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
Consultant / Advisor / Independent Professional
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
Broker – Tenant Representation
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
Broker – Landlord / Agency Representation
Morgan Zant
Laura Stumm
Joanna Rotonde Manfro
Britt Raymond
Keely Polczynski
Janet Neman
Kristina Metzger
Deana Marcello
Mindy Korth
Marion Jones
Stephany Chen
Broker – Investment Sales
Jean Yee
Katie Runyan
Jennifer Quigley
Kathleen McSharry
Rose Liu
Angela Kelcher
Cheryl Higley
Maggie Burke
Adrienne Andrews
Broker / Intermediary – Debt & Equity Finance
Jackie Rye
Anna Perez
Jessica Orlando
Janice Y. K. Li
Laurie Hughet-Hiller
Molly Forman
Linaea Floden
Kristina D. Covall
Anne Benge
Architect / Design Professional
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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.
Breana Wheeler
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.
Allison Weiss
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.
Virginia Weida
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.
Paula Thoreen
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.
Julie Stein
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.
Deborah Smith
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.
Molly Skipper Steele
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.
Arcie Propster
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.
Michelle L. Osburn
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.
Penny Maus
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.
Odeta Kushi
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.
Zahara Kassam
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.
Amy Johnson
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.
Bridget E. Grant
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.
Laura M. Eberly
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.
Victoria Cowart
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.
Emily Buehrer-Douglas
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.
Amy Bradac
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.
Jackie Bowie
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.
Debra Aitken
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.
Leslie Teskey
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.
Chaise Schmidt
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.
Anne N. Rosenau
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.
Katy Redmond
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.
Yansy Naranjo Rolen
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.
Torrey Littlejohn
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.
Lindsey Groom
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.
Michelle Esquivel-Hall
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.
Aubrey Englund
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.
Lauren Crowley Corrinet
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.
Cece Conway
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.
Christina Clark
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.
Natalie Bazarevitsch
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.
Vanessa Zhang
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.
Monica Wallace
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.
Kaley Tuning
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.
Sarah Sparks
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.
Andrea Saewitz
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.
Bridget McGarey
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.
Missy Martinovich
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.
Carine Mamann
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.
Leslie Lanne
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.
Wendy Katz
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.
Bettina Hunt
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.
Keely Hines
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.
Lindsey Halter
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.
Candace R. Gschwind
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.
Eileen Doody
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.
Patti Dillon
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.
Ashley C. Byrd
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.
Jessica Brown
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.
Cheri Blessing
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.
Sheila Bale
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.
Lisa Bailey
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.
Morgan Zant
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.
Laura Stumm
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.
Joanna Rotonde Manfro
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.
Britt Raymond
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.
Keely Polczynski
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.
Janet Neman
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.
Kristina Metzger
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.
Deana Marcello
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.
Mindy Korth
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.
Marion Jones
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.
Stephany Chen
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.
Jean Yee
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.
Katie Runyan
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.”
Jennifer Quigley
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.
Kathleen McSharry
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.”
Rose Liu
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.
Angela Kelcher
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.
Cheryl Higley
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.
Maggie Burke
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.
Adrienne Andrews
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.
Jackie Rye
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.
Anna Perez
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.
Jessica Orlando
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.
Janice Y. K. Li
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.
Laurie Hughet-Hiller
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.
Molly Forman
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.
Linaea Floden
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.
Kristina D. Covall
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.
Anne Benge
