David Axelrod is a preeminent American political strategist and commentator and the former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama.  

Axelrod currently serves as the founding director of the University of Chicago's non-partisan Institute of Politics and as a senior political commentator for CNN.  He is the host of The Axe Files, a top-rated podcast featuring in depth conversations with public figures across the political spectrum. 

A former political writer for the Chicago Tribune,  Axelrod produced media strategy and advertising for 150 campaigns across the U.S., culminating in President Obama’s historic elections.  Axelrod is also the author of The New York Times best-selling memoir, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.

David M. Rubenstein is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms. Mr. Rubenstein co-founded the firm in 1987. Since then, Carlyle has grown into a firm managing $230 billion from 30 offices around the world.

Mr. Rubenstein is Chairman of the boards of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Council on Foreign Relations; a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation; a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution; a Trustee of the National Gallery of Art, the University of Chicago, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Institute for Advanced Study, the National Constitution Center, the Brookings Institution, and the World Economic Forum; a Director of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and President of the Economic Club of Washington, among other board seats.

Mr. Rubenstein has been a leader in the area of patriotic philanthropy, having made transformative gifts for the restoration or repair of the Washington Monument, Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, Arlington House, Iwo Jima Memorial, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the National Zoo, the Library of Congress, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mr. Rubenstein has also provided to the US government long-term loans of his rare copies of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, the first map of the US (Abel Buell map), and the first book printed in the US (Bay Psalm Book).

Mr. Rubenstein is an original signer of The Giving Pledge; the host of The David Rubenstein Show and Leadership Live with David Rubenstein; and the author of The American Story and How to Lead.

Mr. Byrne is AEW’s Chief Investment Officer and Head of Private Equity and Private Debt in North America. He has been with AEW since 2003. He is responsible for overseeing all of AEW’s commingled funds, separate accounts and direct investments in North America. In this capacity he is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of the Firm’s portfolio management, acquisitions, capital markets and asset management functions in addition to managerial responsibility of the Private Equity Group resources. Mr. Byrne also serves on AEW’s Investment Committee, Risk Management Committee and Governance Committee in North America, and he is a member of AEW’s Global Investment Committee.

Prior to joining AEW, he was a member of the real estate team at the Pension Reserve Investment Management Board (“ Mass PRIM”), where he managed the pension fund’s real estate and timber portfolios. Prior to that he worked at Citigroup in the company’s real estate investment banking group. Mr. Byrne is a member of the Urban Land Institute (U.L.I.) and NAREIM, and a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Debra A. Cafaro is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and real estate investment trust that owns approximately 1,200 demographically driven healthcare, research and innovation and senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom and serves as a leading capital provider to premier care providers and research institutions. 

 A recognized industry leader, Cafaro set and oversaw execution of a long-term strategy that drove Ventas’s market capitalization to $28 billion in 2019, from $200 million since her leadership began in 1999.  The Company’s compound annual total shareholder return (TSR) has exceeded 19 percent for the 23 years  ended December 31, 2021. 

Widely-acclaimed for her strategic vision and enduring business success, Cafaro has received multiple professional recognitions.  Cafaro has been twice named one of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (Forbes Magazine), a list of global political, media, entertainment and business leaders; a Top 100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World for six consecutive years (Harvard Business Review); and the top female executive in the commercial real estate industry (National Real Estate Investor).  She has also been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare six times (Modern Healthcare); highlighted in The 70 Elite real estate executives who shaped the industry for the past 70 years (Real Estate Forum); and selected multiple times to the Top 25 Women in Healthcare  (Modern Healthcare) and the All-America Executive Team (Institutional Investor).  Cafaro was named a Top 50 Woman in World Business (Financial Times), one of the Bankable 21 CEOs in Jim Cramer’s book Get Rich Carefully and one of nine Game-Changers in commercial real estate since 2000 (GlobeSt.com).  To honor her contributions to her industries, she received the Industry Leadership Award from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), where she previously served as Chair, and was inducted into the ASHA Senior Living Hall of Fame.   

In addition to her work at Ventas, Cafaro is broadly engaged across business, public policy, academic, sports and non-profit sectors.  Cafaro is the immediate past Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable, a public policy organization that brings together leaders of the nation’s top real estate firms on key national policy issues and the Economic Club of Chicago.  She is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Business Council, and serves on the Boards of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), the University of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and World Business Chicago.  She is an Advisory Board Member of the Harvard Kennedy School Taubman Center for State and Local Government.  She served successive terms on the Board of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust.  Cafaro is a partner of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins.   

Cafaro established the Cafaro Scholars program at the University of Chicago Law School.  It provides full scholarships to students with outstanding potential whose parents did not attend college.  Over 20 students, many of them diverse, have been recipients of the Cafaro scholarships.   

Prior to joining Ventas, Cafaro was President of an NYSE-listed multi-family REIT, a practicing lawyer for 13 years and a judicial clerk for the Hon. J. Dickson Phillips, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  She received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was named its 2011 Distinguished Alumna, and her B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame.  She is married and has two children. 

