Our Board

Joseph Azrack is the principal owner of Azrack & Company, a real estate investment and advisory firm based in New York City. He is a board and investment committee member of Regency Centers (NYSE: “REG”), the Berkshire Group, and Safanad, Inc. Previously, Mr. Azrack was the Chairman and Managing Partner of Apollo Global Real Estate. At that time, he was also a member of the Apollo Global Management (NYSE: “APO”) Senior Management Committee, and Chairman and CEO of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE: “ARI”).

Mr. Azrack has over 30 years experience in real estate investment, management and development. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Azrack was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Citi Property Investors (“CPI”) where he chaired the firm’s Management and Investment Committees and directed investment policy and strategy. While at Citi, he was also a member of the Citigroup Alternative Investments Management and Investment Committees, and a member of Citi Infrastructure Investment Committee. Prior to joining CPI, he was Chief Executive and Chairman of AEW Capital Management, L.P., and Founder and Chairman of AEW Europe. While at AEW, Mr. Azrack was the lead partner and board member of numerous public and private investee portfolio companies and operating platforms.

In 2015, Mr Azrack was appointed by Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo as the Chairman of the Rhode Island I-195 Redevelopment District Commission, in which capacity he served until 2018. Mr. Azrack holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.S. from Villanova University. He is Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business where he created the curriculum for and teaches Real Estate Entrepreneurship. He is a member of, and for many years chaired, the Business School’s Millstein Center Real Estate Advisory Board. Mr. Azrack is a member and past Chairman of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), and a member and former Trustee, Officer and Director of the Urban Land Institute. He is also a 2020 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow.

Whitney Debevoise is a partner at the law firm of Arnold & Porter and a specialist in sovereign finance and US international economic policy. He served as US Executive Director at the World Bank and is a member of the Advisory Council of the Bretton WoUods Committee. He has lived and worked in Argentina, Brazil, France, and the UK and speaks French, Portuguese, and Spanish. He is the owner of a small wood lot in Vermont. 

Robert “Bob” Fanch has more than 38 years of experience in organizing and managing businesses, with the longest portion of his career devoted to the telecommunications industry. Mr. Fanch was the founder as well as Chairman and CEO of Fanch Communications, Inc. (FCI). FCI was one of the top fifteen cable television MSOs in the country, managing more than 600,000 customers, including approximately 525,000 subscribers in a joint venture with Time Warner and The Blackstone Group. FCI was purchased by Charter Communications in November of 1999.

In 1996 Mr. Fanch founded FiberNet, LLC, and 1999, Conversent Communications, LLC, each a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) that served the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, respectively. Mr. Fanch served as Conversent’s Chairman and CEO from June 1998 through the spring of 2000, and as Chairman through the successful sale of the company in June 2006. Mr. Fanch was also Chairman of FiberNet. In 2003 Mr. Fanch acquired Northeast Data Vault, LLC, a commercial data center located near Boston, Massachusetts.

In 2007, Mr. Fanch founded Viridian Capital Partners, an $80 million capital fund with investments in data centers, tower sites, a mobile marketing/technology company, and one of the largest online wedding vendor advertising platforms. He has also engaged in real estate development through various entities, most recently completing redevelopment of one of the last great historic buildings in Denver.

Growing up near the Adirondack Mountains, Mr. Fanch has always admired the great lodges and beauty of the mountains. Disappointed with developers who did not have plans to preserve the beauty of the land, he created Devil’s Thumb Ranch, an environmentally-friendly resort on 6,000 acres in Tabernash, Colorado. Travel + Leisure magazine recently named Devil’s Thumb one of the top 20 “sustainable” resorts in the world and the only resort in North America to be awarded this honor. The mission to use sustainable materials and eco-friendly practices was so successful that in 2004, the US Environmental Protection Agency honored Devil Thumb’s Ranch for measures such as using geo-thermal energy to heat the cabins and other buildings, and building an eco-friendly wastewater treatment system.

Mr. Fanch also spearheaded the creation of the Headwaters Center and Headwaters River Journey located in Winter Park, Colorado. Situated right along the Fraser River, the museum focuses on the local ecosystem, the real issues it faces, such as diversions to the Front Range and rising temperatures, and features local stories of people taking steps to preserve Grand County’s rivers. Visitors are able to learn through reading, watching videos, and interacting with over 30 exhibits such as the Headwaters River Journey. This exhibit takes visitors on a journey to discover where their water comes from, the details of the river environment, how water is used and wasted, and what is being done to protect this precious resource. This Headwaters River Journey is the only off-the-grid exhibit in the country, powered completely by solar, and utilizes local beetle kill wood and old water flumes in the design.

Mr. Fanch is a Certified Public Accountant and has a B.S. degree in Accounting from Clarkson University. He earned an MSBA-Finance degree from the University of Denver.

Carole Segal is the co-founder of Crate and Barrel, the founder and former CEO of Foodstuffs, and the president of the Segal Family Foundation. Mrs. Segal is a trustee of Rush University Medical Center and chairman of the Board of Governors at Rush University. She is a trustee emeritus of Bates College, a life trustee of Illinois Institute of Technology, a trustee of Chicago Theological Seminary, and serves on the Board of Overseers of Colorado Mountain College. Carole is also a co-chair of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition (IBIC) and a co-chair of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC).