John M. Sanger, Board President – Esq., BA (Harvard), JD (Harvard), MCP (Harvard)

Sanger is retired from law practice as the founding principal and sole remaining shareholder of the San Francisco law firm of Sanger & Olson, A Law Corporation, which he closed at the end of 2013 after 18 years. He now manages family real estate and engages in philanthropy. His law firm specialized in real estate law, including land use, environmental clearances and development entitlements. Prior to founding Sanger & Olson he was with the firm of Pettit and Martin for 10 years and prior to that he had his own urban planning, economic and environmental consulting firm for 14 years, providing services to private and governmental clients. During his years as an active member of the bar, Mr. Sanger was listed in the Northern California edition of Super Lawyers.

He graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude in 1965, from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 1969, and from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with distinction in 1970, with a Masters in City and Regional Planning. He has been an Adjunct Professor in Subdivision and Land Development at the University of Miami Law School Graduate Program in Real Property (1993-95), Lecturer in City Planning and Government Organization at the University of California, Berkeley (1974, 1977), and Lecturer in Law, Planning and Urban Politics at San Francisco State University (1979-1980). He was senior legal advisor to the Republic of Kazakhstan on the privatization of real estate, working through the US Agency for International Development from 1992 to 1994.

Mr. Sanger is a trustee emeritus of the San Francisco Art Institute, having previously served as trustee and chair for many years. He is a founding member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Institute for International Urban Development in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He formerly served as President of the Children’s Creativity Museum at Yerba Buena Gardens. He is also a member of Lambda Alpha, a former member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Planning Association and he has served on the boards of a number of local nonprofit organizations. He was formerly a member and President of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and a member of the Executive Board of the Association of Bay Area Governments. [top]

Joe Brennan – BS in Marketing, University of Maryland

In 1974, Mr. Brennan opened up his own construction/development company at the age of 25. His company has become the most successful high-end housing developer in Toronto, completing well over 500 houses ranging from $2,500,000 to $25,000,000 in construction value. In 1995 he opened an office in Palm Beach, Florida. The company has completed many notable projects, including the former Kennedy Winter White House and the Firestone Estate, which won the coveted Ballinger Award for historic preservation. His company has matured to a point where he would like to give back to the community using the skills and experience he has developed in the industry during the last 29 years, with an interest in Poland. [top]

John Driscoll – BA (University of Maryland), MA (American University), AICP

Sitting in Mona Serageldin’s kitchen in 2005, John, Mona, and Francois Vigier committed to founding I2UD and continuing their decades-long collaboration at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. John served as an I2UD Vice President until 2021. As a senior staff member, he had a reputation for being patient and persistent and for developing results-oriented programs by empowering local leadership through education, research, and technical support. Reflecting I2UD’s approach, he brought together and managed strong teams of local and outside experts to help development agencies and local governments adopt and implement participatory, integrated policies for urban development. His 35 years of international experience include active field-based engagement with central and local governments, community organizations, educational institutions, and international development agencies such as the World Bank, USAID, and the Agence Française de Développement, and the European Union, among others. With Frank, Mona, and Daniel Tsai, John encouraged and supported I2UD’s young professionals to further their careers, including many who when on to advanced degree programs.

He is an affiliate at the National Center for Smart Growth and Education at the University of Maryland, serves on the Planning Commission in Lexington Virginia, and is actively engaged in urban research programs with the World Bank. [top]

Rene Pantalone – BA (York University), B.Ed. (York University), AMDP (Harvard)

Pantalone is the Director of a number of family-owned real estate and development companies in Toronto, Canada, including “National Homes,” a major residential homebuilder; “Forum Development Limited,” a firm that builds and develops retirement residences, commercial projects, and infill housing neighborhoods. Mrs. Pantalone was Chair of Montcrest School, an independent, non-profit private school, where she directed overall growth, land acquisition, and campus development. She served on the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Alumni Council and sits on the Boards of several charities in Toronto.