Ms. Chudgar is Co-President of Artemis Real Estate Partners and sits on the Firm’s Investment Committee.  She is head of the Income and Growth Fund and is responsible for developing and implementing the acquisition and asset management strategies.  Ms. Chudgar joined Artemis in 2019 and is based in New York City.

Prior to joining Artemis, Ms. Chudgar spent 9 years as a Partner at GCM Grosvenor, where she helped co-lead the creation and growth of the $3.0 billion real estate platform, expanding the business in 2012 as well as growing the team.  She has closed on $1.7 billion in joint venture real estate transactions in North America and Europe spanning both equity and debt, leading all aspects of investment management including transaction sourcing and execution, asset management, portfolio management and capital raising.  Prior to that, Ms. Chudgar was a Principal in Alternative Investments at Credit Suisse Group AG, and held positions at Onex Real Estate Partners, iStar Financial, Inc., and began her career at JP Morgan Chase in investment banking.

Ms. Chudgar graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and continues to be involved with the school.  She is on the Board of Advisors of the Annenberg Center, a resource for the performing arts at the University.

Additionally, Ms. Chudgar serves as a board member for the Pension Real Estate Association and SparkYouth.  She is also an active council member of the McCombs Real Estate Center at the University of Texas at Austin, New York Women Executives in Real Estate (WX) and the Urban Land institute’s UDMUC Green Council.

Andy Cohen is one of two co-CEOs of Gensler, the world’s top architecture and design firm. He just celebrated his 40th anniversary with Gensler. Since 2005, Andy and Co-CEO Diane Hoskins have exemplified collaborative leadership, overseeing both the long-term strategy and day-to-day operations of the global practice known for its award-winning design innovation and research. Under their guidance, Gensler has organically grown to become the largest in the field, with some 6,000 people networked across 50 offices, serving clients in more than 120 countries. With expertise in four sectors—community, lifestyle, work, and health—and 28 practice areas, the firm’s diverse work ranges from aviation, urban design, and sports stadiums to office, hospitality, life sciences, entertainment, and more. Award-winning projects such as the Shanghai Tower, the Banc of California Stadium, and airports in major cities across the globe showcase the breadth and scale of Gensler’s industry-leading practice. 

A registered architect in 41 states and 3 Canadian provinces, Andy is a champion of the power of design to enhance and enrich the human experience. In 2021, he was named to INSIDER’s list of “100 People Transforming Business,” which honors 100 business leaders across 10 distinct sectors who are innovating, sparking trends, and tackling global challenges. Business Insider also included Andy and Diane on its inaugural “Creators” list—a who’s who of the world’s 100 top creative visionaries.  

Andy works as a dynamic and hands-on leader, mentoring and advising Gensler’s talented teams and ensuring the firm’s vision to create a better world through the power of design. An advocate for resilience, sustainability, and climate action, he is responsible for global design innovation initiatives, spearheading design excellence strategies, and pioneering cutting-edge technology across Gensler’s global footprint. 

Heavily invested in client and community relationships, Andy regularly lends his decades of expertise to a diverse roster of organizations. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Urban Development and Mixed-Use Council, the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Board of Advisors, and the USC School of Architecture Board of Councilors, among others. An alumnus of the Pratt Institute, Andy has delivered keynote talks at premier industry conferences and for groups including ULI, TED, the Milken Institute Global Conference, the Pension Real Estate Association, the Young Presidents Organization, CREtech, and more. His thought leadership and insights have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Business Journal, Business Insider, Commercial Observer, the Atlantic, and many trade publications. 

As co-CEO and former board chair, Andy is a key creator of what is acknowledged by its peers as the most admired and preeminent architecture and design firm in the world, pioneering project types and design innovation strategies that are shaping the built environment of the next century and beyond. 

Major General Kim Crider (Ret.) joined The Cohen Group as a Senior Counselor in August 2021 following a distinguished 35-year military career.

She is an executive leader and recognized expert in aerospace, information technology, cybersecurity, data analytics, strategy, governance, and digital transformation, with over 35 years’ experience in managing multi-billion-dollar global operations and technology programs. A retired Major General in the US Air Force, Major General Crider most recently served as the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for the United States Space Force, Pentagon, Washington, DC, where she oversaw a $2.5 billion Space Science and Technology portfolio and directed a $750 million digital services portfolio to advance the $15 billion global military space enterprise for 16,000 personnel. Prior to that, Major General Crider was the Air Force Chief Data Officer and led the implementation of the $100 million enterprise-data management portfolio to assure availability of operational and business data to over 850,000 military, civilian, and contract users across the Department of the Air Force $126 billion enterprise.

