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Anne Benge
Laurie P. Hughet-Hiller
Molly Forman
Linaea Floden
Kristina D. Covall
Design by Chris Nicholls
Illustration: xy/Adobe Stock
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Breana Wheeler
Allison Weiss
Virginia Weida
Paula Thoreen
Julie Stein
Deborah Smith
Molly Skipper Steele
Arcie Propster
Michelle L. Osburn
Penny Maus
Odeta Kushi
Zahara Kassam
Amy Johnson
Bridget E. Grant
Laura M. Eberly
Victoria Cowart
Emily Buehrer-Douglas
Amy Bradac
Jackie Bowie
Debra Aitken
Leslie Teskey
Chaise Schmidt
Anne N. Rosenau
Katy Redmond
Yansy Naranjo Rolen
Torrey Littlejohn
Lindsey Groom
Michelle Esquivel-Hall
Aubrey Englund
Lauren Crowley Corrinet
Cece Conway
Christina Clark
Natalie Bazarevitsch
Vanessa Zhang
Monica Wallace
Kaley Tuning
Sarah Sparks
Andrea Saewitz
Bridget McGarey
Missy Martinovich
Carine Mamann
Leslie Lanne
Wendy Katz
Bettina Hunt
Keely Hines
Lindsey Halter
Candace R. Gschwind
Eileen Doody
Patti Dillon
Ashley C. Byrd
Jessica Brown
Cheri Blessing
Sheila Bale
Lisa Bailey
Morgan Zant
Laura Stumm
Joanna Rotonde Manfro
Britt Raymond
Keely Polczynski
Janet Neman
Kristina Metzger
Deana Marcello
Mindy Korth
Marion Jones
Stephany Chen
Jean Yee
Katie Runyan
Jennifer Quigley
Kathleen McSharry
Rose Liu
Angela Kelcher
Cheryl Higley
Maggie Burke
Adrienne Andrews
Jackie Rye
Anna Perez
Jessica Orlando
Janice Y. K. Li
With a passion for creating a more sustainable and resilient built world, Breana Wheeler develops educational resources, shares forward-thinking insights, and aids decision-makers across the industry in uncovering growth opportunities for improving sustainable and financial performance across assets and portfolios. In 2016, Wheeler became the US director of operations for the Building Research Establishment, a 100-year-old building science research organization focused on delivering stronger, healthier buildings. She has played a pivotal role in expanding the organization’s influence in the US and has propelled the growth of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. Amid this expansion, she led the standard in achieving milestones including the first healthcare office certification and entry into four new states. Wheeler’s chief responsibility is to lead and oversee the development and maintenance of the BREEAM USA technical standards to drive adoption of its benchmarking and certification services across North America. With Wheeler’s efforts, the multifamily sector witnessed a 438% surge in the number of BREEAM certifications granted nationwide from 2022 to 2023.
CRE Recruiting founder Allison Weiss advises individuals and businesses on recruiting practices, new hires, onboarding, business strategies, marketing, branding and leadership. She also has been involved in several mergers and acquisitions across the country. Despite economic headwinds disrupting the hiring markets, Weiss has remained focused on serving both candidates and clients. She recorded her best year ever in 2023 from a revenue and placement standpoint and has already billed more than 80% of her 2023 revenue to start 2024. Weiss has a unique ability to point out blind spots in a caring, yet direct way. She’s tough, firm, unwavering in her convictions and yet sensitive to people who come to her with their problems. She consistently gives her time, energy, resources and kindness to further someone else’s career or business. In the past year, she has been a keynote speaker for the Women’s Resource Group of Alliant Credit Union, the leader of workshops on LinkedIn strategies at the Commercial Real Estate Influencers Summit, a panelist at last year’s GlobeSt. Women of Influence conference, along with speaking with countless small groups including universities and specialty groups.
Independent consultant Virginia Weida founded Virginia Weida Designs LLC in 2006 and leads the company as CEO specializing in workplace strategy and design projects in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. She has more than 32 years of experience consulting with some of the largest CRE companies and has a track record of completing deals with consistent results. Weida credits her education at Cornell University for giving her a solid cornerstone to carve out a unique career path. Trained and certified as an interior designer, she became a Certified Facility Manager, LEED and WELL certified professional to provide a trifecta of services within the office tenant marketplace. She works closely with brokers, property owners and facility managers, providing space utilization and workplace strategy services to enhance their property portfolios and increase rental income. She also works with tenant reps and tenants with property searches, focusing on opportunities to lower lease costs, better position their workspaces, and improve employee wellness. Weida has managed more than $10 million in construction renovation budgets and produced 44 interior projects totaling more than 490,000 square feet. She served as president of CREW Pittsburgh.
Paula Thoreen is an executive managing director and a member of the executive leadership committee for valuation and advisory at Cushman & Wakefield. She joined the firm in 2022 from Colliers where she was the institutional valuation leader, provided property value appraisals for institutional funds, consulted for property tax matters, and provided support for litigation over environmental concerns and building defect issues, lease arbitration and complex property issues. Prior to Colliers, she owned ThoreenHale Advisors for 12 years and specialized in institutional valuation and before that she was national director for the valuation arm of General Motors subsidiary Realty Services International. She founded the CREW Houston chapter 20 years ago and served on its board for several years. Through her leadership at the National Council of Investment Fiduciaries, she has provided thoughtful guidance on the impact of rapidly rising property values in 2020 and 2021, and more recently, rising debt costs on current valuations. She moderates industry and company webinars to discuss real-time issues impacting valuations across all sectors and markets. In addition, Thoreen has held leadership roles with The Counselors of Real Estate, including serving on the CRE national board and as president of the Houston Chapter.
With more than 15 years of experience in civic leadership, Julie Stein is adept at navigating complex public-private partnerships in her role as executive director of Union Square Partnership. Since she was appointed to this role last year, Stein has established herself as a force for positive change on behalf of Union Square-14th Street District as well as the BID community in New York City. She is a champion for economic development within the district as well as the leading advocate for Union Square’s vision to improve transportation, accessibility, safety and overall public realm around Union Square Park. Previously, Stein led the “New” New York Panel, the city’s task force charged with developing NYC’s roadmap for equitable recovery, reimagining business districts and enhancing the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Selected by Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams, Stein led the 59-member panel of civic leaders and industry experts that culminated in the Making New York Work for Everyone action plan, which included 40 initiatives to reimagine how and where people work across the city, effecting changes from public space and transportation to housing and childcare. Prior to that, Stein held leadership positions within the asset management division of the New York City Economic Development Corp.
Raised on a dairy farm in rural Australia, Deborah Smith had no plans to attend college or pursue a career in finance, but with tenacity and determination, she broke the family mold and pursued a different path. She has worked more than 25 years in the industry, 15 of those at the helm of the CenterCap Group, a company she co-founded during the Great Financial Crisis. She is a thought leader in the industry and shares her insights on emerging trends across housing, industrial, PropTech and investment management. As CEO, Smith focuses on the firm’s strategic growth and the vision and direction of each of the firm’s business lines. She spearheaded the redesign of its investor coverage effort to expand its limited partner relationships, including pensions, foundations, endowments, alternative managers, insurance companies and financial institutions. She also oversaw CenterCap’s acquisition of a strategic consulting firm a few years ago to bring expertise in developing and creating strategies for companies within the real estate sector. Smith takes a specific interest in the consulting practice and frequently operates as team leader on assignments, leveraging her non-linear thinking acumen, her approach to deconstructing companies and her capacity to identify opportunities that are not always obvious.
In an industry recently marked by decreasing market share and stagnation, Molly Skipper Steele has propelled Apprise by Walker & Dunlop to success. Under her leadership, Apprise has generated revenue and optimized operations to enhance efficiency, which has led to a notable increase in market share across every region. Her emphasis on empowering regional directors and aligning expectations has fostered a more cohesive brand identity for Apprise. Skipper Steele is VP and director of strategic growth, where she provides strategic direction for the commercial valuation team and focuses on serving the needs of attorneys, banks, investment trusts and other institutional firms. An appraiser by trade, Skipper Steele works to build long-term relationships that help develop a comprehensive picture of client real estate requirements. Her appraisal and consulting assignments have included all major property types throughout the US, such as power centers, mixed-use and lifestyle centers, community and neighborhood shopping centers, multifamily properties, industrial buildings, medical office, and single- and multitenant office buildings. She specializes in multifamily valuations and has been engaged primarily by institutional lenders and investors, life companies, federally regulated banks, GSEs and private equity lenders. With a team of 25 salespeople, Skipper Steele has facilitated an environment where individuals feel valued and empowered.
Arcie Propster has facilitated thousands of transactions within risk management consulting, guiding clients through technical challenges and providing solutions to engineering, environmental, energy and valuation concerns. She is a founding partner and principal at Partner Engineering and Science Inc., where she brings more than 25 years of experience advocating for the use of technology in the due diligence process to help clients gain efficiencies. She developed and implemented standardized protocols across Partner’s nationwide offices that streamline proposals and reports, adhere to strict timelines and maintain consistency and accuracy. She also represents the company in client-facing activities such as presentations, lunch and learns, and conferences. Propster has guided the company since its inception in 2007 through the recession and post-pandemic market downturn, displaying resilience and ability to weather economic storms. By introducing new business models and services, including civil engineering, zoning/ALTA assessments and roof management, she not only ensured Partner’s stability but also facilitated growth during challenging times. Propster is a member of MBA, ICSC, BOMA, CREW and the Professional Environmental Marketers Association.
Michelle Osburn’s unconventional career journey began in IT consulting at Accenture leveraging her education in math and engineering. That consulting expertise evolved as she completed a fine arts degree in interior design and began what has become her passion for helping clients define and transition into new ways of working. Osburn worked at Perkins&Will for more than 10 years, leading its workplace strategy practice in Chicago. When the pandemic transformed the way people live and work, she evolved the skills of her team and their service offerings to meet clients at all points along their workplace journey. Today she is a principal and senior director of US workplace consulting at Avison Young. In addition to managing a team of strategists and designers, she is responsible for expanding, strengthening and developing the workplace practice including advising clients as the new role of the workplace emerges. Osburn is a member of Avison Young’s professional services executive committee with responsibility for creating collaborative opportunities that serve Avison Young’s clients holistically from vision to implementation.
Until late last year, Penny Maus was the director of real estate and airport management for the city of San Diego, but when the city faced a significant budget deficit, her position was eliminated. Maus embraced the unexpected change in an uncertain time as an opportunity and spent the rest of the year forming her own consulting business. In January 2024, she launched propertyworx LLC to offer real estate and land use consulting services. As CEO, Maus helps clients navigate the complexities of real estate transactions and the entitlement process. Her recent experience as a city leader uniquely positions her for this role. She uses both her public and private sector experience to support clients with preparing solicitations and responses, entitlement strategy, transaction support, project management and more. She has already helped a client negotiate a lease amendment that extended its lease and included landlord participation toward capital improvements. While working for the city, Maus led the solicitation and selection process for the redevelopment of a 48.5-acre parcel in the Midway District and served as lead negotiator and project manager for the Midway Rising project.
Newmark vice chairman Laura Stumm co-runs the firm’s Los Angeles investment sales practice, focused on land, lab and studio opportunities. Her responsibilities include handling requirements for users looking to expand within the market. Team members say Stumm leads through a strong work ethic, attention to detail and strategic foresight. Working with Kevin Shannon for the past 15 years, she has held nearly every job on the team, giving her a unique perspective on how to build a best-in-class team that can navigate an evolving market. She has encouraged her team to embrace the changing capital markets landscape by identifying solutions for both equity sellers and lenders. In an environment where capital stacks are challenged and interests are not always aligned, Stumm encourages her team to ask thoughtful questions and is quick to identify solutions. She is an active member of Arche Women’s Network, ULI and Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters. She is a frequent panel speaker, including recent engagements with BOMA, the Los Angeles Business Journal and Bisnow.
Joanna Rotonde Manfro has dedicated herself to fostering connections with owners and investors across the country, orchestrating acquisitions and navigating complexities with finesse and strategically using technology to enhance her capabilities in difficult markets. She joined Matthews Real Estate Investment Services with more than 15 years of experience on the principal side and a track record of nearly $2 billion in transactions. She is VP of shopping centers in the Northeast at the firm, where she specializes in retail and mixed-use and has executed on JV partnerships, tax-efficient deal structures, partial interest acquisitions and portfolio transactions. Prior to Matthews, Rotonde Manfro worked for RPT, Regency Centers and Urstadt Biddle Properties, growing their presence significantly in each of their respective Northeast markets. She closed more than $740 million in 18 months, primarily consisting of legacy shopping centers in the metro New York area. Notably, Rotonde Manfro has nearly $70 million in listings within her first few months of transitioning from principal to brokerage. She is an active member of several business organizations, including ULI, Retail Network and ICSC.
Recently promoted to managing director and market leader for New York capital markets at SRS Real Estate Partners, Britt Raymond guides the company’s brokers through day-to-day leadership, management and business development. She also is responsible for growing the firm’s presence across the Northeast, advises owners of net lease assets and anchored shopping centers nationwide to buy, acquire or finance, and provides 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange advisory. Raymond joined the firm five years ago with her partner, Kyle Fant, to expand SRS’s national net lease group into the New York region. During her career, she has closed more than $3.75 billion in CRE transactions and has been recognized as a top producer at SRS. She is one of only four female market leaders at SRS Real Estate Partners and is a mentor, contributor and participant in Girl Gang New York. She helped Girl Gang New York grow during the past few years from 20 to more than 600 women business professionals. She supports Future and Options, an organization that empowers New York City’s underserved youth to explore careers through career development and paid, mentored internships. She is also an avid supporter of Dress for Success, a not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence.
Keely Polczynski joined JLL Capital Markets less than one year ago and has quickly made an impact on the organization. She is a managing director at the firm, where she leverages 20 years of capital markets experience focused on the sale of institutional commercial real estate. Polczynski provides a full scope of services required for complex property transactions in her representation of private equity funds, life insurance companies, pension funds and public and private REITS. She has established herself as a top producer in the industry with sales surpassing $5 billion and achieved the highest retail sale in Chicago for the second year in a row in 2023 with the disposition of Time Out Market in Fulton Market. Prior to JLL, Polczynski was a senior partner in the CBRE Chicago capital markets institutional properties team. She began her career in the retail institutional group, then ventured to sole practitioner with the inception of the urban investment sales practice at CBRE in 2006, growing it to be the dominant market-maker in downtown Chicago by touting the sale of some of the most significant and prominent properties among Chicago’s high streets, universally recognized commercial corridors and emerging markets.
During more than 37 years in the commercial real estate industry, Janet Neman has sold more than $1.9 billion in assets and currently is a top producer at Kidder Mathews where she is an EVP and shareholder. She is known for navigating challenging deals to the finish line that others may have given up on. After a five year escrow, Neman recently closed on a $56 million, seven-acre development site in the heart of Culver City, which was a record-setting deal. She sourced the seller and buyer and completed the transaction off-market. Last year, she listed and sold multiple properties that were previously listed by other brokers. Through her extensive marketing efforts, connections, and knowledge of the market, she generated multiple competitive offers for a 42-unit building adjacent to downtown Los Angeles, which sold for $17.5 million and a brand-new construction 20-unit building in downtown Long Beach that sold for $10.9 million. She is creative in structuring deals to enhance her clients’ financial position. She is a mentor to many new agents in the industry and shares her insights on the challenges she has overcome as a woman in the CRE industry.
Kristina Metzger is vice chairman of CBRE’s data center capital markets group, where she leverages expertise in financial structuring, technical knowledge and a background in data center leasing to advise domestic and offshore investors in the disposition and acquisition of data center investment properties across North America. Throughout the past two years, Metzger and her team completed more than one-third of all intermediated data center asset sales by volume across North America. Metzger arrived at CBRE in 2007 as a consultant and then honed her expertise in the data center market as a member of CBRE’s Data Center Solutions. She quickly became one of the company’s top data center tenant advisors, representing Fortune 500 data and broadband companies in some of the industry’s most significant and complex lease transactions, with a total value of more than $3 billion. After 10 years with CBRE’s DCS, Metzger transitioned to focus 100% of her and her team’s time and resources in the capital markets segment. Her extensive site selection, acquisition and lease structuring experience provides a unique perspective and specialized value to her data center clients. She facilitated more than $2 billion in data center sales and debt transactions last year.
Colliers EVP Deana Marcello, a third-generation real estate professional who followed in her father’s footsteps, focuses on the stabilization and disposition of assets and implementing strategic planning to maximize value for her clients in the retail sector. A Rhode Island native, Marcello is a 27-year resident of Las Vegas who brings more than 14 years of experience specializing in commercial REO, investment and owner/user sales, and the representation of national retail tenants and institutional landlords. Marcello has partnered with Adam Malan since 2012 on a team that has brokered more than $2.62 billion in transaction volume, including $497 million in transactions since 2022. The Malan + Marcello investment team has consistently been ranked as a top-producing partnership across the Western US. Marcello’s significant recent transactions include the $63 million sale of Fashion Village at Boca Park, the $22.04 million sale of Galleria Pavilion after stabilizing the asset to 93% occupancy, and a 41-acre land acquisition, ground leasing and disposition project, in which her team represented the developer in securing the land and 27 individual leases to national tenants. To date, Marcello has represented the seller in the sale of 23 single-tenant net-leased assets to help complete the project.
Mindy Korth describes herself as a commercial real estate nerd with a passion for immersing herself in numerous sectors, including office, medical office, retail, education, industrial and commercial land. Her experience spanning more than four decades includes new and rehab development, financial structuring, leasing, management, site selection, network planning, acquisitions, dispositions, programming, financial analysis and underwriting. Korth is an EVP of investment services at Colliers based in Phoenix. She has closed more than 380 transactions totaling $4.8 billion in value. Recognized as a five-time NAIOP investment broker of the year, Korth identifies and assesses potential investment opportunities across various real estate sectors and oversees the coordination of financial analysis and due diligence processes, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of property financials and market conditions. In 2023, she closed a variety of transactions, including the $37 million sale of Southern Sunset Plaza, a 200,091-square-foot mixed-use community center, which was part of a three-property disposition assignment handled for a Canadian client in less than one year.
Drawing on 20 years of experience across various property types, JLL managing director Marion Jones has become a leading advisor to office owners seeking counsel on potential transformations and re-development in the wake of the pandemic and new hybrid work schedules. In the past year, she has advised office owners on conversions to residential, medical office and industrial uses by leveraging a process to determine the highest and best use for each property. These assignments included the sale of a proposed townhouse redevelopment of an office campus in Stamford and the sale of a medical office conversion portfolio in Westchester, NY. At JLL’s capital markets group, Jones is a strategic advisor committed to the constant advancement of client positions through skillful market positioning and creative, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and as a senior member of JLL’s tri-state investment sales and advisory team, Jones leads capital markets activity across Connecticut and Westchester County, NY. She has closed more than $9 billion in transactions in both middle market and institutional arenas throughout her career.
Since joining JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group in 2011, senior director Stephany Chen has played a role in high-profile investment sales throughout the US. She focuses on full-service investment sales and works to attract global capital for offerings with the team’s global hotels desk. One of her greatest recent achievements was her involvement in the 75% interest sale in the Mandarin Oriental New York. She has expanded JLL’s hotel investment sales platform in Greater China. During her time in Shanghai, she established strong relationships with Chinese capital groups and bolstered the visibility of JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group in the market. She is involved with the Americas Lodging Investment Summit and the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific. Through her role at Burba Hotel Network, she had the opportunity to network with key executives in the hotel real estate industry, which provided her with valuable connections and insights, further enhancing her ability to create meaningful partnerships and drive successful transactions. As an alumnus of The School of Hospitality Business of Michigan State University, Chen mentors current students. She also mentors students with Project Destined, a social impact program that provides internship opportunities in the real estate industry.
Since 2019, Jean Yee has served as Gantry Inc.’s servicing director, overseeing the day-to-day performance of the commercial mortgage banking firm’s $18 billion loan servicing portfolio. She maintained 100% performance of the firm’s portfolio of service loans post-COVID-19. Yee has been with the firm for more than 28 years, earning senior-level positions while maintaining relationships with lenders and sponsors and servicing billions of dollars in loans on behalf of life insurance correspondents and conduit lenders. Her primary role covers the fiduciary responsibilities necessary to maintain, process and account for loan payments and tax payments, monitor asset performance of serviced properties, ensure proper insurance compliance and oversee annual property inspections. Yee has focused on mentorship and talent development within the firm’s servicing division and works closely with Gantry’s loan producers to identify pending maturities and troubled loans and underwrite refinancing transactions for existing clients. She is a graduate of California State University East Bay and a long-time member of the Mortgage Bankers Association and its servicing discipline.
Katie Runyan is a managing director of multifamily finance at Walker & Dunlop, specializing in multifamily loan originations. She offers high-level guidance to clients and shares expertise with her team based on nearly 20 years of experience originating multifamily loans for various asset types nationwide. In 2020, despite turbulent markets and a new remote work environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Runyan took a leap and moved from a support role on a well-established origination team into a full, independent production role. She cultivated a robust book of business and has nurtured enduring relationships, particularly with significant institutional borrowers based in New York. In 2021, more members joined her, bolstering the enterprise’s momentum as the team expanded. Since then, her group has emerged as one of the top-producing teams at Walker & Dunlop. Runyan’s extensive role encompasses arranging senior debt, supplemental debt and equity placements across various capital sources such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, life companies, debt funds and HUD. She has nearly 19 years of industry experience and has been involved in $16 billion of loan financings throughout her career.
Berkadia managing director of FHA/HUD Jennifer Quigley has been involved in more than $3 billion of HUD financing during the past three decades. She attributes much of her success as a mortgage broker to her previous role as an underwriter, where she learned to identify and mitigate risks early in the process. Quigley currently specializes in originating FHA-insured loans for multifamily and senior housing and considers herself a first-time HUD borrower specialist, having handheld dozens of multifamily experienced developers through their first 221(d)(4) construction loan closing. In 2023, Quigley closed mostly construction loans under the program. She and her team ended the year with two closings on two affordable transactions that involved tax-exempt bonds, tax credits, subordinate financing and a pilot. “Jennifer’s unwavering commitment to client needs, combined with her extensive knowledge of FHA/HUD lending, has led to the financing of a substantial number of housing units and positive outcomes for clients and the residents,” says associate director Quinn Nakano. “She is the ultimate problem solver, who puts honesty and integrity at the forefront of everything she does.”
Avison Young senior director Kathleen McSharry grew up in a New York City Housing Authority apartment in Manhattan and reached adulthood with only a GED. With no experience in the real estate world or relevant education, she took a job as a receptionist at The Singer & Bassuk Organization’s predecessor firm in 1982. Mentored and encouraged by Andy Singer, McSharry attended NYU in the evening while learning the finance business during the day, eventually getting her MBA and real estate broker license. During the past two decades, she has been instrumental in closing more than $8 billion in financing and brings special expertise in development finance and complex deal structuring to her role on the firm’s Tri-State debt and equity finance team. McSharry has been a board member and program co-chair of the Association of Real Estate Women, which subsequently merged into CREW, and has advised the board of her alma mater, Notre Dame School, on real estate matters. McSharry is involved in all aspects of transaction analysis, structuring, marketing, placement and closing. She is a five-time winner of the Real Estate Board of New York’s most ingenious deal of the year award.
Colliers senior financial analyst of US capital markets Rose Liu brings 11 years of experience in financial analytics, financial modeling, debt and structured finance, debt advisory and equity placement to her role. She has worked in office, medical office, industrial and logistics, multifamily, hospitality, capital markets, investment sales and retail practices with transactions totaling more than $1 billion. Liu started in Colliers’ New York office and now works in Boston, where she is responsible for analyzing and underwriting U.S. investment sale, debt and equity deals. She is well-networked in the industry and actively generates business opportunities for the team, especially within the Asian community with domestic and overseas Mandarin-speaking clients. Among her notable accomplishments was financing a $300 million portfolio comprising retail, industrial and multifamily properties across the US for a large institutional client. She has served on the board of the Asian Real Estate Professional Association New York chapter for nine years and founded the Boston chapter two years ago. “Rose is probably one of the most dedicated individuals I’ve ever met,” says former client Jay Young, SVP group director at Signature Bank. “She takes her job to heart and is always looking for ways to improve herself to a higher standard.”
Angela Kelcher has invaluable expertise and an intricate understanding of the goals and objectives surrounding agencies. Prior to joining JLL in 2022, Kelcher was with Fannie Mae for 17 years, most recently as senior director of affordable housing, where she led her team to successive record-breaking production volumes. Today she is a senior managing director and affordable housing co-lead at JLL Capital Markets. Kelcher is involved in client outreach calls, participates in affordable training with producers, and publishes articles and newsletters across diverse media platforms focused on the affordable housing sector. She brings an unparalleled knowledge of affordable agency underwriting guidelines and is well-versed in various forms of affordable incentives available for projects across the country. Kelcher strategically advocates for JLL’s expansion of services to stay at the forefront of the industry. She is a member of the Texas Association for Affordable Housing Providers. In addition, she is a lead singer in a cover band composed almost entirely of affordable housing professionals. The band’s name is Section 42 in a nod to the 1986 legislation that created the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.
During the past two years, Northmarq managing director Cheryl Higley has played a vital role in the firm’s investment sales team originating multifamily loans in the firm’s Austin, Texas, office. She has more than 22 years of experience generating debt and equity solutions for customers acquiring or refinancing multifamily properties, with an emphasis on workforce housing. She is passionate about preserving affordable housing and helping low-income residents with housing solutions. She joined Northmarq in 2021 as part of the company’s growth initiative working closely with the newly acquired Central Texas multifamily investment sales team. Before Northmarq, Higley completed more than $500 million in multifamily loans while employed at Barings, Newmark and Dougherty Mortgage. In the past 20 years, Higley has financed more than $750 million in multifamily loans through agency lenders. Some of her recent transactions include the acquisition financing for a 32-unit multifamily property and the refinancing of Park Place Apartments, a 24-unit student housing property. She is a long-time member of NMHC and MBAA.
Maggie Burke has facilitated more than $6 billion in debt finance transactions during her 9-year career. She has become a trusted and reliable resource for clients by building relationships and delivering a consistent track record of executing deals, even under challenging circumstances. In her role as an SVP on Capital One’s commercial real estate team, Burke works with commercial property owners and operators across the US on capital market and debt strategies and devises creative debt and equity solutions through capital source executions including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and life companies. Burke and her team have financed more than $2.5 billion in debt and equity transactions since she joined Capital One in June 2021. Building on her extensive contacts and relationships within the industry, in part due to her involvement in the Freddie Mac Advisory Committee and Mortgage Bankers Association, Burke both increased new business opportunities and deepened relationships with existing clients. She recently closed a $17 million loan using Freddie Mac’s new Workforce Housing Preservation Program.
As one of the few female intermediaries in the hotel finance sector, Adrienne Andrews has broken barriers while establishing herself as a trusted advisor. Her extensive background as a balance sheet lender and her experience in the hotel industry working with all lender types set her apart as an expert in the specialized hospitality finance market. As a managing director at JLL, Andrews is responsible for driving the growth of hotel activity in the western US, sourcing funding for hotel acquisitions, refinances and ground-up hospitality developments. Andrews maintains strong lender relationships, allowing her to secure favorable financing terms for her clients, and she has been a steadfast leader during uncertain times in the hospitality industry. Andrews provides strategic guidance and education to clients, manages relationships and negotiations with lending institutions, and plays a vital role in shaping the growth of JLL Hotels & Hospitality. One of Andrews’ notable achievements was closing a hotel construction loan for a 15-story dual-brand AC/Element hotel in downtown Boise with competitive terms despite the large loan size and limited appetite for construction loans. Previously she was a top producer at CBRE’s institutional hotel group.
Jackie Rye’s interest in architecture is a convergence of her love of art cultivated as a child in her aunt’s studio and her math skill developed in high school. Her practice covers many sectors, but she specializes in breweries and taprooms. She led the builds of Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co., Karbach Brewing Co. and Packaging Hall, and Holler Brewing Co. in Houston. Rye is a partner and principal of market operations at Method Architecture, where she has led award-winning projects and helped the company grow from a small startup as its third hire to a successful design firm with more than 70 employees in four offices. She is a champion of Method’s approach characterized by a blend of innovative design and a humble, ego-free ethos. Rye oversees the Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio operations, including eight teams, 45 staff members, three service lines and 700 projects annually. She manages all design studios, ensuring adherence to stringent quality standards and progress toward project performance objectives. This year, Rye has focused more time and energy on mentorship to support and nurture emerging design staff, particularly women.
Licensed architect Anna Perez is committed to destigmatizing affordable housing design by integrating market-rate finishes in building renovations that fit within limited budgets, look beautiful and stand the test of time. Perez is the associate director of design and construction at Hudson Valley Property Group where she assesses potential affordable housing acquisitions from a physical standpoint and creates construction scopes of work tailored to meet the unique needs of the asset and stakeholders. During the past year, she oversaw the construction due diligence process for two major portfolios totaling 6,670 units across seven states. Simultaneously, she implemented the construction management software solution Procore, streamlined construction processes within the group through Procore Action Plans and increased team efficiency. Her involvement spans multiple stages of diligence and construction for 72 projects, encompassing 15,000 units across 12 states and totaling $332 million in construction costs. Perez is most proud of successfully pitching a $500,000 funding plan to construct an indoor children’s playspace at an underserved low-income housing property in New Jersey.
Jessica Orlando is passionate about inspiring the next generation of architects and cultivating a more inclusive environment within the profession. She is the associate principal and higher education practice leader for Perkins&Will’s Los Angeles studio, where she has managed projects from single-room renovations to the redevelopment of more than four million square feet on campuses across the globe. In the higher education industry, she is committed to bettering the future of student life, continuing to re-evaluate the different ways educational design can benefit the community it will serve. Recently, Orlando was instrumental in the award-winning design at UC Riverside of a state-of-the-art plant research facility that equips the college with best-in-class agricultural research technology. In addition, as part of the California Institute of Technology’s ongoing portfolio renewal for PI-specific lab improvements, Orlando was crucial to the design-build effort of Caltech Keck lab that supports interdisciplinary research efforts for developing bioelectronic/wearable devices. Orlando volunteers with Architecture for Communities Los Angeles and is the chair of the Design by Diversity committee, a yearly event that includes engagement with the community through information on the architecture, engineering and construction industry, activity booths and mentoring sessions, exhibitions and speakers.
Growing up in densely populated Hong Kong engendered Janice Li’s interest in the technical aspects of building and design from an early age. After becoming a licensed architect, Li leveraged complex problem-solving skills to specialize in hospitality projects, including more than a dozen luxury hotel projects in Hawaii, China, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Maldives. Li’s impact in architecture and design is highlighted by her award-winning project portfolio, growth of the studio she oversees for Lowney Architecture and the mentorship she provides students hoping to forge their own successful career paths. Recently, she has been focused on office-to-residential conversions as an affordable housing solution and is working on one of the first buildings in Honolulu to undergo an adaptive reuse transformation of this kind. In Maui, Li is working with her teams to accelerate timelines on a housing project that will help replenish housing stock following the major fire that devastated the City of Lahaina. She is a part-time instructor at the University of Hawaii’s School of Architecture, where she teaches graduate-level courses on global practice and advanced professional practice.
Described as a creative powerhouse and an advocate for experience-driven design, McIntosh Poris Architects principal Laurie Hughet-Hiller joined the industry in 2001 and has contributed to several award-winning projects. She believes design can inspire change and make a positive impact on communities and not only leads progressive commercial, hospitality, creative office and multifamily residential projects but also undertakes projects that are socially important. Her career began in Los Angeles at Clive Wilkinson Architects and Rossetti. She returned to her native Detroit in 2009 to contribute her talents to the region’s redevelopment and has been a key player in the city’s revitalization efforts since. Her adaptive-reuse project The Assembly revitalized a stretch of Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood and has served as a model for additional neighborhood improvements. Hughet-Hiller has been with McIntosh Poris Architects for 10 years in two tenures – first in 2012 as an associate and then again in 2019 after spending two years as design director at Gensler. She was elevated to principal and partner at McIntosh in 2022. She is active in the American Institute of Architects and CREW Detroit.
Molly Forman brings an eye for statement-making interior design to her work at //3877. As a senior associate and visionary at the firm, she has played an integral role in many of its highest-profile hospitality projects. She is tasked with overseeing all facets of interior design and architecture, particularly focusing on hotel design. Freeman’s dreams of becoming an interior designer started as a teenager. She studied interior design at Marymount University and began her career in hospitality design. Forman draws inspiration from every part of the design process — from initial concepts to space plans, materials and even millwork details. Her projects include the new Hilton Tonnelle in New Orleans’ historic Garden District and the newly renovated Hilton Arlington National Landing, among other projects across the hospitality industry. Currently, she is wrapping up the renovation of the Hilton Condado Plaza in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Forman provides thoughtful and intentional mentorship to her fellow designers, giving direction while ensuring all members feel confident expressing their ideas. Designers she has mentored cite her patience and organization as strengths along with her ability to push others to embrace their creativity while remaining strategic.
After 10 years working in healthcare, Linaea Floden pivoted into an entirely new field. She went back to school and earned a degree in sustainability management before getting her Master of Architecture in 2015. Most recently, she was a regional director of architecture at Ryan Cos.’ Southeast region. Her interest in architecture began unexpectedly – when she worked as a bariatric surgery and nutrition center coordinator at BayCare Health System – where she felt inspired to enter the contracting field after she helped guide a renovation for the hospital. However, a family member encouraged her to lean into her love of art, so she signed up for an architecture class and fell in love with the psychological and sociological aspects of design. After graduating, she served as a sustainability consultant before joining Gresham Smith as a healthcare architect. Her first project at the firm was converting the same bariatric surgery department she had previously spent 10 years managing into a nuclear medicine lab. Under her leadership, Ryan’s Southeast architecture practice was the highest revenue-generating team in 2023, notching an increase of 37% since 2022. Since submission, Floden has left Ryan Cos.
With 15 years of design and construction industry experience, SKS Partners project manager Kristina Covall, a licensed architect in California, has impacted the real estate industry in the Bay Area and California. Before joining SKS Partners, Covall oversaw the design of a more than 500-unit residential development and pre-construction activities for the redevelopment of an 82-acre site at Oyster Point, giving her experience in public-private partnerships that later proved pivotal in her career. She navigated challenges posed by sea level rise and brownfield redevelopment sites while balancing the needs of the community and providing new opportunities along the Bay Trail, and she served as the project architect for the construction of Atelier, a 372,000-square-foot 33-story apartment tower in downtown Los Angeles during her tenure with architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz. In her current position, Covall is leading the $2 billion redevelopment of a 36-acre site at Moffett Field. The site in the heart of Silicon Valley will serve as the home for Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park, a cutting-edge advanced innovation hub envisioned by SKS Partners and The University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with NASA.
During the Great Recession, Anne Benge learned the local workspace design firm she managed was closing, leaving her and her team unemployed. She strategized to establish a San Diego office for the firm, securing employment for her staff and maintaining services for clients. After eight years and significant growth to more than 25 team members, she negotiated a buyout and rebranded to Cultura, which designs, furnishes and creates places where people love to work. Benge brings more than 35 years of experience in commercial real estate to her role as CEO of the firm. She is a recognized design and workplace expert who leverages a background in cultural anthropology and economics to design projects with an understanding of the people and processes that make a company unique. In addition, she is a leader, strategizer and team builder. Facing new market challenges around hybrid work and return-to-office policies, Benge has led Cultura to double profits in the past five years and outperform within the furniture industry, ranking in the top 3% of organizations in its sector in North America.
