Quick Facts
Biography
Steve PonTell (born 1961) is an entrepreneur, business executive and policy expert based in Southern California. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of National Community Renaissance (National CORE), founder of the La Jolla Institute and a leading voice on community development, housing affordability and neighborhood transformation. PonTell's works have been frequently published in newspapers throughout Southern California. He has led regional, state and national symposiums on the issue of housing affordability and has testified before Congress and the California Assembly on ways to address the housing shortage.
Biography
Early life and education
PonTell was born in 1961 in Loma Linda, California, and grew up in Big Bear Lake, California. He received his bachelor's degree in city and regional planning from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obisbo and a Master of Business Administration from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Career
PonTell has helped lead a variety of entrepreneurial ventures and held several public-private leadership positions over the years. He was co-founder for @Work Consulting Group, served as California director for the Center for the New West and served as CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Council, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce. In 1996, PonTell founded the La Jolla Institute, a California-based non-profit, nonpartisan institution for policy research, education, and economic development.
In 2012, he was named President and CEO of National CORE, a U.S. non-profit community builder specializing in affordable, multifamily, mixed-income, senior, workforce and special needs housing. Based in Rancho Cucamonga, California, National CORE operates in four states: California, Florida, Texas and Arkansas. The company is one of the largest national nonprofit developers of affordable housing in the United States, with nearly 9,000 units.
PonTell serves on a number of notable boards of directors, including the California Endowment, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Planning Association.
Advocacy
PonTell has been a leading voice in the area of housing affordability and community transformation. In addition to leading regional and national symposiums on behalf of National CORE, PonTell has presented to the National Housing Conference, the University of California, Riverside School for Public Policy, the California Assembly and numerous other groups. In 2016, he served as moderator for the Southern California Association of Governments' housing and economic summits.