Major General Crider is highly regarded for her strong executive leadership in building successful organizations that deliver competitive advantage and extraordinary results at scale. She is a proven change leader who drives growth strategies, creates public-private partnerships, inspires and guides large scale organizational transformation, builds consensus, gains the adoption of new ideas, and resolves complex enterprise challenges through technology innovation. In her military experience, Major General Crider has served around the world, and has been a seminal leader in global space, air, and cyberspace operations; coalition and allied command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and enterprise-wide IT, data, and digital transformation. Beyond her military responsibilities, Major General Crider built two specialty consulting firms focused on strategic innovation, IT/data strategy, agile development, and digital services in the education, architecture and engineering, cybersecurity, financial services, and health technology sectors. A senior engineer at the MITRE Corporation for 15 years, Major General Crider led the engineering for global enterprise networks, cybersecurity, and advanced surveillance radar systems across the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

Major General Crider is universally respected as a motivational leader, speaker, and subject matter expert in cyber, data analytics, and the diffusion of digital technology into organizational cultures. She has addressed hundreds of technical, business, and university forums, guided key task forces, advised C-suite executives in industry and government, and prepared testimony to Congress. She has received a number of prestigious awards, including National Defense citations, FCW “Federal 100 Top Leaders,” AF Gaming “Inspiring Women Leaders,” FedScoop “Top Women in Technology,” USAF Reserve “Profiles in Leadership,” and the Women’s Center for Leadership Annual Leadership Award.

Major General Crider earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Western New England University, and a Graduate Certificate degree in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University. She graduated with distinction from the US Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College and the National Defense University Industrial College of the Armed Forces and has completed numerous executive education courses at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the University of Tennessee.

As Managing Principal at Sterling Bay, Keating oversees the firm’s strategy as it relates to acquisitions, development, and capital pursuits. Since joining the firm in 2012, Keating has pursued and acquired several of its most notable Chicago real estate assets in both Fulton Market and at Lincoln Yards. He has led the firm’s expansion into new U.S. markets through the strategic acquisition of real estate assets in San Diego, Portland, Denver, Dallas, Miami, and Philadelphia. 

In addition to guiding Sterling Bay’s strategic expansion, Keating also oversees the firm’s retail leasing and property management divisions, leading its efforts to set a new industry standard for on-site tenant experiences. Under his leadership, Sterling Bay has been recognized by several of the nation’s most prestigious professional organizations for excellence in commercial building management and tenant services. 

Prior to joining Sterling Bay, Keating began his career in commercial real estate at Tishman Speyer in San Francisco where he served as Director of Development overseeing upwards of six million feet in ground-up residential and office development. He holds a BA from Duke University and a JD-MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Pritzker School of Law. 

Keating currently serves on the boards of the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Northwestern Memorial Foundation, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and the Trinity College Board of Visitors for Duke University. In 2014, he was recognized on Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 Under 40 list. 

Hailey Ghalib serves as Executive Managing Director for USAA Real Estate. Hailey leads USAA Real Estate’s multifamily, mixed-use and senior housing business and oversees its ground-up development program for housing. In this role since 2007, Hailey guides the company’s housing strategy and identifies, negotiates and executes portfolio transactions and development efforts across the United States.

She is a member of the firm's Investment and Executive Committees.

Hailey received a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Texas at Austin; a Master of Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley; and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston. She is a licensed Architect in the State of Texas. Hailey is also an active member of the American Institute of Architects, and a member of the National Multi-Housing Council, serving on the Finance Advisory Committee.

Farpoint Development’s founding Principal, Scott Goodman, is an innovative real estate leader who cares deeply about how a development relates to the community it sits within.

For 30+ years, Scott Goodman has successfully helped neighborhoods and buildings thrive by retaining the integrity of the neighborhood while making a culturally unique home for businesses and people.

Goodman focused on launching Sterling Bay in the mid-1980s, a firm that grew to national acclaim under his drive for innovation. He deployed a visionary approach to revitalizing existing commercial buildings and new developments in unexpected locations. He implemented strategies like warehouse loft office space and the condo/commercial subdivision of buildings. These concepts in adaptive reuse stood out in the world of commercial development.

As a leader, Goodman brought together a team that infused artistry, architecture, and experience into each development. Over the years, he championed major projects for such prestigious clients as Google, Sara Lee, and gogo, bringing deep insights into how people and office tenants experience and benefit from a development within a community.

After Sterling Bay, Goodman sought to transition to a more streamlined operation that was even more responsive to client and community needs. His focus on investor relations, procurement of financing and equity and transaction structuring serve as the foundation for Farpoint Development.

Under Goodman’s guidance, Farpoint has been defining and delivering notable Chicago projects, from the purchase and enhancement of Prairie Shores in the Bronzeville community to the development of the 100-acre Bronzeville Lakefront, a mixed-use district championing life sciences and health innovation in Chicago.

Goodman’s insight and sense for real estate reinvention come from a diverse education, background, and sense of commitment to a cause. Goodman’s Bachelor of Science in Economics was earned at the University of Michigan. Additionally, he received an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. As his career accelerated, he served as the former Board Chair of the PKD Foundation and Heartland Alliance and is a current Board Member for both prestigious organizations. His membership in the Chicago Economics Club offers insight to his fiscal acumen as well.

Goodman’s long-standing leadership, attention to detail and deep building experience are what make his projects stand out from the others, making them many of Chicago’s celebrated icons, both current and future.