Kidder Mathews EVP and director of retail Monica Wallace is a prominent broker in the Pacific Northwest with more than 24 years of experience in commercial real estate. In her brokerage role, she specializes in landlord and seller representation of existing shopping centers and new construction projects. She also works closely with developers as a consultant in pre-construction and sees projects through to final lease-up. Wallace has been the primary leasing agent on more than 120 commercial projects in the Puget Sound market. In her director of retail role, Wallace leads the company’s retail division, where she develops and implements business strategies and assists in recruiting retail brokers in all Kidder Mathews offices. She has been a role model and a mentor for other women in the commercial real estate industry and has been an active advisory board member and mentor to students obtaining their master’s in real estate at the University of Washington, Runstad Department of Real Estate. Her focus on mentorship led to one of her most significant accomplishments, which was implementing an in-depth training program for Kidder Mathews’ junior brokers in the Pacific Northwest.
Kaley Tuning’s journey from a high school student working at a local ReMax agency to a pivotal executive at one of South Florida’s most active real estate brokerages reflects her dedication to personal and professional growth. She was promoted to COO at Native Realty last year leading a team of associates and closely collaborating with sellers and landlords. She manages a portfolio of more than 60 listings, employing a motto of ‘Curation over Compensation’ that reflects her commitment to working with small, mom-and-pop companies that can contribute to the vibrancy of specific markets and shape neighborhoods. With more than 15 years of industry experience, including a decade at Stellar Homes Group, Tuning brings a wealth of knowledge to her role, and her roots as a fourth-generation South Florida native further enhance her understanding of the region. She also is a business owner, which gives her a unique perspective and enhances her ability to provide clients with insights that go beyond the typical commercial broker. Tuning played a pivotal role in orchestrating food-and-beverage agreements within the $1 billion Bahia Mar development known as Marina Village. This master-planned project encompasses a luxury resort, condos, residential towers, a mega-yacht marina, commercial spaces and a vibrant waterfront boardwalk.
Impact broker associate Sarah Sparks puts so much care and attention into each client relationship that she typically ends up becoming friends with them at the end of the transaction. She has 12 years of experience in the industry and has built a diverse client base in her role as a buyer and tenant representative. Sparks has worked on projects as large as selling a casino and as small as helping a small business thrive by finding an appropriate commercial real estate space that fit its budget and needs. She helped nonprofit Hard Beauty expand to several cities while staying within a tight budget. She also leased a former residential real estate office in Denver to a new business despite a difficult office market in the city following COVID-19 and she has several new sale listings. She supports listings with marketing proposals with comparables and details about the surrounding area and has an active TikTok account with advice and activities related to the commercial real estate world.
Andrea Saewitz is a veteran leader in commercial real estate with a career spanning more than 40 years and a perennial top producer on Stream Realty Partners’ Chicago office agency leasing team. She represents more than six million square feet of office assignments for major institutional clients including Vornado, AEW and Manulife. Described as thoughtful, energetic, positive and diligent, Saewitz is not afraid to take risks to elevate her career, including joining the Stream Chicago team amid the pandemic’s office landscape impact. She is responsible for leading the leasing, marketing and landlord representation for a downtown office portfolio of more than six million square feet. In the past 12 months, Saewitz has completed more than 22 transactions totaling more than 230,000 square feet. She was a board member and treasurer for the Chicago Office Leasing Brokers Association in 2016 and is actively involved in supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, NA’AMAT USA and Mishkan Chicago’s Maggie’s Place Community Center.
Bridget McGarey’s ability to excel in a high-stakes industry, coupled with her commitment to turning personal challenges into sources of strength and inspiration, exemplifies not just professional excellence but also extraordinary resilience and determination. Before she turned 30, McGarey was managing more than $1 billion in mixed-use assets, directing leasing, merchandising and client relationships for 11 major projects across five states. At the same time, she was battling cystic fibrosis, which required frequent hospitalizations. McGarey is managing director of national leasing at her family’s business, The McGarey Group, a Divaris Group company, where she executes complex transactions, fosters client partnerships and ensures profitability and sustainability of high-stakes projects. She has earned the nickname ‘the closer’ due toher ability to finalize deals. Nationally recognized as a vice chair of programs and an honoree for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, McGarey has used her platform to bring hope and raise significant funds toward finding a cure for CF. Her story of overcoming personal health challenges to achieve professional excellence serves as a powerful inspiration, further cementing her role as a leader not just in business but in charitable endeavors as well.
Missy Martinovich has overcome adversity, from navigating personal and professional challenges to achieving success in a competitive industry. She explored varied career opportunities, including clinical psychology, wine sales, flight attendant, interior designer and plumbing sales before settling into the commercial real estate industry. As an SVP at Divaris Real Estate, she focuses on landlord and tenant representation in the Virginia Peninsula and Southside Hampton Roads region from Williamsburg to Virginia Beach. She works on the commercial and retail development and revitalization of neighborhoods including Kiln Creek in Newport News/York County, Historic Phoebus in Hampton, Newtown in Williamsburg, and Wards Corner and Ghent in Norfolk, Virginia. Martinovich identifies and secures commercial property transactions, strategizing to revitalize and sell weak commercial properties, and maintaining relationships with clients and stakeholders to facilitate successful deals. In 2023, she was named to the company’s circle of excellence and sold 13 off-market apartment properties valued at more than $15 million.
With the retail sector on an upswing in the post-COVID-19 world, clients turn to Carine Mamann and her team to uncover the best locations for their businesses. Mamann is an executive managing director in Cushman & Wakefield’s West Los Angeles office and transacted more than $200 million in deal consideration last year. She uses the firm’s data-driven insights to define target consumers, identify top markets, select the right store location and build a customer experience consistent with a brand’s identity. She began her CRE career with Cushman & Wakefield in 2007 after graduating from the University of Southern California. Mamann specializes in high street leasing and investment sales in the Beverly Hills Triangle and the Greater Los Angeles area. The June 2023 high-profile sale of the Malibu Village shopping center for $81.5 million was a highlight for Mamann. Malibu local and billionaire sports mogul Stan Kroenke purchased the property for his growing commercial real estate portfolio. The 51,000-square-foot Malibu Village includes retail and restaurants like Lululemon, Chipotle and Sephora. In addition, she led numerous impacting lease transactions positioned along the world-famous Rodeo Drive, including most recently for Cartier, Loewe, YSL and Amiri as well as representing Two Rodeo Drive.
The industrial real estate sector has emerged as a popular investor asset in recent years, and JLL vice chairman Leslie Lanne has played a key role in shaping this increasingly vital component of urban infrastructure in the post-COVID-19 environment. She is a leading voice in the development of next-generation facilities that will address physical and environmental hurdles as both the availability of urban land and the containment of carbon become a priority. She has worked on many of the nation’s groundbreaking multistory facilities, including warehouse and distribution facilities, outdoor and cold storage, and reverse logistics that cater to a mountain of returns generated by the e-commerce market. Her latest projects embrace sustainability and future tenant demands for renewable power sources and electric vehicle fleets. Specializing in institutional landlord and tenant representation across the US, she assesses locational suitability of land for industrial development and investment value drivers, and markets properties/land for sale and lease. Lanne and her team secured a 675,000-square-foot agency assignment with Heller Industrial Parks in Dayton, New Jersey, representing the first time in its 50-year history that ownership hired third-party brokers for a new building.
Described as a natural-born leader, Wendy Katz is a consistent top producer on Stream Realty Partners’ office agency leasing team in Chicago. She brings more than 30 years of experience to her role as EVP, representing more than 8.5 million square feet of office assignments for major institutional clients including Vornado, KBS and AmTrust. Real estate is a family business for Katz. Her grandfather constructed and managed apartment buildings in Detroit, and then her father took over the business. She enjoyed spending time working for her dad when she was young. Katz studied political science in college but found herself drawn to many of the real estate and business classes, which confirmed that she wanted to pursue a career in commercial real estate in a big city. Colleagues say Katz is optimistic, strategic, reliable and persistent, qualities which have helped her succeed in uncertain times. She has taken risks and pushed the envelope in pursuit of optimal results for her clients. Even joining the Stream Chicago team focused on office business amid the pandemic in 2021 took courage. Katz mainly represents owners of downtown Chicago office buildings, marketing their buildings for lease to brokers and prospects, as well as developing new business opportunities. She is currently responsible for leading the leasing, marketing and landlord representation for a downtown office portfolio. In the past 12 months, Katz has completed more than 25 transactions totaling more than 300,000 square feet. She is a member of the Chicago Office Leasing Brokers Association and is involved as a member of the LUNGevity Foundation.
With more than 24 years in the real estate industry, including two decades of specialized focus on healthcare real estate, Bettina Hunt’s proficiency encompasses tenant representation, landlord representation and investment sales. Hunt is an SVP with Colliers, a member of the Arizona healthcare team and a national Colliers healthcare fellow. Her book of services includes lease administration, cultivating and maintaining tenant connections, conducting market assessments and leveraging proficient negotiation tactics to achieve optimal results for all stakeholders involved. For more than a decade, Hunt represented a publicly traded REIT that was among the largest dedicated owners of medical office buildings in the country. She was responsible for a nearly four-million-square-foot portfolio across nine states until the company merged with another REIT. She used that opportunity to transition to Colliers last year where she could use her experience to represent more landlords in the Phoenix market. As a result of her contributions, she was selected to join the Colliers Leadership Council of top producers in commercial real estate. In addition, her participation in the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) as an ambassador demonstrates her dedication to supporting medical research initiatives.
During her 23-year career, Foundry Commercial SVP Keely Hines has leased high-profile development projects in the Charlotte region focused on project leasing of grocery- anchored neighborhood centers, free-standing multitenant retail, mixed and multi-use assets, vacant financial and restaurant buildings, and adaptive reuse projects. Her top responsibilities include stabilizing assets, communicating with tenants and growing the firm’s retail business. Some of her larger achievements during the past year have included pre-leasing ground-up construction projects and redevelopments, such as The Line and Linea in South End, as well as adaptive reuse projects such as Savona Mill and Chronicle Mill. She completed nearly 40 transactions with a deal volume of more than $27 million last year. Hines focuses on curating the right long-term, sustainable tenant mix for the properties she represents, and for tenants she works with to understand each retailer’s business, their target consumers, what motivates their customers and what is important to their business growth. She is involved in ICSC on its next-generation committee and the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of REALTORS, where she has served as an instructor. She is a former board member of Roof Above, an organization that aims to end homelessness in the region.
Carolina Retail Experts founding partner Lindsey Halter is sought after in the Charleston market for landlord services. Halter leads the landlord services division for Carolina Retail Experts focusing on investment-grade anchored real estate overseeing a portfolio of more than 3.5 million square feet. She leads her team in devising custom synergistic merchandising mixes, runs void analysis for retailers missing from centers, the market and the trade area to identify opportunities, performs an in-depth market study on psychographic patterns and tapestries of the surrounding community identifying complementary retail opportunities, and strategizes and executes targeted cold calling, canvassing and reach-out efforts for local, regional, national and publicly traded companies to lease retail opportunities in her portfolio. Known as a deal maker, Halter employs proprietary leasing and lease negotiation strategies to guide her clients through the life of the asset to execute on the vision she and her landlord clients create. As the president of the CREW Charleston chapter in 2023, she demonstrated exceptional leadership, facilitating communication and contributing significantly to the organization’s growth.
Candace Gschwind started her career in 2012 at Phillips Edison as a leasing coordinator assisting agents with marketing materials, day-to-day functions and administration. Within three years, she was promoted to leasing associate working to lease her own portfolio of shopping centers and then advanced to senior leasing professional with a large portfolio of shopping centers. After 10 years with the company, she joined First National Realty Partners as a leasing director, where she brings a unique perspective to the division as one of two women on the team. Gschwind is responsible for leasing a portfolio of assets in the northeast for FNRP focused on suburban anchored outdoor centers. Her responsibilities include marketing properties, sourcing new tenants, representing FNRP at regional and national conferences, analyzing leads, canvassing, lease negotiations, closing transactions and management presentations. Gschwind has been featured on the ICSC Digital Influencers campaign and is an active member of CREW, ICSC and the Junior League of Cincinnati. The mother of two is an entrepreneur, having founded a successful entertainment bounce house business in Cincinnati in 2021. She is also proficient in social media marketing, including TikTok and Instagram.
Eileen Doody, principal of healthcare, leasing and brokerage at Avison Young, oversees leasing operations for more than 20 medical buildings in the Orange County area. This includes the St. Joseph Hospital of Orange portfolio comprising 350,000 square feet of medical space. Doody understands the intricate dynamics of medical real estate due to a 25-year career in the industry which has made her a trusted resource for hospitals, physicians, dentists and medical office owners. Notable successes include the Helen Calogerro Women’s and Family Center and preleasing 75% of the space for the Pacific Medical Buildings development at Providence St. Joseph Hospital. Her ability to navigate complex negotiations and forge symbiotic relationships with developers has been instrumental in ensuring stability amid tumultuous landscapes. Doody served on the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation board, contributing to strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing healthcare services and community outreach programs. In addition, her service on the St. Joseph Hospital golf committee for more than 12 years underscores her passion for philanthropy and support for charitable endeavors.
Colliers EVP Patti Dillon works in the office division of the firm’s Las Vegas office for clients including local and national owners. She has represented some of the largest REITs in the country. In addition to deal analytics and financial modeling, Dillon employs creative marketing strategies and has an ability to position properties, which has led to many notable transactions in the Southern Nevada market. She has completed $1.46 billion in real estate transactions during her 25-year career. Dillon has received many awards for her success in CRE, including broker of the year twice by SIOR Southern Nevada Chapter and office broker of the year eight times by the Southern Nevada NAIOP chapter. In 2022, Dillon was recognized as Colliers’ Women’s Southwest Regional Executive. She has served on national SIOR committees, including the office member group and admissions as well as vice chair of the standards committee. She also served for three years as a trustee on the SIOR Foundation board. Dillon is as committed to philanthropic endeavors as she is to professional endeavors. She is on the board of directors for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission and the Southern Nevada chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Ashley Byrd’s career path brought her from leasing student housing during her time at Texas A&M University to Transwestern’s healthcare team with a reputation in her local community as the ‘Houston Medical Broker.’ She has been a leader of Transwestern’s healthcare advisory services group since 2012. As SVP, she is responsible for leasing more than 2.5 million square feet of a medical office building portfolio in the greater Houston area. Highly regarded for her development and execution of custom marketing strategies for the projects she leases, Byrd’s reputation extends to some of the largest healthcare institutions, including Texas Children’s Hospital, HCA Healthcare and Memorial Hermann. She also specializes in tenant representation for hospitals, healthcare groups and individual physicians, leveraging her knowledge of medical real estate to accommodate the specific needs of her clients. Byrd was recognized with the Transwestern National Young Gun Award underscoring her exceptional performance and impact within the organization. She founded and leads Transwestern’s SOAR initiative, promoting women in brokerage, and actively participates in TWISE, a Transwestern female mentorship program. Outside of work, Byrd is a Texas Children’s Hospital Ambassador and supports the Ronald McDonald House.
Jessica Brown believes that during challenging times, bold decisions are necessary, and she has built success in the commercial real estate industry by rejecting complacency and pushing the norms of market standards. Brown is the principal of leasing at Chicago-based Sterling Bay, overseeing all leasing efforts across the company’s growing portfolio with a focus on premier office and retail projects in Chicago’s Fulton Market and at Lincoln Yards. Brown oversees all leasing efforts across the firm’s diverse national portfolio, which exceeds $20 billion in real estate assets across the office, residential, life sciences and industrial sectors. She specializes in overall asset strategy, lease negotiation and retail placemaking. In recent years, Brown expanded her leasing expertise beyond office and retail, taking on new challenges to manage leasing for the firm’s new life sciences assets. Throughout the past nine years, Brown has secured notable leases with nationally recognized companies. Most recently, her efforts brought one of Sterling Bay’s new mixed-use office towers in Fulton Market to more than 70% occupancy while the building was still under construction.
Cheri Blessing is a principal at Lee & Associates specializing in the sale and leasing of office, medical, industrial and retail properties throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties with an emphasis on the submarkets from the West San Fernando Valley through the city of Ventura. She works extensively with landlords and tenants along Thousand Oaks Boulevard and understands the vision of the Thousand Oaks Specific Plan and its interrelationship with the Thousand Oaks General Plan, zoning and other municipal codes. Her relationships also provide clients with up-to-the-minute market data to inform their decision-making. Blessing has executed more than 300 transactions with a combined value in excess of $100 million during the course of her 30-year career. She is a diligent communicator who prides herself on building long-term relationships with clients. Blessing is a member of the American Institute of Realtors, a committee member of the City of Thousand Oaks Business Roundtable and a member of ICSC. She was also a past administrative secretary for the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Association.
Cushman & Wakefield managing director Sheila Bale has earned a reputation as a top resource for optimum clinical site selection and positioning of healthcare assets in the Greater Phoenix area. A seasoned real estate and healthcare professional, she has facilitated more than 800 real estate transactions and projects in the past 23 years. Bale specializes exclusively in healthcare commercial real estate. Her team executed 73 transactions last year, totaling 352,613 square feet and valued at $82.7 million. A recent accomplishment was executing a lease with Prosano, whose goal was to establish a high-end, high-touch practice location to initiate services in the Phoenix market. Bale highlighted the benefits of locating in an asset with a complementary tenant mix to support and enhance the growth of this new primary care offering. Prosano leased 6,500 rentable square feet on the first floor, marking the inaugural location for its new family medicine clinic in Arizona. Bale then attracted additional new and growing medical companies to join Prosano in the building. Despite the challenges the pandemic and current market conditions have created, Bale and her team have increased the firm’s regional healthcare business by delivering exceptional services.
During her career spanning more than two decades, Avison Young principal Lisa Bailey has closed more than 1,000 commercial real estate transactions. In 2014, she became the firm’s first female principal in the Florida region, and today, she directs leasing efforts for a portfolio of more than 900,000 square feet of office and industrial property. Bailey provides landlord representation, tenant representation, investment sales, building valuations, construction management and budget preparation. Last year, she completed 147 transactions totaling 901,724 square feet and deal volume of $75.5 million, resulting in $1.3 million in revenue for Avison Young. Her largest deal was the sale of a 292,365-square-foot industrial/flex portfolio with a transaction value of $43.5 million. Bailey was also named the top female producer and No. 2 overall producer for Avison Young in Florida. She attributes her success to listening to her clients’ needs and implementing a strategic plan to accomplish their goals. Prior to joining Avison Young, Bailey was the SVP at Morrison Commercial Real Estate and also previously served as managing director and senior director of office/industrial services for the GVA Advantis in Orlando.
Morgan Zant joined SRS Real Estate Partners in 2018 from Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp. where she worked with franchisees to support merger and acquisition activity. Zant oversees SRS’ Louisville office with partner and fellow VP Sarah Shanks. Zant and Shanks worked together at KFC and left together to launch the SRS Louisville office. They completed $31.24 million in real estate transactions in 2023. At SRS, Zant focuses on restaurants with an emphasis on QSR, providing sale-leasebacks, sell-side representation, buy-side representation and business-only valuations/representation. She frequently partners with franchisors to review their real estate portfolios, including valuing their excess properties to free up space on their balance sheets. Zant has sold vacant properties across the country in addition to corporate-backed sale-leasebacks. Her previous restaurant and accounting experience spans more than a decade. Prior to her role in KFC franchising, Zant held various roles in control, accounting and finance within Yum! Corporate. She is a licensed CPA who practiced at Ernst & Young and is an active member of the Louisville Women in Commercial Real Estate group and the AICPA.
Odeta Kushi joined First American Financial Corp. as the first woman in its economics group and quickly stood out as a rising talent, which earned her a spot in the firm’s emerging leader training program. She has held several roles across the organization from managing the economics and decision science teams to impacting company culture through DEI and mentorship initiatives. Today she is VP and deputy chief economist at the firm where she helps manage the team’s day-to-day research, forecasting, analysis and commentary on the state of the commercial and residential real estate markets and the broader US economy. She regularly provides commentary to media outlets regarding various economic reports with the goal of helping businesses and consumers understand the state of the markets and the impact of shifts in supply, demand and beyond. In 2023, she was cited or interviewed more than 130 times in top-tier media coverage and she spoke on panels or keynotes at nearly 20 events, providing insights on the future of commercial real estate and the housing market. Outside of First American, Kushi is a co-chair of the real estate/construction roundtable for the National Association of Business Economics.
FTI Consulting managing director Zahara Kassam leverages her unique operational, financial and strategic background as a second-generation hotelier and a first-generation immigrant to the US to deliver enhanced outcomes for her clients. Kassam grew up working for her family’s mom-and-pop hotel business in Orlando, where she learned lessons in customer service, streamlining operations and navigating turbulent economic cycles. Since then, she has developed into a versatile investment professional with diverse experience across asset classes, geographies and market cycles. She started her professional real estate career at InterContinental Hotels Group in London amid the European sovereign debt crisis. During her time at IHG, she structured and negotiated more than 100 franchise, management, joint venture and M&A transactions. One of the investors she helped with underwriting an IHG brand portfolio was Marathon Asset Management, which she later joined as head of hotel asset management. Since joining FTI Consulting in 2021 as a senior member of the hospitality, leisure and gaming, and real estate solutions practices, Kassam has leveraged her perspective as an owner/operator, brand operator, investor and asset manager to help clients with litigation, valuation, advisory, bankruptcy and restructuring engagements representing billions of dollars of commercial real estate.
During her career spanning more than 27 years, Amy Johnson has helped shape the Charlotte business landscape. As the owner and principal of Strata Project Management Group, Johnson oversees a broad spectrum of responsibilities that encompass project management, business development, client management and team leadership. Her primary role involves guiding her team through diverse projects ranging from workplace strategy, corporate and nonprofit to retail and restaurant projects. Under her leadership, Strata’s portfolio has expanded to include innovative projects like Charlotte’s first pickleball concept. Her responsibilities also include strategic planning for business growth, which has led to a 25% increase in Strata’s top-line year-over-year and diversification into new market sectors such as fitness, hospitality and retail as well as new geographic reach with projects in Denver and Atlanta. She is skilled at building consensus and inspiring productive outcomes when faced with challenging situations. Colleagues say her approach isn’t just about getting things done but also creating a positive and solution-oriented atmosphere. Apart from her professional duties, Johnson is involved in community service and industry organizations, including Ascend Nonprofit Solutions, and she offers her company as a resource for nonprofits in complex construction projects.
While Bridget Grant’s role in groundbreaking projects often takes place behind the scenes, her impact is felt across the Carolinas. She has helped bring more than 100 deals to fruition through her work to coordinate and deliver entitlements within affordable housing and transit-oriented developments, to master planned mixed-use developments and urban infill. Grant is co-head of zoning, entitlement and land use at Moore & Van Allen PLLC and is the first non-attorney at the firm to co-lead a team. Described as a humble and accessible leader, dedicated mentor and grassroots problem-solver, Grant has 23 years of land planning and urban design experience in both the private and public sectors. Previously she was a planning coordinator for the City of Charlotte, where she provided technical and design guidance on complex development projects, policy implementation and community planning. She served as the initial project manager leading the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Zoning Ordinance rewrite, which was designed to guide the city’s future development, administered the city’s Mixed Used Development District, and was involved in day-to-day land development and policy decisions for the rapidly developing south Charlotte region.
Throughout the past two years, Laura Eberly has undertaken a leadership role as associate principal and director of civil engineering for Lehigh Valley with Reuther+Bowen, where she opened a satellite office that thrived under her guidance. Leveraging 34 years of experience, she collaborates with company owners to drive business development initiatives within her region and has secured 16 projects, including repeat clients, and welcomed four new staff members. In her role, Eberly navigates the intricacies of project execution, including site and stormwater management design. She engages with regulatory agencies and attends meetings to present projects that support approvals and permits. In her previous role as a senior engineer, Eberly was a driving force in various facets of land development services, demonstrating expertise in hydrologic design and management, environmental permitting and regulatory compliance. Her commitment to environmental stewardship is evident in her involvement in Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System-related NPDES annual reports and permit renewals. She has been invited to public forums, testifying at planning commission, governing board and zoning hearing board meetings. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Eberly mentors graduate engineers and young women in the civil engineering field.
Victoria Cowart educates the multifamily industry about topics related to assistance animals, pet revenue management, Fair Housing and management issues surrounding animals as the director of education and outreach at PetScreening. She has conducted 154 educational sessions with clients and industry groups since joining PetScreening in early 2021. Cowart’s efforts and industry relationships have played a significant role in PetScreening’s revenue growth. She understands the day-to-day demands, challenges and stresses facing apartment owners and operators due to her experience working for property owners and operators and providing management and oversight for multifamily housing communities, mobile communities and HOAs. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events and has diligently served the apartment industry through her work with a variety of trade associations. Cowart has chaired four committees for the National Apartment Association, most recently serving in 2021 as the chair of the association’s legislative committee. Outside of work, she has been the Easter Bunny for the Carolina Youth Development Center in North Charleston, S.C., for 25 years. This annual event involves fundraising and building Easter backpacks for the children of CYDC.
During her career as a landscape architect, Emily Buehrer- Douglas has advocated for innovative and sustainable practices, nature-based solutions to solve development issues, environmental justice and conscientious design focused on filling gaps to provide equity and create more resilient communities. She is a senior project manager at Stimmel Associates in its healthcare sector, where she leads land development, site design and civil engineering. Some of her initiatives include green rooftops in Charlotte that improve stormwater management, reduce urban heat island effects, improve air quality and efficiency of building systems; streetscape improvements to promote safe options for multiple modes of transportation; public parks that provide community members with access to green space and recreation; gardens at several prominent Charlotte area hospitals and private facilities that offer a calm place of respite, reflection and healing in an otherwise chaotic environment; and urban farms that will provide healthy and affordable access to food in areas that are lacking. Buehrer-Douglas’ responsibilities range from detailed due diligence on a potential piece of property for a client to test-fits and validation of programs and site design needs, schematic design, design development, construction documentation and permitting, all the way to construction phase services ensuring the client’s vision is brought to life.
Amy Bradac founded Bradac Co., a full-service construction project management firm, in 2013 and has grown it from a one-person operation to a boutique firm that represents owners on projects ranging from small retail spaces to multibuilding technology campuses. Previously, Bradac worked for a Bay Area construction company, which gave her a unique perspective on facilitating communication and moving projects forward on time and on budget. Now serving as an owner’s representative on most projects, her extensive experience and deep understanding developed as an architect, contractor and owner’s rep, give her insights to enable collaboration between clients and the design and build teams. She has led her team in project management of new construction, seismic retrofits, historic preservation and tenant improvements for office buildouts totaling more than one million square feet and valued at more than $1 billion in San Francisco as well as remodels for high-profile Bay Area technology companies and nonprofit organizations. Recently, Bradac oversaw the completion of tenant improvements for Vivalon’s Healthy Aging Campus in San Rafael, California. Her team managed the buildout of the lower two floors of the project, including medical offices, community rooms, a café, a computer center and a library.
Jackie Bowie leads the EMEA and APAC business at financial risk management advisory and technology firm Chatham Financial as a managing partner. Her responsibilities include managing teams across client solutions and delivery, compliance, operations, and talent acquisition and retention. Under her leadership, the EMEA real estate business has more than doubled transaction volumes and increased headcount by 23%. She provides advice and technological solutions to mitigate financial exposures, meet risk management objectives and optimize decision-making. Recently, one of Bowie’s long-standing clients needed to ensure that all foreign exchange risks were mitigated but the timing of the completion was uncertain. Because of the client’s deep trust in Bowie, it chose to rely completely on Chatham for strategic guidance and execution management. Previously, Bowie spent 15 years as CEO of JCRA, where she diversified the business to new client sectors and geographies, led it through a private equity-backed MBO and then sold the business to Chatham. She is a subject matter expert in many areas of derivatives and risk management, educating clients and colleagues on global macroeconomic matters and commercial real estate financing.
After years of managing development processes for other organizations, Debra Aitken launched her own firm in 2020. Transom, named for the strengthening crossbar found on boats and in architecture, is a commercial move planning and relocation services firm based in San Diego. The firm immediately faced the challenges of COVID-19, but Aitken persevered due to a spirit of resilience and determination. As CEO, Aitken guides companies through transitions including relocations, growth and right-sizing, and physical infrastructure changes. The firm was endorsed by office landlord Irvine Co., which used Transom to support its customers by helping create return-to-work plans. Another notable project called for Aitken to provide bolt-on services to support and strengthen efforts to help reach a major deadline in a four-story, 120,000-square-foot, right-sizing effort for AMN Healthcare Inc. AMN then asked Aitken to lead 250,000 square feet of decommissioning work. Before launching Transom, Aitken spearheaded corporate and industrial relocations at Wright Management. She also spent three years at Cushman & Wakefield’s project and development services division where she was responsible for design and construction projects. Aitken is involved in CREW San Diego and is a longtime member of a local yacht club.
In her capacity as managing principal at Cresa, Leslie Teskey helps guide the company’s strategic direction, ensures the satisfaction of both employees and clients, and manages the firm’s everyday operations. Since joining Cresa in 2008, she has focused on delivering top-tier real estate advisory services to occupiers. Teskey’s transactional experience includes life sciences, technology, industrial, finance, legal, creative arts, insurance, healthcare, nonprofit organizations, government and education. Last year she was involved in leasing and sales totaling more than $36 million and more than 1.1 million square feet. She was the president of the Indianapolis chapter of IndyCREW in 2016 and recently was appointed to the CREW Network global board of directors. Teskey’s commitment and leadership were recognized in 2016 when she received the IndyCREW Donna Hovey Award, celebrating her vision, dedication and enthusiasm. In addition, she plays a significant role in the Carmel Education Foundation, sitting on its board of directors and chairing one of its major annual fundraising events. Further enhancing her leadership skills, she completed the CREW Network Leadership Certificate program in 2022.
Colliers International SVP Chaise Schmidt is known for her flexibility, optimism, patience, adaptability, connection- building and quick problem-solving abilities. An expert in tenant representation, Schmidt focuses on serving national mid-market and high-growth companies, particularly those in the Washington D.C. metro area. She offers flexible workplace solutions tailored to meet clients’ specific needs, including strategic plans for advanced lease restructures, occupancy cost reduction and multimarket relocations. At her former company, she was known as “the sublease queen” due to her ability to handle challenging office space disposition assignments while providing clients with a higher-than-average recovery rate. In one instance, her client JD Power received more than a 95% recovery rate on its office space disposition. Schmidt closed 186,686 square feet of lease transactions during her first year with Colliers in 2023. Two of the deals she worked on were office renewals that involved a thorough evaluation of the market and tours of many different class A properties to determine whether a renewal was the right decision.
Anne Rosenau has been with Cushman & Wakefield for 37 years, 30 of which she has engaged in data center transactions. She was one of the first brokers to focus on this niche sector. As a managing director based in the firm’s Tysons Corner office in Northern Virginia, Rosenau is consistently recognized as a top broker in the market. Clients value her as a trusted expert in the data center space, and she advises them on a variety of requirements, including site acquisitions and dispositions, acquisitions of space and power, renewals, relocations and facility purchases. She has worked on transactions of all sizes spanning 70 kilowatts to multimegawatts and site acquisitions and dispositions from four acres to 600 acres. She also is an experienced leasing broker and focuses on representing tenants on office leasing transactions with a specialty in assisting government contractors, telecom and tech companies. In 2022, she was a driving force behind the 220,000-square-foot lease signed with T-Mobile at 2340 Dulles Corner Blvd. in Herndon, Virginia. The deal was so impactful to the DMV region that it was named deal of the year by the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington.
Katy Redmond is the Americas co-lead of integrated portfolio services at JLL, where she is responsible for mid-sized and large corporate occupiers. She also serves as the national markets lead for JLL’s technology industry group within JLL Work Dynamics, and co-leads JLL’s technology leadership council. In this role, she leads the cross-function team that supports the technology industry in the Americas and beyond, ensuring a unified approach to solving the problems of some of the world’s largest technology leaders. Redmond is responsible for a business that represents more than $400 million in annual revenue. Last year, Redmond and her team closed more than 30 portfolio accounts, maintained a steady win rate and exceeded revenue targets for their region with global brokerage for more than 80 million square feet added. Her total global square-foot under management by her broker teams totals nearly one billion square feet. As a leader, Redmond puts people first and inspires brokers on her team and across JLL.
After transitioning to a career in brokerage, Yansy Noranjo Rolen climbed the ranks within Avison Young and now is the firm’s VP of retail leasing services. She specializes in agency leasing and tenant representation in the greater Los Angeles region, Orange County and the Inland Empire, California, where she has been recognized multiple times as a top producer. During the past year, Naranjo Rolen executed 30 transactions in Southern California, including representing high-profile retail properties like Chino Spectrum Towne Center and One Westside in West Los Angeles She is currently engaged in the pre-leasing efforts for the Edgeway, a new development in Bellflower, California, securing agreements with notable tenants. “Yansy’s strengths are as a professional who prioritizes client satisfaction and fosters collaborative relationships,” says David Maling, principal broker at Avison Young. “Her genuine interest in understanding and addressing client needs has not only propelled her own career but also facilitated successful outcomes for both tenants and landlords.” Born and raised in Los Angeles, Noranjo Rolen is proud to be involved with her community. She overcame many obstacles throughout her life, including being a foster child throughout her teen years.
JLL senior managing director Torrey Littlejohn leads the firm’s Dallas office tenant representation team composed of 30 brokers. She has more than 19 years of experience in the Dallas/Fort Worth market representing corporate office clients in facility and site acquisition and disposition. Littlejohn brings experience in both real estate and corporate finance to her role where she combines analytical capabilities with deep industry knowledge. One significant achievement for Littlejohn was being a key player in the groundbreaking of Wells Fargo’s new regional consolidation project in Irving, Texas. The project, spanning 850,000 square feet, is set to become a prominent landmark in the area. In addition, Littlejohn completed several other noteworthy transactions in the local market, including securing Revantage’s entry into the Dallas market with a 30,000-square-foot space at The Quad in Uptown. She also facilitated the relocation of Thomson Reuters to Frisco Station, securing a 60,000-square-foot facility, and she played a vital role in Vanguard’s growth strategy by assisting it in securing a 70,000-square-foot expansion in Legacy West.
Based in Washington D.C., Lindsey Groom leads Cushman & Wakefield’s national healthcare advisory practice which provides specialized services to hospital systems, physician practice groups and healthcare real estate investors. As a director, she co-leads a team of nine people advising clients on patient experience, clinical service line growth, patient and payer mix analysis, referral and competitive landscape, regulatory compliance and clinical space optimization. She brings experience in multiple facets of the commercial real estate business including business operations and marketing. For more than five years she served as director of operations for Cushman & Wakefield’s Americas capital markets platform with responsibility for internal and external client relationship management, marketing and communications, infrastructure coordination, data management and analysis, and best practices. Her team’s roster of healthcare tenant clients represents more than 10 million square feet of occupied space across the country. One high-profile assignment she worked on was the office-to-medical conversion of 130,000 square feet within the iconic 875 North Michigan Avenue property. Groom and her team advised ownership during the conversion and are now marketing the medical space to healthcare users. The team completed 100 lease transactions during the past 12 months.
