Women Leading Real Estate

Michela Hancock

Managing Director
Greystar

Michela leads the development business in the UK. She focuses on overseeing execution of current projects including financing, amenity and unit planning, design, entitlements, construction and lease up efforts on multifamily and student developments. In addition, Michela is helping to secure a pipeline of 10,000 units in the next 3-4 years. She is currently Vice Chairman of the Urban Land Institute’s UK Residential Council, a member of the British Property Federation (BPF) Build to Rent Committee and a board member, treasurer and chair of the events and marketing committee of the United Kingdom Apartment Association (UKAA).

Morwenna Wilson-Hall

COO
Argent

Morwenna Hall, a chartered mechanical engineer, is the COO of developer Argent LLP.  She joined the firm in 2011 and in addition to her corporate leadership role has led the design and delivery of several major projects at King’s Cross, including the Coal Drops Yard; a new shopping destination for London with 65 retail units in the repurposed Victorian coal sheds which opens to the public in October 2018. Morwenna started her career at Arup as a mechanical building services engineer where she gained seven years’ experience working in building design teams.  During this time, she was the lead mechanical engineer for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, designed by Stanton Williams architects, which in 2012 won the most sought-after accolade in the industry – the RIBA Stirling Prize.  In 2015 Morwenna featured in Property Week’s ‘Forty under 40’ list of young entrepreneurs, disrupters and leaders. Morwenna has a passion for all aspects of design and was one of the 27 women showcased in the 2014 ‘Women Fashion Power’ exhibition at the Design Museum, alongside Princess Diana, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Dame Zaha Hadid.

Mike Sales

CEO
Nuveen Real Estate

As Head of Nuveen Real Estate, Mike is primarily responsible for overseeing the business across all regions. With over 25 years’ experience within the real estate industry, he is a member of the Global Executive Leadership Team, which sets and executes strategic goals for the business. Working closely with senior investment managers, he ensures the business delivers good investment performance and world-class service that is in line with clients’ expectations. He also assists the Investor Relations Team in developing and maintaining client relationships. Mike is a member of the Investment Committee and Real Estate Debt Investment Committee. Mike joined the company as UK Property Investment Manager in 1994 and has held a number of senior management roles before his appointment as Head of TH Real Estate in 2015. He started his career in 1989 as a Development Surveyor at Morgan Grenfell Laurie, where he was then appointed to Head of UK Investment Agency in 1993. Mike has built a strong reputation in the market. He is a regular contributor to real estate media and participates in industry conferences and roundtables. He has a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and a MPhil in Land Management. He is a Member Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and a member of the Investment Property Forum (IPF).

Madeleine McDougall

Managing Director, Head of Real Estate & Housing
Lloyds Banking Group

Madeleine is the Head of the Commercial Real Estate team at Lloyds. She joined in November 2014 as Head of Institutional, looking after Private Equity, Pension Fund and Sovereign Wealth clients before taking up her current position in August 2017. Her role involves developing and leading the business activity plans for relationships across the Commercial Real Estate market with a specialist team based across 6 UK locations. In 2016 Lloyds lent £8.6 bn into the UK CRE market, delivering €1,547m of debt syndication and Madeleine was key in driving the client franchise which included both leading UK institutions and large global investors. She previously held the Head of International clients at pbb, where she covered Europe wide real estate financing from 2011-2014. Prior to this, she worked at Westimmo and Eurohypo and started her career on the equity side at Trillium.

