Felipe M. Floresca ’73

Felipe M. Floresca ’73, of Chevy Chase, Md.; Nov. 16, of brain cancer. He began his career as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy working to enact the Federal Empowerment Zone Act and Community Reinvestment Act. He was later appointed to the Urban Empowerment Council and Vice President’s Task Force on Youth Employment under President Jimmy Carter. He returned to New York in the 1980s, where he worked in the administration of Mayor Ed Koch as Executive Administrator for Rent and Housing Maintenance, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Following this position, he was appointed vice president of the NYC Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Corp. and served as a member of the Mayor’s Ten-Year Housing Plan Task Force. In the 1990s he worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. He went on to serve in other positions, such as executive director of the San Francisco Housing Authority, chief of staff for policy for U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, and director of public engagement for U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan during the Obama administration. Additionally, he worked with the Charles D. Smith Jr. Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and was vice president of Emerald Cities Collaborative. In September 2018 he was the recipient of the Joseph M. Fernandez ’85 Award from Brown recognizing his enduring commitment to diversity, inclusion and collaboration. He was a former director of the Brown Center for Students of Color (formerly the Third World Center), a commencement marshal, and twice an alumni speaker. He continuously served Brown throughout the years. He is survived by his wife, Providence; his mother; and several nieces and nephews.