Meet The EHDOC Team

Steve Protulis
Executive Director / Executive Vice President

A recognized national advocate activist for senior issues, Steve Protulis heads the EHDOC team. He was formerly the Executive Director of the National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSC), one of the nation’s strongest voices for older Americans and their families.

Steve was appointed by the United States Congress to the prestigious Congressional Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Facility Needs for Seniors in the 21st Century in 2001-2002.

He came to the United States in 1961 from Uruguay to attend Wayne State University. He was honored to be a member of the United States Army and served in Vietnam. He began his career on the shop floor of a General Motors plant in Detroit as a member of UAW Local 174. By 1970 he headed the Local that represented the largest cut-and-sew plant in the nation with 6,000 members.

He served as a Deputy Field Director for Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Campaign and was the AFL-CIO National Coordinator for Support Groups in Washington, D.C. He also served as the Administrative Assistant to former UAW President Douglas Fraser and as Special Assistant to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Steve serves on the board of several national organizations including Chairman for the American Association of Service Coordinators (AASC); Member of the House of Delegates for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA); serves on the (NISH) Committee of the National Council on Aging and on the Center for Policy Alternatives. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Home Modifications Action Coalition and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Caring Magazine.

Patricia Kohnke, Chief of Staff
email: Pat Kohnke

After receiving her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Political Science/Urban Governments from Northeastern Illinois University she began her career in property management in 1978 in Chicago. Pat’s diversity of experience includes housing programs for seniors, group homes for AIDS patients, transitional drug and alcohol programs, emergency shelters as well as luxury convention housing. She supervises the field operations for all EHDOC properties and oversees the EHDOC Community Action Program.

John Benton, Director of Development
email: John Benton

John has over 20 years of conventional and affordable multifamily real estate experience. John was the Director of the HUD Miami Multifamily Program Center overseeing a portfolio of 300 conventional and affordable apartment properties containing near 33,000 apartment units, in South Florida. Prior to HUD John spent several years as Vice President Special Assets (Multifamily) with PNC Bank in charge of a nationwide Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) portfolio and earlier as President of Lehman Housing Capital acting as General Partner managing the day to day operations and activities of a nationwide $1.5 Billion tax credit equity and debt investment portfolio of 10 syndicated LIHTC tax credit investment funds. John has written papers and given presentations on Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Bifurcating Rents and Utilities and the Asset Management of Distressed Multifamily properties. John earned a BA in Political Science and Economics, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, (An Honors University) and has taken numerous graduate courses in finance, management and real estate. John is an inactive Commercial Real Estate Appraiser and Real Estate Broker and has received awards for writing, “Mortgage and Interest Rate Legislation” in the State of Maryland.

Jason Pincus, Director of Field Operation
email: Jason Pincus

Jason is a graduate from the University of South Florida with a BS in Business Management and Gerontology. He received his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Nova Southeastern University in 2003 and is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator. He is a Certified Occupancy Specialist (COS), a Tax Credit Specialist (TCS) as well as a Certified Aging Services Professional (CASP). Prior to joining Elderly Housing Development and Operations Corporation (EHDOC), Jason oversaw several HUD Section 202 properties including a 272 unit property while working for the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital. He has also worked on developing a Senior Campus in Broward County for low income seniors. Jason is currently the Director of Field Operations for EHDOC overseeing all 54 properties.

Sharif Hardy Johnson, Controller
email: Sharif Hardy Johnson

Sharif Hardy-Johnson earned her BS in accounting from Syracuse University, Whitfield School of Management. She began her career in NYC in the banking industry and later relocated to Maryland, where she gained experience in the technology and Money Market industries. Since being in Florida (2004), her entire career has been not-for profit based. Overseeing the accounting functions of UCP of Miami, Palm Beach and Broward, Hope Center, 2 Charter Schools, MCPRS, 3 HUD based facilities, as well as various family extended care facilities; she has acquired a great foundation that enables her to smoothly transition to her current role as Controller of EHDOC. As a licensed CPA in the states of Maryland and Florida, Sharif is not your typical number cruncher, but has a heart of volunteerism, having compassion for the frail and the inner city youths. With much excitement, she has fully embraced the slogan of the organization-HOUSING WITH A HEART.

Uris M. Liburd, Budget and Development Specialist
email: Uris Liburd

Uris graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance. She began her career in 1988 as a Property Accountant for a commercial real estate firm. In May 1999, she joined the EHDOC team as an Accounting Specialist and later became a member of the senior staff as Budget Specialist and Accounting Assistant Supervisor.

Kate Hanley, Assistant Director of Field Operations email: Kate Hanley

Kate has over 12 years of experience in working with seniors. Prior to joining EHDOC, she worked for a non-profit organization assessing the need for home care for low income seniors and disabled persons. She began her career with EHDOC as a Community Manager for Chateau Cushnoc in Augusta, Maine. After servicing as a Senior Community Manager, Kate now supports the national field staff. She has become EHDOC’s pioneer in transitioning our properties to going “Green”.

Mauricio Bayon, Director of Information Technology
email: Mauricio Bayon

Bayon, Director of Information Technology, brings more than 12 years of professional experience designing, implementing, and managing information technology systems for firms in a variety of industries. Prior to joining EHDOC, Mauricio managed the technology infrastructure for a local CPA firm, where he also established and ran their IT consulting division. In this capacity he assisted many local and regional businesses with their corporate IT strategies, including system management, system security, network design, and internal controls. One of the reasons I hired Mauricio was to take on the task of organizing all of the 53 locations and headquarters so we can have a very efficient computer system. Mauricio graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University.