During her 24-year career at CBRE, Michelle Esquivel-Hall has completed $8 billion in sale and lease transactions encompassing more than 60 million square feet of real estate. Esquivel-Hall’s path to CRE was unique. She earned a bachelor of science degree with an emphasis in pre-med and was a top producer in construction sales prior to joining CBRE, where today she is an EVP. She is known for her attention to detail and a passion for the real estate business that has helped her build strong relationships in the investment community as well as in the entertainment, technology, media, financial, healthcare and nonprofit industries. She is consistently a top producer in the Los Angeles market and has been recognized in local publications as a successful broker. Esquivel-Hall’s recent successes include a transaction of 68,000 square feet of office space in Downtown Los Angeles and a 150,000-square-foot office expansion for a prominent client in the Playa Vista area. She is especially proud of her work with the Alliance for Children’s Rights, a long-time client she worked with to support a workplace strategy with a new, inspiring space that was transformational for the organization.
NAI Hiffman EVP of office services Aubrey Englund entered the commercial real estate industry in 2006 and carved a path representing tenants by consistently surpassing expectations, overcoming challenges and navigating complex negotiations to build relationships with clients. She emphasizes active listening, meticulous attention to detail and a focus on personalized solutions when approaching renewals and relocations for tenants. One of Englund’s areas of expertise is working with nonprofits and finding real estate solutions for groups that are outside the realm of a normal business. Even with the current challenges facing office brokerage, Englund posted the best year of her career in 2023, and in the past four years, she has increased her total transaction volume by 200%. In the past seven years, her total transaction volume has increased by 300%. Englund and her business partner, Caroline Firrantello, have operated together since 2020 with Englund serving as an active and experienced mentor for Firrantello.
Since 2006, CBRE vice chairman Lauren Crowley Corrinet has negotiated and structured complex lease and sales transactions for companies globally with a focus on the technology and creative sectors and consulted on new developments throughout New York City. She expanded LinkedIn’s vertical campus three times at the Empire State Building, for which she won REBNY’s ingenious deal of the year award at age 30. More recently, she has been working with tenants such as iCapital Network, Sotheby’s and X Corp. Crowley Corrinet achieved two purchases and a disposition lease for Sotheby’s – creating a new real estate strategy for an organization that had tried several times before with other brokers. In addition, she structured a tri-party disposition of space coupled with future growth on behalf of LinkedIn, instead of defaulting to a traditional sublease to dispose of excess space. She chairs CBRE’s 7,200-member Americas Women’s Network and is a champion and advocate for women in commercial real estate.
Described as a problem-solver who navigates complex situations with clear communication skills and a calm demeanor, Transwestern executive managing director Cece Conway is a proven leader at the firm and a top producer even during uncertain times. With more than three decades of experience, Conway is well-versed in multiple product types and partners with brokers within the company to take on complex transactions. She leads the firm’s Chicago tenant advisory and workplace solutions group specializing in complex, multimarket portfolio workouts and restructurings for local and national clients in the private equity, retail, education and healthcare sectors. She represents key national clients in large, long-term leases with high values. In 2023 her client BDO, a financial advisory firm, signed a long-term 50,000-square-foot lease in Oakbrook Terrace. She also closed significant transactions for clients such as Loyola University Healthcare and GI Alliance. She was Transwestern’s Midwest top producer in 2023. Conway has a long history of mentoring young professionals in the industry and has worked with Transwestern’s summer intern program.
Christina Clark joined Newmark less than one year ago and has established herself as the point person for multimarket global account work. With a collaborative style, she has brought tenant-focused advisors together to provide a deep bench of services and support for clients. As a vice chairman in Newmark’s San Francisco office, she has been a key leader in expanding the firm’s tenant representation services. She brings more than two decades of experience advising high-growth companies to her role. Clark has brokered more than $3 billion of office real estate transactions worldwide and is skilled in strategic planning and negotiation. She is passionate about creating efficient real estate solutions that drive business success by aligning business, economic and cultural drivers. In addition, Clark believes in leveraging technology and data to make informed decisions on where, when and how to succeed in a highly competitive and rapidly changing global marketplace, while achieving growth and profitability goals. Clark restructured a client’s headquarters, resulting in more than $18 million in immediate cash savings, new sublease revenue of nearly $1 million and a $5 million letter of credit reduction.
Throughout the past year, CBRE SVP Natalie Bazarevitsch completed 167 transactions totaling one million square feet, representing landlords, developers and corporate office tenants throughout the Los Angeles tri-cities markets of Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank as well as throughout the San Gabriel Valley. She specializes in office properties, with experience in ground-up developments through leasing and subsequent investment sale. She increased office agency listings to 6.8 million square feet, primarily with institutional ownership. Notably, Bazarevitsch represented the Ratkovich Co. in lease renewals totaling 146,000 square feet at The Alhambra, bringing the campus to more than 90% leased. She also represented YK America in a 100,000-square-foot lease renewal with Pomona/San Gabriel Valleys Developmental Services Inc. in Pomona, stabilizing the asset to 100% leased. For six years, Bazarevitsch was the senior managing director for CBRE’s Los Angeles North and Inland Empire regions, charged with growing and overseeing more than 250 sales professionals and staff combined with the operations of two of the largest regions within Southern California. Previously, she led CBRE’s healthcare practice, learning and development program, land services group and the region’s summer intern program.
Vanessa Zhang has nine years of industry experience, including 1.5 years in her current role as a senior account director at Beta. She is adept at identifying new prospects and providing creative solutions to navigate the ever-changing CRE landscape. In uncertain times, she stays ahead of the curve by leveraging market data, location analytics and social media to transform challenges into opportunities, showcasing resilience and adaptability. She is committed to adding a human touch to each deal as an owner representative in the greater Los Angeles, Orange County and Inland Empire regions. Her expertise spans mixed-use, new/redevelopment, daily need centers and regional as well as specialty centers. Her responsibilities include strategic outreach and advisory, place-making, contract negotiation and client relations. During the past year, Zhang has completed nearly 140,000 square feet in leases and renewals. Noteworthy transactions include securing leases for AltaMed Pico Rivera and Mitsuwa Marketplace Cypress. Outside of her professional endeavors, Zhang engages in charitable activities, volunteering with Los Angeles Animal Services to assist pets in need.
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Akerman LLP partner Stacy Bercun Bohm represents developers, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals in complex construction contract, project administration and litigation matters. She leads Akerman’s Florida construction law practice and Fort Lauderdale real estate team. Throughout the past two decades, Bohm’s projects comprise some of the largest and most complex landmarks in the state. She has represented Robert Finvarb Cos., the owner and developer of Marriott, Courtyard, Doubletree, Spring Hill Suites Hotels and AC Hotels across the country, for more than 20 years and has been instrumental in helping guide the client through various complex construction-related matters, including drafting, negotiating and oversight of construction and design professional contracts, project closeout and litigation. She also works with the client in connection with the construction of several marina projects and multifamily projects. Bohm is well-versed in industry trends and frequently authors thought leadership published in Bloomberg Law, Hotel Business, Hospitality Net and Mortgage Bankers Association. At the pandemic’s height, she drafted programs to handle construction project compliance per the CDC and governmental pandemic guidelines, including maintaining social distancing standards and other construction-related protocols.
Stacy B. Bohm
In 2020, Krystyna Blakeslee joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP to launch, lead and grow its real estate finance practice, bringing with her a core team of five associates and a paralegal as well as several longtime clients. She is a partner at the firm and chairs the real estate finance practice group where she and her team steer clients through high-profile commercial real estate finance transactions. Blakeslee served in the U.S. Marines and was deployed to Iraq following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She oversaw a squad and as a military leader, she learned to be resourceful and adapt to changing situations. Blakeslee has been the lead lawyer on some of the country’s most high-profile commercial real estate transactions. She focuses on origination, acquisition and disposition of mortgage loans, mezzanine financings and subordinate debt, post-closing modifications, restructurings and workouts and loan sales and purchases. She has experience with data centers, retail, office, hospitality, assisted living/nursing care and condominium properties, as well as construction financing, TIC structures and ground lease transactions. She also handles joint venture investments and acquisitions of real estate assets, including hotels, and advises funds in connection with their investment and financing activities in real estate. Blakeslee represents veterans pro bono in seeking benefits and disability coverage upgrades.
Krystyna M. Blakeslee
Beatriz Azcuy has led the effort to establish Sidley Austin LLP’s Miami office, helping it grow from four desks in 2022 to 50 lawyers serving 700 clients today. As a co-managing partner and head of the Miami real estate group, she works closely with the firm’s chair to evaluate and select lateral hires, and she oversees the day-to-day operations of the office, the firm’s business plan, financial management and strategic growth. Her wide-ranging accomplishments in industry-shaping real estate deals include a $140 million refinancing of Soho House & Co. Inc.’s private members club on Miami Beach last year. The deal represented a departure from its standard CMBS hotel financings and challenges of the deal included negotiating transition agreements, addressing potential post-default scenarios in light of its membership model, and Soho House’s need to protect its brand. Azcuy also chairs the firm’s Miami DEI committee. She brings almost 30 years of experience advising and representing financial institutions, investment banks, private equity funds and other institutional clients in a broad range of commercial real estate transactions. Azcuy created the Beatriz Azcuy Endowed Law Scholarship and the Beatriz Azcuy Law Scholarship to be awarded to first-generation students like herself.
Beatriz Azcuy
After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in business administration, Jamie Altman Buggy pursued a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law. She started her legal career clerking for The Honorable Judge William C. Hillman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston, after which she practiced commercial litigation at two firms. She joined Harvest LLP as a partner in 2022 and currently serves as general counsel and head of the firm’s litigation department. Altman Buggy helps clients avoid disputes that could disrupt their business deals, and when litigation proves necessary, she is an unrelenting advocate for them. She represents parties in real estate disputes from breach of contract, fraud and insurance coverage to business partnership disputes and breach of fiduciary duty. With a specialty in commercial landlord-tenant disputes, Altman Buggy thrives in situations that lack precedent and require a creative approach. Her accomplishments include collecting tens of millions of dollars on behalf of publicly traded REITs through her litigation of landlord-tenant disputes and representing a large property development firm in connection with an ongoing “bet the company” litigation that may establish new precedent in the CRE industry by imposing new obligations on commercial landlords.
Jamie Altman Buggy
Throughout her years at Unispace, Rose Williams has risen quickly into leadership roles, culminating with her appointment to the top executive leadership position at Unispace’s Americas business in December. Originally hired into the construction team in Unispace’s New Zealand business seven years ago, she went on to earn principal-level positions in New Zealand and then in the Americas. Rapidly proving her expertise in strategic growth and client service in the Americas market, she was promoted to head of client Solutions, and under her leadership, Unispace Americas has diversified its offering from office to corporate interiors, labs, research and R&D facilities, experiential and hospitality spaces. She also spearheaded the service integration of several acquisitions. Williams provides ability and risk management for planning and delivering safe, quality and cost-effective projects for clients. She is the driving force behind designing, directing and overseeing Unispace’s operational policies, initiatives, and goals, and also recruits, leads and supports Unispace’s design and construction professionals. Williams is a passionate advocate of Unispace’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives and has been instrumental in creating a strategy to expand the company’s supplier base to include more women and minority-owned businesses.
Rose Williams
In 2019, Erica Wagner joined PepsiCo to transform the firm’s corporate real estate team, which lacked cohesion and a global perspective and was primarily focused on office-centric operations. She quickly developed credibility, initiated optimization initiatives and built relationships just in time for the pandemic to hit. Through her leadership, the team weathered the storm and emerged stronger. In 2023, she positioned PepsiCo Global Real Estate as a strategic business partner within the broader organization, which resulted in an invitation to join the senior management team. As SVP of PGRE, Wagner has shifted the service delivery model from a tactical to a proactive business strategy for a portfolio spanning more than 3,850 locations and 200 million square feet, using strategic partnership alignment and embracing agile work environments. She created process improvements through numerous HQ rollouts and increased employee satisfaction. As a supporter of organizations such as International Justice Mission, Compassion International and Envision Berlin, Wagner helps combat injustice and alleviate suffering, leveraging her platform and resources to amplify the voices of the voiceless and empower those in need.
Erica Wagner
Jami Wadkins helped mastermind Centennial’s acquisition of the Bayer Properties operating platform. Under her leadership as co-president, Bayer had already been an owner, operator and developer of open-air retail space for almost three decades, and had built a reputation for exceptional merchandising, placemaking and design. The deal expanded Centennial’s reach nationally, diversified its portfolio, deepened its relationships with the luxury tenant community, and unified two teams. Wadkins worked on a compressed timeline to close the deal and retain the entire Bayer workforce. Now as CFO of the combined company, she and her departments have combined the best of both operating platforms to create significant efficiencies in both accounting, finance and development, including overseeing the implementation of Centennial’s Yardi electronic payables system and rolling out Center for expense management. She also oversaw the task of bringing the human resources function in-house for more than 300 employees. Wadkins is responsible for managing the company’s overall financial health, ensuring compliance and contributing to its sustained success through effective financial planning and decision-making. She is a beloved leader who participates in the company Halloween costume contest, spontaneously buys Lego sets for the accounting department, performs and records funny cover songs and has even been known to deliver homemade cookies while dressed as the Grinch.
Jami Wadkins
Scarlet Tam has played an indispensable role in the growth of San Francisco-based Hamilton Zanze Real Estate investments, expanding its investor base through a tireless work ethic, attention to detail and dedication to client satisfaction. As senior director of tax, she oversees income tax matters for HZ properties and management companies, including federal and state tax reporting, tax planning and structuring. She also works with national accounting firms and various independent CPAs to provide tax documents and information to investors. Ashlee Cabeal, CFO at Hamilton Zanze, says Tam is one of the firm’s best teachers. “We are a 1031 exchange shop, and Scarlet knows everything about exchanges — not just the nuts and bolts of the transaction, but the tax implications, how to flow it through our partnership returns, what it means for our investor portal and Yardi IM,” says Cabeal. “You can often find a line of people by her desk to ask her questions or run something by her — that is because she is so incredibly knowledgeable as well as a wonderful teacher.” One of Tam’s most notable achievements has been her pivotal role in preparing Hamilton Zanze’s upcoming HZ Evergreen Fund.
Scarlet Tam
In her role as section chief of global real estate at the International Monetary Fund, Sandy Oliver oversees 220 properties globally, plays a pivotal role in providing essential real estate services for client operations across member countries and ensures every dollar is optimized to its fullest potential. Leading a team of experts, she orchestrates portfolio strategy development, transaction management, project management, and lease administration. Described as resilient and adaptable, Oliver has developed expertise in global real estate portfolio management, transaction management, lease administration, project management, change management, strategic communications, crisis communications and performance management systems and dashboards. In the past 12 months, she spearheaded the RFP process for a service provider and selected Colliers to implement a fully outsourced global solution for office procurement. This partnership was formalized after an extensive evaluation process conducted with Oliver at the helm. The comprehensive project, inclusive of site selection, design, construction and implementation, demonstrates her ability to tackle challenges head-on and deliver results that exceed expectations. Beyond her role at the IMF, Oliver is a member of various professional organizations. Her contributions to CoRE Tech span from serving as a panel member at CoRE Tech 2019 to being an advisory council member since 2018.
Sandra Oliver
Dori Nolan is focused on growing Berkadia’s relationships with current and new institutional investor clients and has made a notable impact on the company’s growth as SVP of institutional solutions. With extensive multifamily transaction expertise and industrywide relationships, she is responsible for collaborating with investment sales and mortgage banking professionals to improve customer care programs, enhance customer service satisfaction and drive production at Berkadia. One of her recent accomplishments was launching Berkadia’s new alliance with Knight Frank. Nolan also helped institutional clients identify acquisition and disposition strategies at a time when the capital markets and the multifamily sector were experiencing significant challenges, resulting in the sale of institutional quality assets totaling more than $3.4 billion in gross market value. Berkadia’s market share has been steadily growing since Nolan joined Berkadia five years ago. She is an active member of NMHC, the NMHC finance committee and ULI. She also served as a mentor for Project Destined and is spearheading the development of a Berkadia-sponsored academic program in collaboration with NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate.
Dori Nolan
Throughout three decades, Sharon Morrison has developed insightful real estate solutions for global brands with expertise in complex lease and sales negotiations, site selection, build-to-suits and portfolio management across office and industrial sectors. She began her career at the Staubach Co., where she helped launch an industrial focus and build it into a national practice. She repeated the effort at Transwestern on both the office and industrial sides. In 2013, Morrison founded Texas-based tenant representation firm Esrp, where she served as CEO until the company merged with Cresa. She guided the firm through the challenges of the pandemic and advised clients and internal advisors on how to navigate the unknown circumstances businesses faced. In her current role as managing principal of Cresa’s Texas region, she oversees all aspects of the firm’s operations and marketing. Her strategic vision and hands-on approach have been instrumental in driving the expansion of the Dallas office and solidifying its reputation as a trusted advisor in the competitive real estate market. The Dallas office ended 2023 with 436 transactions, totaling more than 20 million square feet of space, amounting to more than $1 billion in gross rent value.
Sharon Morrison
Cynthia McMillion began her career as a leasing professional and has ascended to the role of president at Emerge Living where she leads a team of more than 200 employees and manages more than 10,000 residents. She is notable for her commitment to sustainability in real estate, advocating for eco-friendly initiatives, and integrating green building technologies and energy-efficient systems into properties. She also is dedicated to fostering a culture of excellence and innovation and leads by example, inspiring her team to push boundaries. In the past 12 months, McMillion led the integration and onboarding of 10 new multifamily communities, each comprising between 100 and 500 units. She also orchestrated a seamless transition in the branding of the firm from Disrupt Management to Emerge Living. One of McMillion’s most impactful contributions has been the development of comprehensive internal training systems tailored for more than 200 employees. These training programs have been designed not only to enhance the professional growth of the employees but also to ensure they feel supported in their roles with ample opportunities for advancement. McMillion participates in professional organizations such as NAA and IREM. Notably, she served as chairman of the board for Open Arms, an organization providing housing and support to individuals facing medical crises.
Cynthia McMillion
Based in Las Vegas, Venessa McEvoy oversees brokerage and business operations in the Nevada market for Cushman & Wakefield, including the firm’s Las Vegas and Reno offices. Despite challenging market conditions, the office has achieved top market share in the Las Vegas MSA and team members have enjoyed record-breaking success due to McEvoy’s knowledge and leadership. She was appointed director of brokerage in 2022 and is the only female minority market leader of any major CRE firm in the state. In this role, McEvoy leads business development, associate broker training, strategic planning, recruiting and community outreach. She has excelled in leadership roles throughout her career and possesses a deep knowledge of Nevada and the CRE industry generally. McEvoy joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2019 and previously served as the firm’s Nevada operations director. Before that, she was director of marketing for national consumer and B2B brands where she helped companies achieve new brand awareness and sales growth. She also worked with real estate developer Harsch Investment Properties and was instrumental in creating operational models and strategic objectives. McEvoy is a lifelong Nevadan and an active supporter of the local community. Her passion is improving the lives of children in underserved communities through education and assistance.
Venessa McEvoy
In her three years as COO of Veris Residential, Anna Malhari has overseen the company’s strategic transformation into a pure-play multifamily REIT, including the merger of two companies, the sale of more than $2.5 billion of nonstrategic assets, the development and stabilization of four new multifamily properties and one acquisition, totaling nearly 2,000 units, and the establishment of extensive ESG initiatives. In 2023 alone, Malhari oversaw $700 million in nonstrategic asset sales, the most significant being the $420 million sale of Harborside 1, two and 3, which was the largest multitenant office sale in New Jersey history. The company’s transformation was aligned with the prioritization of Environmental, Social and Governance concerns, all of which fall under Malhari’s purview. During the past three years under her leadership, Veris has reduced Scope 1 & two emissions by 54%, reduced energy consumption by 24%, achieved green certification at 80% of properties, added EV charging points to 65% of properties, earned the WELL Equity Rating portfoliowide, secured inclusion in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and employed 53% racially/ethnically diverse employees. Malhari is also a busy mom to a lively toddler who lives onsite with her at one of Veris’ communities.
Anna Malhari
As president of Inland Property Tax Services LLC for seven years, Tracy Le has led the company through various economic and real estate cycles. She oversees a portfolio of more than $9 billion taxable market value of commercial real estate properties, and in 2023, she did not miss an appeal opportunity or a tax payment deadline. Using her experience in real estate and tangible personal property tax filings, appeals, assessment negotiations, audits, multistate property tax compliance, tax abatement, tax projections and pre-acquisition tax due diligence, IPTS has saved its clients more than $88 million in annual taxes in the past five years. Her career in finance was sparked at her first job with the Utah State Tax Commission where she was a mail opener. Speaking and understanding very little English, she used a dictionary to translate words as she sorted income tax returns. The Tax Commission took notice of her ambition and moved her to the collections division for a part-time role. An immigrant from Vietnam, Le’s father passed away when she was in second grade and her mother worked long hours to provide for their family. This created the independent, can-do mindset Le still has today.
Tracy G. Le
Susan LaGanke brings more than two decades of multidisciplinary industry experience to her role as senior managing director of project and developer services in Cushman & Wakefield’s Phoenix office. She has emerged as a leader in the firm’s Southwest region and West mid-cap multimarket practice and has helped the Phoenix office and the broader Southwest region increase market share more than tenfold since she joined the firm in 2018. With a strong execution and results-oriented approach, LaGanke is a proven team leader across key project management areas such as platform integration, strategy development, transactional, financial, business development efforts, client relations and more. Prior to Cushman & Wakefield, she was a senior managing director with a global real estate firm since 2005, where she was directly responsible for its national multimarket mid-cap project management services as well as managing all occupier and investor services throughout the Southwest region. LaGanke is passionate about mentoring and graduated from Harvard University’s Mentor Management Program in 2018. She is also actively involved with Girls Can Build, an Arizona-based initiative that breaks down barriers to women in construction, design, engineering and technology.
Susan LaGanke
Kushner president Nicole Kushner Meyer spearheads deal sourcing, investor relations and execution of real estate development for the firm and oversees an extensive real estate portfolio encompassing $2.6 billion in transactions in 2023, 26,500 apartments, 2.2 million square feet of retail, 5.2 million square feet of office and 688 hotel keys. She currently is overseeing a development pipeline of 12.9 million square feet of residential, commercial and industrial space. Last year, Kushner Meyer sought to set several newly completed multifamily projects in New Jersey and South Florida apart by forging a partnership with Restoration Hardware, elevating the product offerings. She helped secure a capital partner, enabling Kushner Meyer to launch a new credit fund. This initiative allowed the company to analyze development and construction pipelines effectively and provide lending support for construction and bridge loans, particularly in lease-up phases. She also helped build a robust organizational culture within Kushner Meyer, incentivizing teams to achieve high occupancy rates and fostering a cohesive work environment across the organization. Her dedication to cultivating the next generation extends to mentoring students at New York University, where she has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council for many years.
Nicole Kushner Meyer
As president of Western National Property Management, the residential real estate management arm of Western National Group, Laura Khouri has spent the past 38 years perfecting the art of multifamily property management. Under her leadership, the company manages more than 24,500 multifamily units with a combined value of more than $8 billion in California, Nevada and Utah. Colleagues say Khouri has a calm demeanor, warm sense of humor and an affable personality. She leads with empathy and compassion and instills confidence in team members to do their job well. Recently, Khouri has been overseeing a sponsorship campaign with the Anaheim Ducks hockey team. The three-year partnership agreement allows the Western National logo to appear on a patch on the Ducks’ jerseys — the first time ever a sponsor’s brand will appear on a Ducks jersey and an apartment property management company’s logo will be featured on a professional sports team’s jersey. In addition, Khouri was chiefly responsible for WNPM being selected by Treehouse to professionally manage two community-living properties in Los Angeles. Khouri is frequently chosen to speak at real estate industry events.
Laura Khouri
Spencer Jordan’s unconventional introduction to commercial real estate began as a new college graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. She cold-called brokers at development companies to learn more about CRE and developed a vague interest in working as a landlord. Jordan accepted an entry-level position as a specialty leasing coordinator and earned a reputation for her ability to navigate tough leasing landscapes and guide landmark projects. She joined Steiner + Associates in 2017 and today is SVP of leasing where she leads the firm’s team specializing in retail brokerage with a focus on mixed-use development and strategic planning. She also serves as a consultant to institutional and private capital owners, retailers and developers. Jordan has overseen the merchandising strategy on more than 14.7 million square feet of commercial space and close to $1 billion in acquisitions, dispositions, redevelopments and ground-up builds. She has leased projects on behalf of private developers and publicly traded REITs with tenants including global luxury retailers, shopping center staples, food and beverage favorites and burgeoning DTC concepts. One of her primary responsibilities has been upgrading the Easton Town Center merchandising mix. Her leadership has been pivotal in navigating the challenges of the pandemic, as she negotiated nearly 70 amendments to keep Easton’s tenant roster strong and thriving.
Spencer Jordan
Katie Jacoby joined Anchor Health Properties with no real estate experience as a development coordinator and has worked her way up to leadership at the firm. She has managed all aspects of the medical real estate development process from project concept through building opening and recently has added responsibility for the operations and profitability of all development activities. As partner and EVP of strategy and development, she leads the company’s development platform and implements corporate strategic initiatives across the country, including financial, operational, growth, team and delivery partnerships. Throughout her 20-year tenure with Anchor, she has been involved in the development and leasing of four million square feet and $2 billion of outpatient and inpatient healthcare facilities. Jacoby built and maintained a strong, positive team culture throughout market challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, and navigating the daily challenges of a highly complex, high-risk business model. She fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation and holistic problem-solving among her team to find the most beneficial and positive outcomes. Jacoby is an active member of ULI’s Health Care and Life Sciences Council and the Philadelphia Chapter of Women in Healthcare.
Katie Jacoby
When Jackie Impellitier joined ZRS Management LLC in 2006, she had one job – make the company run better. Since then, she has grown the operations department from one person – herself – to a team of 15 while shaping how the company does business. ZRS is now one of the largest independent third-party property management companies in the country, managing more than 76,000 units for institutional clients, partnerships and individual owners across seven states. As VP of operations, Impellitier oversees the operations department that supports all property management technical functions, standard operating procedures and workflows. She built the firm’s internal ZRS portal where all associates can access training, policies and procedures, property dashboards and compliance back-up. Affectionately known as ZRS’ jack-of-all-trades, Impellitier has worn many hats and taken on many tasks since she started with the firm as a leasing agent. In 2023, Impellitier developed a centralized services department to offset the labor shortage, realize payroll savings opportunities, and eliminate mundane tasks to refocus onsite staff to a high level of customer and resident service. She serves as a grief counselor for New Hope for Kids, an Orlando-based group that offers support and assistance to kids who have lost a parent.
Jackie Impellitier
Having served in HR roles for more than 25 years, JPI chief people officer Missy Hubbell is known as someone who truly lives out a people-first approach. This was particularly evident as she helped JPI navigate the challenges of COVID-19, shutdowns, the great resignation, and other recent challenges. Hubbell has led the company to add 200 associates during the past three years. She also launched the Real Estate HR Roundtable, a leadership group made up of 12 CPO/CHROs to participate in quarterly and annual meetings and share best practices, industry trends, and provide general support for ongoing growth. In her role, Hubbell provides strategic direction to all activities associated with JPI’s people and culture functions, including talent acquisition, people operations, associate relations/engagement, learning and development, and alignment and reinforcement of the company’s culture. When Sumitomo Forestry America acquired a majority stake in JPI, the organization rolled out a new financial system and moved to a new headquarters in Dallas, Hubbell provided a steadying presence for employees and reinforced its culture. JPI has an industry-low turnover of below 15%, a noteworthy achievement attributable to Hubbell’s influence.
Missy Hubbell
With specialized expertise in leasing and property management of more than 12 million square feet of retail, Vicky Hammond has catapulted up the ranks of California CRE services firm Coreland Cos. where she is a managing principal. Hammond is considered the leading voice of the 34-year-old firm. She directs more than 40 professionals and guides company operations, client services and corporate growth. Under her leadership, Coreland has experienced consistent performance including continual year-to-year growth, exceeding revenue goals by margins of 12 and 13% during the past five years. Throughout the past decade, company revenue has grown more than 50%. Hammond has also served the commercial real estate industry through numerous ICSC volunteer roles. As the Southern California/Southern Nevada Marketplace Council director, she oversees all ICSC volunteers and activities in the expanding region, and she mentors students annually through ICSC’s Foundation Mentorship Program. She is a member of CREW and has mentored young industry professionals through the Orange County Mentorship Program.
Vicky Hammond
Before she became the managing director of the enterprise services function at Greystar in 2021, Meredith Griffin was instrumental in the firm’s global expansion by establishing and mobilizing its global accounting efforts in the Asia- enterprise services function. Griffin accepted the challenge of creating a centralized corporate office oversight function and workplace strategy at Greystar to increase visibility into its global corporate office overhead costs and occupancy rates and ensure it was developing office space that was keeping pace with the changing landscape of office needs and usage coming out of the pandemic. This work included creating a team, new processes and strategies, centralized financial reporting, development of a corporate office playbook, and working with city leaders to analyze future office needs as well as oversight on new project buildouts. In 2023, Griffin took the lead on business plans for the enterprise services function, developing the strategic direction and prioritization of key strategic initiatives to build out a $100 million budget and business plan that will enable, support and scale with the global business. Her other major initiative of 2023 was developing and leading Greystar Gives Back, a companywide community initiative coinciding with its 30th anniversary.
Meredith Griffin
With experience in both the public and private sectors, Carolee Fink has spent her career planning, negotiating and implementing transformational public-private development projects in New York City. As COO and principal of MSquared, Fink oversees the company’s operations and development practice and leads large-scale mixed-income projects anchored by public-private partnerships. These projects are addressing the ongoing national housing crisis while incorporating sustainable materials and delivering the services and transit connections residents need. Fink also serves on MSquared’s investment committee and is responsible for sourcing deals across the country for the company’s development platform. Under her leadership during the past three years, MSquared has grown to 3,300 units of mixed-income housing in development or in the pipeline, representing more than $1.5 billion in value. Prior to MSquared, Fink held multiple senior economic development roles. Throughout her tenure at City Hall, she successfully led the development of several major city projects and initiatives, including Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District, NYU’s Applied Sciences Campus, and the redevelopment of the Domino Sugar Refinery. Fink also served as chief of staff to New York City Deputy Mayor, Alicia Glen, where she managed day-to-day office operations while ensuring that 20 reporting agencies, with a combined budget of $30 billion, operated effectively and efficiently.
Carolee Fink
Last year, Mollie Fadule was instrumental in selling JPI to Tokyo-based public company Sumitomo Forestry, which included a minority equity position for her and CEO Payton Mayes as well as $300 million in new capital to fund growth for the company. As a member of JPI’s board and serving as chief financial and investment officer at JPI, Fadule oversees investment, capital markets, finance, accounting, legal, risk and technology initiatives. Since she joined JPI, Fadule has strategically grown JPI from 165 associates to more than 300 associates, and under her leadership, JPI built out a robust business analytics platform providing transparency for team leaders into KPIs of the business and achieving efficiencies for the team saving more than eight hours in manual work per week. Fadule’s journey from a pre-med student at Harvard to a leadership role at JPI is a testament to her resilience, adaptability and dedication to making a difference. Despite facing personal adversity, including a battle with breast cancer at age 32, Fadule emerged stronger, with an even greater sense of purpose. Her ability to channel her experiences into a career focused on housing underscores her passion for creating positive change in people’s lives.
Mollie Fadule
In 2021, Cori English was appointed managing principal for Northern California East Bay Markets at Cushman & Wakefield, becoming one of the first women at any commercial real estate firm to serve in a market-leading role in the Northern California region. English’s region is one of the most important commercial real estate markets for Cushman & Wakefield. Since joining the firm, English has been passionate about changing the culture in her region for the better and building a collaborative and authentic work network. She sends a “Monday Morning Memo” to more than 200 individuals representing every service line and national leadership. In addition, she founded an associate broker training program focused on professionals with less than five years in the industry. Initiatives like these have earned her national recognition from the highest levels of leadership and have been implemented in other markets. English has specialized in commercial real estate her entire career spanning more than 20 years, including a well-rounded background across landlord representation, asset management and talent recruitment. She spent the majority of her career at CBRE where she worked for 13 years over two separate periods. While there, she represented more than 5.2 million square feet of class A office space in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area for institutional investor clients.
Cori English
Arixa Capital has grown significantly during Sabrina Dukhovny’s tenure at the firm. The 17-year industry veteran was recently elevated to EVP of operations after overseeing the funding of more than $2 billion in loans. She currently manages a loan-servicing portfolio of more than $1.1 billion. Throughout the lifecycle of a loan, Dukhovny ensures that all departments are coordinating and communicating and that processes are consistent and documented. Known for her commitment to innovation, Dukhovny spearheaded the development of Arixa’s cloud-based lending platform, taking manual processes handled via email and on spreadsheets and building them into a central system that can be accessed from anywhere from a phone or computer. These changes centralize communication and knowledge and allow the team to work safer and faster. She is passionate about nurturing young talent in the financial industry through mentorship programs and has advocated for hiring interns. In times of uncertainty, Dukhovny has emerged as a leader, guiding her team through challenges with resilience and strategic vision. When interest rates started to rise at an unprecedented pace, she pivoted from her focus on internal lending operations to capital-raising efforts, which eventually landed a strategic joint venture with Oaktree Capital Management.
Sabrina Dukhovny
Janice Delcid is a co-founder and CFO of Epique Realty, a national, woman-owned brokerage. The mother of seven prioritizes the more than 1,100 agents of Epique as if they were an extension of her own family, understanding the importance of balancing personal and professional endeavors. She believes in taking a proactive approach to agent success, offering innovative tools and benefits to ensure agents have the resources they need to thrive. She also has developed innovative benefits including free healthcare, free prescriptions and free unlimited car wash memberships as well as free listing photos, yard sign installation and removal, transaction coordinators and marketing support. Delcid oversees all aspects of financial management, guiding the company’s fiscal strategy. Her background in business banking and love for mathematics equip her with the tools to navigate complex financial landscapes. In addition to her financial duties, Delcid oversees human resources, spearheading hiring decisions. In the community, she has spearheaded initiatives to provide essential services to underserved populations during the holiday season, both locally in Houston and internationally.
Janice Delcid
As SVP and head of ESG at Logistics Property Co., Elena Daniel has developed and managed comprehensive frameworks and policies for both ESG and Workplace Health, Safety and Environment (WHSE), ensuring alignment with industry standards and regulations. Her role spans strategic development, program execution, reporting, compliance and management of sustainability initiatives, all aimed at advancing the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship, social responsibility and governance excellence. She chairs the firm’s dedicated committees for ESG and WHSE and has been responsible for quarterly and monthly reporting to the board. Under her leadership, the company has achieved significant accolades, such as being a regional sector leader of the GRESB Development Benchmark and scoring higher than the GRESB average. The company has also received Green Lease Platinum recognition. Daniel has led the company to become a signatory to various global commitments, including the UN-Principles for Responsible Investment, the Asset Managers Alliance for Net Zero, and the CEO Pledge for Diversity & Inclusion. She has also co-launched the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion plan and women’s leadership council. She identified and eliminated redundancies in ESG reporting, resulting in more than $150,000 in savings for the company.