Joe Gorin is a member of Barings Real Estate, a global real estate platform with extensive capabilities across both debt and equity strategies. Joe is a Managing Director and Head of US Real Estate Equity Acquisitions & Portfolio Management, where he is responsible for all equity investing activity across multiple commercial real estate asset classes and implementing Barings Real Estate’s portfolio vision across client platforms. In addition, he serves as Co-Chair of the Barings Real Estate US Private Equity Investment Committee. Joe has worked in the industry since 1994. Prior to joining the firm in 2020, he served as Co-Head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management's private equity real estate business. From 2009 to 2015, Joe served as Managing Director at Rockwood Capital. Prior to Rockwood, Joe held senior acquisition and asset management positions with Equity Office Properties and GE Real Estate. He began his investing career with Cornerstone Properties in 1995, prior to their merger with Equity Office Properties in 2000. Joe graduated from Skidmore College with a Bachelor's Degree in Business and Government. Joe is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and former Chairman of ULI's Office Development Council. He holds Series 7 and Series 63 FINRA licenses.

Tyler Henritze is currently the Head of Strategic Investments for Blackstone Real Estate Americas and previously served as the Head of Acquisitions Americas.  Since joining Blackstone in 2004, Mr. Henritze has been involved in over $100 billion of real estate investments across all property types; notable transactions include the acquisition of QTS Realty Trust, Simply Self Storage, the Bellagio, Gramercy Capital, International Market Center, Strategic Hotels, Motel 6, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Extended Stay America, Equity Office Properties and CarrAmerica. Mr. Henritze currently serves as a board member of QTS Realty Trust, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Extended Stay America and IMC and is a former board member of Hilton Worldwide, Park Hotels and La Quinta. 

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Henritze worked in the Real Estate Investment Banking group at Merrill Lynch. 

Mr. Henritze received a BS in Commerce from The McIntire School at the University of Virginia where he graduated with distinction.  

Brian Kavoogian is a Managing Partner of National Development, one of greater Boston’s leading real estate development, investment and management firms. Formed in 1983, the firm is recognized as one of the regions’ most innovative and creative real estate firms, working with its partners and stakeholders to create great places to live, work and play within the Greater Boston region and providing its investors with attractive risk adjusted returns. The firm is focused almost entirely on the Greater Boston region, where it has, over the past 35 years, become ingrained in the local community, in the belief that its local knowledge and relationships will result in better projects and better investments. The firm’s projects involve a mix of uses, which we are able to create as a result of our expertise across the property-type spectrum including office, research, industrial, retail, senior housing, multifamily and lodging.  Its capital is provided by its fully-discretionary closed-end funds, which it manages on behalf of a group of educational endowments, foundations, pension funds and family offices.   Throughout its history, the firm has acquired or developed over 30 million SF in over 45 communities throughout the region, and invested over $6 billion on behalf of its investors.

In 2006, Brian co-founded Charles River Realty Investors as the investment management platform of National Development.  Charles River raised over $1.1 billion of equity capital across its four funds before combining with National Development in 2019 to form a seamless, vertically-integrated firm.

Brian is involved with a number of civic, charitable and industry-related organizations. He is a past chairman of both of the region’s real estate trade organizations, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and NAIOP Massachusetts, where he remains on the Board of Directors.  He is also the current Chair of the ULI Boston Advisory Committee.

In 2015, he was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker to the board of the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency where he serves as the Vice Chair.  Brian is an Overseer of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and a member of the MassGeneral Brigham Corporation.   He is a Trustee Emeritus of Tufts University, a past co-chairman of Heading Home and the past Vice Chairman of the Greater Boston YMCA.  Brian received a BA from Tufts University in 1984.

David B. Lentz is the Chief Executive Officer of Green Courte Partners, LLC, a Chicago-based private equity real estate investment firm focused on building fully integrated operating businesses in niche real estate sectors, including near-airport parking, active-adult/independent senior living, and land-lease/manufactured housing communities. He has been with the firm since 2003, just after its organization. He is Chairman of The Parking Spot, Green Courte’s near-airport parking platform, and of Green Courte Residential Holdings, LLC, True Connection Communities, and Windward Communities, the firm’s consolidated residential vehicle, active-adult/independent senior living platform, and land-lease community platform.

David was President and Chief Executive Officer and served on the board of directors of American Land Lease, Inc., Green Courte’s previous land-lease community platform, until its sale/merger with Sun Communities, Inc. in 2015. Prior to joining Green Courte, David was Director of Development with Mosbacher Power Group, L.L.C., a global developer, owner, and operator of independent power generation assets, where he led projects under development in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and a Financial Analyst with Enron Capital & Trade Resources. David is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and a ULI Foundation Governor. He serves as a Vice Chair of ULI's Technology and Real Estate Council (Gold Flight) and is past Chairman of its Manufactured Housing Communities Council. He is also past Chairman of the Manufactured Housing Institute’s National Communities Council and, until the sale of American Land Lease, Inc., served on the boards of directors of the Manufactured Housing Institute and its National Communities Council as well as the Florida Manufactured Housing Association.

