Officers

Craig Benedetto (Chairman)
California Strategies, LLC

Robin Madaffer (Vice Chairwoman)
Madaffer Enterprises

Bill Sauls (Treasurer)
William H. Sauls, Attorney at Law

Sumeet Parekh (Secretary)
HP Investors, LLC

Frank Urtasun (Immediate Past Chairman)
Sempra Services Corporation

Betsy Brennan (President & CEO)
Downtown San Diego Partnership

Board Members

Nelson Ackerly
Kilroy Realty Corporation

Michael Akavan
MA Engineers, Inc.

Ruben Andrews
Graphic Solutions

Terry Arnett
TSA Construction

Jonathan Bailey
the i.d.e.a. brand

Mary Ball
Scripps Health

Whitney Benzian
CA Apartment Association

Phil Blair
Manpower San Diego

Greg Bowman
Bollert | Lebeau Commercial Real Estate

Kim Brewer
Westfield, LLC

Casey Brown
The Casey Brown Company

Marjorie Burchett
Withers Bergman LLP

Michael Burton
Flocke & Avoyer Commercial Real Estate

Matt Carlson
CBRE

Jeff Cavignac
Cavignac & Associates

Jim Chatfield
JMI Realty

Nikki Clay
The Clay Company

Steve Cushman
Cush Enterprises

Bob Daugherty
Ashford University

Jim Dawe
Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek

Ignacio De La Torre
AT&T

Perry Dealy
Dealy Development, Inc.

Scott Diggs
Irvine Company Office Properties

Rodger Dougherty
Kaiser Permanente

Steve Espino
Banner Bank

Jennifer Farnham
PCL Construction Services, Inc.

Tod Firotto
San Diego Restaurant Supply

Brian Fish
Dentons US LLP

Brendan Foote
Fabric Investments

Chris Frahm
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

Steve Friar
Hensel Phelps

Michael Friedman
LEVITZACKS

Darrel Fullbright
Gensler

Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen
Gafcon, Inc.

Jeff Gattas
UC San Diego

Rick Gentry
San Diego Housing Commission

Joyce Glazer
San Diego Magazine

Ashley Gosal
BOSA Development Corporation

John Greenip
Turner Construction

Wayne Guymon
Fox Sports San Diego

Ernie Hahn
Valley View Casino Center

Chanelle Hawken
Cox Communications

Derek Hulse
Cushman & Wakefield

Michael Johnson
Carrier Johnson + CULTURE

Brian Jones
Zeeto

Donna Jones
Law Offices of Donna Jones

Keith B. Jones
Ace Parking

Eric Jones
Urban Real Estate Services

Doug Kerner
Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP

Ryan Kiesel
Manchester Financial Group

Cecilia Kucharski
Balfour Beatty

Daniel Kuperschmid
Grand Hyatt San Diego

Mark Kuske
Emmes Realty Service of California, LLC

James Langley
Schwartz Commercial Realty

Rob Lankford
Lankford & Associates, Inc.

James Lawson
Presidio PAG, Inc.

Michael Leake
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Kevin Legge
Clark Construction Group – California, LP

MaeLin Levine
Visual Asylum/Urban Discovery Academy

Jeff Light
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Alvin Mansour
The Mansour Group

Amber Mauer
The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP

Howard Mills
Rudolph and Sletten, Inc.

Neil Mohr
Republic Services

Cynthia Morgan Reed
Morgan Reed Law

Job Nelson
Port of San Diego

John Ohanian
2-1-1 San Diego

John Passanante
Syska Hennessy Group, Inc.

Mark Payne
Swinerton Builders, Inc.

