Brighton, MA – Senior housing developer, owner, operator, and advocate 2Life Communities has appointed five new members to its board of directors.
Collectively, they bring decades of experience across housing, real estate, healthcare, and urban planning sectors to the non-profit, supporting its efforts to provide service-enriched affordable housing options that meet the needs of the state’s rapidly growing senior population.
The new board members are:
● Magnolia Contreras, Vice President of Community Health at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
● Melissa Fish-Crane, Principal and Chief Executive Officer, The Peabody Companies
● Louis Grossman, Chairman and Treasurer of The Grossman Companies, Inc.
● Jason Korb, Principal of Capstone Communities LLC
● Jennifer Molinsky, PhD, Director of the Housing and Aging Society Program at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
The 2Life board provides strategic counsel and helps strengthen the organization’s presence across the state. Board expansion comes at a period of tremendous growth for 2Life, with five new developments in the pipeline for seniors ranging from extremely low to middle income. The organization currently operates over 1,500 apartments at 11 properties across seven Greater Boston-area campuses, providing affordable and service-enriched housing for more than 1,800 seniors.
“2Life continues to respond to the critical need for affordable and middle-income senior housing options while championing its ‘aging in community’ model, which empowers older adults to age with purpose and joy,” said 2Life’s board chair Laura Efron. ”These exciting additions to our board position 2Life for a period of transformative and intentional growth, to the benefit of Massachusetts seniors and their families.”
About the New Board Members
Magnolia Contreras, Vice President of Community Health at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Contreras is charged with helping the institute conduct its community benefits mission through the delivery of evidence-based cancer prevention, screening, and early detection programs. Her work is grounded in social work as well as public and community health theories that incorporate social justice and human rights principles. She specializes in the provision of services to communities of color and socially disadvantaged populations. Prior to joining Dana Farber, Contreras had a
consulting services practice in non-profit management, political coaching, and research. Today, she has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector working on issues related to public health, public policy, health, and community health care. Contreras and her husband, David Solimine, have been instrumental in bringing about 2Life’s Solimine House, a new development at 500 Lynnfield Street in Lynn, Massachusetts.
Melissa Fish-Crane, Principal and Chief Executive Officer, The Peabody Companies
Fish-Crane has over 25 years of experience in managing multi-family residential and mixed-use real estate. As Principal and CEO of The Peabody Companies, she focuses on business operations and strategic growth, overseeing field management to enhance financial stability. Known for her commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and exceptional service, Fish-Crane is highly regarded for her business acumen and results-driven approach. She has held key roles in industry committees and boards, such as the executive board of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), where she earned the Certified Property Manager (CPM) designation. Her accolades include the Glassdoor Top CEO Award, the National Affordable Housing Management Association’s President’s Award, and the “Outstanding Women in Family Business” Award. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Pine Manor College.
Louis Grossman, Chairman and Treasurer, The Grossman Companies, Inc.
Grossman supports the management of The Grossman Companies, a family-owned real estate firm in southern New England. With a background in investment advising in New York City, he co-founded the business in 1980 and has since managed a diverse portfolio of income-producing properties across office, industrial, retail, and self-storage sectors. In recent years, Grossman has transitioned leadership to his sons, Jeremy and David, who joined after gaining relevant experience outside the family business. This shift has enabled him to focus on philanthropic interests, supporting organizations such as the Union for Reform Judaism, Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, Temple Beth Shalom, and Hebrew College.
Jason Korb, Principal of Capstone Communities LLC
Korb is the principal of Capstone Communities LLC, where he has developed market rate, mixed income, and 100% affordable housing. He specializes in complex affordable housing transactions that involve multiple government subsidies. Since founding Capstone in October 2010, he has successfully completed a total of $100 million in development transactions in Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Newton, Brockton, and Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Prior to forming Capstone, Korb was the Vice President of Acquisitions at Beacon Communities LLC, a developer, owner, and manager of over 9,000 apartment homes in the Northeast. In his seven years at Beacon, he was responsible for developing and/or preserving over 600 apartment homes totaling over $100 million. Prior to joining Beacon, Korb was a Housing Project Manager at the Fenway Community Development Corporation in Boston. He is a Director of CHAPA. Korb received an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate and a BA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Jennifer Molinsky, PhD, Director of the Housing and Aging Society Program at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and Lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design
As Director of the Housing and Aging Society Program at Harvard, Dr. Molinsky leads research exploring the housing challenges facing aging populations, including affordability, accessibility, and safety in the home; community livability; and connections between housing, services, and health. She was lead author on several of the center’s major reports on the challenges of housing an aging society and has also written about the role of housing in wellbeing as people age. Molinsky is a member of the advisory board of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging and the board of directors of Hearth, Inc. She also serves on the steering committee for the Chan School of Public Health Initiative on Health and Homelessness at Harvard and co-directs the Healthy Places Design Lab at the Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining the center, she was chief planner for long-range planning for the City of Newton and held positions with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Municipal Art Society of New York, Abt Associates, and PricewaterhouseCoopers’ government housing finance practice. Molinsky holds a PhD in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
