As President for HACE, Maria Nixa Gonzalez heads HACE’s development team managing over $100M of commercial and housing development projects that have contributed to the stabilization and revitalization of the Fairhill and St. Hugh Neighborhoods. Since 1996, she has been responsible for raising development capital from a broad base of private and public foundations and governmental bodies. Mrs. Gonzalez’ most notable achievement is the creation of a supportive community for elders through the development of affordable rental housing and the construction of a Life Center that provides frail elders with social and health services so that they can remain living at home for as long as possible. Under her leadership HACE has developed its Housing Counseling Program to serve as a one-stop-shop for housing related services, which is certified by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Industry Standards for Homeownership Education and Counseling. Her approach to managing the Housing Counseling Program is to capitalize on the individual skills of each counselor by tapping into their individual talents to engage them in the operation of the program to provide quality housing counseling services in a fiscally responsible manner. Mrs. Gonzalez received her Bachelor’s degree with honors from St. Joseph’s University. She won the Ernest C. Olivares Leadership Award in 1999 from the Bank of America Leadership Academy, was named most Influential Latinos by Impacto Newspaper in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and was named by the Philadelphia Business Journal as a Woman to Watch in 2016. Mrs. Gonzalez was appointed by Mayor James Kenney to the Philadelphia Planning Commission, serves as Chair of the Community Trust Board for the American Street Empowerment Zone, is Chair of the Oversight Board of the Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, serves in the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund and is Secretary of the Board of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations.

Sharmain Matlock-Turner is the CEO of the Urban Affairs Coalition. She began her tenure in March 1999 with the special distinction of being the first woman to lead the Coalition. The Urban Affairs Coalition, formerly GPUAC, unites government, business, neighborhoods, and individual initiative to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve emerging issues. In partnership with a diverse Board of Directors, made up of business, nonprofit and community leaders, Ms. Matlock-Turner and her team of managers of nearly 450 employees, create partnerships and build consensus to help families reduce poverty and reach the middle class. The organization’s efforts are focused in four areas: improving life chances for youth and young adults; building wealth in low income communities; forging strategic partnerships and strengthening the nonprofit sector through fiscal sponsorship. The organization has successfully managed more than $1B in public and private funds over its 50+ year history. Ms. Matlock-Turner is co-founder and chair emeritus of the 24-year-old West Oak Lane Charter School. In addition, she serves on the following boards and committees: The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Board of Directors; Peirce College Board of Trustees; PECO Board of Directors; IBC Regional Advisory Board; Entrepreneur Works; Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Philadelphia Civil Service Commission Nominating Panel; Philadelphia Equity Alliance; Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia; Uplift Solutions; Philadelphia Council for College and Career Success; Street Soccer PHL; Read by 4th; Foundations Inc. National Advisory Board; United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey; Greater Philadelphia Mentoring Collaborative; Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia Regional Strategy and Leadership Committee; Public Citizens for Children and Youth Advisory Council; AmerisourceBergen Foundation External Advisory Committee; Philadelphia Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee; The Philadelphia Foundation’s On the Table Steering Committee; SEPTA Reimagining Regional Rail Stakeholder Advisory Committee; Thomas Jefferson Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) Committee; Pyramid Club Board of Governors; Cranaleith Spiritual Center President’s Council; Regional Advisory Board & Consumer and Business Affairs Committee; Mayor Kenney’s Workforce Development Steering Committee; Keystone Health Education Committee; and the Independence Health Group Advisory Board for Consumer and Business Affairs. She was appointed by Gov. Wolf to serve on the PA Redistricting Reform Commission, and the Census 2020 Complete Count Commission. She was also appointed by Philadelphia City Council to co-chair its Special Commission on Poverty Reduction & Prevention. She is a founding member of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors. She co-chairs the Draw the Lines PA East Steering Committee. Ms. Matlock-Turner has received numerous awards including the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Diversity and Inclusion Award and the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO Award. She is often asked to speak to local, regional, and national organizations. Ms. Matlock-Turner holds a BS degree in Education from Temple University. In 2005, she was one of three Philadelphia nonprofit leaders selected to receive a scholarship to the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. In 2014 she received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Peirce College. She is a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute for Government. She is a Philadelphia resident and is married to Anthony “Tony” Turner with two grown daughters, Ayanna Matlock and Naima Fleming, and is the grandmother of Joshua Matlock Hale.

Maura Hesdon is the General Manager of Shoemaker Construction Co. and has more than 24 years of leadership experience working within the male- dominated construction industry. In her role, Maura provides executive management oversight. More importantly, Maura is tasked with ensuring overall project and corporate success as well as customer satisfaction. She facilitates teamwork between all disciplines of the project team and serves as the Owner’s executive level contact with Shoemaker. As General Manager for Shoemaker, Maura also acts in a leadership role as part of The Butz Family of Companies - an enterprise of construction companies which includes Shoemaker along with Alexander Building Construction Co. and Alvin H. Butz, Inc. During her 24 years in the construction industry, Maura has overseen the successful completion of a wide variety of projects valued in excess of $1 billion. Using this wealth of experience, she is able to help the project team deftly navigate potential challenges that might otherwise delay the Owner’s project or add unnecessary expenses to the budget. Her success managing and overseeing construction projects has earned her the respect of her colleagues. Away from the work site, Maura is also a regional leader in the pursuit of making the construction industry more accessible. In 2009, she co-founded a day camp where school-aged girls are introduced to possible careers within the industry. In response to the camp’s growth, in 2018 Maura created the NAWIC Philadelphia Foundation to house the rebranded Mentoring Young Women in Construction (MyWIC) Philadelphia as well incorporate other student-based initiatives. Maura represents several industry organizations both locally and nationally to develop an innovative and successful construction industry while working with community stakeholders to improve the lives and impact of local community institutions and residents. Maura also works with entities such as Drexel University, The School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Housing Authority to increase workforce development and diversity within the construction industry. As a single mother to two young-adult daughters, she strives to be the positive influence on their future leadership success that her mother was to her.

Andreina Perez Hein is the Executive Director of Everybody Builds; a collaborative initiative designed to diversify Philadelphia’s construction industry and build sustainable capacity for growth among diverse businesses and workers. Andreina has dedicated her career to serving and advocating for underrepresented communities, as well as to transforming the built environment in an equitable way. She has spent 8 years in the nonprofit research and human services sector and 14 years in the construction industry prior to joining Everybody Builds. Andreina’s interest in advocating for underserved communities are rooted in her own upbringing and childhood experiences. She immigrated with her family to the U.S from Venezuela at the age of 5 and grew up in a working-class family. She was only the 2nd in her family to graduate high school (after her older sister) and went on to complete college and obtain a master’s degree. Andreina started her career in nonprofit research and conducted outreach to Latino families in the poorest counties of North Carolina. She most recently served as the Chief Development & Stakeholder Relations Officer for one of Philadelphia’s leading human services agencies serving the Latino community. Andreina took a leap into the construction industry mid-career, after having discovered her interest in hands-on building early in a middle school shop class. She began working directly in the field learning the trade while mentoring minority contractors on infrastructure projects with diverse spend goals. Eventually she worked her way up through project management roles to leading strategic business development for construction companies, resulting in achieving aggressive business growth goals. Andreina is a member of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) chapter of Greater Philadelphia, where she has served on the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advocacy Group and Strategic Planning Task Forces. She is also a member of the Board