Elena V. Daniel
Ann Marie Collins brings decades of commercial real estate experience to her role as EVP at Savills, with extensive experience in real estate, energy and wholesale production. Prior to Savills, Collins spent 17 years as managing director at JLL and the Staubach Co., where she founded the business and economic incentives team in North America. She also negotiated with state and local governments and helped change legislation in 15 states. Prior to JLL, Collins was a partner at KPMG Peat Marwick, and the director of purchasing, energy and economic incentives at Frito-Lay. Having corporate experience has allowed her to approach companies from an inside-out view with a focus on reducing their cost of goods sold. Last year, she played an integral role on the Savills team that secured the 1.8 million-square-foot, $1.4 billion deal for Anovion Technologies’ new synthetic graphite manufacturing facility in Bainbridge, Georgia. She was Savills’ top producer in North America last year, the first non-leasing or capital markets professional to earn the title. She led two of Savills’ largest projects and secured $500 million in business and tax incentives for clients in 2023.
Ann Marie Collins
Alexandra Coleman finds her work in the affordable housing preservation sector to be a perfect marriage of public policy and real estate finance and development where hard work has a direct impact on people’s lives. As Hudson Valley Property Group’s chief of staff, Coleman leads cross-functional strategic initiatives aimed at fortifying the firm’s position for growth while streamlining operations and enhancing efficiencies. Through deal-sourcing, marketing, fundraising, event planning, process improvement and project management, Coleman has been instrumental in the firm’s growth to 10,650 units from 1,100 and from four to 40 employees more than eight years. In 2023, a significant portion of her time was dedicated to positioning HVPG for growth. She spearheaded numerous change management initiatives and interdepartmental projects, including selecting, onboarding and implementing a new project management software solution across multiple HVPG teams. Coleman also played a pivotal role in implementing the next iteration of the Objectives and Key Results process across the firm, driving departmental alignment to achieve annual company-level objectives. She is a member of New York Women in Housing and Finance, where she has previously served as a mentor, and she is a former scholar and honorary member of NY Women Executives in Real Estate.
Alexandra Coleman
Marcus & Millichap SVP of events Michelle Cocagne has served the brokerage for 25 years, driving revenue through planning and executing high-profile events. She leads a team responsible for organizing and carrying out Marcus & Millichap’s participation in hundreds of commercial real estate trade shows, conferences and other industry-related events each year. This includes planning, organizing and managing the firm’s two largest annual award ceremonies, the National Achievement Awards, which honors the accomplishments of the firm’s top investment and capital markets professionals, and SIA Weekend, a major company event that inducts qualifying investment and capital markets professionals into the firm’s upper echelon and celebrates all previous inductees. Cocagne is also responsible for all the company’s award ceremonies, company addresses, client webcasts and webinars. She is known for her attention to detail, meticulous planning and care for her team and clients. Cocagne is an active member of CREW and an advocate for women around the country. She sets an example through her leadership and support through various events, programs and initiatives at Marcus & Millichap directly supporting women in business.
Michelle Cocagne
Christine Chipurnoi is one of the top five insurance brokers at USI Insurance Services, where she is an EVP handling all aspects of corporate risk and insurance, including property, casualty, builder’s risk, environmental, workers compensation, cyber, professional and executive risk coverage. With more than 150 clients, her services account for more than $10 million in annual revenue for USI and represent more than $100 million in premiums. Chipurnoi specializes in hospitality, construction and commercial real estate including multifamily, office, retail and industrial. She also provides services to general and trade contractors, particularly those with complex insurance/risk management issues. She consulted with a major client while it transitioned from owner/developer to third-party GC, facilitating continuous coverage during and after a complex transformation. Chipurnoi also assisted a client with a high CAT-exposed industrial real estate portfolio in coastal New Orleans that took a significant rate increase and a large increase in wind deductible due to significant claims activity and an upside-down market. Chipurnoi is past president of CREW NY and past president of The Insurance Brokers Association of New York, the first woman to hold that position.
Christine Michele Chipurnoi
Jennifer Cassell joined CAPREIT in the early 2000s and served in various positions during the years, gaining the respect of team members and outside stakeholders on her way to becoming the firm’s president in 2023. In part because of her strong leadership and legal acumen, CAPREIT pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy from 2015 to 2019, teaming with JV partners to purchase market-rate and affordable properties totaling nearly 8,000 apartments. She played a vital role in the sale of a six-property Richmond MSA LIHTC portfolio to Nuveen Real Estate, generating a net profit of $100 million and helped launch a major push into multifamily ground-up development, with more than $500 million in planned new communities in the southeast US. Recently, Cassell played an important role in CAPREIT’s entrance into the build-to-rent market when the company closed its acquisition of a 120-home BTR development community in Greenville, South Carolina. She works to improve company operations and promote the professional development of CAPREIT employees as well as focusing on ESG efforts and the CAPREIT Cares program. Cassell is a member of the Bar of Maryland, the American Bar Association and Chief, a private women’s business organization for senior executives.
Jennifer K. Cassell
Nicole Capobianco plays a pivotal role in shaping the talent and strategy for the Matthews Real Estate Investment Services sales division as its VP of sales recruiting and enablement. She oversees more than 20 professionals who ensure the recruitment process is efficient, effective and aligned with the organization’s goals and values. In addition to recruiting, Capobianco is responsible for leading and implementing training and development programs for new hires across the country. She is dedicated to professional development initiatives for both agents and support employees and cultivates a sense of unity and purpose in the recruiting and sales department. Capobianco’s efforts have added more than 50 senior agents and executive roles, leading to increased support teams and expansion into new offices and markets. Recently, she led the launch of a new learning management system that streamlines training for employee, new agent and senior agent hires. In addition, she launched a comprehensive health and insurance services program tailored to suit the needs of Matthews’ independent contractors and led the implementation of a recruitment automation system leveraging cutting-edge technology. Capobianco is a co-owner and operator of Empowered Care Chiropractic, a healthcare practice focused on promoting holistic wellness and healing.
Nicole Capobianco
As the director of operations in commercial real estate at Greysteel, Kaylan Brodnax leads a team of deal managers who play a central role in supporting the company’s investment sales teams. She provides guidance, mentorship and strategic direction to ensure the team effectively facilitates transactions. Brodnax oversees Greysteel’s production processes, ensuring the efficiency of multiple departments and optimizing workflows, eliminating bottlenecks and streamlining operations to enhance overall productivity. She also is responsible for creating and implementing policies and procedures aimed at increasing production and enhancing support for brokers. Under Brodnax’s leadership, Greysteel achieved record deal volume in the past 12 months due to innovative marketing campaigns she spearheaded to elevate brand visibility and market presence. Brodnax is a member of the National Association of Realtors, CREW Network and ULI and is involved in mentorship programs that support aspiring professionals and empower women in the commercial real estate industry. She mentors individuals seeking guidance and career advice, sharing her knowledge, experiences, and insights to help them succeed in their professional endeavors.
Kaylan Brodnax
Bozzuto SVP of accounting and financial services Dawn Beckles inspires and motivates her team of more than 100 people through a positive work culture, mentorship and support. She is responsible for all the organization’s accounting and finance operations, including the timely and accurate completion of the monthly financial statements, cash flow management, accounts receivable, accounts payable, insurance, legal, and financial planning and analysis. Beckles is the main point of contact for the annual company audit and is a strategic advisor to the president of Bozzuto Management Co., working on complex growth charts, forecasts and analyses for the future. Her team creates the financial reporting for 105,000 apartment homes nationwide with more than 100 investor groups ranging from high-net-worth individuals to public REIT organizations. During the past year, she oversaw the onboarding of 26,569 apartment homes and the disposition of 13,279 apartment homes. In addition, she implemented process improvements throughout the accounting department that saved $1 million in payroll. Before her tenure at Bozzuto, Beckles was an auditor for Arthur Andersen and worked as a controller for NYSE real estate company First Potomac, where she led a team of 40 accountants and was responsible for the SEC reporting and internal audit function.
Dawn A. Beckles
Jacqueline Rogers
Christine Myers
Suzanne Bereis
Maranda K. Auzenne
Ma Agnes Alimbog
Humanitarian
Tingting Zhang
Karen Wipper
Kim Voss
Mary A. Thompson
Maria Stamolis
Mary Beth Paris
Sheryl Moore-Marlette
Christen Moloney
Deborah La Franchi
Pharrah A. Jackson
Meaghan Gross
Kerry Gawrych
Cassie S. Ford
Leslie Duchene
Alison Daubert
Alexandra (Ali) Cooley
Kelly Blair
Finance Executive
Pranika Uppal Sinha
Alison Shallcross
Mitchell E. Rudin
Christy G. Lockridge
Lonnie Ledbetter
Lisa Latronico
Katie Kazas
Tammy K. Jones
LaVon M. Johns
Nili Jaisinghani
Kameshia Freeman
Crystal Cook
Christina C. Balas
Christina Arico
Diversity Champion
Jenny Wu
Catherine Torsney
Briana Succop
Tiffany Shalibo
Elyse Roeder
Liz Oakley
Darenda Marvin
Julie Livingstone
Caroline Kenney
Andrea Jones
Deb Janik
Mona Hinkle
Rachel Hickenbottom
Veronica Green
Hailey Ghalib
Yvonne Fisher
Beth Demba
Lisa Brady
Morgan Baer Blaska
Sarah Ashcroft
Development Professional
Amanda Wolin
Kay Tidwell
Suzanne St. Pierre
Leslie C. Sharpe
Karen Scanna
Misty Sanford
Nina M. Roket
Jennifer S. Perkins
Jennifer E. Nichols
Allison Nelson
Rebecca Monzi
Michelle M. McAtee
Rori H. Malech
Kim Le
Jennifer C. Johnson
Katherine (Katie) Jahnke Dale
Taryn Fielder
Anita Famili
Tracey C. Easton
Erin E. Day
CRE Legal Counsel
Corporate Real Estate Executive
Erin Day joined Invesco Real Estate when it was launching its first nonpublic REIT to break into the private wealth and retail channel, bringing with her corporate and securities law firm experience with registered products and offerings. Day and her team built the infrastructure for the nonpublic REIT from a governance perspective and handled all securities issues involving the registered product launch and related distribution negotiations. INREIT is now an institutionally managed, public nonlisted, monthly NAV REIT investing in a diversified portfolio of high-quality, income-producing U.S. properties with a total asset value of $1 billion. Last year, Day and her team were involved in creating the first-of-its-kind Invesco Commercial Real Estate Finance Trust Inc., a private fund with sales in its continuous private offering to accredited investors of $75 million, plus commitment of $200 million from institutional investors. In addition, Day helped build and launch IRE’s 1031 exchange program, building its structure in 2022 and launching it in 2023. Day is associate general counsel at Invesco Ltd. and general counsel for INREIT and INCREF. She is active in the Women’s Bond Club, an invitation-only organization for women in financial services.
Cox, Castle & Nicholson partner Amanda Wolin specializes in representing different types of lenders, including national and regional banks, insurance companies and private lenders, in connection with real estate financing transactions. She has experience with acquisition and development loans, bridge loans, construction loans and mezzanine loans, and a broad range of product types, including commercial, multifamily, hotel and retail projects. She also has experience with secondary market transactions, such as loan-on-loan deals and asset management work, including loan assumptions and loan modifications. Wolin has expanded the firm’s representation of lending clients nationally and has brought many new clients to the firm. She represented a mortgage lender in connection with a $450 million construction loan secured by a to-be-built life sciences building in California and represented a lender in connection with a $220 million loan secured by an office building in Downtown Los Angeles. She is dedicated to training junior and mid-level associates and has been integral in implementing the Capital Markets Boot Camp program, where partners break down various topics so that junior team members and off-team associates can learn and better understand the team’s work. Wolin is involved with the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Kay Tidwell leads a team at Hudson Pacific Properties that oversees risk management strategies as EVP, general counsel and chief risk officer of the firm. Tidwell has aided in many of Hudson Pacific’s recent achievements, including several acquisitions to expand the company’s studio offering, expansion into New York with Sunset Pier 94 Studios and the $700 million sale of One Westside and Westside Two, which was the largest full office sale in the US in 2023. In her day-to-day role, Tidwell advises the company on general corporate matters, including governance and compliance, litigation and settlement, intellectual property, negotiation and preparation of employment, consulting and confidentiality agreements, corporate housekeeping requirements, compensation plans, agreements with vendors, tenants and joint venture partners. She is responsible for drafting and reviewing SEC filings, including the company’s periodic and current reports, proxy statements, registration statements and section 16 filings. Tidwell joined the Hudson Pacific team shortly after the company’s IPO in 2010, and her career spans more than 20 years of representing REITs and other public and privately held companies and financial institutions. Prior to Hudson Pacific, Tidwell was a corporate attorney at the global law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, where she began her legal career in the Los Angeles office.
For decades, Suzanne St. Pierre has worked on projects where public and private stakeholders come together to improve the urban environment. As a partner with Venable LLP, St. Pierre represents public entities, quasi and governmental entities, and nonprofits on major capital projects, including infrastructure and P3 projects. A firm leader, she has played a major role in developing Venable’s New York real estate practice in addition to serving on the firm’s board of directors and its foundation grant committee. In 2023, St. Pierre participated in Venable’s decision to enter a long-term office lease at 151 West 42nd Street, signaling the firm’s commitment to the market amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She is Venable’s lead outside counsel in many major real estate development transactions including acquisitions, sales, financing and leasing of real property, formation and restructuring of joint ventures, creation of co-investment structures and participation in fund investments, formation of commercial condominiums, development of infrastructure and other types of real estate projects, and ground-up construction and renovation. Throughout the past three decades, she has represented Amtrak in the development of Moynihan Station and the construction of the Hudson Tunnel Project, as well as other projects that have improved the public realm and New York City’s neighborhoods.
Leslie Sharpe is an attorney in Butler Snow’s real estate and finance practice group in the firm’s Huntsville, Alabama, office. She has more than 20 years of experience representing and advising clients in matters involving commercial real estate, finance, economic development and related corporate issues. Sharpe specializes in procuring state and local economic development incentives, including tax abatements and jobs and investment tax credits, industrial development grants, and training and recruiting incentives for companies seeking to build and establish operations in Alabama and those with existing Alabama operations. She has advised major manufacturers, including companies operating in the automotive, firearms, all-terrain vehicles, aerospace and defense industries, data centers and solar energy providers. In addition to her economic development and incentives practice, Sharpe handles large-scale commercial loan closings for banking institutions and devotes a substantial portion of her practice to representing and advising privately held companies in the development, construction and leasing of commercial office buildings, condominiums, manufacturing facilities, warehouse and industrial parks, and multifamily and build-to-rent projects.
Hopkins & Carley’s first female managing shareholder, Jennifer Johnson, is widely known as a sophisticated and visionary real estate attorney. Johnson initially launched her practice as a litigator in Big Law, but after some soul- searching, she realized her calling for real estate law. In her real estate practice, Johnson advises global Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, investment funds, established nonprofit corporations, developers, local businesses, entrepreneurs and investors on a range of real estate matters. She primarily focuses on leasing and has represented landlords and tenants in office, industrial, mixed-use, grocery store, retail, medical and shopping center leases. With a sub-specialty in insolvency law, she brings an experienced bankruptcy and workout perspective to her clients’ leasing and other real estate transactions. She also has served on the firm’s executive committee for eight years. Before joining Hopkins & Carley’s real estate team, she served as an executive committee member, real estate department co-chair and hiring partner at another regional law firm. As one of only a handful of leasing lawyers who has international leasing capabilities, Johnson has helped her clients expand their presence around the globe. Her work often involves deals and properties valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Katherine Jahnke Dale has led the zoning and entitlements process for many projects that are transforming Chicago and its skyline, including Lincoln Yards, the 78 and projects in Fulton Market, one of the hottest neighborhoods for development in the country. She is one of Chicago’s leading attorneys in land use and development, including industrial, multifamily residential, mixed-use and commercial developments. Her practice involves representing developers, purchasers, sellers and owners of institutional, residential and commercial property in securing development and zoning approvals, negotiating and implementing public-private partnerships and financing arrangements and incentives, performing general and zoning due diligence, and negotiating and closing real estate acquisitions and dispositions. Jahnke Dale leads DLA Piper’s Chicago real estate practice and is the first woman to hold the position of managing partner of the Chicago office in at least 15 years. She co-manages the Chicago and Minneapolis offices, which together represent 200 lawyers and 170 business professionals. For the past five years, she has served on the board of the Real Estate Finance Forum, a Chicago-based real estate industry group committed to advancing women in the industry. She was REFF’s president starting in January 2022.
Taryn Fielder joined Veris Residential as general counsel in 2022 and since then has played a leading role in supporting the company’s transition to a pure-play multifamily REIT. Prior to joining Veris Residential, she served as general counsel at WashREIT (now Elme Communities), where she helped lead the company through its transformation from a diversified REIT to a pure-play multifamily business amid the pandemic. In 2020, Fielder spearheaded WashREIT’s pandemic response task force which helped the company anticipate challenges and engage in creative problem-solving as circumstances rapidly evolved. At Veris, she is responsible for structuring all corporate and real estate transactions. In the past 12 months, she was instrumental in consummating the company’s successful sales of Harborside 1, 2 and 3 and the Port Imperial Hotel. At $420 million, the Harborside sale was one of the largest commercial office transactions in 2023. In addition to working on transactions, Fielder has been instrumental in driving higher revenues, reducing concessions across Veris Residential’s portfolio, and stabilizing controllable expenses since she joined the company in 2022.
Anita Famili has carved out a unique niche at the intersection of real estate and the cannabis and CBD industry. Her work on behalf of clients in the cannabis and CBD space includes Cookies, a top-selling cannabis brand, in its joint venture and development of a cannabis consumption lounge in West Hollywood. With more than two decades of experience representing owners, operators, lenders, developers and investors, Famili leads the real estate transactions and finance group for Manatt and is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Recently, she represented Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in the sale of the Westfield Mission Valley Shopping Center in San Diego. The disposition includes an open-air shopping area, which was sold to affiliates of Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group and Arsenault Holdings LLC, and a strip mall, which was sold to an affiliate of Sunbelt Investment Holdings Inc. The Mission Valley Shopping Center was sold for a combined purchase price of around $290 million and makes up 1.5 million square feet of space. In the past year, Manatt’s real estate team, led by Famili, has been involved in negotiating the acquisition and development of regional warehouse facilities and 14 built-to-suit retail leases across 16 states.
In her role as general counsel for state bond issuer SC Housing, Tracey Easton has touched nearly every multifamily affordable housing project in South Carolina for more than two decades both in deals and funding. In 2022, Easton was recruited to the private sector to lead the relaunch of Moore & VanAllen PLLC’s affordable housing practice, which had been dormant for more than 20 years. As senior counsel, she is building a book of business from scratch leveraging her network and educating developers on ways she can support them in private practice. Easton assists clients with housing transactions, legislative and community advocacy related to affordable multifamily housing, management issues and corporate structuring. She is involved with the National Association of Bond Lawyers and the South Carolina Bar where she serves on both the ethics advisory committee and professional responsibility committee. In addition, Easton is president of the South Carolina Women’s Affordable Housing Network where she has grown membership to more than 200 and assists with fundraising, events, education and scholarship including preparing legal documents, securing insurance and ensuring nonprofit compliance.
As the co-deputy chair of Akerman’s real estate practice group, composed of more than 160 attorneys and real estate professionals across 24 U.S. offices, Allison Nelson’s impact reverberates throughout the firm as well as the legal and real estate industries. She manages and supervises a team of real estate attorneys and professionals and develops and executes strategic plans for the department. Under her leadership, Akerman’s real estate practice group has consistently earned recognition as one of the leading teams of real estate lawyers and development professionals in the US. In her healthcare real estate practice, she negotiates compliant sales and acquisitions, joint venture developments, and leases, ground leases and subleases. She partners with clients to build and improve systems to manage real estate portfolios to ensure compliance with federal and state healthcare regulatory laws. As outside real estate counsel, Nelson represents one of the largest healthcare companies in the nation, as well as one of the top dialysis providers in the country. She also represents regional and smaller medical practice groups in acquiring, developing and leasing medical properties. She recently closed several transactions involving the ground-up development of 100,000-square-foot medical office buildings, each exceeding $100 million in construction costs.
Rebecca Monzi is a recognized name in Washington D.C. real estate with nearly two decades of experience in commercial real estate law most recently as a principal at Friedlander Misler PLLC. As the youngest woman to become a real estate equity partner at the firm, Monzi specializes in real estate development and represents buyers, sellers and owners in deals ranging from $10 million to $355 million. She advises developer, investor and financial institution clients in the acquisition, development, sale and financing of commercial, industrial and mixed-use property, multifamily housing and affordable housing projects. She also has substantial experience with federally insured and guaranteed financing transactions, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Section eight contracts. As a complement to this work, she is highly skilled in representing clients in commercial litigation in state and federal courts and before governmental agencies. Monzi is an active member of Washington D.C.’s CREW chapter and this year is serving as co-chair of the membership committee where she has helped coordinate numerous well-attended networking and educational events. In addition to her professional endeavors, Monzi is a devoted mental health advocate and activist.
Michelle McAtee joined Jenner & Block as an associate in 2004 and since then she has ascended to co-chair of the firm’s real estate transactions practice and was made a partner. She has worked closely with clients on complex and high-stakes transactions including real estate acquisitions, finance deals, project construction, development and dispositions. After receiving many of the same questions from commercial landlord clients and prospects, McAtee launched a virtual fireside chat regularly hosted by the firm’s real estate, restructuring and bankruptcy, and litigation practices. McAtee worked with a cross-practice team of Jenner attorneys advising The Catholic University of America on contracts, interconnection and permit issues to obtain approval from the DC Zoning Commission for the construction of Washington D.C.’s largest urban solar array, which will generate 10,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy annually. In addition, Housing Forward, an Illinois-based nonprofit working to end homelessness, sought her out to help with the acquisition and development of land in Broadview, Illinois, with a plan to turn a vacant lot into a four-story permanent housing development for Chicago’s homeless population. McAtee and the team have provided counsel worth more than $1 million in pro bono legal fees in the effort to reduce homelessness in the community.
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP partner Rori Malech represents both borrowers and lenders and has recently advised on nationwide real estate transactions valued at more than $1.5 billion. Malech represents local and national developers, REITs, institutional equity investors, institutional and non-institutional lenders, and hotel owners and operators with their development and finance transactions. She has extensive experience in real estate and hospitality including financings, joint ventures, acquisitions and negotiation of management and license agreements. While her roots are in Washington D.C. and New York, her practice is national, and she has been integral in expanding relationships in other markets throughout the country, including Miami, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles. She is a frequent speaker and panelist on the hospitality industry and preferred equity transactions and regularly educates both her clients and the real estate community about structuring preferred equity financing, sharing the depth of her experience with both joint ventures and financings, and offering guidance on these transactions from all sides of the table. Her notable deals include representing a major real estate debt fund in a $204 million construction loan secured by a student housing tower, a multifamily residential tower, retail space, office space, and two levels of below-grade parking in Arizona.
During her 20-year career in real estate law, Kim Le has counseled some of the largest real estate firms on billions of dollars of complex CRE transactions, including platform and programmatic creation, multilayered financings, portfolio acquisitions and complex joint venture equity partnerships. She co-chairs the real estate practice group at Adler & Stachenfeld and represents boutique developers, public REITs, sovereign wealth funds and PE funds. Le established several programmatic platforms in the industrial market and guided her client base of investors and lenders as they entered the thriving real estate sector at just the right time, overseeing a healthy pipeline of complex, large-scale deals and providing major capital sources with access to these high-demand investments. She also oversees a team of more than a dozen attorneys within the real estate practice group, who combined have structured more than 3,000 real estate JV transactions. A long-serving member of the firm, Le joined Adler & Stachenfeld as an associate in 2004 and has played a significant role in the firm’s growth. Among her most recent and significant transactions, Le closed on a $250 million loan facility for a portfolio of nationwide industrial assets.
At the forefront of New York City CRE, Hogan Lovells partner Karen Scanna helps clients navigate turbulent markets and novel legal issues with a knack for uncovering new ways for deals to proceed despite structural impediments. She has advised on the development of Citi Field, a successful bid for the redevelopment of Bronx Point, the acquisition and redevelopment of The World Trade Center, and the development of Essex Crossing. Scanna advises clients on complex real estate matters including financing, acquisitions and development projects involving office, multifamily residential and retail properties. She also has extensive experience with hotels, assisted/senior living and student housing portfolios. She is adept at navigating the city’s competitive bid process and is sought after for high-profile public-private partnerships with city-owned properties for redevelopment, by deed or ground lease. Scanna is a subject matter expert on the U.S. Corporate Transparency Act and participates in the firm’s CTA task force. She also contributes to thought leadership on the topic and helps ensure the firm’s clients act in compliance with the new regulations.
Misty Sanford brings two decades of experience to her role as partner and chair of West Coast real estate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where she handles complex transactions and leads impactful projects in California and across the country. Her practice emphasizes loan workouts, public/private partnerships, real estate financing including CMBS, complex mixed-use developments, purchase and sale, joint ventures, environmental issues, land use, leasing and reciprocal easement agreements. Her accomplishments include the $2 billion Mission Rock project in San Francisco representing a joint venture between Tishman Speyer and the San Francisco Giants. She also led Adept Development in a public-private partnership with the city of Ontario, California, to redevelop 10.5 acres of land surrounding the Toyota Arena. Sanford is a member and committee chair of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and served as a mayoral appointee to the City of Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners and the City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Commission. She also is a founder and former chair of the board of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a nonprofit that converts blighted parcels of land into parks and gardens.
Nina Roket wears many hats at Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP, including co-managing partner, member of the executive committee, co-chair of the real estate law practice, chair of the leasing practice, founder and chair of the women’s committee and chair of the hiring committee. Roket was the firm’s first female equity partner, co-administrative/managing partner and executive committee member. She crafts leasing, property transfer and finance transactions for properties, owners, developers and investors and advises clients in acquisitions, sales, financing, development and leasing of major real estate projects. She acts as landlord’s counsel at numerous office buildings in Midtown and Downtown New York City and represents both owners and nonprofit organizations in the creation of leasehold condominiums and long-term leases. In retail, Roket manages complex leasing projects for numerous developers and owners of significant, high-profile retail sites across the US, including in New York, Miami Beach, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and Atlantic City. Her most significant accomplishments during the past 12 months include helping clients achieve their goals despite the challenging real estate market.
Jennifer Perkins brings more than four decades of experience with complex leasing transactions for tenants and landlords to her role as a partner at Arnold & Porter. She is one of the leading leasing lawyers in the Washington D.C. area with projects encompassing millions of square feet, including negotiating anchor office leases, retail agreements and governmental leases as well as assisting clients with leases in which tenants are in financial distress. She represents her own firm on real estate deals and other law firms hire her to represent them in their real estate projects, including headquarters deals. She has worked with a prominent financial service provider throughout the US for the leasing of branch storefronts as well as regional offices, including in and around New York City, Santa Clara, CA, cities on the southeast coast of Florida, Boston and Bellevue, WA. These projects often involve addressing complicated construction-related issues arising from base building development or renovation. Perkins clerked for a judge in Washington D.C. for her first year out of law school and then worked for seven years at a regional law firm providing general real estate legal services. She moved with a group of attorneys to Arnold & Porter in 1993 and became counsel in 1995 and partner in 1998.
CRG EVP and general counsel Jennifer Nichols leads an in-house department handling all legal, compliance and risk management as the firm expands its national multibillion- dollar real estate platform. During her time with CRG, the company has evolved from a subsidiary of Clayco to a standalone business with eight regional offices delivering more than 220 million square feet of industrial and multifamily developments worth more than $14 billion. Nichols has helped facilitate CRG’s entry into more than 30 markets, with projects ranging from student housing communities to warehouses for Fortune 500 companies. Her legal department negotiates contracts, mitigates risk, ensures compliance and closes deals, often under tight deadlines. From 2020 to 2023, Nichols and her team managed more than 150 land purchases, dispositions, leases and build-to-suit transactions, for such companies as Williams Sonoma, Costco, Shopify and Lowe’s. Nichols also oversees the creation and execution of investor contracts for CRG’s investment funds, including U.S. Logistics Fund II, which supported the development of more than $1.5 billion in new industrial facilities and identified and attracted underrepresented investors, including women and people of color. The first person of color on CRG’s executive leadership team, Nichols has been a voice for the firm’s DEI initiatives.
Jenny Wu brings extensive experience as an architect as well as expertise in construction, finance and development to her role as managing director of Jonathan Rose Cos. She has spearheaded the creation of more than 1,800 affordable housing units with another 2,700 units currently in the pre-development phase, and she leads green development projects across seven states. Wu is responsible for the strategic execution of development initiatives spanning multiple states, where she oversees the day-to-day operations of the development group. Currently, she is advancing the redevelopment of a 176-unit senior living project in the West Village neighborhood of New York City, the first affordable development in the neighborhood in more than two decades. She also is driving the ahead-of-schedule construction of a 125-unit affordable housing project in the historic Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington D.C. This all-electric building will feature a green roof with integrated solar array, electric vehicle charging stations, and carbon-injected concrete, capturing more than 1.1 million kilograms of carbon within the building’s structure. Wu contributes her expertise to the New York State Association for Affordable Housing’s policy committee and the Pennsylvania Developer Council’s PHFA committee, where she actively advocates for policies that foster the growth of affordable housing in both New York State and Pennsylvania.
Catherine Torsney began her professional career with JT Magen 25 years ago as a construction superintendent and worked her way up to her current role as a senior project manager where she oversees the execution of projects from inception in the pre-construction phase to project completion. Her responsibilities include leading the development of project plans, timelines and schedules to ensure timely and efficient project delivery. With a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of construction processes, regulations and industry standards, Torsney serves as the primary conduit of information between her team, clients, subcontractors and consultants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of her projects, an 11-floor, 215,000-square-foot fit-out for a Fortune 500 headquarters, was stalled due to the stay-at-home mandate. As JT Magen’s first project to resume construction during the pandemic, this job was deemed essential after six weeks. Torsney was onsite daily, implementing stringent safety protocols to protect the health and well-being of her team members, subcontractors and clients. Affectionately known within JT Magen as “Mother Hubbard,” Torsney serves as a trusted advisor and mentor to both men and women across all career levels, with her door always open to anyone seeking counsel or advice.
Briana Succop brings more than two decades of experience in finance, investment and real estate capital to her role as senior investment director and head of business development at Kairos Investment Management Co. Prior to joining Kairos, Succop was a managing director at AllianceBernstein, where she handled business development efforts in North America, South America and Australia for the firm’s private alternatives platform. Her credentials also include leadership and capital- raising roles at Harrison Street, Abacus Capital Group and Covenant Capital Group. She joined Kairos in September 2023 and now oversees both the business development and investor relations teams and is responsible for oversight of the firm’s strategic business development activities and all of its client correspondence. She builds and maintains partnerships with institutional investors to secure funding for Kairos’ various planned initiatives and develops, implements and maintains a capital raise strategy aligned with Kairos’ investment goals and objectives while preparing necessary support materials for such efforts, including pitch decks and presentations.
Based in Nashville, Tiffany Shalibo oversees a national development team responsible for planning and executing the privatized military housing portion of Lendlease’s Communities business. Since beginning as general manager of development in 2022, Shalibo has been integral in developing the Army’s first new privatized housing project in 13 years. Providing new construction housing inventory for military personnel based at U.S. Southern Command in Doral, Florida, the $110 million development broke ground in late 2023 and will include 75 family housing units, as well as 60 two-bedroom apartments for unaccompanied service members. With 13 years of Department of Defense work with Lendlease, including six years as development manager, then later portfolio development manager for the firm’s Privatized Army Lodging portfolio, Shalibo has developed a deep appreciation for the service and sacrifice of military personnel. This has ingrained in her a commitment to do the very best for military families by understanding their specific needs and finding the best solutions, including developing market-driven designs and floor plans that offer similar features to housing found beyond a military installation’s gate as well as community features like tennis, pickleball and basketball courts, agility courses geared to tweens and teens, and dog parks.
In her role as senior director at MGAC, Elyse Roeder has demonstrated an ability to navigate complex projects, ranging from renovations and additions to new builds and interior fit-outs. She has 15 years of experience in project management and has developed exceptional leadership skills as well as an affinity for sustainability and innovation, particularly in large-scale education projects. Roeder is contributing to the initiative to transition all Washington D.C. schools to net-zero energy status, whether through ground-up construction or renovation projects. Despite facing challenges, such as site constraints and historical considerations, Roeder has been instrumental in identifying and implementing innovative solutions. She also managed modernization projects for several elementary and middle schools, overseeing tasks ranging from demolition and new build, complete renovations, underpinning and historical restorations. Her expertise extended to managing the construction of new facilities focused on meeting educational specifications, energy efficiency standards and LEED certifications. Her responsibilities include overseeing submittals, RFIs, change orders, construction progress, financial forecasts and project reports, as well as coordinating architectural and engineering drawings and trade activities. Roeder is on the advisory board of Women in Engineering at the University of Maryland where she meets with staff to review admission and retention strategies targeted at women in the engineering field.
Liz Oakley has been instrumental in developing numerous affordable housing projects throughout New York City in her role as EVP of affordable development at Douglaston Development. She leads the firm’s affordable housing development strategy, focusing on strengthening existing relationships with government agencies and community partners and fostering coordination between Douglaston Development and the firm’s general contracting and property management affiliates. Oakley has been working closely with The New York City Housing Authority on the ongoing $523 million rehabilitation of the Linden and Penn-Wortman Houses in East New York Brooklyn, which will include major renovations to 1,922 units and the $477 million comprehensive modernization of Harlem’s Saint Nicholas Houses, which will benefit nearly 3,350 residents. Oakley has nearly 17 years of experience in affordable housing and community development. She served as deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, leading the team to exceed annual housing production targets of more than 25,000 affordable units for 2020 and 2021, and setting records for homeless, senior and new construction production.
WMG Development credits its recent growth in team members and development projects to the work of director of planning and entitlements Darenda Marvin during a challenging period of rising interest rates and market uncertainty. Leveraging her experience and familiarity with the Florida commercial real estate market developed during more than three decades, Marvin has managed a mountain of paperwork, permitting, regulations and red tape to secure more planning and entitlement rights since 2020 than any four years in the company’s history. Marvin and her team are involved with six grocery-anchored centers in Florida that are each at different points along the timeline from initial planning to a grand opening. After years of planning, she helped WMG deliver its first grand opening of a Publix, located at The Shoppes at Palmer Ranch in Sarasota, in April 2023. Although she joined WMG two weeks prior to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting offices down, Marvin emerged as a leader and trusted mentor during a time when people were scared for both their jobs and their health. For 15 years, Marvin served as an officer in the Junior League of Manatee County, a nonprofit organization that promotes women’s leadership in the community via volunteering and other positive actions.
Julie Livingstone’s decade of experience in development and her master’s degree in public policy and urban planning help her reimagine possibilities for properties to create long-term value for stakeholders. She is a director of real estate development with The RMR group responsible for a variety of development and redevelopment projects across the country. Her projects include master plan development, municipal rezoning, project pivoting, office-to-warehouse ground-up development and office-to-residential conversions. Livingstone collaborates with other teams across RMR, including the tax, accounting, legal, debt, acquisitions/dispositions, analyst, asset management and property management teams. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in brain and cognitive sciences, she served with AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps in Gulf Coast communities after Hurricane Katrina. In 2019, following several CRE development promotions over five years with the HYM Investment Group, Livingstone was recognized by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce with its Emerging Executive Pinnacle Award. She continues to champion women professionals by sitting on the GBCC’s women’s network advisory board. She also serves as a student mentor as part of RMR’s participation in Project Destined.
