneurial management and real estate finance. He has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Tufts University.  Jay lives in Center City Philadelphia.

Board Member

Brian Murray

Brian Murray is CEO of SHIFT Capital, a certified B Corporation impact real estate group headquartered in Philadelphia. Brian formed SHIFT to drive more equitable development for underserved neighborhoods and cities by aligning capital and philanthropy. To date, he has led SHIFT’s deployment of over $300 million in neighborhood investments in urban communities throughout Philadelphia PA, Washington DC, and Newark NJ. Through his work, Brian is focused on finding better solutions at the intersection of society’s most difficult urban challenges – intergenerational poverty, urban revitalization, access to opportunity, and community displacement. He is an MBA graduate of Yale School of Management.

Board Member

Pamela Debnam

Pamela Debnam is currently the South East Market Leader at Houwzer, which geographically spans from the eastern seaboard of Maryland down to Florida. She has over 20 years of experience in the Real Estate, Mortgage, and Title industries respectively. She holds real estate licenses in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. She has also held positions such as CEO, Vice President, Director of Operations, District Director, Regional Sales Manager, and Team Leader with multiple companies throughout her vast career. 

Her passion is volunteering, community outreach, 1st time home buyers, start-up companies, and investing and developing in underserved areas. It is not just about closing a deal for Pamela, it is about finding resources, educating and mentoring her clients, and setting them up for future success. Her servant leadership style has allowed her to build multiple teams leading to successful careers in real estate for over 50 agents. 

One of Pamela’s favorite quotes is, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” – Thomas Edison

Board Member

Jimmy Gastner

Jimmy Gastner is a Vice President and Community Development Manager at TD Bank. In this role, Jimmy makes TD the better bank for community and economic development in support of its Community Reinvestment Act goals and objectives. To do this, he connects with community and municipal leaders to understand and help address pressing local issues faced by low- and moderate-income residents and communities. Jimmy also collaborates with lines of business and the TD Charitable Foundation to provide a full range of financial products and services that further initiatives critical to affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, community service, and small business development.

Prior to joining TD Bank in August 2022, Jimmy was a Community Engagement Associate with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. At the Philadelphia Fed, he built partnerships with nonprofits, community development financial institutions, and federal, state, and local officials, among others, to promote equitable development and fair and impartial access to credit in underserved communities across the Third Federal Reserve District. Jimmy has also held positions at the Urban Institute with its Research to Action Lab.

Jimmy received an MBA from the Villanova School of Business and BA in Economics and Political Science from Swarthmore College.