Ric Lewis

Co-Chief Executive & Chairman
Tristan Capital Partners

Regarded as one of the most creative and consummate professionals in the international real estate management industry, Ric is Tristan's Senior Portfolio Manager, responsible for the Fund's overall strategy and execution. He brings more than twenty-five years of experience and investment success to the roles of Chairman of the Investment Committee, Chief Executive and Founding Partner of Tristan Capital Partners. A graduate of Dartmouth College in the USA, where he received an A.B., Economics, Ric is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School (PMD). In the US, he was a Partner and Senior Managing Director of AEW Capital Management, an investment management business with 200 staff and $25 billion under management. Moving to Europe, Ric then became Chief Investment Officer and Board Director of AEW Europe, a pan-European real estate investment management business with 11 offices, 270 staff and €18 billion in assets under management. He then founded and served for several years as Chief Executive for Curzon Global Partners, a London based real estate investment company, owned by AEW Europe. Outside of work, Ric is a passionate advocate for improving less advantaged children's access to quality education, in particular through his own Black Heart Foundation. He serves, or has recently served on the Board of Trustees for Dartmouth College, the Board of Directors of London First; the Board of Visitors for the Belfer Centre for International Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government; the Board of Trustees of The International Inspiration Foundation; The Ambassadors Council of Grassroots Soccer; the Board of Governors of King Solomon Academy; the Board of Directors of the Eastside Young Leaders Academy and Chair of the Board The Institute of Imagination (London Children’s Museum).

Kaela Fenn-Smith

Managing Director
Real Estate Balance

Kaela Fenn-Smith joins gender diversity organisation Real Estate Balance, the non-profit membership organisation supported by the men and women leaders in property and working to address the gender imbalance within the sector, is announcing the appointment of Kaela Fenn-Smith as managing director. Working in collaboration with the management committee to lead Real Estate Balance, Kaela will be responsible for building the organisation’s capacity to support the UK real estate sector in its journey towards gender diversity. In the newly created post, Kaela’s priorities include:  Engaging with Real Estate Balance members and supporting their own commitments for change  Building the strength of Real Estate Balance’s membership, including identifying and reaching out to new groups of potential members  Working with Real Estate Balance members to monitor, measure and evaluate the progress organisations are making towards their gender balance commitments  Delivering the Real Estate Balance business strategy, including developing a dynamic content programme and implementing initiatives focused on achieving practical change Vivienne King, Chair of Real Estate Balance, said: “Kaela’s appointment represents an important new chapter for Real Estate Balance. Until now, the organisation’s success has been down to its hard-working volunteers. With Kaela in post as managing director, we have an experienced senior resource to support our objectives for our future as a leading change agent for gender balance. Kaela is a property insider – well-known, widely-respected and hugely popular – and she brings to Real Estate Balance a track record of leading transformational change. Kaela will be an exceptional ambassador for Real Estate Balance and an advocate for the wider property world and we look forward to working together to ensure a better-balanced industry for all.” Kaela Fenn-Smith, Managing Director of Real Estate Balance, said: “I’m hugely excited to be joining Real Estate Balance and to be working alongside the women and men on the management committee who share a vision for a more inclusive property sector. Real Estate Balance is a unique organisation on an incredible mission, working to bring about a change in the corporate culture of our industry. I have spent 25 years in property and I’ve been passionate about diversity throughout my career. I look forward to supporting women in real estate by engaging with the men and women leaders to deliver real practical change, so aspiration and ambition are not only accepted but achievable.” Prior to joining Real Estate Balance, Kaela was at Landsec for seven years as Head of Commercial and a member of the executive team in London. Before joining Landsec, Kaela’s previous positions have included director roles with JLL and CBRE.

Deepa Devani

VP
GIC

Ms Devani is Vice President at GIC Real Estate. Her current role includes investment management across various asset classes in the UK which involves sourcing potential investments and managing them through to exit. She is responsible for managing GIC’s investment in Broadgate. Prior to joining GIC in 2007, Ms Devani worked at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Ms Devani is a Chartered Accountant and a professional member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and holds an MA in Economics and Management Studies from Cambridge University.