Caroline Kenney began her career with affordable housing nonprofits in Chicago, where she developed a passion for real estate and development. Throughout her 20 years in the community development industry, Kenney has mastered the art of bringing together community stakeholders, public agencies and elected officials, nonprofit institutions, private development partners, public and private financial partners, large development teams and end users to accomplish shared goals on mixed-income redevelopments. In 2022, Kenney was awarded the first-ever Washington ULI Groundbreaker Award recognizing exceptional development leadership. As Urban Atlantic’s managing director of public-private ventures, she oversees more than $3.5 billion in public-private developments in the Washington D.C. region and Charlotte, North Carolina. These projects include Parks at Walter Reed, Cheverly Hospital redevelopment and the Lisner Home senior development. Her expertise in multiple asset types encompasses rental and for-sale residential, including affordable, workforce, mixed-income, market rate, individual, family and senior housing. Kenney is the board secretary of Washington D.C. Economic Partnership, a nonprofit that connects national and international corporations to the public sector to enhance economic development and sustainability. She is also a board member on Jubilee Housing’s board of directors.
As SVP of development and construction for Mare Island Co., Andrea Jones is guiding the redevelopment of a sizeable historic island in Vallejo, California. The 5,000-acre Mare Island peninsula, which was the US’ first naval station on the West Coast when it was established in 1854, is transforming into a mixed-use community with housing, entertainment, hospitality and business. A project the size of Mare Island could seem insurmountable, but Jones takes the project day by day and has proven to be an expert at navigating complex land use, engineering and development challenges. Jones oversees development and construction for Mare Island’s redevelopment, including land use, design work, entitlement, processing and construction for mixed-use development. She is spearheading a specific plan to rezone the entire island, with a goal of securing approval in 2027. Jones leads underground determination and mitigation and is responsible for determining how to retrofit millions of square feet of vacant building space in existing buildings for new commercial tenants. For instance, Kindred Motors, a classic car restoration company that opened its new headquarters on Mare Island in 2023, operates in a refurbished 105,000-square-foot factory that was used during World War II for Navy storage.
Deb Janik is a force in the Cleveland real estate market with more than 30 years of experience in public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She has led and managed more than 200 real estate and community engagement projects across Ohio. Janik is SVP of business development at Bedrock, managing an internal team and overseeing external consultants and contractors. She has cultivated and maintained strong connections and relationships with public and private partners, including the city of Cleveland, and leverages her experience in both the public and private sectors to enhance key partnerships, shepherd game-changing policies, and establish development precedents in the city. Since joining the company in 2022, Janik has advanced several key projects within the firm’s portfolio, increasing real estate holdings in the downtown region by 1.5 million square feet of development in the works. Notably, she spearheads the Cuyahoga Riverfront Master Plan, a $3.5 billion, 15-to-20-year vision that will reimagine 35 acres in downtown Cleveland. Janik is heavily involved in the local Cleveland community as an executive committee member and on the board of Downtown Cleveland Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to talent attraction, job creation, residential population growth and investment in downtown.
During her 25-year career in the construction industry, Mona Hinkle’s leadership and ability to navigate challenges has resulted in more than 600,000 square feet of hospitality projects, 300,000 square feet of life science and research and development projects, and more than 40 government projects. She brings military experience to her role as well as time spent as a union electrician and construction superintendent. Today she is project superintendent for Prevost Construction where she has overseen significant projects, including the buildout of a 55,000-square-foot warehouse and lab facility for a functional mushroom production company. Hinkle managed a complex project scope that included the construction of 14 new production rooms as well as a hydration room, autoclave, inoculation area, growing rooms, dryer, mill, packaging section and a clean room. Hinkle is the first female superintendent at Prevost and is recognized for her straightforward approach, fostering a work environment built on transparency and accountability. One of her notable leadership endeavors was the 340,000-square-foot, $45 million Legoland Castle project that required complete construction using wooden framing. Hinkle and her team exceeded a tight timeline and ensured all specifications were met.
Rachel Hickenbottom joined Link Logistics in 2020 with responsibility for building and leading a team focused on executing development projects for the firm’s West region, including Southern California, Northern California and Seattle. She is the SVP of development at the firm where she manages assignments and guides her team as they work alongside municipalities, assess and respond to site-specific conditions, and engage with design consultants and general contractors. In 2023, Hickenbottom completed a project she kicked off during her first year at Link amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Northern California redevelopment was fraught with hurdles including significant delays securing municipality approvals, inclement weather that impacted construction, and supply chain hitches that stalled the installation of electrical components. After years of patience and perseverance and many meetings with internal and external stakeholders, the building finally reached completion in January 2024. Hickenbottom holds 31 years of commercial real estate experience. Before Link Logistics, she worked for Prologis, DCT Industrial Trust, Prism Realty Corp., Majestic Realty Co. and Panattoni Development Co. With extensive experience in markets throughout California, she has held roles across business functions, including development, leasing, construction, accounting and property management.
Veronica Green joined Slate Asset Management’s Toronto office in 2020 as a project coordinator, and by 2022 she had ascended to the role of VP where she leverages experience in policy and project feasibility, including site-specific planning and investment strategy. Her transaction exposure is more than $1 billion across the US, Canada and Europe and she has sourced off-market transactions to realize complex land assemblies, including ground-up and repositioning opportunities. From 2021 to 2022, Green played a key role in acquiring three large-scale sites in Toronto and Hamilton, each of which are covered land plays with large-scale redevelopment potential, totaling two million square feet of development gross floor area. She has championed these projects through the entitlement process and has achieved a significant increase in density compared to underwriting, resulting in a lowered acquisition basis and improved equity returns for investors. Green is a committee member of the Art Gems fundraising art auction that supports Creative Works Studio, a mental health program in downtown Toronto that combines occupational therapy and the arts. Her interest in art has led to several partnerships at Slate including commissioning local artists to create the hoarding for Slate’s projects and commissioning artwork to be sold with residential pre-construction units.
Hailey Ghalib has led the Affinius Capital housing development business through significant growth from just a couple of multifamily development projects in 2008 to 84 projects with more than $12.6 billion in stabilized value or sale price completed, under development or sold. She is the company’s senior managing director and head of housing investment and development. Development activity under her leadership spans rental housing sectors and includes premium, mid-market, workforce and inclusionary within multifamily in addition to highly differentiated need-based senior housing product. Ghalib was responsible for negotiating and managing the closing of 92 multifamily and senior housing ground-up development ventures and value-add acquisitions since 2008, totaling $10.1 billion in sale price or stabilized value. In response to the housing affordability crisis in the U.S. and the impact of the building industry on climate change, Ghalib drove greater focus in recent years for Affinius’ housing strategy toward creating green and attainable housing and adopting the National Green Building Standards or LEED in building design, resulting in 3,000 units of attainable housing projects under production across the US that also meet the National Green Building Standard.
As VP and director of asset management at SKS Partners, Yvonne Fisher oversees leasing, value creation, investment strategy and investor communication for office, industrial, life science and residential real estate assets. She has more than 25 years of experience across property management, leasing and project management and has built a people-first approach to business. Fisher previously worked for CBRE as an associate director managing a portfolio of 14 buildings totaling two million square feet. She also served as a portfolio manager for CAC Real Estate Management Co. Inc., where she managed a large portfolio of office buildings in San Francisco. She has excelled in her career due to a balance of strategy and diplomacy, expansive industry knowledge and attention to detail. Her responsibilities include monitoring asset performance, devising strategic optimization plans, cultivating tenant and investor relations, supervising property operations, mitigating risks and conducting meticulous financial analysis and reporting. Fisher is also deeply involved in the Bay Area’s ambitious $2 billion redevelopment of a 36-acre site at Moffett Field. The site in the heart of Silicon Valley will be home to Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park, an innovation hub envisioned by SKS Partners and The University of California, Berkeley in collaboration with NASA.
As head of capital deployment for the East region at Prologis, Beth Demba leads a team that deploys capital across seven markets including Toronto, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and the larger Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Virginia area. She oversees the team’s investment opportunities and refines investment strategy, especially during volatile market conditions and lack of pricing clarity last year. She led her team to more than $3 billion in investments in 2023. Under her leadership and focus on team culture, her team has grown from 11 to 15 people. Demba drives strategy for individual building and portfolio acquisitions, land acquisitions and development starts and oversees the management of the existing land bank across the Northeast. During the past year, Demba oversaw pricing and acquisition for buildings and land totaling six million square feet and $1.4 billion in value across the Northeast and was responsible for development investments of 1.7 million square feet. Demba is focused on integrating ESG goals in new developments across the region, including a first-of-its-kind electric charging project with Prologis Mobility on the East Coast.
Lisa Brady has spent her entire 20-year career dedicated to the commercial real estate industry, most recently as VP and Las Vegas market officer at logistics firm Prologis. Brady is responsible for the real estate performance, business planning and ongoing operations in the market and oversees a team of 12 people. She drives initiatives and strategies and is the external market leader representing Prologis in the community. Brady has led strong performance in the Las Vegas market, managing a portfolio of more than 14 million square feet, including 80 buildings, two active development sites and more than 290 customers. Current projects include a 309,000-square-foot development underway in North Las Vegas with sustainability features. Under Brady’s leadership, the company purchased more than 1,100 acres of land in South Nevada for future development, with the largest acquisition being 882 gross acres in North Nevada in the Apex development, which will add 11 million square feet of building space. She also led Prologis’ first rooftop solar panel project in Nevada. Brady and her team have been recognized as SIOR’s developer of the year in 2022 and 2023, and she was individually recognized as developer of the year by NAIOP in 2022.
Trammell Crow Co. VP Morgan Baer Blaska has carved out a niche for herself in life science and advanced science real estate development. Together with the TCC Midwest team, she negotiated and signed more than 128,000 square feet in leases across the firm’s Chicago life science portfolio last year, a time when many developers were experiencing a slowdown in life science product. She is responsible for supporting new business development, completing due diligence, providing financial oversight and overseeing project management across TCC’s portfolio of life science developments and is involved in the development process for more than 1.2 million square feet of class A lab and office space that is either recently delivered or under construction. Baer Blaska is a hands-on leader who likes to be involved at every stage of the development process, from underwriting to design and lease-up. She has also developed a deep understanding of the non-developmental factors that contribute to the success of a lab building, including operations, marketing and asset management. Baer Blaska and her team stabilized TCC Midwest’s first life science asset – 1375 West Fulton – and are on their way to the lease-up of its sister property – 400 North Aberdeen.
Sarah Ashcroft’s 25-year career in development spans low- income housing, luxury, multifamily and high-rise through which she has built a sense of design and a diverse understanding of the market. She is SVP of development at Silverstein Properties, which she joined in 2022, and is responsible for managing the firm’s developments and expanding its pipeline of future projects. Ashcroft is involved with managing the development of five World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the 900-ft tall building is slated to have 190,000 square feet of office space, a 12,000-square-foot community facility space, 55,000 square feet of public amenity space, 7,000 square feet of retail space, and 1.2 million square feet of residential space divided into 1,200 apartments. One-third of the total inventory will be devoted to affordable housing. Ashcroft also is managing the execution of projects in the Cantor Silverstein Opportunity Zone Fund in the southeast and western desert regions, including a 450-unit multifamily project in Tampa, a 340-unit rental building in Las Vegas and a 724-unit large-scale development in Tempe, Arizona. Ashcroft is a member of ULI and is active on the urban revitalization committee product council.
As Greystone’s first head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Pranika Uppal Sinha is responsible for instituting Greystone’s award-winning DEI program, which includes introducing education, resources, programming and other initiatives across the company to move Greystone’s diversity efforts forward. Under her direction, the company committed to and launched its DEI vision, “Building Belonging,” and built a DEI-focused team including a full-time senior manager of DEI and organization development, a DEI committee and a DEI executive advisory council. Under her direction, the DEI budget has expanded and multiple employee resource groups have also formed during the past 18 months, along with robust programming. Despite her relatively short tenure with Greystone, Uppal Sinha’s efforts are already paying dividends. A recent Greystone employee survey found that 95% of employees feel treated equally regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, religious beliefs and sexual orientation. The company’s Brave Conversations series, which are open, facilitated virtual conversations about current DEI topics, attract at least 25% of all employees to each session. Prior to Greystone, Uppal Sinha spent nine years in senior talent, training and development roles with Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, both in Houston, and with 21st Century Consulting Inc. in Chicago.
Newmark chief of staff Alison Shallcross believes the real estate industry offers opportunities for everyone and is determined to shift the industry paradigm to a more diverse environment. She is doing so by redefining the firm’s outreach to ensure it appeals to women, minorities and the average college student who may not understand the depth and breadth of careers available in real estate. Throughout the pandemic, Shallcross pressed forward to grow Newmark’s University Bridge program, and she says her most significant professional achievement in the past 12 months is expanding the program from one local university to a national presence encompassing 40 universities. The program helps underrepresented communities gain insight and exposure to commercial real estate and the roles available to them once they enter the workforce. Shallcross is the chief of staff at Newmark, where she manages and supports the vision of Newmark CEO Barry Gosin. Her role encompasses a broad range of duties critical to the company’s operational success and strategic vision. In addition, she is a key figure on the Environmental, Social, and Governance executive committee and is deeply involved in culture building within Newmark, which is crucial in shaping the company’s internal environment and community relations.
Since 2004, Savills chairman Mitchell Rudin has uplifted women and minorities in the workplace. As president and CEO of the Tri-State region of CBRE from 2004 to 2015, Rudin oversaw a 60% diversity rate in the company’s regional leadership team, including a Black CFO and general counsel. He also institutionalized DEI initiatives, co-founded the CBRE African American Affinity Group, and started the regional Women’s Network at CBRE and Brookfield. His commitment was recognized in 2011 when he became the inaugural recipient of the CBRE Mitchell E. Rudin Diversity Award. Upon joining Savills in 2019, Rudin championed diversity by doubling the number of client-facing women and significantly increasing minority representation. His leadership was pivotal in developing programs to support Black brokers during the pandemic in 2020. During the pandemic, Savills doubled down on its commitment to recruit, train, and invest in the next generation of diverse young professionals with its paid, rotational junior broker development program. Rudin has mentored emerging leaders at Savills and supported educational and leadership development programs such as Greenhouse Scholars and the Yarbro REAP Scholarship.
In 2021, Christy Lockridge stepped into the newly established chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer role for PGIM Real Estate. Although she did not have a formal DEI background, she brought a passion for DEI developed during many years of leading diversity and inclusion volunteer opportunities. Lockridge has shown skill in navigating among diverse goals and priorities across the business, HR and corporate stakeholders. She has focused on building a strong DEI foundation through five key areas of impact, including talent, culture, investing, industry and community engagement. She created PGIM Real Estate’s DEI advisory council, completed an inaugural audit of the firm’s internal culture, was integral in the firmwide process to select a supplier diversity database provider, created a communications playbook to showcase DEI-focused initiatives and programs, expanded the firm’s community engagement efforts for qualitative and quantitative impact, and established a diversity recruiting council to further expand the reach of its undergraduate campus recruiting teams. Tangible outputs of her efforts include a multiyear DEI strategy that will be used as a roadmap for future DEI leaders, a DEI action plan that incorporates themes from the culture audit and an inclusion-focused training and behavior change management program.
As the chief purpose and inclusion officer at American Campus Communities, Lonnie Ledbetter has set a standard for DEI within the student housing sector and among ACC’s partner universities. Ledbetter started as a resident assistant at the University of Texas at Austin and has made her way through operations, business development and human resources at ACC. Her varied roles have given her a deep understanding of the complexities and realities ACC team members face. Throughout two decades, she has learned how to create a workplace culture rooted in inclusion and compassion. Ledbetter regularly leads workshops on effective communication for team members and executives and manages a diversity and inclusion intranet site to communicate initiatives and allow team members to participate in a dialogue on diversity issues. She also has worked with consultants to integrate diversity and inclusion into existing programs, as well as evaluate new opportunities for impact, including reimagining the company’s vision, goals and DEI statement. In 2020, ACC formally launched a DEI task force to ensure comprehensive representation is achieved throughout all levels of the organization. In 2021, Ledbetter led ACC in publishing its first annual Environmental, Social, and Governance report to evaluate and benchmark DEI objectives and outcomes.
Lisa Latronico joined Skender in 2001 as an administrative assistant when the firm had just 15 employees and now is chief people officer. Among her priorities are diversity and inclusion and creating a positive and supportive work environment for underrepresented communities. Latronico has championed internship and pre-internship programs in partnership with nonprofits that target people with diverse backgrounds. One of Skender’s work-study partnerships is with Genesys Works, a program for youth from underserved communities that provides skills training and career development opportunities for students at several Chicago Public Schools. Latronico also led Skender to sponsor a graduate from a Chicago trade school or nonprofit organization for membership in the Carpenters, Laborers or Painters union. She helped foster and maintain Skender’s relationship with Revolution Workshop, a nonprofit social enterprise that produces construction workforce development for unemployed or underemployed people, and she played a significant role in launching an annual $10,000 scholarship program designed to pave the way for more women and minorities to seek careers in architecture, construction and engineering. Under her watch, Skender has significantly diversified its representation with women making up half of Skender’s C-suite, nearly a third of its leadership team and 17% of its total workforce, while 35% of employees are minorities.
Longfellow Real Estate Partners LLC managing director of capital markets Katie Kazas is the board president of The Goldie Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating and advancing the careers of women with high potential through scholarship, mentoring, networking and professional development. Kazas has served on the board for several years as well as mentoring several Goldie Scholars. Previously, she was a co-chair of the organization’s primary fundraising event, the Goldie Gala. In addition to her volunteer work, Kazas is a key member of Longfellow’s national team responsible for managing relationships with lenders and debt brokers along with capital strategy, debt sourcing and loan closing. She led the charge on numerous deals and high-profile projects, including the $310 million financing deal on Avia Labs in Millbrae, California, which will be a six-story, 315,000-square-foot all-electric life science development. She also has been instrumental in building Longfellow’s corporate giving initiatives that center on community giving, STEM education and DEI initiatives.
Tammy Jones is one of only a few female African-American CEOs in commercial real estate. She founded Basis Investment Group and leads the firm with a focus on diversity in experience and thought. The firm is composed 77% of women and minorities and promotes opportunities and education in real estate with underrepresented groups through the BIG Foundation, which is dedicated to creating a pipeline of women and diverse groups into commercial real estate. Basis makes substantial investments in affordable housing and provides capital access to female- and minority-led firms. Last year, Basis rounded out a minority-led team bringing much-needed affordable housing to the region with a private residential development at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The project comprises minority representation at all levels, including Basis’s $100 million equity investment, along with the project’s developers, contractors, architects, designers and eventually retail proprietors. Jones’ BIG Foundation has co-sponsored the Real Estate Exchange (REEX) Summer Program since 2017. Last year, 82 high school students of color were admitted to the program, bringing the total number of program graduates to more than 700. Through REEX, Basis partners with colleges and universities such as Harvard, Columbia, NYU and Howard, to promote diversity and inclusion while inspiring a new generation of real estate professionals.
For more than 15 years, LaVon Johns has mentored young lawyers and paralegals in the commercial real estate industry, with a particular focus on supporting the career development of women and people of color. She has spent much of her career at minority-owned law firms, but last year she moved to Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila, a mid-sized full-service firm noted for its diverse partnership and progressive culture. As a partner and business transactions practice team lead, Johns is building a business transactions practice that includes attorneys from a range of backgrounds. She also works with students at her alma mater, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where she has been an adjunct professor for 10 years. As part of her practice, Johns prides herself on advising on impact developments such as the Discover call center that has created 1,000 jobs on Chicago’s south side. She is a member of numerous professional and civic organizations, including the National Bar Association, Airport Minority Advisory Council, Illinois State Bar Association, the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, Lambda Alpha International, the Economic Club of Chicago and ULI.
The first step in Nili Jaisinghani’s journey as a diversity champion was to rise to a position of influence herself. She is SVP of operations at Encore Enterprises Inc., a 1,600-employee, vertically integrated CRE investment firm. She also is the managing principal of Encore subsidiary Ignite Investments, a women-run capital-raising platform. Having realized her own position of power within CRE, Jaisinghani is now on a personal mission to affect change for women industrywide. For both Encore and Ignite, Jaisinghani directly recruits the company’s executive talent and oversees enterprisewide talent recruitment endeavors with women’s parity as a top priority. Examples of systemic changes she has implemented include changing sales commissions to a flat 3%, overhauling Encore’s HR department, and revising and standardizing the performance evaluation process to eliminate bias or favoritism. Due to her work, Encore has 50% women on its board of directors and 44% of its management are women. Nearly three-quarters of the firm’s employees are women.
Kameshia Freeman says she has learned valuable career lessons from people working on the front lines. For example, while she was an intern with the General Services Administration, she learned how to perform lease inspections and review lease agreements from customer service representatives. She brought those lessons with her to JLL, where she is senior VP of government and education. Freeman has been a passionate supporter of DEI throughout her professional career, demonstrated by her fierce advocacy within her organization and within the community. She is a member of JLL’s government and education DEI recruitment committee engaging in active and purposeful recruiting to promote diversity and mentorship to increase talent retention. She also makes herself available as a resource to team members willing to learn, grow, participate and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive work environment. Freeman has hired and mentored students in JLL’s internship program and was selected to serve as a panel member for JLL’s Black Professional Network Juneteenth Celebration and Black Futures Symposium. Understanding the need for the commercial real estate industry to become more diverse and inclusive, Freeman co-founded the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the African American Real Estate Professionals, an organization focused on supporting, advancing and promoting the intellectual, professional and economic development of people of color in commercial real estate.
As a woman in leadership, First American Title Insurance Co. VP and profit center manager Crystal Cook takes every opportunity to provide mentorship and resources to other women. During the firm’s recruitment efforts, Cook is vocal about the importance of having a diverse slate of candidates and encourages her management team to increase diversity across the business. Through her work on First American’s DEI Advisory Council, employee resource groups and Women in Leadership program, Cook is dedicated to advancing equity for women and other underrepresented groups at the company and within the title insurance industry. She also has been instrumental in implementing employee resource groups within the company, including for LGBTQ+ employees, Black employees, Latinx/Hispanic employees, API employees and employees with varying abilities and disabilities. Cook is a fierce advocate for the WIL program and SPARK – two programs that provide resources and support for women on a leadership path within First American. She is an indirect beneficiary of WIL as the program facilitated the promotion of her direct manager, thereby giving Cook the opportunity to increase her own sphere of influence within the company.
As a first-generation American, Christina Balas has long advocated for equity and inclusion. She has relied on a tribe of women mentors to help guide her through her career and is determined to do the same for others. Since joining Coldwell Banker Commercial, Balas has worked to increase the presence of women in the commercial real estate industry and at the firm. During the past year, she has implemented projects that have increased women in leadership at the firm and spearheaded the Women at CBC group. She also co-leads the CBC What Moves Her program and has nurtured opportunities to highlight women in the network through events, a podcast and virtual meetings. During the pandemic, she launched a podcast highlighting diverse voices in the industry that has grown to more than 16,000 listens. Among her accomplishments is increasing the number of women in the Top 2 by 133% year over year. Balas is the national director of strategic implementation for CBC responsible for process development. In 2022, she was named to the Otso Women of Influence list.
Christina Arico is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion at Shawmut Design and Construction and across the industry. With a focus on advocating for underrepresented employees, Arico helped found the firm’s women’s networking group from concept through executive approval to execution. That effort opened doors for other diversity initiatives including the firm’s diversity leadership council, through which Arico established a partnership with Deloitte Human Capital and Catalyst to build awareness of unconscious bias, improve managerial, promotion, and mentorship systems, and use data to establish accountability — creating a strategic framework to advance toward Shawmut’s goal of workplace equity. She was selected as the council’s co-chair by Shawmut’s CEO and worked closely with Deloitte Human Capital to ensure strategies being implemented were effective and sustainable. Arico also oversees the firm’s regional diversity leadership councils composed of more than 70 employees that provide local resources across Shawmut’s different offices and drive progress through training, organization memberships, panels and events. Arico joined Shawmut in 2001 as an accounts payable supervisor in New England and has been promoted multiple times. She now is head of business finance for the company.
Twenty years ago, Tingting Zhang founded the TerraCotta Group with a vision to establish a CRE credit investment firm rooted in the science of economics and based on a data- driven predictive analytical framework to withstand any market cycle. Leveraging her background in academia, Zhang has applied academic insights, objectivity and analytical rigor to commercial real estate lending to accomplish her goal. TerraCotta Group is a private CRE credit manager providing actionable, investable insights using a quantitative methodology framework with recession-tested success. Since its founding, TerraCotta has never had a single credit loss. Before founding the TerraCotta Group, Zhang consulted for the National Intelligence Council of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and contributed to the Lehman Brothers-Eurasia Group Stability Index, the first and only political risk index on Wall Street. As CEO, she oversees the TerraCotta Group’s investment activities and manages portfolio risk as well as leads the firm’s four organizational groups which all work together seamlessly to generate investment results. In 2008, Zhang co-founded the Special Assets Management Association, the only trade organization for banking executives and other professionals engaged in special assets management, to support the community at the start of the Global Financial Crisis.
Dwight Capital EVP and chief underwriter Karen Wipper has a diverse business and legal background as well as experience in the HUD lending industry. She got her start in the industry while interning during college at Love Funding, the former FHA commercial lending subsidiary of Midland States Bank. She earned a promotion nearly every year and eventually ascended to VP and managing deputy chief underwriter, where she oversaw underwriting processes, training teams and supporting sales staff and clients. Following Dwight Capital’s acquisition of Love Funding in 2020, Wipper now serves as Dwight’s EVP and chief underwriter responsible for managing underwriting processes and procedures, the underwriting staff, and credit decisions for FHA multifamily loans. Her current pipeline includes underwriting management of $1.65 billion of actively engaged multifamily transactions, which includes market rate, affordable, refinance and construction business. She has contributed to improving the FHA platform industrywide by serving as president of the Eastern Lenders Association in 2019. She is also currently chair of the MBA/FHA multifamily committee, where she advocated for enhancements to the FHA loan process.
Kim Voss knew early on that commercial real estate was her passion and started her career in the real estate industry after graduating from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. She joined ACC and transitioned to the student housing sector in 2004 in a financial reporting role, where she led the financial operations team through its initial public offering and transition to a publicly traded company. Throughout the next 18 years, Voss expanded her role at ACC, including serving as EVP and chief accounting officer for many years. In 2022, she played a key role in ACC’s take-private transaction and became CFO to lead the company through its next chapter as a privately owned company. She is responsible for the company’s FP&A, accounting, treasury, debt and capital markets, asset management, tax, financial systems and internal audit functions. During the past 12 months, Voss has worked with other executives to foster ACC’s development pipeline of more than $2 billion and is also involved in overseeing and executing ACC’s disposition and recapitalization strategy, with a current transaction pipeline of more than $2 billion.
During Mary Thompson’s more than three-decade career in real estate, she has become an expert in community development banking and Historic Tax Credit/New Market Tax Credit financing. She is SVP and senior relationship manager for the north region of CDB at Bank of America, a team she has been on since 2004. CDB provided $7.1 billion in debt and equity financing last year and helped create 11,000 housing units. In 2023, Thompson was CDB’s top producer, closing more than $900 million in financing, an increase of 63% from the previous year. Based in Boston, Thompson serves clients in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, advising clients and partners on a variety of key themes that impact affordable housing, including the positive impacts of health and housing initiatives, resident services and financial education, best practices and new initiatives around energy efficient design, construction and retrofitting. Prior to CDB, she was an originator of NMTC and HTC investments nationally, with a focus on originating investments in the Eastern U.S. She has worked for Bank of America and its predecessor entities since 1994 in real estate roles including commercial real estate lending, portfolio management and Other Real Estate Owned disposition.
Maria Stamolis has deployed or overseen more than $25 billion of debt and equity investments during her career. Last year, she was appointed Lincoln Property Co.’s first-ever chief investment officer and is tasked with advancing Lincoln’s investment management platform, which manages more than $20 billion in assets through partnerships and institutional investment vehicles. In the past year, she has met with more than 70 institutions to drive awareness of the company’s investment strategy and full-service capabilities. In her previous role at Canyon Partners, Stamolis was one of the only female partners at the firm and rose in the ranks to become co-head of Canyon Partners Real Estate. In her 16-year tenure at Canyon, she established the firm’s real estate emerging manager platform in partnership with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which provided capital and mentoring to early-stage, high-performing emerging managers investing in commercial real estate. Stamolis provides informal and formal mentoring to help others gain experience to achieve their career goals. She is an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business where she teaches students about real estate investing by mentoring them on the development and deployment of a real estate impact fund.
Mary Beth Paris leads teams of accountants, accounts payable and receivable clerks, treasury and lease administration in her role as VP and corporate controller at Foundry Commercial. She has implemented new processes, best practices and intuitive forms in addition to investing in accounting software upgrades to streamline services, which has allowed Foundry Commercial to continue to grow business while limiting the need for additional resources. Recently, Paris was elevated to the role of platform controller, where she oversees internal control implementation, contributes to budget preparation, ensures compliance with reporting standards and manages the transaction reporting process. Her recent appointment as a partner marks a significant milestone, reflecting exemplary leadership qualities recognized by her peers and superiors. Amid one of the most challenging economic climates in recent history, Paris has played a pivotal role in steering the financial trajectory of the firm, effectively mitigating risks while capitalizing on growth opportunities to ensure fiscal resilience and sustainability.
Last year, Colliers tapped Sheryl Moore-Marlette to join its global and Americas leadership team as EVP and head of operations and finance for the firm’s occupier services organization. She oversees financial and performance management, business planning and collaboration with shared services as well as the integration of finance and operations to streamline the business. Her leadership places a strong emphasis on fostering people in the workplace, achieving operational excellence and delivering outstanding financial results within corporate real estate and facilities portfolios. Moore-Marlette has 32 years of experience in roles including global operating officer for occupier services where she was an integral member of the firm’s global executive committee, overseeing operations, financial performance, account management and transitions. Before that, she spent 17 years at a leading global CRE firm, much of which was spent serving as COO of its Bank of America account, which involved managing a 54-million-square-foot, full-service global portfolio with more than 650 professionals worldwide and overall P&L accountability. She also led global project management platforms for clients such as UnitedHealth Group and American Express. As the former COO at a prominent architecture, interior design, graphic design and brand strategy services firm, she played an instrumental role in safeguarding the financial health and operational efficiency of the organization.
As a divisional controller at private real estate firm MLG Capital, Christen Moloney has dealt with her fair share of change since joining the firm in 2016. Her leadership has been instrumental in guiding the firm through challenging times and exponential growth duringthe past several years. She joined MLG from U.S. Bank, where she worked on the client trust team managing high-net-worth individuals’ investment reporting. She was one of seven accounting team members who managed all aspects of the business, but growth at the company has led the team to split into different specialties and geographic focuses. Moloney now leads the Midwest property accounting team of nine accountants who together manage more than 70 residential and commercial assets. Moloney’s responsibilities include leading the firm’s corporate accounting team, directly overseeing four employees who manage everything from payroll and firm accounting needs to real estate fund support like management fee collections, and managing the books for the firm’s smaller corporate entities. She has helped add efficiencies on the financial side of the business by automating the firm’s payroll system and leading a conversion within the Yardi platform on the residential and commercial property side.
Deborah La Franchi founded institutional fund manager and private lender SDS Capital Group in 2001 focused on providing both debt and equity for affordable housing developers and battling poverty. Leading the firm as CEO, she has built SDS to a firm with more than $1.9 billion in assets under management. Each impact fund on SDS’s platform serves a different geographic location and employs a unique investment strategy, but all have the same goal of generating positive impacts for low-income communities and people. La Franchi leads the structuring of each fund’s investment strategy, spearheads fundraising, oversees the senior managers of each fund and division, and participates on each fund’s investment committee. One example of the impact that La Franchi and SDS are having is the $190 million SDS Supportive Housing Fund that is aiming to provide more than 2,000 permanent supportive housing (PSH) units for unhoused Californians. The fund currently has more than 800 PSH units in construction as well as four projects in the fund’s immediate pipeline slated to provide additional housing for homeless residents in 2024, primarily in Southern California.
Inspired by her grandmother, a pastor who fed the community and took care of others, Pharrah Jackson has built a career focused on affordable housing. She is VP of originations for Greystone’s affordable lending team, facilitating the construction, refinancing and recapitalization of affordable housing through short-term bridge loans, bridge-to-agency and permanent financing solutions, FHA lending and tax-exempt bond-financed transactions. She brings more than two decades of affordable housing experience to her role, including production, underwriting, closing, servicing and asset management. During her tenure with Greystone, she has been involved in financing more than 1,000 affordable housing properties totaling more than $8.5 billion in debt. In 2023, she was involved in the financing of 1,645 units of multifamily housing across eight properties, totaling $120 million in permanent loan debt, and this year she closed the largest affordable housing development build in Virginia, including arranging a $39 million Freddie Mac Tax-Exempt Loan Unfunded Forward toward the construction of 265-units of a 516 unit affordable housing property. Located within the Washington D.C. MSA, the multifamily project is a part of a larger development known as The Exchange at Spring Hill Station and will be the first 100% affordable housing property in Tysons.
Bank of America VP and senior relationship manager Meaghan Gross has undertaken several local initiatives that are now deploying at a national level to better support clients. She developed a business advisory board to support Charlotte businesses by bringing together CPAs, attorneys, insurance agents, CRE brokers, architects, HR specialists and financial advisors. The purpose is to eliminate redundant conversations business owners typically have with multiple advisors and reduce miscommunications. This year, she has started to layer in quarterly events with the board to bring awareness and education to the community. These events address economic updates and exit planning. In her role, she manages an extensive portfolio of clients and prospects with annual revenues of $5 million to $100 million, helping companies save, borrow and invest for their current and future needs. She collaborates with local market stakeholders and teammates throughout Bank of America, including investment banking, foreign exchange and wealth management, and facilitates client relationships with product specialists in credit, treasury management and merchant services to design and deliver financial solutions. Gross relocated from Seattle in 2022 and has become an advocate for CREW Charlotte in her new home, supporting fundraising and special events.
When Kerry Gawrych joined ElmTree as its controller in September 2015, her goal was to become a C-Suite executive, an ambitious goal she accomplished in just three years. She built ElmTree’s accounting department from the ground up to six full-time professionals, and today she is a partner and CFO responsible for all aspects of the firm’s accounting, including financial reporting, analysis and administration. She manages the construction draw process for ElmTree’s build-to-suit investments, spearheads the external audit process and ensures the maintenance of internal controls. She also serves on ElmTree’s compliance committee. During the past year, ElmTree transacted on nearly $2 billion in investments across 33 properties and 17 states. Gawrych was heavily involved in supporting the execution strategy by facilitating critical documentation and financial statements. She has been immersed in commercial real estate her entire professional career, including experience in development and operating accounting roles in retail, office, industrial, multifamily and entertainment. Her affinity for the often predictable nature of accounting balances well with the sometimes chaotic landscape of commercial real estate.