He lives in Chicago, where he serves on the board of the Old Town School of Folk Music. David holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Douglas W. Lyons is a Managing Principal of Pearlmark, with responsibility for the firm’s capital markets and debt investment activities. He is also a member of the firm’s Management and Investment Committees. Prior to joining Pearlmark in 1996, Mr. Lyons was Vice President of Equity Institutional Investors, Inc. where he was responsible for merchant banking activities and strategic portfolio management projects for the Zell/Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity funds, the Zell/Chilmark Fund, and other Sam Zell-related affiliates. In addition, Mr. Lyons actively managed an institutional portfolio of REIT stocks. Previously, he worked in the New York Real Estate Capital Markets groups for Bankers Trust Company (1989-1991) and Merrill Lynch & Co. (1987-1989).

Mr. Lyons earned a BA degree in History from Amherst College where he was a two-time All-American in soccer, and his MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He currently serves several nonprofits including the Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and the JDRF Illinois Chapter as Chairman of the Real Estate Games fundraising committee. Mr. Lyons is also a member of the Pension Real Estate Association and the Urban Land Institute, where he is a Trustee. Mr. Lyons currently serves as a Trustee of the Loomis Chaffee School chairing its Buildings and Grounds Committee and previously served as a Trustee for Lycée Français de Chicago and Chair of its Facilities Committee and as Treasurer of St. James Cathedral in Chicago.

General Jim Mattis served as the 26^th Secretary of Defense in 2017 and 2018. In this role, he worked to strengthen America’s alliances and reorient the defense budget to face the rising challenges posed by emerging technologies and near-peer adversaries. 

During his 43 years in the Marine Corps, General Mattis commanded combat tours at the platoon, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, force, and theater levels. This included command of the 1^st Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and of the 1^st Marine Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. His time in the military culminated with three years as the Commander of US Central Command where he oversaw joint efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and helped shape US policy towards Iran. 

Immediately prior to this, he served simultaneously as the Commander of US Joint Forces Command and the Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation. In these roles, he oversaw the transformation of capabilities for the US military and NATO allied forces respectively. His major projects included efforts to reshape US military doctrine to engage more effectively in irregular warfare and to reimagine the US military’s grand strategy. 

Earlier in his military career, General Mattis served as the Executive Secretary of the Department of Defense during the tenures of Secretary William Perry and Secretary William Cohen and also as the Senior Military Assistant to Deputy Secretary of Defense Rudy deLeon. 

He is currently the Davies Family Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where he lectures and writes on domestic and international security policy. He is the author of a new book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, an exploration of his career and vision of leadership, and the co-editor of Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military, a collection of writings on the state of civil-military relations in the United States. 

General Mattis is also a member of the Board of Directors of General Dynamics and the Board of the Tri-Cities Food Bank in his hometown of Richland, Washington. 

Marna McDermott is Director of Sustainability at Exelon, the Nation’s premier transmission and delivery utility. In her current role, Marna leads development of Exelon’s sustainability strategy—to steward an equitable clean energy transition. 

Marna has extensive experience in environmental, energy, natural resource, and administrative law and policy, in not-for-profit organizations and federal government agencies. She most recently served as Deputy Director of the Conservation Litigation Project, which she helped launch in 2017 to support litigation in defense of public lands and conservation. 

During Marna’s thirteen years with the federal government, she served as Deputy General Counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and in several roles at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including as Associate Deputy General Counsel and Special Assistant to the General Counsel. 

Marna began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Robert C. Chambers on the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Marna received her BA from Middlebury College and her JD and Master of Environmental Management from Duke University. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and three daughters. 

Mr. Merrill is the Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Harrison Street, a real assets investment management firm he co-founded in 2005 that has completed nearly $53 billion in transactional volume and as of 4Q21 has over $44 billion in AUM. 

Mr. Merrill is currently the largest individual shareholder and serves as Chairman of the Board and the Investment and Executive Committees of the Company. The firm was a first mover and innovator of a focused investment strategy around the Education, Healthcare, Life Sciences and Storage segments of the real estate market (launching nine closed-end funds as well as industry leading open-end funds). Over 528 investors ($25 billion) participate in Harrison Street funds including US, European and Asian pension funds, corporate plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices. The firm has main offices in Chicago, San Francisco, London and Toronto. 

Prior to co-founding Harrison Street, Mr. Merrill was a partner, owner and Managing Director of a large US Pension Fund Advisory firm where he developed the firm’s presence in Europe, creating the first ever real estate funds exclusively targeting the markets of Central Europe. This initial fund was one of the Top 10 performing global funds during vintage years 1996-2000 as noted by Preqin. 

Mr. Merrill has appeared on television and in numerous real estate journals, as well as, speaking engagements regarding real asset investing. In 2021, the firm was named Alternatives Investor of the Year: North America by PERE.  In 2020, the firm was named Global Alternatives Investor of the Year by PERE. Over the years, National Real Estate Investor Magazine has named Mr. Merrill one of the “10 To Watch” leaders in the industry, PERE nominated him as one of the top real estate executives in North America, Real Estate Forum named him one of “Chicago’s Real Estate Icons” and he was included as one of “Crain’s 40 under 40.” In 2018, Mr. Merrill was one of the finalists in PERE’s North American Industry Figure of the Year. 