Cherine Aboulzelof

Managing Director, Co-Head, Strategic Capital Partner
BentalGreenOak

Cherine Aboulzelof currently heads the European business for BGO’s real estate multi manager (“BGO Strategic Capital Partners”) business and is based in London. Through its dedicated Secondaries and Co-Investment programmes, SCP provides equity solutions to real estate managers via recapitalisations and growth equity. SCP also works with LPs in providing liquidity solutions for their portfolios. With 15 years of direct real estate investment experience as a GP before joining BGO SCP, Cherine is responsible for the European strategy and for sourcing and executing investment opportunities across sectors and geographies. She sits on SCP’s global investment committee. Cherine started her career in investment banking with JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, is an alumni of EM Lyon and holds an MBA from INSEAD. She speaks French, Arabic, English, Spanish and Italian.

Adina David

The Collective

Ghislaine Halpenny

British Property Federation

Isabelle Hease

CEO & Head of Product
Visitor Insights

Jill Xiaozhou Ju

Investment Director
The Collective

As Investment Director at The Collective, Jill is responsible for the firm’s debt and equity fund raising, investment acquisitions, and strategic growth internationally. The Collective has developed the largest co-living community, a well-amentinized, fully-stablized 550-bed asset in London, and is expanding internationally to be the best co-living provider worldwide. Prior to The Collective, Jill worked for Greystar managing its £1.5bn student housing portfolio in London and Charleston, and for UBS Investment Bank on its Asia cross-border M&A team in Hong Kong and Beijing. Jill received her MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated from Peking University with a Bachelor of Economics. Jill is fluent in Chinese and conversational in German with professional experience in U.S., Europe and China. Jill was recently listed by Forbes as “30 Under 30” in European Finance.

Kat Hanna

Masterplan Strategist
Lendlease

An experienced urbanist and researcher, Kat has worked in London politics, planning, and policy for almost a decade. Her interests include urban economies, transport, and the relationship between technology and the built environment. Kat has authored a number of reports and articles on urban development in London and regularly appears as a commentator on urban affairs across a range of publications, media, and events. Kat joined Lendlease in April 2019 as masterplan strategist for the 60 acre Euston over-site development. Her role focuses on developing the masterplan vision and ensuring both the plan and the project itself respond to trends and innovations in urban development, transport and technology.

Lorna Walker

CBRE

Alex Notay

Placemaking and Investment Director
PfP Capital

Alexandra Notay is Build to Rent fund director at PfP Capital, the fund and asset management arm of Places for People, tasked with raising a £550M fund to deliver 3,000 BTR homes across the UK. She is also an internationally recognised expert on build to rent, placemaking and sustainable urban development, with 15 years’ strategic advisory experience to public and private sector clients across four continents. In January 2019 Alex was selected as one of the 48 women shaping the future of UK real estate at the prestigious BISNOW Women Leaders event. Alex is a published author and editor of over 30 books and reports on real estate including the renowned ULI UK Best Practice Guide on Build to Rent (2014, 2016). Alex is a vice-chair of ULI UK Residential Council and on the ULI UK Executive Committee, serves on the BPF Build to Rent Committee and is an Associate Member of CREFC Europe. She is also a non- executive director of Sound Diplomacy, SouthWest Board Member for LandAid and trustee of SunScreenIT Foundation.

Belinda Chain

Partner, Head of Asset Financing
Europa Capital

Belinda is a Partner and Head of Asset Financing at Europa Capital, and is responsible for third-party financing and hedging of all Europa’s value-add pan-European investments. Before joining Europa in 2006, Belinda spent ten years in real estate investment banking at Deutsche Bank, Babcock & Brown and Schroders Property, in both the UK and Australia. Belinda started her career at Price Waterhouse as an accountant. She is also a member of Women on Boards in the UK and its mentoring programme. Belinda received a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from Macquarie University in Sydney and completed her post-graduate qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Vasiliki Arvaniti