With years of experience and strong relationships across the country with many lenders and sponsor groups, Cassie Ford is deeply rooted in the multifamily agency business. As a senior leader in multifamily structured finance at Fannie Mae, Ford works across divisions to structure beneficial financing and provide access to affordable housing. She leads the Fannie Mae multifamily structured finance customer engagement team, which originates and manages the company’s credit facility product, She also prepares frequent updates, reports and presentations to Fannie Mae leadership, the board of directors and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. She works with the technology team to grow and improve the credit facility module in Salesforce, which is part of a broader multi-year initiative that retires several older online programs. In 2023, Ford was promoted to senior director of the multifamily structured finance team and celebrated her 10th anniversary with the company. After steadily increasing the program year over year, she celebrated $10 billion in credit facility originations in 2022. She also helped close a significant manufactured housing community credit facility and a conventional credit facility.
M&T Realty Capital Corp. managing director and FHA chief underwriter Leslie Duchene has been active in FHA lending for more than 25 years and a commercial real estate professional for nearly 30 years. Previously, Duchene was instrumental in developing the FHA lending platform at Northmarq and obtaining licensure approvals from HUD. After Northmarq, she helped structure the FHA lending platform for CBRE and drove the platform’s production growth to an average annual volume of $500 million. During the pandemic, Duchene was promoted to FHA program manager at CBRE, overseeing production and underwriting teams and managing a pipeline with record volume of $2 billion resulting in closed volume of roughly $1.6 billion during a two-year period. Duchene also consulted with HUD and the MBA on changes for large loan underwriting parameters, having received the only waiver issued prior to the new policy change. Her work was used as the basis for the new policy issued by HUD last year. At M&T RCC, she guides the FHA lending team and coordinates with production, underwriting, asset management and closing teams to identify and implement strategic initiatives. She also restructured the FHA underwriting team by removing silos, increasing efficiency and elevating the team’s skill set.
During her career, Ali Daubert has participated in or consulted on more than 150 transactions totaling more than $5 billion in value. She brings more than 15 years of experience in real estate and private equity to her role as chief strategy officer at Lincoln Property Co., where she drives the firm’s growth and expansion and leads strategic initiatives focused on the continued evolution of employee and client experience. Within the first six months in her new role last year, Daubert led the company’s first-ever acquisition with the purchase of property and asset management firm RiverRock Real Estate Group. The transaction doubled Lincoln’s property management portfolio in the Western U.S. and added a roster of employees. Daubert recently played a key role in Lincoln’s first rebrand in its 60-year history. Beyond her role at Lincoln, she is on the executive council for Chartwell Investments’ CHIEF Capital, which provides flexible private equity for entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses and corporate carve-outs. Daubert assists in pre-investment due diligence and post-investment portfolio growth. Previously, Daubert was a top partner leading Baker Tilly’s transaction advisory services business.
As the CIO and co-founder of Nuveen Green Capital, Ali Cooley develops and leads investment strategy and asset management and oversees a team of 30. When Cooley and partner Jessica Bailey founded Nuveen predecessor Greenworks, their goal was to scale Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy public-private financing. Under Cooley’s leadership, 2023 proved to be a record-setting year of notable and historic milestones despite continued economic turbulence. In August, she oversaw the launch of a new, first-of-its-kind $525 million Nuveen C-PACE lending fund, which drew investments from six major insurance firms. Not only did the fund exceed investment projections, it nearly doubled them, while also expanding Nuveen’s investor portfolio. In this instance, she saw that insurers are increasingly interested in differentiated sources of capital-efficient income and motivated to address climate change. Cooley is a thought leader in the C-PACE space and recently provided key insights on how capital can work efficiently to fund decarbonization efforts during a United Nations roundtable on decarbonizing the built environment.
When Kelly Blair joined Mark IV as CFO as part of the company’s succession plan, she knew that she was replacing a CFO who had held the position for more than two decades. Blair embraced this as an opportunity to improve ways of working, team structure and overall company culture. She identified processes that were potentially hindering the scalability of the business and growth of team members, and using a strategic and people-centric leadership style, Blair established a finance team with clearly defined roles, efficient technology implementations that reduce manual processes, and a cohesive culture of support and openness. Blair oversees all financial activities and reporting. During a year marked with capital issues and loan workouts last year, her financial oversight kept Mark IV’s books strong and balanced, allowing the firm to comfortably ride out the uncertain market. She encouraged and guided the firm to be more creative in 2023, which resulted in more than $500 million in new loans closed. Aside from the nuts-and-bolts accounting processes, Blair handles the firm’s treasury and cash management as well as debt capital markets, including maintaining Mark IV’s loan relationships with lenders and running point on any new debt. She also is preparing for Mark IV’s impending equity raise from an institutional capital perspective.
Capital Square chief communications and operating officer Jacqueline Rogers established the firm’s philanthropic arm, Capital Square Cares, which has made significant contributions to various charitable organizations under her guidance. With a focus on philanthropic efforts that prioritize children’s welfare, Rogers has led Capital Square Cares in support of the March of Dimes, Little Hands Virginia, Children’s Hospital of Richmond and the World Pediatric Project. In 2022, Rogers spearheaded a partnership with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and led fundraising of $360,000 to support research for the organization. In 2023, she introduced an initiative granting all employees 16 hours of volunteer time off to contribute to a cause of their choice and amplify Capital Square’s commitment to building the future. Beyond her charitable work connected with Capital Square, Rogers serves on the board of directors for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, has been a wish granter for Make-A-Wish America for 5 years and is a literacy volunteer with Children’s Aid’s Work Now, Play Later program, working with students to develop educational fundamentals. Her leadership is characterized by empathy, a culture of collaboration and an ability to inspire those around her.
With a passion for helping animals in need, Christine Myers co-founded The Wolfe Project Inc., a nonprofit organization that places stray dogs and other animals with foster and forever homes in the Tampa Bay area. The organization started with one rescue dog named Wolfie and has since helped hundreds of animals. Its mission is to educate and raise awareness, network with animal shelters and rescues, and offer financial support to injured, deformed and mistreated animals. Myers also has served for seven years as a volunteer at a local hospice. Professionally, Myers is director of people and operations at B+E, where she has been instrumental in the firm’s growth and development through recruitment, benefits and overseeing operations. Colleagues say she is great at building relationships, creating a positive work environment and celebrating everyone. She goes above and beyond her job description, always willing to lend a helping hand or give words of encouragement. This was particularly true as the economy stumbled in 2022. Myers met one-on-one with all employees to check in with them and coach them through the challenging market cycle.
Seeing the impact of COVID-19 on people and communities, Suzanne Bereis was inspired to make a difference through volunteerism. She volunteers with the Charlotte Humane Society, dedicating hundreds of hours to doing laundry, cleaning kennels, socializing cats and educating youth. Every week, Bereis volunteers at the main campus of Atrium Health, devoting more than 150 hours last year to assisting nurses and aides at the Neurosurgical and Spine Center. She is an active member of CREW Charlotte and has served on the fundraising and special events committee as well as the community outreach committee and has led chapter support of organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Amy’s House, Safe Alliance, Susan G. Komen and Go Jen Go. At Grubb Properties, where Bereis is a senior commercial property manager, she participates on the giving committee that builds a Habitat for Humanity home in partnership with vendors each year. She co-chaired builds in Charlotte and Atlanta in 2021 and 2022 and raised more than $25,000 in three years to help fund builds. Bereis has been working in real estate for more than 25 years, holding positions from property accountant to senior commercial property manager.
On a journey from being a single teenage mother to launching Transitions Commercial Property Management Consulting earlier this year, Maranda Auzenne has emerged as an influencer in commercial property management as well as a leader committed to charitable work in her community. She works tirelessly to help fundraise for nonprofits that support women and children, speaks on panels, mentors early-career professional women and supports industry diversity efforts. Auzenne is particularly focused on amplifying the voices of women who are unable to speak for themselves, including working on the executive boards of Hope Mansion and Bridges Safehouse. As a volunteer with ICSC, Auzenne led a women’s panel at its Red River Conference and reached out to women of color at the event. In her home city of Cedar Hill, Texas, she ran for and won a seat on the city council because she believed that voices of women needed to be more represented. She is only the 5th woman ever to serve on Cedar Hill’s city council. Her community service has garnered her many awards, including the Servant Leader Impact Award from the City of Cedar Hill and a distinguished leadership award from Leadership Southwest.
As an advocate for overseas Filipino workers and immigrants (OFW), Ma Agnes Alimbog helps migrant workers who have issues while working and living abroad, including helping women with their passports. She also helps indigenous peoples in Talakag Bukidnon access water and electricity, and she has collaborated with nongovernmental organizations for an agro-reforestation project for people in Bukidnon. During COVID-19, Alimbog created a weekly live-streaming TV show called the Filipinos World targeted at the OFW community and others connected to the Philippines. Alimbog is VP of operations and media relations at The Filipinos World Media Entertainment and Consulting Firm Co., where she serves as a link to government and nongovernment agencies for collaborative work to empower women, train women in leadership skills and protect abused Filipino workers. Alimbog has been a lead convenor in the participatory management approach linking government agencies with international companies and other agencies to craft and develop operational frameworks for organizations such as the National Commission on Senior Citizens and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. She has more than 25 years of experience in organization development, training and administration.
Nikki Thornton
Caroline Sullivan
Amanda Spangler
Tomi Sargent
Caitlin Russell
Allison Reynolds
Shayna Platt
Aryel Perring
Thuy T. Nguyen
Jade Miller
Elena Ji
Kelly M. Greco
Sarah Godwin
Rachel Gines
Shaily Garg
Katie Evans
Ashley Doukas
Zoe Daniel
Anita R Chen
Jennifer Carrillo
Rayelle Calvert
Hannah Breed
Noelani C. Brannon
Katie Barker
Stephanie Ascher
Lindsey A. Ancona
Rising Star
Linda White
Eglae Recchia
Eve Picker
Dawn H. Pfaff
Leana Janik
Robin Fisher
Erin Converse
PropTech Executive / Innovator
Carly Stevenson
Darcy K. Rutzen
Barbara Oddo
Ran Meng
Megan Matthews
Natali Juarbe
Gina Iverson
Jill Higgins
Jennifer Heede
Kim Feliciano
Toni Eubanks
Bianca Curtis
Kia Crooms
Shawn Brown
Property / Facility Manager
Sarah Schwarzschild
Rebecca Long
Laura Klein
Amy Galvin
Julia Furber
Collete English Dixon
Dianne P. Crocker
Leslie Cohen
Bonnie Boden
Mentor
Holly Yang
Katie Woodside
Katie M. Williams
Vanessa Williams
Elena Wall
Christina Twidale
Missy Teague
Nicole Stenclik
Kelly Siegal
Masha Rzoski
Sofia Royce
Emily Pollard
Hannah Miet
Liz Mahoney
Angie Leccese
Liza Kunkel
Chintimini M. Keith
Nicolette Jaze
Leeza Hoyt
Sandra Hill
Christine Gustafson
Courtney Ettus
Tricia Baker
Marketing / Communications Professional
Jenny Zhan
Laura Yanushpolsky
Christie Wootton
Pamela West
Sondra Wenger
Carly Tripp
Amy Stavin
Vicky Schiff
Ellie Perlman
Sara Myerson
Uma Moriarity
Madison Meier
Jaime Lee
Mary Lang
Jackie Knight
Katie Kimble
Julie Ingersoll
Laura M. Hyde
Jera Harris
Karen Fan
Julia Boyd Corso
Lisa Bhathal Merage
Anshu Bera
Gina Baker Chambers
Investment Professional
Carly Stevenson started her career as a leasing consultant and now is EVP of property management at Avanath Capital Management LLC. She brings more than 20 years of experience to her role where she is responsible for ensuring the quality of property management across Avanath’s 77 managed communities. In partnership with her team and other key leaders at the firm, she manages all aspects of operations including financial viability and sustainability, product performance and marketing. She also identifies and improves existing policies and procedures to maximize apartment communities’ performance. She is skilled at ensuring the execution of all corporate policies and procedures while identifying opportunities to enhance operations, and challenging processes for continual evolution and improvement. She relocated to Milwaukee from California to join the executive team at the firm’s corporate headquarters when she accepted her current role. Her career also spans high-level positions with companies in the property management and multifamily space, from entrepreneurial organizations to institutional investors, including Mandel Group, McCaffery Inc., Trilogy Real Estate Group, AMLI Residential and Waterton. Colleagues say she has a positive attitude and inviting energy with a sincere sense of curiosity.
Darcy Rutzen, SVP of property management for M & J Wilkow, showed exceptional leadership last year when the Outlets of Maui, an oceanfront shopping center in Lahaina owned and managed by the firm, was lost in Maui’s wildfire. Rutzen and her team responded swiftly, communicating with tenants and the government to address imminent needs. While simultaneously dealing with the business matters of such a substantial loss, Rutzen launched a campaign to help raise money and supplies for Outlets of Maui employees, customers and area residents who lost their homes. Rutzen also worked to consolidate the company’s office property management platform with its higher-performing retail platform to create economies of scale in staffing and reduce costs in response to the recent challenging office sector. Rutzen oversees the operations, marketing and people management of 96 retail and office properties throughout the U.S. In addition to her core responsibilities as the national head of property management, Rutzen is a member of the company’s business development team, supporting acquisition and third-party business development efforts. Rutzen has outstanding communication skills and is known for creativity that has resulted in award-winning marketing campaigns and unique redevelopment efforts.
As a director and regional general manager of the Boston area for Tishman Speyer, Barbara Oddo is responsible for strategic planning, financial management, property staff and community relationship building. Amid uncertainty in the industry and protracted return to work for office tenants, Oddo began devoting weekly staff meetings to building a sense of calm and generating innovative ideas, including health and wellness talks, team-building events and intentional outreach to connect in person with building tenants. At the same time, Oddo moved ahead with two products. She oversees 3.2 million square feet in office buildings, The Eddy 260-unit mixed-use residential/real estate asset and a 14-acre development for the Harvard Enterprise Research Campus. Both The Eddy mixed-use development and the Harvard ERC project encountered challenges, which Oddo addressed by anticipating setbacks and assuming realistic goals. She worked with third-party residential property managers to integrate best practices from both commercial and residential operations to improve the overall performance of the Eddy building by reducing expenses and increasing revenue from previous ownership. Throughout her career, Oddo has been a mentor, both formal and informal, to others in the industry.
Ran Meng has emerged as a leader during uncertain times, navigating challenges with grace and adapting strategies to changing landscapes. Meng is VP of property management Southeast at Phillips Edison & Co. where she leads a team of five property managers and oversees eight million square feet of shopping centers in Florida and Georgia. She strategically focuses on net operating income growth by efficiently managing common area maintenance and capital expenses. She also is proud to maintain a tenant satisfaction rate of more than 90%. Under her guidance, Meng’s team executed capital projects that enhanced property value and tenant experiences worth more than $10 million. She also spearheaded the transition of four new properties acquired by the company and led two redevelopment projects. Beyond property management, Meng led a team of students to victory in the ICSC Foundation case study competition, demonstrating her ability to inspire and drive results with future leaders. She also serves on the board of the Rocky Mountain Shopping Centers Association.
Megan Matthews has spent her entire 25-year career in property management at JLL, most recently as managing director of project management for the Mid-Atlantic region for the past five years. She oversees 290 employees working in 41 million square feet of office, industrial and mixed-use assets. She has been key to the group’s growth and success evidenced by its top-line revenue growth and bottom-line profit year after year. During the past year, Matthews has led wins with 10 clients covering 25 class A buildings totaling 6.5 million square feet. Matthews believes it is imperative to blend service offerings and has been instrumental in leading an initiative at the national level to collaborate among JLL business lines. In 2023, she achieved Top Gun status, an internal JLL designation awarded to the top performers for exceptional achievement. Matthews has been involved with CREW in several cities throughout her career and is serving her first year of a 2-year board position for CREW DC.
Natali Juarbe joined Granite Properties in 2016 as a property manager and quickly ascended the ranks at the firm due to her leadership qualities to senior property manager and then general manager. In 2022, she managed two challenging class A office buildings in the firm’s Houston portfolio totaling 800,000 square feet and was then asked to serve as interim general manager in Atlanta to lead a portfolio transformation. She split her time between the two markets but then moved to Atlanta full-time to train the team to manage the buildings on their own. Juarbe recently returned to the Houston office to oversee two office properties in Houston and five in Dallas/Fort Worth totaling 1.7 million square feet. Her responsibilities include overseeing these assets and providing leadership, direction and supervision to the property experience team. She is focused on nurturing talent, training, mentoring and developing staff; supervising the planning, budgeting, and control of operating and capital expenditures; and ensuring properties, teams and vendor contracts follow laws, regulatory requirements, policies and procedures. In recognition of her work, Juarbe won Granite’s Living the Purpose award, honoring one person in the company who embodies its values and purpose.
Gina Iverson began her career as a day-to-day property manager and gained experience through a variety of roles ranging from assistant to manager to senior manager. She spent nine years as a regional operations director overseeing 250 million square feet under management, including transitions and acquisitions, annual audits, operations policy and market training. After working in Hawaii as a market leader, Iverson returned to Arizona where today she is director of operations at Avison Young, working on its Real Estate Management Services national team. She leverages her broad experience to execute, develop and implement national policies and procedures for the group and is responsible for collaborating with the U.S. REMS managing director, market leaders, managers, property accounting, IT and HR to streamline processes and ensure efficiencies across the platform. Iverson has supported the growth and success of the Avison Young U.S. REMS service line, helping expand the recurring income of the firm. “Gina is a critical and respected member of our team, who has effectively earned the reputation as property management operations specialist,” says Randel Waites, Avison Young U.S. REMS managing director. “She has helped us develop stronger and more effective programs benefiting the entire team and our clients.”
Jill Higgins has focused her career on the principle that healthcare real estate is all about relationships, and her skill at listening to her employees and providing mentorship has contributed to Anchor Health Properties’ high retention rate. Higgins oversees the firm’s property management department as a partner and EVP, where she has been instrumental in standardizing policies and procedures, including internal platform expectations, contracts, and an internal career development path for property managers. Spearheading the third-party management agreement initiative, Higgins helped cultivate and build a long-term opportunity with a major health system in Pennsylvania and grew the engagement from eight properties totaling 307,712 square feet to 17 properties totaling 849,909 square feet more than five years. Throughout the past 12 months, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership and strategic decision-making in her role restructuring and leading the West Coast team. She is dedicated to staff development, identifying the required staffing structure and property reshuffling, ensuring that resources are allocated optimally and interviewing, hiring, training and mentoring staff. To unite her team, Higgins spearheaded an asset management guidebook and planned and executed the firm’s annual management summit.
Jennifer Heede brings a diverse background in real estate and property management gained during more than 22 years in the industry to her role as VP of property management at Newmark Group Inc. She oversees property management operations and personnel in Denver, encompassing more than 3.8 million square feet of commercial real estate. She has substantial expertise in budget preparation, operating expense reconciliations, lease administration, physical management, tenant and client relations and financial reporting. In 2023, Heede worked with a committee of colleagues on the production and development of a property management software solution designed to increase operational efficiencies by automating interdepartmental business processes and tasks while enhancing the employee experience. She increased the number of new business proposals in 2023 by 240% during 2022. Prior to joining Newmark, Heede directed the property management division for Resolute Investments, where she was responsible for all property and asset management activities related to its commercial portfolio. She has served on BOMA’s board of directors, where she helps establish direction and policies for programs and services as well as guiding strategic decisions.
Kim Feliciano started her career as a groundskeeper nearly 20 years ago after relocating from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, to the mainland U.S. Today, she is the maintenance supervisor for The RMR Group managing the 24-acre, 351-unit Crosswynde Apartments in Tampa. Feliciano is passionate about the impact her work has on residents. In the apartment industry, maintenance issues are often cited as grievances in resident reviews, but Feliciano has minimized complaints and prioritized resident experience. She has actively sought opportunities for personal and professional development throughout her career. As an active member of the Bay Area Apartment Association, she has earned several certifications, including HVAC certification, certified pool operator certification, a certificate for apartment maintenance technicians and an Environmental Protection Agency certification. Most recently, she earned her Fire Watch Certification, which saves her community the expense and hassle of hiring an external vendor in the event of a fire-related incident. When asked to describe her greatest achievement, Feliciano points to failure. “If you can’t make a mistake and learn from it, how can you really know how to avoid the same mistake in the future or feel comfortable breaking the mold and trying something different?” she says. “Failure helps drive innovation.”
Toni Eubanks leads U.S. property management operations as executive director of real estate operations at Greystar. She oversees both third-party and owned real estate operations, including conventional, active adult, student and build for rent totaling 3,000 assets throughout the U.S. and Canada. Her responsibilities include oversight of all areas of operational performance, local new business development and operations support, which includes regional marketing, underwriting, recruiting and construction services. Under her leadership, the property management team launched its on-site centralization program, Elevate, to streamline traditional on-site functions and reduce workflow interruptions so team members can focus on the resident experience. Greystar has continued to grow its managed portfolio under her leadership. She serves on Greystar’s executive committee, is a member of Greystar’s enterprise services advisory board, communications board and benefits committee, along with other leadership roles. Before joining Greystar in 2008, Eubanks was an SVP for Irving-based developer JPI, where she oversaw property operations for the western half of the U.S. and Canada.
When she joined Link Logistics in 2020 amid the pandemic, Bianca Curtis showcased extraordinary leadership skills and decision-making abilities. She assembled a high-performing team while navigating the complexities of a new virtual work environment, and her success propelled her rapid ascent to her current role as VP of property operations within one year of joining the firm. In this role, Curtis oversees property management within Link Logistics’ West region, encompassing the San Francisco Bay Area, Inland Empire, Seattle, Las Vegas, Reno, Phoenix and Denver. With a portfolio comprising 1,153 properties spanning 149,060 million square feet, her role demands meticulous oversight of day-to-day operations, ensuring adherence to company policies, maintaining the region’s overall budget and people management. She leads 67 team members with a collaborative culture and a dedication to mentorship. Curtis recently spearheaded a training initiative called “Customer Experience the Link Way” aimed at defining Link Logistics’ unique approach to customer service within the industrial real estate sector. This training garnered a positive reception from her team, empowering them to enhance customer service standards and effectively meet customer needs.
Kia Crooms has more than 25 years of experience managing diverse multifamily portfolios and supporting recently acquired property groups with employee development, value-add strategies and maximizing returns for owners. As an area VP at Morgan Properties, one of the nation’s largest multifamily owners and operators, Crooms oversees leasing, maintenance, management and operations for nearly 6,700 units across 18 apartment communities in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. She has been integral to the company’s growth from the 25th largest apartment owner to one of the top three in the country. Crooms joined Morgan Properties as a property manager in the Ohio area, where she leased and stabilized a 986-unit high-rise community in Cleveland, earning her a promotion to regional property manager overseeing 11 communities across multiple states. Today, as area VP of the Midwest region, Crooms was selected to help manage the company’s recent acquisitions of seven communities in Indiana and three in Illinois. Throughout the past year, she has grown occupancy and enhanced her region’s online reputation. This had an incremental lift for Morgan Properties as a whole, as the company was recently named one of the top 10 most improved NMHC 50 Managers by Online Reputation Assessment.
Although Hiffman National associate director of management services Shawn Brown spent most of her career in office and industrial sectors with limited experience in retail, she volunteered to take on the monumental task of growing and managing a client’s newly acquired, 38-asset retail center portfolio in 2020. Brown stepped outside her comfort zone and embraced the challenge, building a new retail team and right-sizing operations as well as managing a portfolio laden with deferred maintenance and outdated practices. Her tenacity and problem-solving skills were instrumental in resolving these longstanding issues and fostering a positive client relationship. Brown assists tenants in adapting their marketing strategies, managing finances and finding vendors. When faced with challenging circumstances like the recent closure of Bed, Bath & Beyond stores across the country, Brown collaborated with asset managers to secure temporary tenants like Spirit Halloween, showcasing her ability to think on her feet and find solutions. Described as firm, thoughtful and strategic by her supervisors, Brown fosters a collaborative environment for her team of 13 management professionals and two engineers and maintains strong relationships with all asset managers in the retail portfolio. In addition to her team leadership duties, Brown directly manages five retail centers.
Sarah Schwarzschild joined Mavik Capital Management last year as COO and in just a few months has played a crucial role in setting the firm’s short- and long-term strategic vision while also overseeing its day-to-day operations and investment decision-making. She dedicates a significant amount of time to mentoring younger women across the firm and industry. She views effective mentoring as a combination of providing mentees with three different elements depending on their unique needs, from situational advice and problem-solving to support for broader career development and skill-building, as well as sponsorship to advance mentees’ careers. Last year, Schwarzschild led the relaunch of the New York Women in Real Estate networking organization for women in the private equity real estate sector. The New York chapter has grown to 110 members under her leadership. She is also involved with Arche Women’s Network, a professional organization that supports young real estate professionals in the first 10 years of their careers. She recently was featured as the keynote speaker for the organization’s 2024 kickoff event. Schwarzschild serves on the mentorship committee of WX, an invitation-only executive organization that promotes the advancement of women in the real estate industry, where she helps pair interns with meaningful mentors.
In addition to navigating complex financial matters for Anchin, Block, and Anchin LLP as an audit director, Rebecca Long is a mentor who provides guidance and support to team members. She collaborates closely with junior staff, fostering their professional development, and actively engages in the firm’s mentorship program where she shares her expertise to guide career growth. Long was selected to participate in Anchin’s rainmaker business development program, a leadership and thought leadership program for accounting professionals. She is also the co-chair of the Anchin Women’s Initiative Network, through which she coordinates and participates in firm events, networking, mentoring and professional development training with other women in the industry. She is an active member of Girl Gang and CREW NY. “Rebecca’s leadership and mentorship are the cornerstone of our real estate team,” says Anchin partner and real estate group lead Rob Gilman. “Her extensive industry knowledge, hands-on approach, and unwavering commitment to mentoring the team make her an invaluable asset, adding significant value to every aspect of our firm.”
Laura Klein’s dedication to cultivating leaders goes beyond the traditional scope of mentorship. As COO of Casoro Group, Klein is a key member of the senior executive team that structures, develops and manages the multifamily real estate investment firm. Recognizing the long-term value of investing time in personal and professional development, she implemented a program to elevate team members’ ability to communicate and manage challenges. The leadership development program has become a cornerstone of the firm’s commitment to talent development, attracting and retaining top candidates while enhancing the overall effectiveness of its leadership team. Klein’s engagement with the Bastrop Education Foundation underscores her commitment to educational initiatives and community development, and she contributes her expertise and resources to support educational programs, fostering a positive impact on the local community’s learning environment. In addition, as a member of Executive Blackbelt, Klein aligns herself with a network of professionals dedicated to advancing their careers through leadership development and networking. Her involvement in this organization demonstrates her commitment to continuous learning, professional growth and the exchange of insights with other accomplished executives.
Luxury Living co-founder and CEO Amy Galvin leads the company with an empathetic, compassionate and service- centered approach. Her background as a certified professional coach and a trained facilitator of The Fair Play Method, coupled with her experience as a working mother, has laid the groundwork for her unique leadership approach that focuses on coaching real estate agents rather than a directive management style. Previously, she was the company’s chief culture officer, a role that continues to influence her leadership methods. Aside from Luxury Living, Galvin produced a conference in Chicago for International Women’s Day, hosted several workshops throughout the year to support women in business, and produces a podcast that supports working moms. She strongly advocates for mentoring women in business and is a mentor with the JCC’s Women inPower program, a fellowship program pairing seasoned and experienced Chicago area female leaders in professional sectors with mid-career participants to provide peer support, mentorship, training and coaching. She also mentors with the Goldie Initiative, which prepares women for senior leadership roles in commercial real estate by providing scholarship support for graduate study, mentorship and networking opportunities to women with high potential who are committed to becoming leaders in the industry.
The RMR Group regional manager for residential Julia Furber is responsible for six apartment communities in Florida and recently won the company’s property manager of the year award for her leadership and ability to deliver value. She is known for her genuine engagement with others and is described as a role model. Notably, she led her teams in weathering the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in September 2022, guiding residents and her property teams in Florida. When one of the communities flooded, destroying the apartment homes of 80 families, Furber worked on-site for weeks, communicating with each resident and helping them find housing at sister communities. She then collaborated with her on-site colleagues to help move residents back into their homes and leased other apartments to ensure the financial stability of the community. Furber has a track record of excellent leadership that extends beyond her daily responsibilities to include mentorship. With her support, her team members have received promotions and company awards, including property manager of the year, leasing associate of the year and maintenance technician of the year. Furber leads a team of 53 individuals.
As a veteran of the CRE industry and a woman of color, Collete English Dixon strives to help students maneuver being diverse participants in an industry that she says is still not very diverse. English Dixon is the executive director of the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University in Chicago. She is the first woman of color to lead a university-based real estate education program in the country. Prior to this role, English Dixon spent two decades at PGIM Real Estate working on acquisitions, development, dispositions, debt on joint venture properties and asset management, completing more than $12 billion in real estate transactions. Numerous students credit English Dixon’s mentorship and guidance as a key reason for their success. For example, a May 2023 MSRE graduate recently says the amazing support system she had at MBIRE helped her attain her CMCP certification and earn a promotion. English Dixon hosted a two-week summer immersion program where diverse high school students learned about careers in commercial real estate, toured properties in Chicago and worked in teams on development proposals that were presented to local industry professionals.
Colleagues say Dianne Crocker has a natural gift for supporting others and is a proven mentor admired by many in the commercial real estate industry. Crocker founded and built the LightBox Developing Leaders Mentor program. Under her leadership, the program has graduated more than 100 young professionals, many of whom are women seeking direction and support not available within their own firms. Crocker’s work on the mentorship program led to the creation of LightBox’s annual PRISM awards, which honor leadership, community spirit and young leader potential. She also applied her experience with the Developing Leaders program to co-chair the first year of LightBox’s Women’s Inspiration Network. Crocker volunteers extensively with her CREW network chapter as a mentor and delegate and is an informal mentor to countless other women who seek out her advice with their own career challenges. In her role as the principal analyst at Lightbox, she leads the company’s market research and forecast reports and recently developed and launched LightBox’s new series of quarterly CRE Market Snapshot reports.
Drawing on lessons she learned both as a mentee and a mentor throughout her career, Leslie Cohen has created and implemented a strong mentorship infrastructure at the Davis Cos., where she is COO. During an uncertain time for the commercial real estate industry, Cohen emphasized the firm’s culture, mission and employee expertise more than a focus on the bottom line. Early in her career, she often found herself the only woman in the room, which motivated her to seek opportunities to connect with other women in the CRE space. She worked tirelessly to overcome misperceptions about her talent and abilities, to establish her own network and to earn the respect of her peers and colleagues. Cohen created a DEI Committee that introduced a unique program at Davis that cultivates an environment for mentors and mentees to thrive through meaningful connections and collaboration. The six-month rotating mentor program encourages senior staff to invest in the growth and success of those at the junior level as part of efforts to support recruitment and retention at the firm. The program focuses on cross-department collaboration, professional development and networking.
Transwestern Real Estate Services EVP and Midwest operations director Bonnie Boden has mentored many rising stars throughout her career. She was key to the MB Real Estate acquisition, onboarding more than 10 million square feet of office space and several City of Chicago properties, including Maggie Daley Park, the Chicago Riverwalk and Millennium Park, which added 180 team members to her team. Boden spearheaded a thoughtful orientation and training program for all team members as well as one-on-one check-in sessions. MBRE team members shared how supported they felt through the transition and how easily they acclimated to the Transwestern team culture. In her role, Boden shares her extensive experience in people management, talent development, financial reporting, construction management, property transitions, physical operations, lease administration, long-range planning and contract management. She created the Transwestern Academy program, an opportunity for junior members of management and engineering teams to learn and network together while touring projects and properties. Boden has also been a BOMA faculty member since 2009 and she was an official mentor in BOMA/Chicago and BOMA/Suburban Chicago in 2023. She unofficially mentors several other Transwestern and non-TW real estate professionals in Chicago.
In 2023, Vanessa Williams’ team completed 12,744 projects, collaborated on 901 property marketing brands, authored more than 700 comprehensive research reports and produced 445 team pieces. In addition, they crafted 764 press releases, 216 advertisements and 1,073 social media posts. Williams is senior director of business development and marketing for Colliers’ West region responsible for orchestrating the efforts of a team of more than 60 marketing and research professionals as well as seasoned business development professionals who serve as strategic advisors to both Colliers’ brokers and clients. This team collaborates closely with national marketing and research leaders to implement region-specific initiatives, leveraging cutting-edge technology and best-in-class marketing methodologies. She lends her expertise to advancing technology within Colliers’ operations by serving on the national technology advisory committee, where her insights contribute to shaping the organization’s technological landscape and strategic direction. Williams is a member of NAIOP, where she serves on the communications committee. In addition, she is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of professionals through her role as a mentor in Colliers’ national mentorship program.
More than half of Elena Wall’s 13-year career in commercial real estate has been with Simon CRE, where she most recently was EVP of operations. Wall started as the only member of the firm’s marketing department at the Scottsdale, AZ-based retail developer and has built a strong brand and a team to maintain it. She oversaw the development of marketing strategies and collateral for the company and its properties and created an organizational structure that ranges from standardizing procedures and establishing solid documentation across all projects to effective internal and external communication. Wall has the proven ability to change environments, practices and minds through tools and systems, including laying the groundwork for efficient deal tracking, establishing and maintaining the customer relationship management database, integrating marketing automation and executing a comprehensive social media strategy. She spearheaded marketing efforts to create a unique brand for SimonCRE’s subsidiary companies and projects, including the more than 700,000-square-foot power center Village at Prasada in Surprise, AZ. Outside of the office, Wall lends her creativity to friends and family with their branding needs, including for a communications/media relations company, an auto body shop and a local bar. At the time of publication, Wall is no longer at SimonCRE.
Christina Twidale leads the Kidder Mathews marketing department, including the corporate marketing group and regional brokerage marketing and operations across 19 offices in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada. Twidale started her career at Kidder Mathews nearly 18 years ago in Seattle working as a marketing assistant and graphic designer on the corporate marketing team. As Kidder Mathews experienced growth down the West Coast, her role evolved from marketing director to VP of marketing and now SVP of marketing. She played a pivotal role in shaping the overall branding and marketing strategy at Kidder Mathews, including helping build and lead the design team responsible for shaping Kidder Mathews’ current image by establishing clear brand standards, designing templates and developing brokerage marketing training programs across the company. She also has helped lead the company through four unique rebrands, with the most recent in 2019 celebrating the firm’s 50-year anniversary. In addition, Twidale oversaw the day-to-day production of high-level and custom brokerage marketing projects including pitches, proposals, presentations, listing materials and collateral. Under her leadership, the team established a benchmark for creating top-quality materials in the market, with brokers consistently pointing to the marketing department as a major driver of their success.
One of Missy Teague’s earliest achievements at Merritt Properties was developing its property search iPhone app, the first of its kind offered by a private commercial real estate developer in the country. She was eager to leverage technology to enhance customer experience and accessibility, recognizing early on the shift toward mobile-first strategies in consumer behavior. Teague has spent 16 years at Merritt Properties, serving today as director of marketing and corporate communications. She continues to push beyond traditional media outlets to embrace technology and digital marketing landscapes to transform the company’s approach to marketing. Teague established Merritt’s tech roundtable, which convenes a cross-functional team to evaluate, test and implement cutting-edge technologies to determine those that could truly support leasing and tenant retention. She also spearheaded the development, branding and launch of Merge by Merritt, a digital and onsite employee amenity program designed to differentiate Merritt’s office buildings from the competition by helping tenants meet the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent. Most recently, Teague was tapped to develop Merritt’s first comprehensive Environmental, Sustainability & Governance report. She oversees an annual marketing budget of $4.2 million, including advertising, public relations, lead generation, digital marketing, social media and more.
