FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, MOUNT VERNON COMPANY

The successful developer and N Magazine publisher is publicly flexing his muscle more than ever. Worried about the city’s direction, he’s working to bridge the divide between City Hall and those in the business community. Worried about the very survival of American democracy in an age of unprecedented partisanship, there he is, launching initiatives aimed at reducing tensions in the U.S. Senate as chairman of the board at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.

Nestled next to Back Bay Station, close to Copley Square, a 13-story, ritzy building on Clarendon Street has become home for more than 100 people transitioning out of homelessness and other low-income residents.