Mr. Merrill is a member of YPO, Economic Club of Chicago, and Chicago Commonwealth Club. He serves on the board of PREA, Rush University Medical Board (Facilities Committee), the real estate advisory boards of Gore Creek and Kinship Capital, The First Tee of Greater Chicago, Salisbury School, and Chicago Botanic Garden (Financial Committee). He is also an active angel investor in many early stage companies. Mr. Merrill earned his MBA from the CASS School of Business in London, England. 

Ben Myers is the Vice President, Sustainability, at Boston Properties (BXP), the largest publicly-traded developer, owner and manager of Class A office properties in the United States. He is responsible for sustainability and ESG strategy, implementation, reporting and stakeholder engagement. He has a genuine passion for sustainable real estate and is committed to disrupting the status quo as an industry leader on climate action, resilience, green building, renewable energy, healthy workspaces and urban ecosystems.

He holds an M.A. in Urban Environmental Leadership from Lesley University and a B.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ben was Chair of Nareit’s Real Estate Sustainability Council from 2019 through 2021 and is currently Vice Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee.   

Tinchuck is a Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Taloquence Group (formerly Athena International Capital), a real estate investment advisory firm focused on assisting cross-border investors and emerging operators in large-scale transactions, product development, capital formation, and corporate infrastructure establishment and improvement. Since the inception of the company in 2010, Tinchuck has acted as principal representative of various institutional investors and mid-size operators in large-scale real estate transactions and developments in the U.S.A. and Asia, including, most recently, as the principal in charge of the USD 1.1 billion mixed-use development known as EchelonSeaport in Boston, U.S.A, on behalf of the Cottonwood Group (U.S.A.) over the entire 8-year investment and development period. To date, Tinchuck has structured varies domestic and international investment funds and managed over USD 2.2 billion of cross-border capital, representing investors from more than 10 jurisdictions globally.  Her cross-border transaction footprint spans across over 100 real estate transactions in the U.S.A., Germany, Sweden and China, totaling more than USD 3.2 billion in value. In addition to her role as an investment professional, Tinchuck also serves as a visiting lecturer at the Center of Real Estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
 
Tinchuck previously held several senior management positions in multiple countries: Managing Director, Head of Investments at Cottonwood Management (U.S.A.), EVP - Investments at Easternflair (Shanghai, China), Head of Real Estate Business Development – APAC at Aviva Investors (Singapore), Director of Real Estate Acquisitions at Blackrock (Hong Kong, China), and Principal of the Capital Markets Group at Taurus Investment Holdings (U.S.A.). 
 
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S.) and Harvard University (MArch with Distinction), Tinchuck is also a CFA® and CAIA® charterholder. She also served as a board member on the International Advisory Board and the Alumni Advisory Board of the Real Estate Academic Initiative at Harvard University, and the Advisory Board of DesignX at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
 
Tinchuck is fluent in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and has a working knowledge of German. 
 
Specialties: Real Estate Investment Management and Product/Capital Formation 

As part of the Investment & Innovation global hub, Jonathan Pearce counsels Ivanhoé Cambridge regional teams on all leasing and development activities to ensure alignment with the company’s strategic objectives.  Jonathan has 30 years of experience in office & industrial leasing and the sale of corporate investment assets throughout North America.  

His responsibilities also include leasing for all owned (managed and non-managed) properties and developments in Canada and the Continental US, currently comprising more than 120 million square feet in multiple markets. Ivanhoé Cambridge currently has five office developments under construction or pre-development in Toronto, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Austin and Mexico City, and a variety of industrial projects under development North America. Jonathan also serves on the board of IDI Logistics, a leading US logistics investor and developer based in Atlanta, that is co-owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge. 

Jonathan holds a BSc. (Hons) in Urban Land Economics and is a Professional Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.    

Tal Peri is a senior real estate investment and finance professional with over 20 years of industry experience across markets and product types. Tal has closed more than $5.5 billion of real estate transactions. 
 
He serves as Head of US East Coast & Latam for Union Investment Real Estate in their New York office with the primary responsibility of overseeing equity investment activities in these regions. Union Investment is the largest open-ended real estate fund in Germany with a global real estate AUM of $57 billion and a US AUM of $6.5 billion. 
 
Prior to this role, Tal was an Associate Director at WestLB, New York, where he was responsible for real estate acquisition and development finance transactions. 

Mr. Regan‐Levine is an Executive Vice President in JBG SMITH’s Investments Group and specializes in research and strategic innovation. Mr. Regan‐Levine helps shape the firm’s investment strategy with data and analytics and works on large scale strategic initiatives, investor relations, and innovation projects. He is a voting member of JBGSMITH's Investment Committee and is also involved at a project level in crafting go‐to‐market strategies and market positioning for JBG SMITH’s development projects. Mr. Regan‐Levine was a core team member throughout the Amazon HQ2 pursuit and helped create and communicate the narrative around National Landing to Amazon. In addition to his research and strategy work, he co‐heads the JBG SMITH Smart City Initiative which includes overseeing investments and partnerships to facilitate 5G, CBRS, data center, and fiber rollouts at the intersection of technology and the built environment. 