Nicole Stenclik has been a member of Akrete’s leadership team and its executive committee for the past six years as both a VP and managing consultant. She was recently named as the agency’s first president in January 2024 to lead the national public relations agency’s client service and operations as well as media relations functions. Specializing in real estate, finance and professional services, the 30-person Akrete team achieves national business and trade media exposure, writes complex content and provides strategic marketing and public relations advisory services. Stenclik works behind the scenes providing communications counsel to CEOs and other C-suite executives as they navigate messaging in times of change and when announcing major transactions and initiatives. She is known for her approachability and for prioritizing open communication channels with her teams and clients. Stenclik brings deep experience in steering notable national and global brands toward top-tier media attention, both at Akrete and earlier in her career when she held prominent B2B public relations roles in New York and Boston. She also leads the formation of new client partnerships and serves as one of the firm’s top experts responsible for Akrete maintaining its leading industry status, particularly in commercial real estate.
A veteran marketer in the multifamily industry, Kelly Siegal pushes the boundaries of the traditional approach to property marketing. She has more than 20 years of strategic marketing and ad agency experience across hospitality, travel/tourism, consumer goods, beauty, legal/financial and real estate, including more than eight years of direct multifamily experience. Prior to her work at Greystar, she revamped the marketing department for Alliance Residential and created an in-house ad and digital agency, turning a fragmented structure into a unified marketing engine that increased renter demand and strengthened property and company economics. In 2020, Greystar acquired Alliance’s property management business and Siegal was brought in as managing director of marketing for the U.S. property management division, where she built Greystar’s first creative services team as well as strengthened the digital marketing team. Siegal achieved favorable results across media channels for Greystar properties in 2023. Despite significant increases in competition and ad bid cost, the digital marketing team increased Greystar’s paid search conversion rate by 68%, decreased its cost per acquisition by 8% for the year, and increased average acquisitions per property by 13.8%.
When Alliance Global Advisors launched in 2020, it brought on Masha Rzoski to oversee marketing strategies to elevate the firm’s visibility. As director of marketing, she leads all marketing efforts for Alliance and the firm’s client base. For Alliance, her responsibilities include managing mass communications and social media campaigns, creating a marketing plan and budget, managing and updating the website and keeping the partners informed on all speaking/ panel opportunities at upcoming conferences. She also develops blogs and podcasts on key topics in real estate investments, regulations and industry trends, and contributes to numerous reports. Rzoski launched the Alliance Global Advisors and Institutional Real Estate Inc. Masterclass series, partnering with IREI and other thought leaders on a virtual six-session course covering topics that enhance knowledge of the industry, investment universe and vehicle structuring. She also supports philanthropy and education programs, such as Alliance Gives Back through which the firm has provided thought leadership presentations to numerous universities. She began her career at the Townsend Group in 2004, advising institutional clients in strategic planning, quarterly reporting, consulting and underwriting of real estate funds. She later transitioned to the investment manager side, focusing on marketing and capital raising.
Sofia Royce has been instrumental in helping The Brand Guild grow its commercial real estate business from three to 15 people with specialists that focus on neighborhoods, residences, retail expansion, office and experiential PR. Royce is AVP of public relations at the firm where she builds partnerships with developers who are leveling up residential, office, retail and mixed-use developments into thriving projects that make a lasting impact on their cities and communities. Her role includes creating PR strategies, earned and paid media outreach, corporate communications, crisis and issues communications, and messaging and media training, for industry leaders across all project stages. Working alongside the events team, she has helped drive consistent foot traffic to neighborhoods by storytelling around creative activations for companies such as Fever and SoFi. In addition, her work has made The Wharf one of the most widely covered mixed-use neighborhoods in the country after she led a campaign to secure regional and national recognition for the Washington D.C. neighborhood. She oversees nearly 50 million square feet of active CRE development projects with a success rate of securing an average of 10 million earned media impressions for a 6-month engagement.
Emily Pollard joined BKM Capital Partners in 2015 as a marketing specialist and now serves as senior director of marketing and communications following several promotions. She is credited with establishing the corporate marketing and communications department at BKM, where she leads a four-person team responsible for executing insight-driven marketing strategies across several channels. Pollard spearheads BKM’s marketing, media and communications, including tactical planning and execution on the company’s advertising, public relations and various communication strategies. During her 9-year tenure with the firm, she has played a major role in exponentially growing the firm’s reputation, brand and process management, each an instrumental aspect of BKM’s core operations and direct influence on the company’s success. Prior to finding her niche in commercial real estate, Pollard worked in a range of industries including fashion and publishing in New York City, and nonprofit, banking and government contracting roles in Washington D.C. Working in these industries armed her with the experience, agility and diversity needed to help scale and grow BKM within the light industrial asset class.
Hannah Miet owns Hannah Miet Consulting LLC, which provides content strategy and writing services. She has more than 15 years of experience in editorial roles and business journalism as well as four years overseeing in-house content at JLL. During the pandemic, she was part of JLL’s content task force that produced 20 articles on urgent pandemic-related issues. Miet is skilled at conveying content that positions clients as experts while paring down the complexity of commercial real estate to provide actionable intelligence. Deliverables include bylines and white papers. In the past year, she wrote about rising insurance costs for Avison Young, debt and the state of the office market for Urban Land, and green data centers for a developer. As a messaging consultant, she helped several PropTech companies develop messaging and positioning that addresses current industry pain points and helps them stand out during a challenging time. She and her husband invest in commercial real estate and have a stake in a hotel and shopping center. In addition, she founded the West Coast wing of the Real Deal and has won several awards for her writing, including first place from the Los Angeles Press Club for best feature.
Within her first year at LCS Inc., Liz Mahoney was promoted to oversee the entire sales and marketing division, a testament to her leadership and strategic thinking. After only three years, her innovative approaches have significantly increased brand awareness and client engagement for LCS, showcasing her ability to drive results and adapt quickly to rapid market changes. Mahoney is SVP and director of sales and business development where she develops, executes and manages the company’s sales and marketing plan. She is responsible for setting strategic goals, nurturing existing client relationships and establishing new ones. She also identifies business opportunities, monitors market conditions and analyzes competitor activities to ensure LCS remains competitive and innovative. Mahoney has implemented cutting-edge marketing campaigns that have significantly enhanced the company’s visibility and reputation in the market, and her adoption of new technologies and AI programs has revolutionized LCS’s approach to brand awareness, enabling more efficient and effective marketing strategies. This has led to an increase in LCS’s deal volume and client satisfaction. Mahoney also is the director of communications for her CREW NY chapter as well as the chair for communications for the MBA of NY. Under her guidance, both organizations have seen substantial growth in their social presence and member engagement.
Angie Leccese has worked her way through many marketing functions during her two decades in the field, gathering hands-on experience and a comprehensive understanding of the industry that benefits her in her current leadership role as Newmark’s first CMO. Leccese oversees Newmark’s marketing and business development efforts, playing a pivotal role in shaping the company’s growth trajectory. Her core responsibilities include planning, developing and executing Newmark’s comprehensive marketing and business development strategy and driving growth through innovative content marketing strategies and sales enablement practices. Among her accomplishments are unifying a previously scattered global marketing team of more than 200, streamlining operations and aligning strategies, integrating a sales automation tool and CRM-integrated system for marketing materials, and revamping Newmark’s brand visuals with more than 100 new templates and images to boost brand consistency. Leccese focuses on creating compelling content and ensuring that this content effectively supports Newmark’s sales efforts throughout the entire sales cycle. Her leadership ensures that marketing efforts align with the company’s business objectives, enhancing Newmark’s ability to capture new opportunities and drive revenue growth.
In the seven years she has been at Greystar, Liza Kunkel has taken a team of two members to a team of 20 while ensuring all global corporate communications needs are met. As managing director of communications, she played a critical role in overseeing communications around the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, economic uncertainty. She led an effort to create “BobTV,” where Greystar founder and CEO Bob Faith updated and helped guide all global team members surrounding macroeconomic issues. She also shapes Greystar’s external reputation in concert with her external communications team, which is responsible for all public-facing activity, including media relations, thought leadership, awards entries and social media. Recently, the team shifted its approach from primarily reactive communications to proactive communications to reflect an evolving corporate strategy that has tripled its earned media coverage and increased interviews by 60% in the past year. Kunkel also assisted in executing two brand launches and media campaigns in 2023 for Modern Living Solutions and Ltd. by Greystar. These campaigns resulted in 16 earned media placements, two exclusive stories and an audience reach of more than six million people. Kunkel joined Greystar in 2017 from Blackstone, where she was a director of global public affairs.
Bozzuto SVP of corporate communications Chintimini Keith excels in brand and reputation protection and oversees crisis communications for a portfolio of more than 100,000 apartment units. In 2019, Chintimini spearheaded and launched a thoughtful brand development process, creating a program called Rise by Bozzuto, which unites employees, residents, partners and clients around a corporate social responsibility strategy. The program continues to grow and embrace initiatives that contribute to the company’s triple bottom line such as sustainability, employee engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, and corporate charitable giving. In 2020, Rise by Bozzuto allowed the company to quickly enact a campaign to help those most deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with Bozzuto’s 35th anniversary, Rise by Bozzuto launched its Q2 initiative, “35 Years of Service.” Nearly 200 associates came together to make an impact on local neighborhoods through different housing projects; collectively touching the lives of more than 400 individuals, including four families, four community centers, a youth group home, and a community garden that helps feed an entire community in Maryland. Keith is a member and former board member of Washington Women in Public Relations and she currently serves on the Baltimore Women’s Advisory Board.
Nicolette Jaze crafts comprehensive sustainability frameworks and decarbonization programs across all property types and asset classes in her role as head of ESG and sustainability at Galvanize Sustainable Real Estate. Jaze and her team work with in-house climate technology and science experts as well as third-party vendors with decarbonization expertise to analyze the local energy landscape, assess emissions associated with key upgrades and establish a granular strategy for each building. EPIC GOLD, which Jaze and her team created in partnership with architecture firm EHDD, helps the Galvanize Real Estate team mine the U.S. market for locations with both high potential for decarbonization and strong real estate fundamentals. The team targets 100% emissions reduction within three years of asset ownership and a portion of her team’s compensation is tied to meeting this target. Jaze was an early pioneer in developing comprehensive ESG strategies across the real estate sector. She was previously with Esusu Financial, where she was head of client engagement, communications and ESG. Before Esusu, she spent 15 years in sustainability roles at Goldman Sachs and Moody’s Corp.
Leeza Hoyt’s self-made success underscores her resilience, leadership and commitment to making a positive impact on the communications industry and her community. For more than 25 years, Hoyt has led the PR agency she founded, the Hoyt Organization (THO), as its president where she provides strategic leadership, client acquisition and management, and creative direction. Raised in a real estate family, Hoyt’s early passion for real estate communications has shaped THO’s focus, with real estate remaining a cornerstone vertical of the agency in addition to healthcare, technology, construction and education. In the past year, she has expanded the agency’s team and roster of clients after weathering the pandemic. She continues to support the growth of the communications sector locally and globally through her work with the Public Relations Global Network as its director of marketing, a volunteer leadership role through which she has grown the marketing committee from a one-woman team to a ten-person committee. Hoyt has made pro bono support of nonprofit clients like Old Blue Inc. and Bringing Hope to the Family USA a pillar of her business approach.
Avison Young U.S. media relations manager Sandra Hill seeks to identify key trends and significant opportunities for earned media that build national brand exposure for the company while empowering her regional media relations team with responsibility for a variety of local and regional markets in multiple geographies. She is responsible for securing national mainstream, business and trade media coverage and goes above and beyond to make long-standing connections with reporters, study trends and strategize with Avison Young’s market insight experts, business sector leaders and the global communications team to provide information that will be of interest to the greater real estate community. She has led successful media campaigns showcasing the firm’s technology capabilities, milestone acquisitions and business sector/community impact storylines that have earned media placements across trades, business and mainstream publications and broadcast outlets. Hill began her career with Avison Young in the firm’s Houston office where she led public relations initiatives and external communications efforts in the greater Houston area. Prior to Avison Young, she had a diverse media and government relations career that included communication roles in the U.S. government with U.S. Senator Phil Gramm and later with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Christine Gustafson is the first female executive at The Breeden Co. where she is VP of public relations and marketing. Since joining the firm in 2020, Gustafson has elevated the previously quiet and humble firm’s branding and messaging to national recognition. She launched an aggressive national marketing campaign to educate industry experts in the construction, multifamily and commercial real estate realms as well as residents in the submarkets where the company works about Breeden’s attention to detail and quality work. The campaign, which incorporated digital, social and print media, drove website traffic up nearly 60%, goal conversions up 8% and completions up 66%. Gustafson is responsible for enterprisewide marketing and corporate communications for all aspects of the organization, including marketing, advertising, product development, corporate communications, social and traditional media engagement, and community engagement activities. She single-handedly redeveloped 42 multifamily portfolio community websites in 30 days so that each is dynamic and customized to the community and its demographics. With her determination to streamline digital resources, she has saved the multifamily division more than $100,000 annually.
Crexi CMO Courtney Ettus leverages 25 years of marketing expertise in Fortune 500 companies and startups to bring a unique perspective to the commercial real estate industry. She plays a pivotal role in leading Crexi’s marketing efforts and advancing the company’s mission to modernize the CRE industry and streamline the transaction process through innovative technology solutions. Ettus oversees all national brand and acquisition marketing to bring new markets, brokers, buyers and tenants to its technology platform and help solidify Crexi as a household name within the industry. Her team is responsible for brand activations, product activations, advertising, sales collateral and creative vision. Ettus also continues to adjust the company’s strategic efforts across departments to stay relevant in the current cultural landscape. She supports the company’s fundraising and talent acquisition efforts and has made a positive impact on company culture that has translated into talent retention, business growth and overall company success. She has a history of leading integrated marketing and strategy teams and has helped grow the Crexi team to more than 300 people. Ettus regularly mentors start-up companies, including the Grid 110 accelerator companies, on start-up marketing, helping them navigate the marketing landscape with few resources and by providing general counsel for their businesses.
Pairing a passion for the environment with expertise in management and communications, PACE Equity SVP of strategy and impact Tricia Baker leads strategic planning, marketing and sustainability efforts for the C-PACE lender. Baker manages the CIRRUS Low Carbon financial tool that helps CRE projects earn a lower cost of capital to fund building improvements that result in lower carbon output. Under her leadership of CIRRUS Low Carbon, 11 commercial real estate developments nationwide have been verified since the product’s introduction to the market in 2022, saving a total of more than 66,000 metric tons of carbon over their weighted average life. Recognizing the importance of creative financing solutions for developers, Baker forged two significant partnerships in 2023 to make C-PACE funding more accessible to CRE developers, including a collaboration between PACE Equity and Calvert Impact Climate Inc. to bring the Cut Carbon Note to market as a public offering. Baker also forged a partnership with Phius, a nonprofit organization committed to making high-performance passive building the mainstream market standard. Baker manages the marketing function with 40% year-over-year growth in key marketing metrics using unique strategies to drive awareness and lead generation. Outside of work, she is a content writer and trail maintenance volunteer for the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
Since joining CBRE Investment Management two years ago, Sondra Wenger has led key transactions for the national team in the life sciences, self-storage, medical and responsive office and retail sectors. She has led her team to invest $7.8 billion in total capitalization to date and currently manages $13.5 billion in assets under management. Wenger is head of the Americas commercial operator division for CBRE IM where she is responsible for the overall leadership, strategic vision and growth of the firm’s commercial real estate investments in the Americas, including overseeing transactions, asset management and development for these sectors. She holds key positions within the organization, serving as a member of the Americas investment committee for commercial direct real estate, the CBRE scientific advisory board and the portfolio oversight committee. In the past 12 months, her total transaction volume was $1.2 billion in capitalized transactions. Notable transactions include the acquisition of the MacArthur Park grocery-anchored neighborhood center in Dallas in partnership with retail owner EDENS. Wenger serves on the board of the New York Restoration Project, whose mission is to revitalize underserved green spaces to enhance the quality of life for the surrounding community.
Carly Tripp’s leadership was recognized in 2021 when she was promoted to global chief investment officer at Nuveen Real Estate, a role in which she oversees and expands the firm’s global real estate portfolio. During the past three years, she has grown the portfolio to $150 billion from $133 billion in assets under management. Tripp leads a team of more than 350 investment professionals responsible for all transactional and asset management functions. She is accountable for sourcing, investment performance, strategic investments, partner relationships and representing Nuveen Real Estate with global clients, consultants and the industry. She has expanded the firm’s presence in key market sectors, including medical office, multifamily, and most recently affordable housing and self-storage. Last year, Tripp and her team completed an acquisition of a large portfolio of affordable housing assets that increased the value of Nuveen’s affordable AUM by $6.4 billion. Prior to her current position, she served as the CIO of the Americas at Nuveen Real Estate. As one of the few female C-suite executives in commercial real estate today, Tripp is a member of the LEAD Network, an industry affinity organization that has more than 1,200 members worldwide creating networking opportunities, career sponsorships and growth for professional women at all levels.
Amy Stavin joined PPR Capital Management in 2019 as a real estate owned (REO) asset manager and was promoted to director of REO management in 2022. Bringing more than 10 years of experience in acquisition, management and disposition of thousands of assets to her role, Stavin dispositioned 123 REOs resulting in $21.8 million in revenue and an average ROI of 24% in 2023. When her department faced forbearance issues during the pandemic, and an entire portfolio of assets came to a standstill, Stavin and her team reached out to her nationwide network of brokers and investors to disposition the firm’s REO portfolio. By finding a way around this problem, her department avoided a long-term stall, generated revenue for PPR and unloaded carrying costs that the firm had been covering for several properties. In her current role, Stavin manages the acquisition and disposition of REO properties from start to finish, including valuation of tapes prior to bidding and working closely with PPR’s acquisitions team to determine as-is value so they can place bids accordingly. In the past 12 months, she has led a process to bring the REO disposition process in-house, a change that is projected to save PPR upwards of $1 million per year.
Avrio Real Estate Credit CEO Vicky Schiff is a career entrepreneur, having founded or co-founded successful firms in the real estate and finance sectors since 1996. Her ventures have included an institutionally supported $400 million real estate fund that also supported women and minority emerging real estate firms; a national boutique investment banking firm that raised more than $6 billion from institutional investors; an investment platform formed in 2009 to create value for investors by acquiring commercial real estate debt and distressed assets; and MREC Management and its co-mingled debt fund, Mosaic Real Estate Credit, which originated $3 billion in various asset classes across the U.S. Her newest venture is Avrio, which offers short-term, first mortgage debt and other structured finance products including B notes, mezzanine debt and preferred equity for the acquisition, refinancing and recapitalization of commercial real estate assets, with loans ranging from $25 million to $150 million. Under her direction, Avrio is nearing the close of its first fund. Schiff was exposed to the real estate business at an early age as her father, Jim Schiff, was a hotel and industrial developer in Las Vegas and she was on the job site of Circus-Circus Hotel as a toddler. Schiff started her first business in 1996 at the age of 30.
Under the guidance of CEO Ellie Perlman, Blue Lake Capital LLC has become one of Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies. Colleagues describe her as bold and entrepreneurial with an ability to foster a culture of empowerment and growth. She has led the company through uncertainty and pressure within the multifamily sector, demonstrating resilience, adaptability and strategic foresight to navigate challenges transparently and decisively. She manages the entire team, handling recruitment and the ongoing expansion of personnel, overseeing portfolio growth and the myriad challenges that accompany it, while also driving overall improvements in operational efficiency. Her responsibilities span financial management, marketing and maintaining investor relations, and she maintains a comprehensive understanding of every facet of the business, ensuring its smooth operation and development. She is a mentor and role model to many, sharing her knowledge and experiences to uplift and inspire the next generation of women leaders. Her dedication to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion within the workplace has set a new standard for leadership and made a significant impact on the industry.
Sara Myerson brings more than 15 years of finance, design, development and public-private partnership experience to her role as managing director of investments at MSquared, where she leads the firm’s impact investment strategy and manages its discretionary investment funds. She is a member of the firm’s investment committee, leads the investment team and oversees MSquared’s $225 million real estate investment portfolio. Myerson began her career at Goldman Sachs as an analyst evaluating and structuring mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, divestitures, restructurings, and debt and equity financings for corporate clients in the media, technology and telecommunications sectors. She then served as chief of staff and director of policy at Preservation of Affordable Housing in Boston and director of planning at the Boston Planning and Development Agency where she oversaw the agency’s work related to planning, urban design and zoning with a focus on working in partnership with the community to guide inclusive growth and shape the future of Boston. Myerson also held multiple roles with the City of Boston including executive director of the Office of Olympic Planning, where she led efforts to develop the city’s plans to bid for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Throughout Uma Moriarity’s 7-year tenure at CenterSquare Investment Management, she has led the charge in r evolutionizing the firm’s thought leadership platform. As senior investment strategist, she is a core member of CenterSquare’s listed real estate investment team, conducting strategic research into public markets and making investment recommendations for the firm’s $14 billion in assets under management. Moriarity crafts thought leadership pieces on the current macroeconomic environment, real estate valuations in the public and private sectors, and outlooks by specific property sectors. Her popular quarterly REIT Cap-Rate perspective and white papers produced throughout the year solidify her reputation as a trusted industry expert who is frequently sought after to provide industry commentary within the media. Moriarity’s overarching sector expertise also contributed to the launch of CenterSquare’s 2024 Outlook series, which covered key sector updates across listed real estate, private equity real estate and private real estate debt. In addition, as senior investment strategist and global ESG lead, Moriarity drives strategic initiatives across multiple investment teams and is in charge of structuring the firm’s ESG program, all while still playing a significant role in leading CenterSquare’s brand development. She was also recently appointed to CenterSquare’s debt investment committee and is currently the youngest partner at the firm.
A well-known and respected leader in the student housing industry, Madison Meier is SVP and head of capital markets at Cardinal Group Cos., bringing 15 years of experience to her role. She is responsible for all fundraising and capital markets activities and is a member of its executive leadership team, investment committee and a team dedicated to debt and equity strategies. Despite headwinds in 2023, Meier closed on 10 transactions at nearly $600 million in assets under management. She was instrumental in closing the firm’s first-ever OpCo investment, negotiating the sale of 10% of the business to Whitman Peterson. She also launched Cardinal’s development program and raised and deployed more than $100 million in recap equity with new equity partnerships for Cardinal. Meier launched Cardinal’s student housing development arm and raised $40 million in equity for The Cove, a new student housing community currently under construction in Santa Barbara, California. She is an active member in Cardinal’s Women-in-Leadership BRG and WISH - Women Investing in Student Housing. She is on the NMHC finance committee and is frequently featured on panels across the industry.
Jaime Lee is the CEO of the Jamison group of companies, a privately held, family-run commercial real estate enterprise with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion that operates 13 million square feet of office, multifamily and retail properties throughout Southern California. Lee manages the firm’s portfolio of 100 buildings and led the push to rebrand the company and its properties by positioning them to capitalize on a burgeoning tech scene in and around downtown. Lee and her brothers also saw the growing need for housing in Los Angeles 10 years ago and converted one-third of the firm’s existing office buildings into residential properties, propelling the firm to one of the largest apartment owners in Los Angeles. She began her career in 2008 during the Global Financial Crisis, which taught Lee to be nimble in the face of constantly changing market conditions. She previously served the City of Los Angeles for four years as president of the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System Board of Administration, which oversees the city’s $17 billion employee pension fund, and on the boards for the Industrial Development Authority and the Quality and Productivity Commission.
Mary Lang has played an important role in CBRE Investment Management’s Americas expansion within the modern logistics sector, leading more than $4.5 billion of transactions since joining CBRE IM in 2021. Under her leadership, the firm has acquired and developed 24 million square feet of infill logistics properties in some of the nation’s top markets, including the Southern California port market and the Inland Empire, as well as the New Jersey and New York shipping/ transportation corridors. Lang is head of the Americas direct logistics strategies for CBRE IM and is responsible for the portfolio construction, fund management, asset oversight and investment strategy for the firm’s Americas logistics platform. Last year, Lang acquired 364 acres of covered land in the Inland Empire that is earmarked for the first phase of Speedway Commerce Center, a planned, seven-building, 6.5-million-square-foot, state-of-the-art logistics development in Fontana, California. She also led the acquisition of the Port of LA Distribution Center, composed of four buildings totaling 1.82 million square feet. Lang’s influence is increasingly sought after on industry panels and she delivers an annual guest lecture series at the Columbia Business School.
The Ackerberg Group president Jackie Knight takes action when she sees a need. She made a significant commitment to stabilizing the once-thriving urban neighborhood of Uptown in Minneapolis following a shooting that led to the perception that the area was unsafe. Knight created an ad-hoc group of property owners focused on security and began fundraising for a violence interruption program called We Push for Peace that patrols the area. At Ackerberg, Knight oversees all aspects of the company, including asset and property management, accounting, development, investor services, brokerage, fund management and company administration. She also serves as the firm’s broker of record and leads multiple investment funds, including Ackerberg’s third fund launched in 2022. Knight leads Ackerberg’s marketing, including the creation of the company’s formal ESG policy, along with materials needed for the launch of the next investment fund. She led the firm’s restructuring in 2023 and oversaw two acquisitions in Georgia and Wisconsin. She is a member of the Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition and is an elected member of the Uptown Special Service District Advisory Board, advising the Minneapolis City Council.
Katie Kimble started her career as a public accountant and spent the next two decades focusing on many aspects of alternative investing. In 2022, she joined Fundamental Income, a Phoenix-based net lease real estate company, as managing director of investments responsible for sourcing, originating and reviewing single-tenant acquisition and investment opportunities across the middle market. Kimble works in Chicago, giving the firm a Midwest presence. She built resilience during her career during the Great Financial Crisis when her entire office was eliminated, and again during COVID-19, when she moved to FI. In addition to leadership responsibilities on strategic initiatives, Kimble advances the firm’s goals within the business development and investment teams. She has led numerous marketing campaigns, client events and enhanced the firm’s presence in key target markets. Kimble also has served on industry boards and organizations, including the Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries, a curated network of industry leaders who serve as catalysts for the buying, funding and selling small and medium-sized businesses. She also is involved with the Association for Corporate Growth, an M&A deal-making community with a mission to drive middle-market growth.
Since joining CBRE Investment Management in 2021, Julie Ingersoll has led the Americas team’s growth in key sectors, including logistics and residential, as well as emerging growth real estate sectors that have shown resilience through recent market turbulence, such as life sciences, self-storage, student housing and other specialty residential assets. Such strategic portfolio positioning has led many of the strategies managed under Ingersoll’s watch to considerably outperform their benchmarks in 2023. Ingersoll is CIO for Americas direct real estate strategies for CBRE IM with overall responsibility for the investment strategy, portfolio management and analytics of almost $34 billion in assets under management. Under her guidance, the team has invested $4.2 billion in the residential, self-storage, logistics, retail and responsive office sectors in 2023. In addition to new transactions, firm resources were redeployed to focus on growing property level NOI in 2023, with the asset management team successfully leasing more than 5.7 million square feet of commercial space, including office, industrial, life sciences and medical office. The team was busy on the capital markets side as well, refinancing or modifying 16 loans totaling $2 billion. Ingersoll serves on the ULI UDMUC Silver Council and was recently named a board member of NAREIM.
Laura Hyde has been with Link Logistics since 2019, when she joined the firm through its integration with Talos Capital, where she had been working since 2017. Prior to that, Hyde was a senior financial analyst with Pritzker Realty Group, where she worked on more than $127 million of acquisitions and ground-up developments representing 2.1 million square feet. She also was an associate at Oak Street Real Estate Capital and a private equity analyst at Morgan Creek Capital Management. At Link Logistics, Hyde is managing director of investments overseeing acquisitions for the firm’s central region. Under Hyde’s oversight, the region completed $600 million of transaction volume, acquiring more than 20 buildings in Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth and El Paso. Hyde is a firm leader committed to empowering women at Link Logistics. She co-hosted the Link Women in Development and Investments offsite event, illustrating her passion for uplifting and supporting her female colleagues. She has served on the national planning committee for NAIOP’s CRE Converge Conference and is a highly engaged participant in NAIOP’s National Forums program. She is also a member of the ULI’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.
Jera Harris brings more than 34 years of experience across the Midwest and Southeast U.S. to her role as VP of asset management at Passco Cos. She oversees a portfolio of more than 3,000 multifamily units, plays a pivotal role in training team members and significantly contributes to the acquisition process, including budgeting and asset transitioning. Previously, as a regional property manager with Greystar, Harris managed 14 properties concurrently for Passco, ultimately paving her way to becoming an asset manager overseeing 12 properties simultaneously, including Passco’s most challenging asset. Whether facing natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, or adapting to rapidly changing market dynamics, she exhibits a calm demeanor and effective problem-solving skills. Notably, she played a pivotal role in the acquisition of two prominent properties in 2023. The acquisition of One Riverwalk, boasting a sale price of $124 million, was one of the highest in recent years in Knox County, and her involvement in the acquisition of Cortona at Forest Park, a multifamily community in a burgeoning neighborhood in St. Louis, demonstrates her proficiency in identifying lucrative opportunities in multifamily markets.
Three years ago, Karen Fan founded Wildflower Communities, a privately held, vertically integrated real estate investment firm that focuses on acquiring, operating and developing manufactured housing communities. As the firm’s principal, she is responsible for investment strategy, due diligence and financing, implementation of capital improvement plans, fundraising and investor reporting, and day-to-day management of her communities. She has grown her portfolio to about 1,000 units through creative, long-term investments. Fan is determined to change mobile home park stereotypes by meeting with local city officials to discuss her communities, and she hired a brand designer to rebrand all of her assets to help elevate the community’s perception of them. Fan has created an entrepreneurial culture that invests in employees with paid time off, paid holidays, healthcare benefits, employee recognition programs, and training and development opportunities. She is passionate about helping local communities and was formerly elected chair of the Young Professionals Board at KickStart International and a young patron of several art museums including the MoMA, the Met and the Museum of Arts and Design. She is also a member of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association, ULI and NYU Schack Real Estate Alumni Council.
A leader in the workforce housing arena, Interstate Equities Corp. co-president and COO Julia Boyd Corso has been instrumental in the family-owned business’ evolution into an institutional private equity firm that transforms California apartment communities on behalf of endowments, foundations and pension funds. She is responsible for corporate operations, asset management and the repositioning of all investments as well as setting the company’s strategic direction and investment strategies as a voting member of its investment committee. Boyd Corso joined the company in 2005 and has consistently been willing to roll up her sleeves to do what is needed to get the job done. She also has been central to IEC’s portfolio growth amid the pandemic and after. She targets smaller properties in infill locations that typically have been family-owned for several years and lack hands-on management and necessary improvements. Through Boyd Corso, IEC also targets larger-scale institutional-quality assets that require a more strategic renovation. In the past year, she played a seminal role in a series of multifamily real estate purchases IEC completed in November 2023 totaling roughly $68 million. She is a member of the ULI Multifamily Green Council and the Stanford Real Estate Council.
Upon graduation from USC, Lisa Bhathal Merage joined family business RAJ Swim, where she started with an entry- level marketing role and worked up to co-CEO. In 2006, she launched LUXE by Lisa Vogel, a line of upscale swimwear sold at luxury retailers and then launched RAJ Capital, the alternative asset division of the Bhathal Family Office. It included an opportunity zone investment platform, RevOZ, which has invested more than $1.3 billion in opportunities designated for economic growth. This enterprise led to Revitate, a Newport Beach-based commercial real estate investment platform that partners with visionary business builders with the talent and drive to achieve transformational economic and social impact. As co-founder and chief impact officer of Revitate, Bhathal Merage champions social impact through property investment and the creation of a social council. Along with her family, Bhathal Merage is co-owner of Sacramento Basketball Holdings LLC, which owns the Sacramento Kings franchise of the National Basketball Association, Golden 1 Center, the Sawyer Hotel and residences, and is the developer of the Downtown Commons entertainment and sports district in Sacramento.
Anusha Bera joined The RMR Group as a property manager more than 10 years ago and today is director of leasing at the firm due to her multidisciplinary skill set and open-door policy. In her role, Bera leverages negotiations, finance, management and marketing expertise to achieve the best outcome for the assets she represents. Colleagues describe Bera as honest, hard-working and reliable. She relocated from Chicago to Sacramento in 2021 and is responsible for RMR’s leasing activity across the West Coast, including more than 60 properties encompassing eight million square feet. She works closely with RMR’s asset management team to manage tenancy in her properties and collaborates with brokers to market, negotiate and resource opportunities for her office, medical and life science assets. Bera also partners with the portfolio management and senior leadership teams as well as ownership representatives to analyze deal structures that include joint venture partners. Her notable accomplishments include managing leasing initiatives for the HUB 1415 redevelopment in Naperville, Illinois, a 75-acre class A office campus with 721,936 square feet of interior space as well as walking paths and outdoor gathering areas, and completing a new lease deal for an 87,000-square-foot building on a seven-year term in Arizona.
Gina Baker Chambers was recently named president of MCB Real Estate, an owner, operator and developer in her hometown of Baltimore. Previously, she was a senior managing director at Artemis Real Estate Partners where she connected pension funds to investments that generated attractive risk-adjusted returns. During her 14-year tenure at the company, Baker Chambers helped the company grow from a startup to managing $10 billion in assets. She led a joint venture of MCB and Artemis with projects such as the stabilization of the Palmetto Logistics Center in the Atlanta area. She joined MCB as an executive on loan in June 2023 and later resigned from Artemis to assume the role of MCB president in December 2023. She is tasked with growing MCB’s momentum and connectivity to nationwide institutional partners. Her impact at MCB has been swift as she played a pivotal role in optimizing a joint venture involving MCB, Artemis, Invesco Real Estate, Curated Development Group and Birchwood Capital Partners, resulting in the largest lease in MCB’s history — a 1.2-million-square-foot lease with Webstaurant Store at the Currwood Logistics Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, a speculative development nearing completion. This project is anticipated to create at least 700 new jobs.
Jenny Zhan founded alternative investment management firm Beyond Global Management and leads all areas of the business and operations as its CEO. She brings more than 20 years of investment experience focused on institutional investing and managing multi-asset strategies to her role. As a CFA, she specializes in international wealth management and has managed investments in real estate assets and global equities markets for large institutional investors. Zhan founded Beyond to make professionally managed real estate investments accessible to a broader range of investors. The firm currently manages $350 million in assets across 18 private equity/credit funds, which includes diverse, well-structured investments in real estate equity and credit products. Through her involvement and expertise in the EB-5 programs and investment migration, Zhan has helped her clients get involved in U.S. projects targeting rural and urban high-unemployment areas, where opportunities for housing and job creation qualify for investment through the program and offer a path to legal U.S. residency. For example, Beyond is currently working with a developer designing micro-unit apartments in a desirable neighborhood in the downtown Los Angeles area.
