Professional Profile: Joseph Cohen 2012

Name: Joseph Cohen Title: Co-Managing Member Company: East River Partners LLC Location: New York City Place of birth: New Haven, CT Family: Married to a beautiful wife from Australia with a baby on the way. College: Yale University; Harvard Business School First job unrelated to your current field: Working for the painter's union in New Haven during a summer in high school. First job in your current field: My first job after college was with Jonathan Rose Cos., where I learned to partner with communities to develop complex projects. My first exposure to real estate was an internship the previous summer while I was in college with Related Capital (now Centerline) doing affordable housing finance. What your firm does now and its plans for the future? We currently have several residential condo conversions and rental projects under way in Brooklyn and Manhattan. We recently raised a discretionary fund - ERP Fund I - and are aggressively looking for $5-$50 million residential projects in NYC where we can rehab existing properties or develop ground-up. Hobbies: Squash, cycling, education reform Favorite film: I just saw Life is Beautiful, which I loved. I also have always liked Big Fish, a Tim Burton movie. Favorite novel: "The Trial" by Franz Kafka. Keys to success: Building a business for the long term takes patience. If you had to choose a different profession, what would it be? Public service or government.