Capital & Regional

Morwenna Hall

Executive Director
Related Argent

Morwenna Hall, a chartered mechanical engineer, is an Executive Director at Related Argent. She joined the firm (then Argent LLP) in 2011 and in addition to her corporate leadership role, has led the design and delivery of several major projects at King’s Cross, including Coal Drops Yard – a thriving shopping and leisure destination with more than 50 shops, cafes, bars and restaurants - the Fish & Coal building and Gasholder Park. Morwenna now leads on the ground floor uses, public realm vision and activation for Brent Cross Town, a new park town that brings together the very best of London’s great neighbourhoods while making the most of its natural assets and opportunities. Its most distinct local feature is a 44-acre playing field that is destined to become one of London’s great parks and home to a wide variety of new play and sports facilities. Morwenna started her career at Arup as a mechanical building services engineer. During this time, she was the lead mechanical engineer for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, designed by Stanton Williams architects, which in 2012 won the most sought-after accolade in the industry – the RIBA Stirling Prize. Morwenna has featured in many publications such as Property Week’s ‘Forty under 40’ list of young entrepreneurs, disrupters and leaders and her evident passion for design led to her being showcased as one of 27 women in the 2014 ‘Women Fashion Power’ exhibition at the Design Museum, alongside Princess Diana, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Dame Zaha Hadid.”

Natalie Adomait

Senior Vice President
Brookfield Asset Management

Natalie Adomait is a Senior Vice President in Brookfield’s Real Estate Group and Head of Portfolio Management for Real Estate in Europe. Ms. Adomait joined Brookfield in Canada in 2011 as part of the Renewable Power Group and relocated to London in 2014. Ms. Adomait is currently a director of Student Roost, Edyn, Center Parcs U.K., International Campus, Grand M Group, Harwell Life Sciences and Brookfield Properties London. Since joining Brookfield, she has been involved in multiple transactions including the acquisitions of Bord Gais Energy, Alcoa Tapoco Hydro, White Pine Hydro, Alta Wind, various U.K. student housing assets and the sale of Gazeley. Ms. Adomait received an honours degree in International Business from the Sprott School of Business in Ottawa.

Leia de Guzman

Associate Director, Investments Europe
Oxford Properties

Leia is an Associate Director at Oxford Properties, the real estate investment arm of Canadian pension fund, OMERS. Joining the European and Asia Pac Investments team in 2016, Leia has executed more than C$8 Bn of transactions across the UK, France, and Germany, including follow-on opportunities associated with the Delancey Oxford Residential (DOOR) multifamily platform in the UK, as fronted by the Get Living operational platform and brand.

Natalie Lelliott

Colliers Interntional

Safinaz Zakaria

Partner
Crosstree

Safi joined Crosstree in 2013 and is responsible for sourcing, execution and delivery of investments. Safi has worked on deals across most asset classes including office, retail, hotel, industrial, residential, co-living and student, investing across the capital stack. Prior to joining Crosstree, Safi was with Rothschild in the Real Estate and Leisure Investment Banking team. Safi holds an MA in Economics and Arabic from the University of Edinburgh.

Angela Kearns

Corporate Real Estate Partner
Clifford Chance

Angela Kearns is a Corporate Real Estate partner in Clifford Chance's London office specialising in complex development and urban regeneration projects and their funding, direct and indirect investments and HQ occupiers work. Her work spans a broad range of asset classes including life sciences. Angela was shortlisted for Real Estate Individual (London) of the year at the Legal 500 Awards 2020 and is recognised as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 UK.

Sophie Shannon

NewRiver

Lois Kay

Peel

Victoria Turnbull

Joint Managing Director
Opus Land

Victoria Turnbull is the Joint Managing Director of Opus Land, a leading Property Investment company with offices within the West Midlands and London. Founded in 1999 and part owned and funded by Fiera Real Estate. , the company has an established track record in delivering added-value solutions for real estate. The company has extensive experience of working in partnership with landowners, investors and occupiers with assets under management approaching 3 million sq ft. Previously Victoria was based in London where she worked as an Associate Director for Fiera Real Estate, a Real Estate Fund Manager and Venture Capital backer of companies with a focus on opportunistic real estate investment. Before that, she was a Senior Surveyor at King Sturge (now Jones Lang La Salle) in London where she specialised in commercial investment and business recovery. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate Management from The University of Reading and is a chartered member of RICS and CFA. She has a breadth of experience with over 15 years in the property industry dealing with direct and indirect property investment, development and asset management. She has an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities facing the Midlands and is uniquely placed to view these alongside her experience in the London market.