Prior to joining The JBG Companies (predecessor to JBG SMITH) in 2013, Mr. Regan‐Levine was an Associate with Monday Properties and served for two years in market research with JLL where he acted as an advisor for a wide variety of JLL’s investor and occupier clients. During his time at JLL, Mr. Regan‐ Levine was focused on research in the Washington, DC Metro region, but was also involved in several national and international consulting and research projects often focused on location and market intelligence and analytics for large corporate relocation requirements and investor clients. 

Mr. Regan‐Levine graduated Magna Cum Laude in Government from Georgetown University. 

As President of the Chicago Business Unit, David oversees all enterprise activity for development, design and construction related activities in the greater Chicago area and surrounding region while also supporting Clayco’s national platform. David is also a partner in CRG, Clayco’s real estate development and investment firm, and sits on its Investment Committee. David’s focus includes helping source opportunities, identifying potential projects and investors, supporting key elements of the development process, and forming and implementing growth strategies. David joined Clayco in September, 2019 after serving as Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago and was previously a partner at DLA Piper where he practiced law for over 25 years.

James Reynolds, Jr. is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Loop Capital. Mr. Reynolds founded Loop Capital in 1997 with a simple motto as a guide: "To provide client service beyond expectations."  The motto still serves as the foundational driving force of the firm. Mr. Reynolds currently oversees all aspects of Loop Capital, including investment banking, brokerage, project finance, financial advisory services and asset management. 

A 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, Mr. Reynolds held senior-level positions at several global Wall Street firms prior to founding Loop Capital—then a municipal bond firm. Since, Loop Capital has grown into one of the most dynamic and diversified investment banking firms in the country, expanding into corporate finance, global equity trading, taxable fixed income trading, tax-exempt fixed income trading, mergers and acquisitions, public finance, infrastructure investment and financial consulting. As Chairman and CEO, Mr. Reynolds spearheaded the accelerated growth and diversification of the firm, which is now one of the largest privately-held investment banks in the United States. Additionally, Loop Capital is partner in multiple business enterprises including, LoopWealth platform, Asset Management and JLC Infrastructure, an investor and asset management firm formed in 2015 with Magic Johnson Enterprises. 

A passionate advocate of giving back to the community, Mr. Reynolds currently serves as Chairman of Board for the Chicago Community Trust and Chairman-Elect for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).   

Additionally, Mr. Reynolds serves as a Board Member of Kellogg Global Advisory Board, Power Construction, World Business Chicago, Avant, Intersect Illinois and the Chicago Urban League, as well as a member of the CFA Institute. 

Mr. Reynolds holds a Masters of Management in Finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.  He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the AIMR in 1991 and holds 7, 24, 52, 53, 63 and 79 licenses. 

Todd S. Rich is a Co-Founder and Partner of Declaration Partners and oversees Declaration’s real estate investment activity. Todd brings over 20 years of real estate investing and operating experience including acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing, and management of portfolios involving over $20 billion of institutional quality real estate. 

Prior Experience 

• Partner at The JBG Companies and a member of its Investment and Management Committees, where he was involved in strategic efforts culminating in the creation of JBG SMITH Properties as a public REIT (NYSE: JBGS) 
• Responsible for Tishman Speyer’s business activities in the Washington, DC region; also worked in Tishman Speyer’s Chicago, London, and New York offices
• Prior to his career in real estate, Todd worked for JPMorgan Partners in New York 

Todd holds a Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Princeton University, and was a US Fulbright Scholar. Todd serves as a board member of HealthQuarters, the SED Center, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. He is a former board member of the Economic Club of Washington. 

Mary Rottler is the Chief Operating Officer of First Washington Realty. Ms. Rottler was previously the COO of Seritage Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT that owned, developed, and managed a diverse portfolio over 30 million square feet across the United States.

Prior to joining Seritage in 2015, Ms. Rottler served as the Vice President of Real Estate at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Ms. Rottler is an active member of Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (ICSC).

She holds a JD/MBA from the University of Denver Daniels College of Business and Sturm College of Law and a BS in Business Administration from Regis University. 

Mitchell Schear is Executive Partner at Camber Creek, the longest standing real estate technology (“PropTech”) focused venture capital firm. Together with his partners, he works to identify early-stage, industry-leading portfolio companies to cultivate, invest in and grow to deliver outsized returns to Camber Creek’s investors.   

With over 35 years of leadership, technology, innovation, placemaking and development experience, Mitchell has led both private and public real estate companies where he developed and enhanced buildings and environments, envisioning and delivering the vibrant neighborhoods we celebrate today across the Washington, D.C. region.  From 2003 until 2017, Mitchell was President of Vornado/Charles E. Smith where he directed the strategy, performance and growth of Vornado’s extensive 20+ million square foot Washington, DC portfolio.   In Arlington, VA, his forward-thinking, placemaking vision transformed Crystal City (now “National Landing”) into a vibrant, creative community that became home to a growing innovation hub and great restaurants/retail concepts.    

