Ambassadors

It all started in the year 2000, when the renowned Malaysian “Condo King”, Dato’ Alan Tong founded a niche property company known as Bukit Kiara Properties (BKP). Alan utilized his wealth of experience to focus on the quality and innovation of each new project and embarked on the quest to become a niche player in building unique, innovative and high-quality homes. In October 2008, The Al Batha Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the United Arab Emirates, formed a joint venture with Bukit Kiara Group, and today, BKP has completed four flagships projects with a combined gross development value of RM1.6 billion. These include the award-winning projects such as VERVE® Suites Mont’Kiara and VERVE® Suites KL South. Alan eagerly shares his extensive knowledge and expertise of multi-family real estate development with the United Nations Habitat through their Partnership with the Global Housing Foundation.

Following his studies at Antioch College in Urban Planning, Ari attended the University of Dayton Law School prior to focusing on a career in Real Estate Land Use. A recognized city design authority, he served as President of the Building Appeals Board for the City of Dayton and spearheaded the re-design of operations and logistics. In 2005, he established Mayan Properties in Cancun, Mexico which joined forces with Trafalgar Global Partners to facilitate Venture Capital Sourcing and Consulting Services with offices in the U.S., Asia and Latin America. Ari’s client list is a “who’s who” of international corporations and he holds numerous professional designations. He has served The Global Housing Foundation since inception.

Ambassador Gerard W. Bakker, based in Amsterdam,has been a real estate professional for over 40 years. Serving both private individuals and business parties efficiently and professionally. With multidisciplinary tasks in the (re)development of locations and/or existing buildings, he advises developers with ambitious and economically responsible plans, individually or in collaboration with skilled partners. For decades, Gerard has supported The Global Housing Foundation and assisted in the evaluation of projects worldwide.

CEO and founder of Boyd’s Realty, Jose is a global expert in real estate. With more than 3,000 successful transactions and over 30 years of experience building strategic alliances with some of the most successful real estate ventures in markets such as: PANAMA, COSTA RICA, MEXICO, EL SALVADOR, FRANCE, INDIA, and the UNITED STATES, his accomplishments are indeed impressive. Jose assisted The Global Housing Foundation’s workforce housing project in Panama City, and continues to offer support and strategic guidance for GHF initiatives.

Lutine de Boer LL.M MA (Melit.) currently holds the position of Program Manager Housing at the Region Alkmaar (North-Holland). She worked a sr. policy advisor urban planning and climate adaptation at the City of Alkmaar from 2009 – 2020. Since 2016 Lutine has worked on regional and panregional acceleration of housing development, a team effort of regional project groups and market parties. In 2019 – 2020 Lutine was regional program director climate adaptation. The mission of this programme is to make this region climate resilient by the year 2050, using the seven ambitions of the National Delta Plan Spatial Adaptation (DPRA). Since mid 2020 Lutine is regional program manager housing, working towards inclusive, sustainable and affordable housing for Region Alkmaar.

Sheldon’s career has been multi-faceted. He has received special recognition as Realtor of the Year for the City of Chicago in 1991 and was selected as one of “Chicago’s 25 most influential Realtors” during the past century. He was the President of the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute (CCIM). Sheldon founded one of the largest real estate auction firms in the world. He is a past President of the Chicago Association of Realtors and is a published author and speaker addressing business students at Cornell University, University of Chicago, Harvard University, Northwestern University, the Wharton School of Business, Stanford, UCLA and NYU. Sheldon regularly speaks on behalf of The Global Housing Foundation at The United Nations and UN-Habitat events on a global scale. The city of Paris awarded him its highest honor, the Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris.

Susan Good is an award-winning lifestyle blogger, entrepreneur and author and one of the most followed grandmothers on Instagram. Often called a “cool 21st Century grandmother with moxie,” she enjoys more than a quarter-million followers across her Honey Good ventures. Together, Susan and Sheldon are avid supporters of Global Housing Foundation, and are recognized as GHF’s First Couple.

Zaigham Rizvi is currently serving on pro-bono basis, as Adviser on Pakistan’s Housing Program. The Housing Program aims at preparing policies and program for developing 5 million housing units with a focus on “affordable housing” for low- and lower-income segments and is to cover rural, peri-urban and urban housing. He has served as an Expert Consultant on Housing and Housing Finance to international agencies including World Bank/IFC, UNHABITAT, DFID, ShelterAfrique, CMHC-Canada, Affordable Housing Institute (AHI)-USA, etc. Working for different international agencies, Zaigham has carried out housing assignments in countries of Asia, Africa and MENA Region. Zaigham has been associated with Association of Development Finance Association of Asia & Pacific (ADFIAP) as its ex-Vice Chairman and Life Member.

Over the years Zaigham has developed a passion for Low-Cost Affordable Housing for Economically Weaker Segments of the Society, addressing challenges of Supply-Side, Finance-Side and housing related Regulatory Regimes. Zaigham also has a passion to address growing challenge of Energy Poverty mainly through Renewable Energy/Solar Power solutions and has promoted Rooftop Solar Electricity under banner of “Solar for Social Housing.”

Zaigham is actively working on research based development of innovations in construction materials and construction technologies to lower the cost of quality resilient housing for low-income segment, with active engagement of Academia and Construction Industry. Zaigham has played a key role in development and promotion of Islamic Housing Finance Business Models, as well as Insurance (Takaful) models for housing finance.