Rosanna Lawn

Yoo Living

Emily Prideaux

Director
Derwent London

Appointed to the Board: 2021 Skills and expertise: Emily has overall responsibility for overseeing Leasing and Asset Management transactions, building on our excellent customer service and relations, leading our marketing and digital strategy, whilst continuing to ensure that our future developments provide best in class workspace for the next generation of businesses. Emily is a chartered surveyor and was previously Director of Investment Management at CB Richard Ellis North America. Other current appointments: Director of The Paddington Partnership.

Savannah de Savary

Founder & CEO
Built-ID

Savannah de Savary is the Founder and CEO of Built-ID. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Savannah joined Thor Equities, where she managed NYC real estate development projects before founding the PropTech start-up, Built-ID at the age of 23. Featured as one of the PropTech companies changing real estate forever and one of Forbes’ Groundbreaking Female Founded PropTech Startups, Built-ID is the tech-for-good innovator behind the market-leading community engagement platform, Give My View. By making it fun and easy for hard-to-reach groups to engage with decision-makers, Built-ID consistently generates unprecedented community engagement results. Their client base includes Mitsubishi Estate, Legal & General, The University of Oxford, Innogy, Grosvenor Estate, The City of London, Cadogan Estates, C C Land Holdings, Haringey Council, ASM Global and many more, both in the property industry and increasingly beyond. In 2020, Savannah was featured alongside Greta Thunberg as one of Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. Savannah is a regular columnist for Property Week, part of the ULI Europe Leadership Council, Urban Art Forum and sits on the Board of Trustees for The Legacy Foundation. Savannah was invited onto The Evening Standard’s Women Tech Charge podcast, “which looks at the incredible women revolutionising our lives through technology.” Her work with Built-ID has resulted in various accolades, including being named one of the Top 30 Female Entrepreneurs in the UK to Watch, voted one of The Women Who Will Shape the Future of Real Estate by Bisnow, Young Personality of the Year at the Property Awards and featured in Property Week’s Power 100: Top 20 Ones to Watch, and as one of the Top 20 PropTech influencers in a poll by the UK PropTech Association. Her work creating inclusive technology has led to coverage on BBC News & in The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Evening Standard as well as Tech & Real Estate press in the UK & internationally.

Gabriella Sonabend

Oaksure

Sowgol Zaringchang

Long Harbour

Ilna Patel

Nuveen

Bumjoo Maclennan

Invesco

Alex Chitty

Landsec

Cassandra Wheeldon

WiredScore

Claire Shepherd

Safe I nnovations

Emily Hamilton

Senior Sustainability Manager
Grosvenor Britain & Ireland

Emily Hamilton (MIEMA) has more than ten years’ experience running environmental and social impact programmes. Emily’s role at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland involves working with internal and external stakeholders to influence staff, suppliers and customers to adopt sustainable practices. Most recently she has worked with our senior leadership team to set ambitious, time bound goals which enable the business to help lead the transition towards a sustainable economy and environment. Emily is a Board Director for the Better Buildings Partnership, as well as alumni of the UK Green Building Council’s Future Leaders Programme. In February 2019 she was named one of 49 women in the UK shaping the future of real estate by BisNow. In 2019 she also won the Lady Tamara Prize, an international award given by the Grosvenor Estate to employees who go above and beyond to deliver positive social and environmental outcomes.

Emma Long

LGIM Real Assets

Emma Steele

Savills

Emma Tattersall

JLL

Gemma Kataky

Managing Director
Blackstone

Gemma Kataky joined Blackstone in 2015 and is a managing director in its European real estate asset management team, based in London. She oversees the day-to-day operations of more than €7B of complex portfolios in the mixed-use, flexible office and affordable housing spaces, most notably The Office Group, Sage Housing and Obligo. Over the last three years she has also transacted on €4B of asset and portfolio sales in the Nordics, Germany and UK. Kataky started her career at Bank of America in the general European mergers and acquisitions team. She then went on to spend seven years at Carlyle focusing on UK real estate acquisitions.