After joining Hudson Valley Property Group in 2019 as director of portfolio management, Laura Yanushpolsky developed processes and implemented structured oversight for the firm’s portfolio. With an ability to discern overarching trends within the portfolio, she quickly identified opportunities to increase asset value and enhance investment performance. Her success led to a promotion to director of asset management in 2023, assuming responsibility for overseeing an affordable housing portfolio that experienced significant growth despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. With oversight of a portfolio comprising 10,650 units across 75 properties spanning eight states, Yanushpolsky ensures the effective execution of business plans tailored to each property, including management of asset performance and financial outcomes and implementing value-add strategies. She also supervises property valuations and communicates performance metrics to stakeholders, fostering transparency and informed decision-making. She has played a pivotal role in securing $292 million in capital commitments for the firm’s second fund, which closed in 2022. Yanushpolsky has scaled and executed the delivery of impactful resident services across HVPG’s portfolio including providing free or reduced-cost WiFi and credit score enhancement opportunities for residents through programs such as Esusu and Pinata.
With a well-rounded background during her 12-year career, particularly a deep understanding of investment strategy, capital formation and transaction experience, Christie Wootton has risen through the ranks at Greystar and now is the firm’s managing director of portfolio management. Throughout the past 12 months, she has played a critical role in the formation and growth of Greystar’s build-for-rent platform to more than 1,500 homes. In addition, she has been the lead portfolio manager for Greystar’s development-led life science venture, which has an identified pipeline of $2.4 billion in the Boston market. Last year, Wootton began a new role under the leadership of Greystar’s CIO overseeing the company’s strategic partnerships globally, representing $30 billion in active equity under management. Wootton chairs the investment committee for the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina and serves as a member of its board of directors. She also is a key leader in Greystar’s Project Destined initiative, an effort that inspires young, underserved students to pursue careers in commercial real estate. Wootton earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society of South Carolina.
Pamela West and her team at Nuveen Real Estate have doubled the firm’s portfolio of affordable housing assets to $6.4 billion under management in the past year. The group now manages 161 affordable housing assets including 32,000 apartments in 24 states. West is a managing director who leads the real estate impact investment strategy at Nuveen, bringing 25 years of experience to her role, including the execution of more than $15 billion of transactions in acquisitions, dispositions, financing and asset management. At Nuveen, West oversees the sourcing, execution and portfolio management of the firm’s impact-investing housing platform and is heavily involved in community-focused organizations. Previously, she was the regional head of acquisitions and asset management for TH Real Estate, a Nuveen subsidiary, where she managed more than $2.8 billion of class A/B multifamily assets. West is a board member of the Real Estate Executive Council, Bold Charter Schools in the Bronx, Veritas Impact Partners and the City Parks Foundation in New York. Alongside these organizations, she serves on real estate advisory boards for the Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies and the Cooper Housing Institute.
Holly Yang has extensive experience strengthening brands for large corporate real estate companies, identifying and nurturing marketing talent and advocating for a strong team culture to achieve success. She joined Grubb Properties in 2020, bringing decades of international institutional experience and has been instrumental in repositioning the firm as a national force in multifamily real estate investment and development. Since joining Grubb Properties, Yang has fully rebranded the company while leading the investor marketing strategy for the launch and close of its Fund VII and the Link Apartments Opportunity Zone REIT, a consolidation of three previous Opportunity Zone REIT funds. In addition, she has synergized the Grubb Properties and Link Apartments brand identities, creating a more unified company and powering the company’s go-to-market presence. She has been promoted to the senior level of managing director, is part of the 12-person executive committee and presents periodically to the board on marketing results. Before joining Grubb Properties, Yang lived in Singapore and worked across the Asia Pacific and globally for more than 20 years, serving as CMO, Asia Pacific, for Cushman & Wakefield and international director at JLL.
After leading the development of Avison Young’s new brand and visual identity in 2020, managing internal stakeholders and external agency partners, global director of corporate marketing Katie Woodside founded Avison Young’s Brand Hub. The Brand Hub is the firm’s global brand and corporate marketing team, which focuses on the continual development and application of Avison Young’s visual identity and brand positioning, as well as the development of global campaigns and go-to-market materials. The Brand Hub delivered several brand-elevating projects in 2023, including Avison Young’s 2023 impact report “Portraits of Progress,” which included a partnership with Women Photograph, a nonprofit whose mission is to elevate the voices of women and nonbinary visual journalists across the globe. The project won seven Platinum MarCom Awards, including recognition for outstanding achievements in content, design and photography. Woodside also spearheaded a new branding strategy for the firm’s employee resource groups, creating brand alignment, consistency and positioning to enable talent attraction and retention. She has dedicated her career to Avison Young, from her early days as part of the Washington D.C. marketing team to her current leadership position. In recognition of her tenure with the firm and her brand-elevating achievements, she was named principal in 2023.
With a post-COVID-19 shift in the office market, Brookfield Properties tasked SVP of marketing Katie Williams with devising a comprehensive marketing strategy that would showcase not only Brookfield’s unique strengths as an office operator but also make the case for why office matters. Rather than telling people why office matters, she showed them. Her team leveraged tenant employees as spokespeople to deliver authentic messages about the value of in-person environments for community, culture and career development. The “Life is Better in Person” campaign featured engaging, high-energy videos and images of individuals and teams sharing experiences and building relationships across Brookfield’s campuses. The campaign reached more than 370,000 people and secured 60% above-average engagement and impression rates. Williams leads a team of 34 marketing, design and events professionals who support more than 100 assets. Her recent national marketing efforts are focused on sustainability and tenant engagement. For sustainability, in 2023, she created and launched a campaign to announce Brookfield’s commitment to transition its entire U.S. office portfolio to zero-emissions electricity. For tenant engagement, she is responsible for Activated, Brookfield’s national platform that organizes and hosts hundreds of tenant activations across its properties. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the industry.
Linda White drives the development, management and implementation of Colliers360 Analytics, a business intelligence system that features dashboards and portfolio analytics to provide tailored insights for real estate and facilities management needs. She established an industry- leading lease administration services platform, has championed AI/CDP within the lease abstraction process and is currently working on defining other AI solutions that will bring value to Colliers’ clients. White is head of lease administration and technology services as well as SVP of occupier services for the Americas at Colliers, where she oversees intricate system integration solutions, including B2B procurement and SAP implementation, for the business partner channel. Under her guidance, two teams provide lease management and technology services to more than 225 clients and have experienced consistent year-over-year growth. Joining Colliers in 2015, White brought more than 20 years of experience in solution development, platform management and system integration. Having held progressive roles at IBM as a program manager and executive consultant, her technical expertise extends to the integration of advanced technology platforms, including Qlik Sense, showcasing her understanding of how analytics can impact daily operations and align corporate real estate portfolio management with overall business strategy and objectives.
As chief product officer at Berkadia, Eglae Recchia has leveraged technology and data-driven insights, including enabling an artificial intelligence strategy, to streamline processes, reduce risks and drive better outcomes for clients. She sees a slow market as an opportunity to redefine Berkadia’s digital product strategies that help producers find stability and growth amid uncertainty. Recchia is committed to driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what is possible at the intersection of technology and CRE. Originally from Argentina, she brings a diverse perspective to her work and believes strongly in the power of diversity and empowerment. “Eglae helps connect the dots across Berkadia’s organization and helps define the digital product strategy that Berkadia looks to deliver,” says EVP and chief of information and innovation officer Damu Bashyam. “She’s responsible for leading product and design teams that work with the business, understands the problems, looks for solutions, designs, and partners within the company to bring them to life.” Beyond internal product development, Recchia collaborates with cross-functional teams, including investment sales, marketing and business development, to ensure a cohesive and integrated approach to product strategy.
Eve Picker founded SmallChange.co in 2016 to democratize real estate development and investment at a time when crowdfunding regulation allowed anyone 18 and older to participate in investment opportunities. The platform connects developers who are raising money for projects with social impact to people who wish to support such projects and streamlines the investment process for both parties. To date, 62% of the projects on SmallChange are minority- or woman- owned and almost 90% are in underserved neighborhoods. Picker oversees all aspects of the business and its growth, working closely with the SmallChange advisory board to determine strategy while supervising staff and expanding the pool of investors in both the company and in the projects on the platform. Under her leadership, SmallChange has listed 47 projects and closed and secured more than $13 million in funding for 36 of them. Throughout the past year, Picker has shared her insights about crowdfunding, real estate and equitable communities during keynotes and podcasts and has participated on panels for organizations and events.
As a broker in New York and Florida for more than two decades, Dawn Pfaff observed challenges with the local multiple listing service structure and founded MyStateMLS to provide an alternative MLS solution. She designed, built and developed a platform that provides the same core features of a local MLS but adds sales strategies, marketing tools and features to help real estate professionals succeed during uncertain times. As inventory decreased and the industry got tougher during the past few years, Pfaff has built tools and focused on aspects of the MLS that help agents save time and earn more money. She developed a novel buyer agreement form designed to establish agency between real estate sales associates and buyers and spearheaded the introduction of a marketing assets feature within the MLS infrastructure. This feature empowers members to access and download more than 500 diverse and customizable marketing materials, significantly easing brand promotion efforts for real estate professionals. MyStateMLS has more than 100,000 members across the country.
Before joining WMG Development, Leana Janik worked in project controls at Walt Disney Imagineering, but her Disney career was disrupted when COVID-19 hit. After being furloughed and then laid off, Janik realized her estimating and project control skills were useful in commercial real estate and brought her skills to WMB Development as program controls manager. She has overhauled every aspect of WMG project management to work in a more sensible, efficient and easy-to-understand manner. Janik leverages her experience outside of commercial real estate to create outside-the-box solutions to operational hurdles. Rather than relying solely on specialized real estate management software, she has integrated software programs such as Salesforce and Smartsheet to monitor company developments and project workflow, manage accounting tasks and identify potential problems before they arise. She has tailored software solutions to improve workflow and on-site efficiency for projects across the U.S. In addition, she has designed, implemented and executed processes that streamline software and on-the-job training for new development team members.
Throughout her 20-year career, Newmark senior managing director Robin Fisher has closed hundreds of millions of dollars in leasing deals and helped the company navigate through significant periods of growth. She specializes in tenant representation and advises on asset optimization and site selection strategies. In addition, with an innovative spirit and commitment to sustainability and efficient space utilization, Fisher founded PropTech company BLACE, a vendor booking platform that activates vacant and underutilized spaces. Blace.com features more than 100 unique event venues across New York City and Los Angeles, with more than 40 venues in its exclusive portfolio unavailable elsewhere. The platform supports short-term bookings, from corporate gatherings and large-scale productions to milestone celebrations and film/TV shoots. Under her leadership as CEO, BLACE has garnered top-tier press coverage, expanded its operations in Los Angeles, and secured the iconic US Bank Tower in Los Angeles as an exclusive venue. Beyond her professional responsibilities, Fisher is dedicated to mentoring younger talent at Newmark and BLACE, guiding the next generation of professionals with her extensive experience and insights. Her dual roles and mentorship efforts highlight her leadership and influence across industries and her significant impact on real estate and tech.
Hiffman National director of property management operations Erin Converse pivoted to the commercial real estate industry after working as a programmer for Intel and a college math professor. A quick study, Converse adjusted to her role as a property assistant and quickly rose to property manager. She recently transitioned to the operations side of the company and has emerged as an expert in innovative systems and technologies that improve employee and client experiences. Her impact is most visible in the onboarding and internal career development processes. Her brainchild, the Hiffman Essentials program, is a six-week training course based on employee feedback that equips new property management professionals with the tools and confidence to maintain a consistent quality of work nationwide. Recently elevated to her current role, Converse is tasked with researching, developing and rolling out innovative tools and processes for property managers and engineers. One such process unique to Hiffman is the Property Engineering Evaluation Program. Through the PEEP, each building engineer at Hiffman has a standardized checklist of tasks that ensure their building is running smoothly. She also automated processes in Adobe Sign that allow property management staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
Nikki Thornton was a recipient of the CREW Network Scholarship, which provided her the opportunity to intern at CBRE. It was one of several internships she had during her time as an accounting student at Western Carolina University and while earning her master of accounting degree from Wingate University. As the result of an internship at Elliott Davis LLC, she was highly recruited out of college to work at the firm, where she went on to be promoted twice to the role of tax senior at the large firm. She then joined boutique accounting firm Stell CPA as a tax expert before being recruited to Charlotte development firm MECA Commercial Real Estate where she is the firm’s commercial controller. She oversees day-to-day financial operations of the company, including advising on key developments, locations, budgets, complex underwriting and providing insight and guidance on economic projections. She also assisted in re-branding the firm, a project that entailed hours of strategy, planning, project management, partner engagement and meeting stakeholder needs on time and on budget. Thornton is a partner in a real estate firm, H34 Homes, and is instrumental in the firm’s strategic direction, financial reporting and partnerships.
Due to her ability to develop and strengthen relationships among stakeholders involved in a project as well as her professionalism and collaborative approach, Caroline Sullivan was recruited to Bozzuto in 2014. She is the director of business development for Bozzuto Construction responsible for managing the business development process while also creating and maintaining client and industry relationships for projects in Washington D.C. and Virginia. Her expertise includes various multifamily product types, including rental residential, affordable, mixed-income, market rate, renovations, and student and senior housing. Since she took over business development efforts for the DMV, the construction pipeline has doubled to $2 billion. In 2023, Sullivan oversaw the pursuit of more than $1 billion worth of projects and closed $250 million into active construction. She graduated from the ULI Washington Leadership Institute, an experiential training program that equips future land use leaders with the regional and industry insights, leadership skills and multidisciplinary relationships they need to build a thriving, sustainable and equitable Greater Washington region. In addition, Sullivan co-founded Badass Real Estate Women (BREW), a grassroots networking organization that connects and empowers bold women in real estate.
Amanda Spangler made CRE history in 2021 when she and colleague Jodie Poirier became the first two women to oversee a global commercial real estate services company’s operations in the Greater Los Angeles region. Spangler is managing director for the Inland Empire and Orange County offices of Colliers overseeing a team of 70 brokerage professionals. Her responsibilities include expansion, with a focus on fostering organic growth by implementing comprehensive business plans for her sales professionals and identifying unique client opportunities. She has hired more than 20 associates in the past two years and has targeted increased diversification through informational and recruitment efforts at local universities, such as Cal Poly Pomona. Spangler holds a key position on the board of directors for NAIOP Inland Empire, where she has been appointed as the Broker Challenge and Market Update co-chair. In addition to her professional responsibilities, she is dedicated to enhancing community initiatives and philanthropic endeavors in the offices under her supervision. Every quarter, her regional offices collaborate with local charities, such as Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, United Way in the Inland Empire, and the Boys & Girls Club in Santa Ana to address the needs of local communities.
Savills assistant director Tomi Sargent has closed more than 154 deals and nearly one million square feet due to a client- centric approach and an unwavering dedication to her work. As a tenant representation broker, she guides clients through the complexities of leasing transactions, including the entire process from initial consultation to lease negotiation and execution. She conducts comprehensive market analyses to identify optimal leasing opportunities that align with her clients’ strategic goals and financial objectives and negotiates favorable lease terms and concessions. She provides expert guidance on market trends, lease negotiations and portfolio optimization strategies. In the past year, Sargent has achieved several notable milestones, including facilitating the relocation and establishment of a finance technology company’s first office in Washington D.C. and securing a below-market deal as well as collaborating with a nonprofit client on a restructuring and extension that resulted in $4.1 million in savings. Sargent mentors young professionals in CRE through her participation in the CREW Now & Next committee. She has served on the silent auction committee for Lombardi Women, contributing to raising more than $4 million for breast cancer research, and she participated in the JDRF Real Estate Games planning committee, which helped raise $1.4 million for Type 1 Diabetes research.
In 2017, Greystar tapped Caitlin Russell to institutionalize its investor relations function, which today includes 25 members worldwide. She wore many hats when she first joined the company and supported a lean team, but under her guidance, the team has grown to 25 members worldwide, which she leads as senior director of investor relations. When she joined the company, Greystar’s AUM was $20 billion. Today it is more than $76 billion. Russell is responsible for delivering the Greystar platform to institutional investors with a focus on capital formation and business development and providing execution support for the investment management team across Greystar’s North American ventures. She played a key role in developing a strategy for Greystar’s Essential Housing initiative which aims to deliver high-quality attainable housing to underserved essential workers while targeting attractive return potential for investors. Russell is described by her team as an eloquent speaker who has top-notch presentation skills, can command a room and knows what it takes to thoughtfully deliver the message of Greystar’s platform to investors.
Portland-based attorney Allison Reynolds is an influential legal advisor to commercial, residential and industrial real estate developers in complex land use law. A partner at Stoel Rives LLP, she practices in Oregon, Washington and California and handles multistate transactions, specializing in high- impact development projects, including waterfront redevelopment, affordable housing, inclusionary housing, historic building repositioning and public-private partnerships. Reynolds is land use counsel to Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon’s largest hospital and only medical school, for development work on its campuses spanning almost 400 acres. She also is land use counsel to AJCPT on its redevelopment of the historic Troy Laundry Building in Portland’s Central Eastside, which recently opened as the new home for Soho House Portland. Reynolds co-founded Stoel’s collaborative, industry-focused Dirt and Development group, which facilitates information sharing across real estate, construction land use, environment and litigation practice groups, and is a long-standing member of NAIOP’s Oregon chapter, where she works collaboratively with government officials to shape policies to stimulate investment and economic growth within Portland. Last year, Russell was elected to the board of sustainable development advocacy group Oregon Smart Growth and has served as a policy committee member since 2019.
New York City development is riddled with challenges, and Ashley Doukas helps her clients grapple with some of the most difficult, including securing approvals from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission and staying compliant with inclusionary housing rules and environmental reviews. Doukas is a partner with Adler & Stachenfeld where she has advised clients across New York City in navigating complex real estate development issues for more than a decade. As chair of the firm’s land use and zoning practice, she represents a diverse portfolio of clients on a broad range of real estate development matters with an emphasis on land use, zoning and related environmental issues. Doukas is a leading legal expert in New York City waterfront development, having worked on numerous waterfront projects, including a recent rezoning project on the Bronx River and a rezoning in the Special Flushing Waterfront District several years ago. She serves as an associate board member of The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corp., a community development organization dedicated to building sustainable, affordable homes with the vision that all people deserve healthy, vibrant communities.
Basis Industrial was Zoe Daniel’s first job after graduating college, and as the firm has grown exponentially since Daniel first started, her career has grown alongside it. She joined Basis Industrial to pursue a career in the commercial real estate industry, a familiar business as her family was involved in residential real estate. Daniel is the director of construction and development/leasing working on self-storage and industrial projects through acquisition, development and leasing. When she first joined the company in August 2022, Basis owned and managed 200,000 square feet of industrial warehouses with a total of 30 tenants. It now owns more than four million square feet of industrial warehouses with more than 800 tenants. In addition, Basis is developing 15 self-storage buildings, and Daniel has been a key contributor in the construction, development and leasing of these assets. In the past 12 months, the largest deal Daniel worked on was the acquisition of a $30 million warehouse with an additional land parcel located in her hometown of Armonk, New York. She assisted in negotiating a sale-leaseback for a term of 15 years and was the main point of contact for leasing. She attended all the planning board meetings in Armonk and has facilitated the pre-construction with Basis’ design team.
Nuveen Real Estate asset management associate Anita Chen’s journey is a testament to her competence, grit and integrity. She is a first-generation Chinese-American who is deaf. Born to parents who immigrated to the U.S. with only $200 and limited English proficiency to establish a door manufacturing company, Chen witnessed their American Dream unravel during the Great Recession, culminating in bankruptcy, the loss of their home and the closing of their business. Faced with the challenge of supporting her family in the wake of her parents’ linguistic barriers where they are unable to find jobs, she assumed the role of head of household, opting to complete her high school education through an online homeschool program while concurrently working full-time in various capacities to provide shelter and necessities. This work ethic persisted through her college years and continues to define her professional career today. Chen manages a multifamily portfolio valued at $1.1 billion in Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire and Denver, overseeing strategic management, leasing activities, and capital investments, navigating negotiations for property management, leasing and construction contracts, and analyzing investment strategies. Chen champions inclusivity through accessibility as a deaf woman advocating for closed captioning at major real estate events, starting with CREW Network.
As senior director of enterprise solutions at ATTOM, Jennifer Carrillo manages aspects of customer service, technical support and sales operations, and she supported 62% of all of the company’s sale transactions during the past year. Her responsibilities include providing guidance and mentorship to customer service representatives, data fulfillment engineers and sales engineers. In her concurrent role as a sales engineer, Carrillo is tasked with selling complex technical products and services leveraging her comprehensive understanding of the technical aspects, functionalities and benefits of ATTOM’s offerings to communicate their value to potential customers. She collaborated with the product team to create a groundbreaking new product that benefitted from her deep understanding of client needs and perspectives. Her commitment extends into civic engagement through her regular attendance at city meetings where she serves as an advocate for policies, practices and initiatives aimed at fostering a safe, inclusive and fiscally sound city. Her proactive involvement in local governance showcases her leadership and dedication to shaping a community that prioritizes the well-being of its residents.
Rayelle Calvert began with Crexi as an account manager and has been promoted five times throughout her tenure to her current role as senior regional sales director running a team of 20. She is responsible for meeting and exceeding company sales goals across the central and mid-America markets. Her day-to-day responsibilities consist of developing and implementing plans and procedures to meet these goals; coaching, mentoring, and motivating her team; and recruiting and training new talent. She also travels across the country meeting with commercial real estate brokerages to present Crexi’s vision, value proposition and product. Calvert holds the highest sales volume in the company’s history and finished 2023 as a top-five salesperson at Crexi. She also set a personal goal to attain her real estate license which she earned last year. Calvert has represented Crexi at numerous events, including ICSC, SIOR and NAI regional and global conferences. She is passionate about animals and in her personal time volunteers at a local animal rescue, Best Friends Animal Society. She also dedicates her spare time to volunteering at her church, working at its food bank and giving back to the local Inglewood community weekly.
In the nine years since graduating with a civil engineering degree, Hannah Breed has grown into a leader in her office and her community. She is a studio manager at Urban Design Partners where she leads a diverse team of civil engineers, landscape architects and planners while managing land development projects across the Carolinas. She has a portfolio of 50 projects ranging from small urban infill to large single- family developments. Breed was the lead engineer on the Lintmen’s project that was awarded an Urban Design award for great development near transit and the McKee Creek Village that was recognized as community of the year by LGI. She has helped grow UDP through her recruiting efforts and has developed various programs for aspiring project managers and those who want to grow technically. She also is a founding member of UDP’s operations leadership group, OpsL10, a group of project managers and designers who meet weekly to oversee systems and processes for the UDP team. Throughout the past year, the group has developed and implemented new and refined processes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the team. She is involved with CREW Charlotte.
Since she was a teenager, Noelani Brannon has been interested in the built environment and inspired to creatively transform spaces. She attended the University of Central Florida, earning a BA in communications followed by a Master of Art in interior design from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She then spent three years at Nehmer and HVS Design, where she rose to senior designer. Brannon joined //3877 as an interior designer collaborating on interior design and branding projects spanning the hospitality, retail and healthcare sectors. Specific to hospitality, she has had her hand in various projects — from 60-key boutique hotels to 370-key branded properties. Currently, Brannon is working on the renovation of Salt Lake City Marriott’s public spaces, including the convention center. She focuses on leading projects from initial concept through design and construction, working onsite to carefully curate the space’s materials, finishes and products including furniture and fixtures. Throughout each project, she leads teams through each step of the design process, guiding them along the way to facilitate their own professional development.
Morningstar Properties controller and VP of accounting Katie Barker joined the firm in 2022 and is an integral member of leadership, providing strategic insight, financial performance initiatives and corporate oversight. Throughout the past year, Barker has been building credibility for the internal accounting department at Morningstar Properties, which manages more than $130 million of net revenue commercial real estate property. Her oversight of seven accountants and all financial reporting has led to institutional partners continuing to provide millions of dollars of capital for future endeavors. She revamped the budgeting process and eliminated inefficiencies for more than $117 million of net revenue generating self-storage properties and $16 million in net revenue for marina properties. She also eliminated multiple systems and created efficiencies for communication across teams and divisions, and she implemented a new purchase card program for 200 users, saving credit card fees and additional credit rewards of $50,000 annually for the company. Barker is the 2024 president of the Charlotte chapter of CREW, where she has raised more than $650,000 during three consecutive years for programs and scholarships while serving on the sponsorship committee.
Stephanie Ascher started her career as a receptionist at KBS nearly 15 years ago. Her strong drive to achieve results caught the attention of the executive team, which moved her to an investment analyst role. She ascended the ranks as an investment associate and senior investment associate before reaching her current executive role as AVP of asset management and portfolio operations. Her career path also has taken her across the country, giving her experience in the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest and Southeast managing 4.7 million square feet of properties. Colleagues say she is warm and down-to-earth and leads with grace and intelligence. She wears many hats in her current role, from asset management to interdepartmental coordination and data analysis. She remains up to date on changing market conditions, performs due diligence and manages accounting, budgeting and underwriting for all projects related to commercial real estate. She also provides initial and ongoing training to acquisition/asset management analysts and collaborates with regional presidents and the C-suite on special projects. Ascher recently graduated from NAIOP’s Young Professionals Group leadership program and is involved with the Orange County Chapter of CREW most recently helping with the chapter’s SPIRE Awards gala.
Lindsey Ancona’s vision for building happy communities led to Inspire, Silverstein Properties’ hospitality-driven division that manages amenity spaces and residential properties with a holistic approach. Ancona is VP of Inspire and has grown it into a revenue-based division of Silverstein Properties despite challenges related to COVID-19. When the pandemic arrived in New York, the company shifted to a remote work model, pushing the fledgling Inspire project to the back burner. Knowing people were lonely, stranded and fatigued with the news that plagued every media and social outlet source, Ancona and her colleagues turned the Inspire platform into a digital and virtual place to keep tenants and their employees engaged. During this time, Inspire grew from 12,000 users to nearly 15,000 users, and as people began to return to the office, the platform transitioned to an in-person offering. Ancona oversees Silverstein Properties’ commercial amenity spaces, sets and maintains associated budgets for each space, manages a team of account managers, creates Inspire programming and procures external partnerships. Inspire hosted more than 50 building-wide events across the commercial portfolio in 2023.
Shayna Platt has played a significant role in differentiating BioMed Realty’s portfolio through ESG initiatives, responding to investor and tenant appetite for sustainable buildings. As senior director of ESG, Platt established a standardized portfolio approach to ESG data collection, process improvement and achieving healthy green building certifications. She also led entity-level ESG reporting in alignment with sustainability frameworks and provided ESG- related training across the company. Her accomplishments include the creation of BioMed Realty’s first ESG materiality assessment followed by the organization of proper ESG governance throughout departments by establishing and leading taskforces focused on sustainable buildings, sustainable development, energy and climate, and DEI. Platt guided BioMed Realty through its GRESB submission, a collaborative effort that involved virtually every department within the company, showcasing her leadership. The company secured 4-star ratings in standing investments and a 5-star rating in development. Since moving to San Diego for her career at BioMed Realty, Platt has involved herself with organizations like the Young Professional Network San Diego as a way to network. She is also a member of the ULI Greenprint community to collaborate and advance sustainability efforts at an industry level.
Aryel Perring has been a go-getter in the CRE industry from the beginning of her college career when she served as an intern at WMG. Today she is regional development director at the firm where she likens her role to being the quarterback of Florida’s West Coast region. Since taking over as RDD in October 2020, she has played a pivotal role in overseeing shopping centers and other complex developments incorporating credit tenants, including Publix, Fifth Third Bank, Starbucks, Chipotle and Heartland Dental. Perring is always looking for new opportunities to expand WMG’s development portfolio, leveraging in-depth research skills and an ability to network with important players in the southwest Florida real estate market. Once she identifies a promising site, her role shifts to underwriting and evaluating the opportunity, including conducting financial analysis to assess the project feasibility and analyzing site plans to ensure they align with WMG’s strategic objectives. Her greatest professional accomplishment has been her leadership throughout the planning, construction and grand opening stages of a new Publix development site in Sarasota, the first of three planned Publix grand openings Perring is working on.
Reed Smith LLP partner Thuy Nguyen has handled complex real estate transactions worth more than $1.2 billion in aggregate during the past two years. She began her career at Reed Smith nine years ago as a summer associate and was promoted to partner at the beginning of 2024. Her responsibilities include representing institutional developers, owners, lenders, buyers and sellers in transactions involving acquisition, disposition, leasing and secured finance throughout California and the U.S. She filled in for the firm’s deputy general counsel during a planned leave, which gave her invaluable insight into the inner workings and needs of one of the firm’s top clients. During this time as inside counsel, Nguyen sat in on committee investment meetings and advised the client’s C-suite on legal risks associated with transactions, helping them determine their structure and course. She then worked with the business team and managed outside counsel to see the deal to completion. Nguyen has served on Reed Smith’s hiring committee, where she is focused on recruiting diverse talent while cultivating the next generation of legal leaders. She also serves as an integration mentor for lateral hires and first-year associates, helping new arrivals integrate, meet internal benchmarks, and consider career promotion and compensation issues.
Jade Miller is president of capital markets at Bourne Financial Group, as well as the youngest-ever elected president of the Alternative and Direct Investment Securities Association (ADISA), where she served as head of the association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and has actively championed the expansion of its DEI initiatives. Notably, she has forged impactful partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), opening avenues for more students and women to participate in ADISA events. She also mentors women in the alternative investment space and within BFG. In her role at BFG, Miller identifies new investment opportunities, formulates the structure of Bourne investment programs, and sources equity through strategic engagements with broker-dealers, RIAs and institutional partners. She also orchestrates sales efforts across all offerings and distribution operations, ensuring the legal protection of investors’ capital. Since joining BFG, Miller has helped grow the sales team and spearheaded the launch of six distinctive BFG offerings. Her strategic vision and hands-on approach have significantly contributed to the company’s success and continued expansion to a portfolio that includes 31 senior housing communities with more than 3,000 units.
Elena Ji was born and raised in Shenzhen, China, and came to the U.S. as an exchange student when she was 14. Moving halfway across the world as a teenager taught her skills that have helped her thrive. Ji moved to Charlotte in 2018 as part of a market expansion with the general contractor she worked for. She then attended grad school at UNC Charlotte, returning to the building industry upon graduation. She joined Barringer Construction and was a top-performing project manager for two years before joining JLL, where she is a construction project manager working on the Bank of America account. During her career, she has managed construction for ground-up banks and high-end interior upfit projects including Grant Thornton and Allspring offices in Vantage South End. She was involved in multiple healthcare projects including Reproductive Specialists of the Carolinas and Northeastern University Nursing School. She is also an active CRE broker with Gallimore & Associates and she assisted her husband in co-founding KH-Elite Cleaning Services, a fast-growing commercial cleaning company in the Charlotte market.
Despite being a relatively young shareholder in the law firm Polsinelli, Kelly Greco has had an outsized impact on the commercial real estate industry. She joined Polsinelli in 2017 as an associate and was elected to firm shareholder two years later, recognizing her deep understanding of complex commercial real estate. Her practice focuses on advising developers, owners, investors, landlords and tenants as well as borrowers and lenders on legal matters regarding retail developments, retail leasing, multifamily assets, student housing, industrial assets and cannabis transactions. Due in large part to her ability to win repeat business, Greco’s practice has grown substantially at Polsinelli. She represents one of the largest publicly traded, vertically integrated, multistate cannabis companies in the U.S., advising it on the acquisition and leasing of properties spanning nine states. She also serves as exclusive outside general counsel for a privately held commercial real estate investment and development company based in Detroit, facilitating more than 65 real estate transactions on behalf of the client encompassing a wide range of activities related to commercial real estate. Throughout the past year, she has completed more than $870 million of complex, national real estate transactions on behalf of her clients.
Foundry Commercial SVP Sarah Godwin has built success in the CRE land advisory space despite disruption amid the pandemic. A graduate of UNC with degrees in economics and psychology, Godwin was interested in pursuing jobs where she could use her economics degree, but a job board posting led to a role as an analyst with JLL, where she waited out the Great Financial Crisis in a research and analysis role until capital markets recovered in 2012. She started a land brokerage business from scratch at her previous employer. Much of her success during the past year has been the result of the hard work she put in from 2020 to 2022 leading land deals totaling more than $230 million last year. She joined Foundry Commercial in 2023 and co-leads its land services team in Raleigh, working to expand the company’s land services and capital markets functions. With more than 16 years of commercial real estate experience, Godwin has sold more than $840 million in greenfield and redevelopment land and specializes in institutional land investment sales and development advisory services. She has extensive experience selling land for diverse uses including multifamily, residential, build-for-rent, life science and medical office.
Rachel Gines began her career at CenterSquare Investment Management seven years ago after graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Since then she has cultivated close and trusting relationships with institutional consultants and other large investors and has contributed to fundraising and consultant relations efforts in the Western U.S., including extensive investor research into plans with more than $2 billion in capital. Gines was recently promoted to VP of capital markets at the firm, adding responsibility for managing CenterSquare’s business development and consultant relations efforts across the central U.S. She led the development, refinement and creation of the materials and narrative of CenterSquare’s latest private equity real estate fund and secured multiple investor allocations. Her responsibilities also include her role conducting extensive analysis of competing firms and leveraging her insights to drive the positioning of the firm’s various strategies. She has taken an interest in the internal development of employees, serving as a mentor for the team’s summer analyst in 2023 and supporting recruiting efforts. In addition, Gines has taken the initiative to help the firm further embrace tech-forward approaches through her participation in the CenterSquare Salesforce committee and the major role she played in the redevelopment of the firm’s internal CRM system.
Shaily Garg, CEO and co-founder of GlobalFair Inc., spearheaded a revolutionary shift in the cross-border construction materials tech industry, targeting a $1.4 trillion global market. Inspired by her brother’s struggles as an SME manufacturer out of India, she identified a global market gap in the construction industry that could benefit from technology. GlobalFair’s mission is to build a virtual factory for the world of construction materials, creating a borderless trade economy through the technology-first supply of construction materials in a cross-border space to help transform supply-side manufacturing in India, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. Garg’s disruptive leadership at GlobalFair is evident in her proactive shift to the U.S. where she has achieved a 93% month-over-month growth and secured a $22 million series A round of funding. She leads a team of more than 120 people across India, Vietnam and the U.S. serving contractors and retail customers across 36 states. Garg is a mentor at the AccelerateHer program hosted by Amazon and Lightspeed designed to nurture and empower women-led early-stage Indian startups to build, grow and scale a successful technology business.
Since her first day as a project coordinator at Skyline Construction, Katie Evans has outperformed expectations. Despite having no background in construction, Evans’ commitment propelled her to a project manager role in less than four years. Since then she has managed more than 43 projects, collectively worth $108.7 million and spanning more than 1.4 million square feet. Her projects include San Francisco’s first IKEA retail store and meeting center as well as a 46,000-square-foot co-working space and a 26,000- square-foot high-end food hall at the same location. She plays a major role in Skyline Construction’s national accounts committee, which has led to master agreements with 15 new clients and ongoing negotiations with several more. Evans plays a significant role in empowering future generations of industry workers. She co-manages the Skyline Bay Area Summer Internship Program, which actively builds a pipeline for promising project engineers. Under her mentorship, interns immerse themselves in hands-on project engineer tasks, ensuring their growth and development. Her dedication extends beyond the office as she engages with college campuses and career events to promote Skyline Construction as an employer of choice. Colleagues say Evans navigates complex challenges with positivity and humor.
