Social Enterprise Conference, Capital for GoodDigital Event Series

Annie Koo ’14BUS
Housing Innovation at Catalyst Housing Group

Annie Koo, ’14BUS, is the innovation lead at Catalyst Housing Group, where she is focused on scaling Catalyst’s essential housing platform across the full spectrum of housing affordability, from homelessness to homeownership.

Prior to Catalyst, Annie was the Director of Housing at Sidewalk Labs, the former urban innovation arm of Alphabet, where she oversaw residential program and product development. While at McKinsey from 2014 to 2018, she served public finance and housing institutions on strategy and operational transformations. She started her career at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the nation’s largest affordable housing agency. She is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Business School and was a Fulbright Fellow in Singapore focused on public housing. In her interview, Annie talks about building a varied foundation of experiences and innovating with context, advising those just starting their career to sit at the table.

Stephen Mott
Chief Strategy Officer at HELP USA

Stephen Mott is the chief of staff of HELP USA, a national homeless service and supportive housing nonprofit headquartered in New York. Steve is responsible for strategy, long-term planning, and government and community relations. During his six-year tenure, the organization has doubled its programmatic spending and opened fifteen new residential facilities.

Prior to joining HELP, Steve was the chief of staff at an antipoverty nonprofit that developed software to connect people with public benefits. In addition to his nonprofit experience, Steve has worked as a policy advisor to members of the House and Senate, most recently in the office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, where he focused on commerce and technology. Steve has a BA from Harvard University, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He lives in Larchmont, NY with his wife, two children, and two dogs.

Arden Sokolow ’95GS
Executive Vice President of Affordable Housing at Douglaston Development

Arden Sokolow joined Douglaston Development as the executive vice president, affordable housing. Prior to joining the company, Arden was the chief of staff at The New York City Housing Authority from May 2018 to 2019. During that time, she was in charge of negotiating agreements with the United States Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding NYCHA compliance issues, as well as leading the creation of the NYCHA 2.0 plan to raise $24B for the authority. Arden has held diverse roles at the City, Stat,e and Federal level. She served as the regional director for Multifamily Housing at HUD, managing director for Housing Programs at the NYS Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, and held a wide variety of positions at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. There, she lead the Inclusionary and Tax Incentive Programs and created the Distressed Assets Program to address the housing impact of the 2008 financial crisis.

Arden holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Columbia University and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College.

James Patchett
Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School

Bio coming soon!