Jennie Fojtik

Head of Mobilisation
Quintain

Harri John

Cushman & Wakefield

Joyeeta Das

CEO
Gyana

Joyeeta Das is an entrepreneur who has built a career in the technology sector. Her early work was defined by progress in the engineering and program management ranks in Fortune Ten tech companies. She founded and exited two successful startups, one in the tech sector and one nonprofit. Along with fellow Oxford graduate David Kell, in 2015 Das founded technology company Gyana AI. Gyana is a self-service data science platform that enables insights around locations and people, using big data and artificial intelligence technologies. The platform is designed to be used without any technical background, so that a client can access customer insights and advanced big data intelligence within seconds without any training. Das is in the MIT 35 under 35 shortlist, is a TEDx speaker and is an ambassador for Innovate UK’s Women In Innovation programme. She volunteers with numerous charitable organisations and has been selected to be a diplomatic representative at UK-Brazil/Canada/USA trade delegations.

Natasha Guerra

CEO
Runway East

As CEO of the successful coworking hub, Runway East, and Chair of the ICE List, Natasha’s core interests lie in nurturing high-growth startups and building collaborative tech communities. With over 1800 members and 170 companies spread across four locations in London and Bristol, members at Runway East include ClassPass, Settled and YellowDog, with a community that has raised over £300m in funding to date. The ICE List is a thriving community of over 300 entrepreneurs and investors, striving to improve the professional and personal lives of members, as well as embolden the UK tech scene as a whole. Prior to Runway East and the ICE List, Natasha has contributed to the success of leading companies across Silicon Valley and London, as well as launching TaskFirm - providing on-demand, vetted freelancers to startups and entrepreneurs.

Kelly Cleveland

Head of Investment
British Land

Kelly is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified in New Zealand in 2001 at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and has worked in real estate in the UK since 2004. Kelly has been at British Land since 2011, with roles in strategy and corporate finance and has been Head of Investment since 2016. She took on responsibility for Strategy in 2022. Kelly previously held roles in corporate finance at the Grosvenor Group and as a financial analyst at Burberry Group PLC. She joined the Executive Committee in November 2020.

Rajdeep Gahir

Venture Partner
Concrete Ventures

Rachel Shone

Principal Global Investors

Sheima Salloum

Eastdil

Rebeca Guzman Vidal

Founding Partner
Curate Ventures

Previously Head of Group Retail Strategy at Chelsfield, Director at CBRE and co-chairs the ULI Europe’s Retail and Entertainment Council. Co-hosts the podcast “Retail is Dead”. 15+ years in real estate.

Tracey Pollard

BGP

Tracy Peacock

Head of BTR
Native

Tracy Peacock, is Head of BTR at Native, one of the largest BTR/aparthotel operators in the UK, with £1.7bn AUM. She oversees Native’s BTR business which comprises of 1,500 apartments, either in operation or under construction, across the UK. Key sites include the 533-apartment Kampus scheme in Manchester, a 183-unit Carolyn House scheme in East Croydon and the stylish 102-home Dalston Works development in London. Native BTR works with a broad range of Build to Rent investors including Dorrington, Aviva, LaSalle, CBREi, Woking Borough Council and Ares. She ensures that Native BTR projects continue to be known for their design quality, as vibrant communities that are efficiently managed and supported by revenue management technology that drives consistently strong top line returns. Tracy has over 20 years’ experience in residential leasing, working at the forefront of the ‘multi-family’ sector in Chicago, USA. She joins from Lennar Multi-Family Communities where she spent the last three years bringing 2,100 units to the market including liaison with the development team, operations, budget forecasts, marketing and asset management.

Victoria Hall

AXA IM