Deborah Wright, Esq.

Deborah C. Wright "currently serves as President and CEO of Carver Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Carver Federal Savings Bank, a federally chartered savings bank. With assets of $420 million and 120 employees, Carver is the nation's largest African-American operated bank.

"Prior to her position with Carver, Ms. Wright served as the President and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZDC). She successfully led the start up of the nation's largest Empowerment Zone which was equally funded by New York City, New York State and the Federal government with a $300 million, 10 year commitment.

"From January 1994 through March 1996, Ms. Wright served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. As commissioner, she redesigned housing and tax foreclosure policies, successfully launching the "Building Blocks" program which emphasized the return of City-owned residential properties in targeted geographic areas to locally based entrepreneurs, non-profit developers and tenants. Ms. Wright has also served on the New York City Housing Authority Board and was a member of the City Planning Commission.

"Before her public sector career, Ms. Wright worked at the New York City Partnership first as Director of Marketing for Towers on the Park in Harlem, and then as Executive Director of the Partnership's Community Partnership Development Corporation. She has also taught National Housing Policy at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation and has worked as a consultant to not-for-profit organizations on housing and real estate issues. She began her professional career as an Associate in First Boston's Corporate Finance Group.

"Ms. Wright earned A.B., J. D., and M.B.A. degrees from Harvard University." 

Prior to working with Rudolph W. Giuliani "she was named by Mayor David N. Dinkins to the New York City Housing Authority Board, which manages New York City's 189,000 public housing units.

"Ms. Wright is a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and serves on the boards of Kraft Foods Inc., the Partnership for New York City, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board of the American Baptist Churches." 

She is a director of the Children's Defense Fund, since 1999 she has been a director of Empire State Development and in 2005 she became a director of Time Warner.