Osborn Erickson
Chairman
Emerald Fund

Born in the Bahamas, Oz Erickson grew up on the East Coast, where he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College, graduating in 1971. He came to California to get his MBA at Stanford Business School (class of 1975), fell in love with the West Coast, and never left. Oz married Rina Alcalay, whom he met at Stanford where she was getting her PhD in communications. Oz and Rina have two children.

Oz is the Chairman of Emerald Fund, a San Francisco development firm that does commercial, retail, and residential projects, among them the 230,000 square foot Potrero Center, the 245-unit Bridgeview development on Rincon Hill, and the 378-unit Oceanview Village development in the Oceanview. In 2011, Emerald finished 333 Harrison Street, a 326-unit project on Rincon Hill, in March, 2015, 100 Van Ness, a 418-unit conversion of an office building into housing units, was delivered. In 2016, the 162-unit 101 Polk development was done and, finally, in 2018 the 420-unit 150 Van Ness development was completed. Over the years Emerald has built over 3000 housing units in San Francisco. In token of its work, Emerald received the Excellence in Business Award as Community Developer for the Village at Petrini Place in San Francisco.

Oz has been active member of the Board of Directors of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association) and served as Chairman for four years. Previously he was chair of SPUR’s Housing Committee. He was on the Advisory Council of the Fannie Mae Bay Area Partnership Office, worked on a housing advisory committee for the California State Treasurer, served on various housing committees for Mayors Brown, Newsom and Lee. He was a long-term member of the Technical Advisory Committee to the San Francisco Planning Commission and is on the board of the Friends of City Planning. In 2012, he was heavily involved in the development of the Housing Trust Fund and was instrumental in the passage of Proposition C. He is a member of Lambda Alpha International, served on that board and was Member of the Year in 2012. He has also been on the board of the East Bay’s Tehiyah Day School and was Vice President of Planned Parenthood (Alameda/San Francisco). He also served on the board of Berkeley Repertory Theatre. In 2002, he received the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life Award and served on their Advisory Board. In 2008, he was given a Silver Spur Award. In 2013 together with Mayor Lee he received the Housing Hero Award for the City of San Francisco. In the same year he received the Most Admired CEO- Lifetime Achievement award from the San Francisco Business Times. Oz currently serves on the Parks Alliance Board, will resume a board position for SPUR in March, 2019, is a Counselor for the Stanford Real Estate Council, and is a member of the Real Estate Committee of UCSF. In 2018 he finished a thriller, Hyde Park Pursuit, which, for many good reasons, did not make it the best seller list.