AARON GORNSTEIN
To be honored Sunday

Anytime there’s a discussion about affordable housing in Massachusetts, one name is sure to pop up: Aaron Gornstein.

Respected by developers, housing advocates and state and community leaders for his integrity and ability to bring together groups with divergent points of views and interests, Gornstein has led one of the state’s oldest and most prominent housing groups for the last 16 years.

This Sunday, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action will recognize Gornstein for his efforts and accomplishments. Gornstein will receive the group’s Community Hero Award at its annual meeting in Brookline. A member of Banker & Tradesman’s Advisory Board, he could not be reached at press time.

“Aaron is one of the few people who actually deserve an award. He has done a remarkable job of bringing together a diverse group of people – private developers, public officials and advocates – to create an incredibly impressive agenda for housing and community development,” said Howard Cohen, chief executive of Boston-based Beacon Communities.

Describing him as a reasonable and rational professional with excellent judgment, Cohen said that whenever any question or controversy about a housing issue emerges, everyone always asks, “What does Aaron think?”

Indeed, Gornstein has spent most of his career running the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, a nonprofit group for affordable housing and community development activities throughout the state that has existed for nearly four decades.

The group – whose members include for-profit and nonprofit developers as well as city planners and bankers – has been instrumental in fending off efforts to gut the state’s controversial Chapter 40B law, which has helped create affordable housing in suburban communities. Under Gornstein’s leadership, the organization also has been successful in lobbying for legislation and state funding for a host of programs that have led to the creation and preservation of thousands of affordable homes throughout the commonwealth.

“Aaron, first of all, is the consummate advocate,” said Julia Kehoe, executive director of the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership. “I honestly don’t think the state of housing in Massachusetts would be what it is if it weren’t for him.”

Kehoe said Aaron is not only adept at advocating for affordable housing and works well with legislators and the administration, but she noted that he is “brilliant at pulling together all sorts of different advocacy groups that may not be on the same page.”

Several years ago, affordable housing groups and advocates for the homeless were pursuing different strategies and competing for attention and funding at the State House – but thanks to Gornstein they now are working more closely together on a similar agenda, according to Kehoe.

Supporters credit Gornstein’s success to his depth of understanding of the housing needs in Massachusetts, and to his passion and commitment to housing for low-income families. But at the same time, those who know him well say that Gornstein is wonderful when it comes to negotiating and compromising. He is not eager to seek the limelight or take credit for his accomplishments, they say.

“His real skill is hard work and a lack of ego that allows him to bring people together and get them to work together,” said Cohen, who has served on CHAPA’s board since the early 1970s.

‘A Sense of Priorities’

It was Gornstein’s modesty and humble manner that made Cohen and other CHAPA board members nervous about promoting him to executive director when the former director stepped down. Gornstein had been serving as CHAPA’s assistant director at the time.

“[We] were nervous about whether he’d have the stature to run a high-visibility organization,” recalled Cohen.

Gornstein certainly proved that he could, winning the respect and admiration of key leaders on Beacon Hill and drawing attention to critical housing issues. He has been tapped to serve on a various blue-ribbon panels and special task forces throughout the years, and was chosen by both Gov. Mitt Romney and Governor-elect Deval Patrick to serve on transition groups focused specifically on shaping the state’s housing policy.

“I think Aaron is more than anyone else the person that’s responsible for really establishing a sense of housing priorities and policy that’s really directed at ensuring we have good decent housing across the board,” said Ann Houston, CHAPA president and executive director of Chelsea Neighborhood Housing Services. “He doesn’t represent any single interest. He represents the interest of good affordable housing and strong communities.”

Thomas Callahan, executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, said Gornstein has kept CHAPA front-and-center in every housing debate that goes on in the state.

“Aaron is deserving of every recognition he gets,” said Callahan. “He is sort of the go-to person for so many people in the housing community to either understand how a program works or get CHAPA support for legislative proposals or budgeting.”

Callahan said he appreciates Gornstein’s honesty and ethics.

“You know where you stand with him. Whether he’s trying to negotiate in the State House for money or build a coalition of community groups, he’s always the same person,” he said.

Callahan also said Gornstein deserves part of the credit for establishing the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The fund, which was started in 1998, has helped create 2,600 affordable homes in the Bay State. Gornstein was involved in making sure that all the details about how the trust fund would be administered and how it would function weren’t overlooked.

“Without CHAPA and Aaron’s involvement, the trust fund was just an idea,” he said.

On Sunday, Gornstein will join a list of distinguished professionals who have been recognized by the Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action (JALSA) for their leadership, including Esther Schlorholtz, director of Boston Private Bank’s community investment program; Ellen Feingold, president of the Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly; Sumner Kaplan, a former state representative and retired trial court judge; Dr. Donald M. Berwick, president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement; and Rudolph Kass, a retired appeals court judge.

“[Aaron] truly is a community hero when it comes to housing in Massachusetts,” said Kehoe, who along with Cohen and Houston is co-chairing JALSA’s annual meeting.