Her education includes BA and B.Ed. Degrees from Toronto’s York University and AMDP from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Rene is a Past Governor of the Canadian Olympic Trust, a member of the Canadian Olympic Association, and a Toronto Real Estate Board member. [top]

Daniel Tsai – BS (MIT), MS (Columbia), MDes (Harvard), DDes (Harvard)

Daniel Tsai is a senior associate/fellow (2005-present) and board member (2012-present). He teaches and conducts research at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Over the past 10 years, he has co-instructed the MIT Design Computation Workshop on Digital Heritage, investigating visualization technologies for architectural heritage projects in Italy, Japan, USA and other locales.

At the I2UD, Daniel has worked on the Jerusalem Monuments Database, the I2UD Digital Library, Arusha urbanization strategy and urban development plan, and other technical and quantitative spatial projects. [top]

Sherif Lotfi – MA Economics (Columbia), MPP (Harvard), BS (Tufts)

Sherif is a Managing Director in the Strategic Solutions Group and Head of Corporate Finance Advisory and Solutions at Mizuho Securities USA. At Mizuho, Sherif works closely with private equity and asset managers on structured financing solutions and advises corporations on corporate finance policy, risk management, and strategy.

From 2006-2015, Sherif was a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Advisory Americas for the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he concentrated on Corporate Finance policy, risk management, and strategy for large US Corporations, similar to his role at Mizuho. Before joining the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sherif was at Ernst & Young, LLP for eleven years and a partner from 1998 to 2006. He worked with multinationals to analyze international organizations and structure domestic and cross-border funding strategies yielding cost savings and improved returns. Before Ernst & Young, Sherif taught finance at Columbia University and served on the Staff of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President under Presidents Bush (41) and Clinton.

Sherif was also involved in technical assistance programs for the Indonesian government and provided economic analysis for urban upgrading studies in Abidjan and the Hafsia District in Tunis for the Unit for Housing and Urbanization, I2UD’s predecessor. Mr. Lotfi holds graduate degrees in Economics from Columbia University, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science from Tufts University. [top]

Our Advisors

Dr. Alfredo Stein Heinemann – PhD (Lund University, Sweden); M.Sc. (University College London, UK).

Dr. Stein is an urban development planner specialist with more than 37 years of experience in the design, management, and evaluation of low-income housing, local development and urban poverty reduction policies and programs, as well as post-emergency reconstruction projects in cities of the global South. Dr. Stein has a PhD in Housing and Management, Engineering, Construction and Architecture (Lund University, Sweden), a M.Sc. in Urban Development Planning, (University College London, UK).

At the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED), University of Manchester, Stein codirected the multidisciplinary MSc in Global Urban Development & Planning. His main research interests include the linkages between climate change adaptation, environmental problems and poverty reduction through participatory planning methods, and structuring of alternative financial schemes at neighborhood and city levels for social inclusion.

As Program Officer for the Swedish cooperation in Honduras he was responsible for coordinating the international donor agencies’ strategies with central government, local government and NGOs during the reconstruction and transformation process after hurricane Mitch. Alfredo was responsible in setting PRODEL in Nicaragua, recognized worldwide as a best practice in micro-finance for the improvement of housing, basic services and livelihoods in urban poor settlements. He has ample working experience on designing inclusive housing policies and local development strategies with bilateral and multilateral agencies, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNDP, UN-Habitat, Sida, GIZ, and KfW.

In the late 1980s, he worked at IIED-Latin America and was responsible for setting up a training and capacity-building program for Latin American NGOs working in urban development. He worked as Assistant to the Executive Director of FUNDASAL working in slum upgrading, sites and services, and repopulation and reconstruction projects amid the civil war in El Salvador. From 2000 to 2004, Stein was a member of the International Task Force of the UN Millennium Development Project on improving the lives of slum dwellers. [top]