In 2021, Mitchell was appointed to the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents Facilities Committee where he provides leadership and oversight for the revitalization of the vast real estate holdings of the Smithsonian, as well as the development of two new museums.  Additionally, Mitchell has been a value-add member of numerous private and public boards, task forces and advisory committees, including JBG Smith, Events DC, and the Virginia Governor’s Revenue Commission.  For many years, Mitchell was Board Chair of Higher Achievement where he rallied the real estate and business community to raise more than $1 million annually to help at-risk middle school kids excel and succeed

Omar Thowfeek directs and leads investment strategy for the Hines Global Income Trust, a non-traded REIT vehicle sponsored by Hines. With 15 years of experience acquiring, managing, and divesting commercial real estate in over 14 different countries in all asset classes, Omar provides a unique vantage point in analyzing cross-border investment activity, geo-political impacts on real estate, and global trends impacting the commercial real estate universe.

Omar graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in History and a B.B.A in Finance and also is a guest lecturer at Rice University.

Nuveen Real Estate is one of the world’s leading investment managers with over $125 billion in assets under management. Globally, she leads a team of 200+ investment professionals responsible for all transactional and asset management functions. Carly is also a member of the Global Executive Leadership team. 

Prior to her current position, Carly held several leadership positions across the firm, including CIO of the Americas for Nuveen Real Estate, Global Head of Real Estate and Alternatives for TIAA’s $260 billion General Account, and Deputy Portfolio Manager on the TIAA Real Estate Account where she managed over $13 billion in transaction activity. Carly began her career at LaSalle Investment Management where she was a member of the portfolio management team. 

Carly received dual B.S. degrees in Finance and International Business from University of Maryland and a M.S. in Economics from the University of North Carolina. 

Judy Turchin is the Founder of JPT Advisors, a global advisory firm operating at the intersection of health/wellness/fitness and real estate, with a particular focus on customer experience, strategy, operations, sales and marketing. Ms. Turchin was previously the Global Chief Operating Officer of Equinox, the luxury lifestyle brand, where she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of its 100+ clubs and 14,000 employees. 

Before joining Equinox, Ms. Turchin held various roles at Blackstone Real Estate, including Chief Compliance Officer, Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to Blackstone, Ms. Turchin served as Legal Officer for Lehman Brother’s Real Estate Private Equity business. Ms. Turchin began her career at Wachtell Lipton, focusing on commercial real estate. 

Ms. Turchin received a J.D. from Fordham Law School and a B.A. with honors from Rutgers University, with a certificate in Government Studies from Eagleton Institute of Politics. Ms. Turchin serves on the Boards of CenterWell (a Welsh Carson portfolio company), OVME (a VMG portfolio company) and New York Road Runners.  

Steve Weikal is a lecturer, researcher and Industry Chair of the MIT Real Estate Technology Initiative (RETi), which explores innovative new technologies and business models that are reinventing traditional ways of developing, transacting and managing real estate. He is also a General Partner at MET Fund Frontier, which invests in early-stage startups that have an MIT connection and focus on solutions for the coming built environment transformation. Prior to this role, Steve was the Head of Industry Relations at the MIT Center for Real Estate, responsible for managing relationships between the Center and its global network of industry partners and over 1,300 alumni representing 48 countries.

Steve is a member of the Global Insights Panel for MIT Technology Review, a member of the CREtech Climate Leadership Board, and sits on the advisory boards of eight real estate and technology companies. He was the Founder of MIT Real Disruption, a successful series of conferences discussing the impact of emerging technology on the real estate industry that is now part of the global CREtech media platform. An ardent industry advocate and thought-leader, Steve speaks extensively about real estate technology for corporate clients around the world and at conferences for AFIRE, AsRES, BOMA, CCIM, CoreNet, CREW, ICSC, IREM, NAIOP, PERE, SIOR, and ULI. He has been quoted by numerous media outlets, including BuzzFeed, TechInsider, Medium, USA Today, CP Executive, Harvard Real Estate Review, the Boston Globe, GlobeSt. the Real Reporter, Travel Weekly, IPE Real Assets Europe and Anuario Inmobiliario LatinoAmerica.

Steve holds a Master’s of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) and Master’s in City Planning (MCP) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a law degree (JD) from Suffolk University Law School.

Prior to MIT, Steve was Vice President of NOW Communities, a Concord, MA based developer of new residential neighborhoods that merge the best of traditional design with 21st century energy technology. Before graduate school, Steve was National Media Tour Producer for Martin Scorsese's The Blues at WGBH Boston, was Manager of Partner Acquisition at Curl, a VC funded tech start-up launched to commercialize a new coding language developed at the MIT Lab for Computer Science (LCS), and was a Founding Partner of Sonoma Coast Vineyards, maker of award-winning Pinot Noir from the Extreme Sonoma Coast of California. He began his real estate career restoring and redeveloping historic theaters in Detroit’s Fox Center entertainment district.