Stacey Lankford Pennington
SLP Urban Planning

Phil Petersen
Dynalectric San Diego

Matthew Porreca
BNIM

Glenn Quiroga
Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Nation

Phil Rath
Rath Miller LLC

Daniel Reeves
Juniper Strategic Advisory

Scott Ripperton
Wells Fargo Bank

Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe
San Diego Convention Center

Paul Robinson
Hecht, Solberg, Robinson, Goldberg & Bagley LLP

Rana Sampson
Union Bank

Ken Sauder
Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation

Tom Seidler
San Diego Padres 

Greg Shields
Project Design Consultants

Jeff Stauffer
OliverMcMillan

Steve Stuckey
U.S. Bank

Tito Taing
reproHAUS

Krista Torquato
Bank of America

Deacon Jim Vargas
Father Joe’s Villages

Pedro Villegas
San Diego Gas & Electric

Bess Wakeman
JLL

Nicholas Wilson
Douglas Wilson Companies

Tim Winslow
Cushman & Wakefeild

Advisory

Darin Anderson
CyberTECH

Jaymie Bradford
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

Mark Cafferty
San Diego Regional EDC

Marcela Celorio
Consulate General of Mexico

Molly Chase
Office of Councilmember Chris Ward

Rich Geisler
Civic San Diego

Sal Giametta
Office of County Supervisor Ron Roberts

David Graham
City of San Diego

Dr. Helen V. Griffith
e3 Civic High

Howard Greenberg
Gaslamp Quarter Association

James Haug
East Village Association 

David Hazan
Bennion Deville Homes

Tomas Herrera-Mishler
Balboa Park Conservancy

Stephen Hill
Office of Assembly Majority Whip Todd Gloria

Haney Hong
San Diego Tax Payers Association

Rear Admiral Yancy Lindsey
Navy Region Southwest

Elyse Lowe
Office of Mayor Kevin Faulconer

Mike Madigan
Community Representative

Stanley Maloy, PhD
San Diego State University

Jamie Moraga
San Diego Military Advisory Council

Bob Morris
RBM & Associates

Mark Navarra
Jerome’s Furniture

Joe Panetta
BIOCOM

MaryAnne Pintar
Office of Congressman Scott Peters

Claudine Scott
Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Deanna Spehn
Office of Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins

Pat Stark
Stark Construction Consulting

Joyce Summer
Cortez Community

Joe Terzi
San Diego Tourism Authority

Jim Waring
CleanTech San Diego

Committees

FINANCE 
Chair: Bill Sauls, William A. Sauls Attorney at Law
DSDP Staff: Alicia Kostick
This group is responsible for reviewing and providing guidance for the DSDP’S financial matters. Specifically, the committee assures internal controls, independent audit, and financial analysis for the organization.
Committee meets on an as needed basis.

STARTUP & TECH
DSDP Staff: Alex Waters
This group will work to identify best practices and incentives to grow the needed tech ecosystem in Downtown, including the creation of an incubator/accelerator space.

QUALITY OF LIFE
DSDP Staff: Alonso Vivas
This group’s focus is on Quality of Life issues in Downtown and how it affects our surrounding communities and vice versa. The purpose of the committee is to open communication between San Diego’s urban communities and to advocate for change in San Diego.
Committee meets on an as needeed basis.

EVENTS & MEMBERSHIP
Chair: Amber Mauer, Miller Hull Partnership
DSDP Staff: Kaitlin Phillips & Taylor Stahl
This group is focused on ensuring that we have a comprehensive membership program offering the right mix of events, benefits and value to retain and attract new members so we can successfully grow our organization and deliver on our mission.
Meets the 2nd Wednesday of the month from noon-1:00 p.m.

URBAN SPACES
This group will focus on advocating for the acquisition, promotion and retention of urban spaces and the activation of these spaces in Downtown San Diego.
Committee meets on an as needed basis.

DOWNTOWN PLANNING & PUBLIC POLICY
Co-Chair: Michele Vives, Douglas Wilson Companies
Co-Chair: James Lawson, Presidio PAG, Inc.
DSDP Staff: Ally Berenter
This group monitors and advocates on public policy issues affecting the design, development and economic health of Downtown San Diego and provides direction to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors on all matters under consideration by the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month from 8:00-9:00 a.m.

DOWNTOWN IN PROGRESS
DSDP Staff: Ally Berenter
Essentially functioning as a downtown community outreach program, the main goal of Downtown in Progress is to keep track of the numerous construction projects and special events in order to help visitors, businesses, residents, and workers avoid potential delays and enjoy all that downtown San Diego has to offer. We do this in part by hosting quarterly community meetings that are open to the public.