The Future of Development & UrbanTech in Atlanta

Sandy Selman

Co-Founder
CPROP

Sandy Selman co-founded CPROP to develop practical blockchain-powered solutions to address pain points across the real estate industry. CPROP’s initial product is a blockchain-powered transaction management system designed to remove anxiety and inefficiency associated with long-distance transactions by providing blockchain- authenticated documents, smart contract escrows, process automation and options to choose user-rated service providers. Sandy is also a co-founder of Sanus Connect, which harnesses IoT and blockchain technology to deliver powerful new business solutions in the property and infrastructure sectors. Prior to Sanus Connect, he managed an early-stage venture fund that deployed over $100 million to disruptive cleantech businesses, helping its portfolio companies transition from pre-revenue experiments into global, profitable enterprises. Sandy spent the early part of his career as a project finance banker and financial advisor specializing in infrastructure finance and M&A, especially in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a MBA in Finance from The George Washington University.

Matt Knight

Principal
Shadow Ventures

Matt has been on the bleeding edge of CRE tech for more than a decade as software has been his competitive advantage in the investment market. After starting his career in private lending and originating loans across the United States, he transitioned into the private equity and fund management arena with Colony Capital.

Jeffrey Berman

Partner
Camber Creek

Jeffrey Berman is a General Partner at Camber Creek. Jeffrey runs Camber Creek’s New York office where he sources deal flow and coordinates customer acquisition, retention and marketing strategies for Camber Creek’s portfolio companies. Jeffrey brings close to two decades of executive experience in the real estate industry and has served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of numerous companies, in addition to coordinating investments in same. Jeffrey graduated with a BA (with distinction) from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Pedro Cherry

EVP
Georgia Power

Pedro Cherry serves as executive vice president of Customer Service and Operations (CSO) for Georgia Power. He leads 5,000-plus employees in the CSO organization with responsibility for the company’s customer service efforts, power delivery, sales, pricing and plan- ning, regional external affairs and corpo- rate services. Cherry is responsible for operating and maintaining an electric system that serves 2.5 million customers in all but four of Georgia’s 159 counties. Cherry earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineer- ing and an MBA in operations management and finance from Auburn University. He serves on the boards of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Clark Atlanta University, Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Tourism Foundation. In addition, he serves on the Leadership Atlanta Board of Trustees, the advisory board of the North Georgia Division of Synovus and the Georgia Chamber board of governors. Cherry is a member of the CFA Institute, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, the Auburn Athletics Strategic Advisory Committee and Auburn’s Alumni Engineering Advisory Council. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, Leadership Georgia and the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute.

Mike Gomes

Chief Experience Officer
Cortland Partners

Mike Gomes is Cortland’s, and the multifamily real estate industry’s, first-ever Chief Experience Officer. In his role as CXO, Mike oversees marketing and communications, design (architecture, interior design, and product design), and innovation teams, and he works across all of Cortland to align the entire organization around a forward-thinking resident and community experience. Mike joins Cortland from AMB Sports and Entertainment, where he served as Senior Vice President, Fan Experience, for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United of MLS, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He helped achieve industry-leading results through the design and implementation of innovative strategies and programming that enhanced the game and event day experience for fans and guests of the new stadium. Prior to joining AMB Sports and Entertainment, Mike enjoyed a more than 20-year career with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, serving most recently as Vice President, Experience Development and Media Strategy. During his career at Disney, he held a variety of roles with responsibilities in product management, business development, web/mobile development and ecommerce, operations, technical strategy, and corporate alliances.  Mike has been named on three US patents, named one of Adweek’s Rising Brand Stars in Atlanta, was part of the team at Disney who received Fast Company’s Innovation by Design’s award, and was part of the team who won Sports Business Journal’s Sports Breakthrough of the Year for the innovative food and beverage program at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Liz Gillespie

VP
North American Properties

Scott Willis

President & CEO
DartPoints

Scott Willis serves as DartPoints President and Chief Executive Officer and also serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Willis is a recognized global technology leader in the communications industry with a demonstrated track record of building successful businesses for both large and small organizations to significant scale. He has extensive leadership experience transforming organizations, setting strategic direction, overseeing complex operations and confecting corporate alliances while delivering growth and profitability to the business. Scott has the right balance of strategic leadership, vision, enthusiasm and operational and technical expertise for building sustainable customer relationships to elevate DartPoints to be a leader in the edge data center market. Mr. Willis brings over 30 years of experience in the technology industry with a history of proven success. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Zinwave, a leading global provider of in-building wireless products and solutions. He successfully transformed the organization, reset the global strategy, led the charge to innovate new products and solutions which primed the company to achieve aggressive growth. Through his leadership, he positioned Zinwave as a global leader of in-building wireless solutions. Over the course of his career, Scott has served in executive leadership roles at respected technology companies including Ericsson, Nokia, BellSouth and Sprint. Before Zinwave, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Executive for Goodman Networks, a privately held leader in the design, engineering, deployment and integration of wireless communications networks. In his role, he was responsible for all commercial strategy, sales and marketing and grew revenue from $400 million to $1.2 billion annually. Prior to Goodman Networks, Scott was Executive Vice President and General Manager at Ericsson, where he oversaw more than 6,500 personnel across the U.S. and Latin America growing the business from $5 million in revenue annually to more than $3.5 billion in over 5 years. Previously, Scott served as Vice President and General Manager at Nokia Networks, where he led the growth of a new business to $1.5 billion in annual revenue in 3 years and established Nokia Networks as a market leader in North America. Mr. Willis holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Wake Forest University Babcock Graduate School of Management. He also holds continuing executive education certificates from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Columbia University Graduate School of Business.