Michael T. Putziger is Chairman of WinnCompanies and is a member of its Board of Directors. He is also of counsel to the law firm of Murtha Cullina LLP, where he has held a role on the firm’s Board of Directors and management committee for 30 years. While there, his primary focus was on representing real estate developers through the regulatory approval and financing processes required to bring projects to fruition.

He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of First Community Bank, headquartered in Woodstock, Vermont and on the Board of Directors for New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares. He currently serves as Director of Enterprise Bancorp and Enterprise Bank, which are both located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Mr. Putziger is also a director of DSCI Corporation, a Massachusetts-based telephone company.

Mr. Putziger earned his Juris Doctor from Boston University’s School of Law and AB from Syracuse University.

Samuel Ross, Chief Executive Officer of WinnCompanies and member of the Board of Directors, joined the Winn organization as CFO in 1993. He was promoted to CEO in 2000 and has driven the company’s growth to its current position as one of the largest managers of multi-family housing and privatized military family housing in the U.S. 

In his role, Mr. Ross oversees the company’s development, investment and management activities. He also plays an integral role in the creation, planning, implementation and integration of the strategic direction of WinnCompanies.

Mr. Ross serves on the Board of Directors for the National Multi-Housing Council (NMHC), as Co-Chairman on the Board of Directors for MissionWorks, as a member of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board’s (GBREB) Rental Housing Association (RHA) and Real Estate Finance Association (REFA).

Prior to joining Winn, Mr. Ross was Executive Vice President of Kennedy-Wilson, a real estate investment banking and marketing firm, headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

Mr. Ross received his Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard University and his Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University.

Lawrence H. Curtis, the President and Managing Partner of WinnDevelopment and member of the Board of Directors, has led a full range of real estate development and acquisition activities for more than 25 years. He has been instrumental in helping the company grow from 3,000 units in 1986 to more than 95,000 units, which Winn currently has under management in 23 states across the country.

Mr. Curtis’ primary focus has been on the creation of affordable housing and historic rehabilitation developments. He is the past president of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) and a member of the Board of Directors for the National Multi-Housing Council, as well as the Citizens Housing and Planning Association. Mr. Curtis was also recently named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Board of Trustees.

Mr. Curtis served as the 2006 chairman of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) and as a co-chair of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ annual campaign in 2008. He has also received numerous awards, including the Paul E. Tsongas Award from Preservation Massachusetts. In addition, Mr. Curtis co-founded New Lease, a non-profit based in Boston that provides a clearinghouse of affordable housing units for families staying in state-funded shelters and motels throughout Massachusetts.

Mr. Curtis received a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York and a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University. He is a licensed architect in Massachusetts, and resides in Boxford with his wife Marla and their four sons.

Daniel E. Willert has served as General Counsel, Chief Ethics Officer for WinnCompanies, and has been a member of the WinnCompanies Executive Team since 2010. He brings 30 years of experience, working with and advising businesses and individuals in a wide variety of corporate and real estate matters. In his role, Mr. Willert is responsible for all legal affairs concerning the company, including compliance with various legal and regulatory requirements. Working with the Board of Directors and senior leadership team, he helps to ensure the implementation of the company’s business objectives, including delivering high-quality services to its clients.

Mr. Willert is a member of the Massachusetts and California Bar Associations. He holds his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University.

Gilbert J. Winn, Managing Principal, joined WinnCompanies in 2003 as a Project Director with a focus on New York State Development. Promoted to Vice President in 2007, and then to his current position in 2009, Mr. Winn has more than a decade of experience in the real estate industry. During that time, Mr. Winn has managed the origination and development of more than $500 million of real estate investments across the country. He has been instrumental in directly overseeing WinnDevelopment, the 20-person division of WinnCompanies, which actively pursues the development, construction and completion of complex residential real estate projects in more than 10 states. Mr. Winn also sits on the Executive Board of WinnCompanies.

Recently, Mr. Winn has focused his efforts on overseeing high-impact historic and environmentally-sustainable redevelopment projects, many of which have received numerous awards from city and state agencies, as well as non-profits and industry associations for their impact on the community, design, sustainable features and historic preservation. Mr. Winn was also recently honored as one of the Boston Business Journal’s 2012 “40 under 40” top executives.

Outside the office, he is an advisor on the Real Estate Council of B’nai B’rith New England; a member of the Board of Directors for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ (CJP) Next Generation Real Estate Board, a non-profit group that creates affordable housing for mentally disabled populations; an advisor and member of the Next Generation Boston Family Shelter Initiative for Heading Home, Inc., a non-profit entity focused on ending homelessness in greater Boston; and the Secretary and Co-Chairman of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) Rental Housing Association’s (RHA) Affordable Housing Committee.

Prior to joining WinnCompanies, Mr. Winn was an Associate at Related Capital Company, a full-service real estate investment company based in New York City. Here he originated and implemented more than $150 million of equity investments across various projects throughout the United States.

Mr. Winn graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Arts studying History and Psychology. He resides in Boston with his wife and son.