LA Power Women Series: Leaders in Commercial Real Estate

Kenya Williams

Executive Director - Real Estate Banking
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank

Kenya Williams is an Executive Director in the Los Angeles office of J.P. Morgan’s Real Estate Banking Division (“REB”) within the Commercial Real Estate Group. In this capacity, Kenya originates on-balance sheet acquisition, construction, term loans, and a host of related financial services to public and private real estate funds and developers.   Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Kenya was a Senior Vice President and Market Manager at PNC Bank, managing its commercial real estate business in Southern California. Prior to joining PNC, Kenya spent 7 years in Wells Fargo commercial real estate practice, lending to both private and public real estate investors. Kenya received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in real estate finance from the University of Southern California. She is one of the founding members of The Regal Group, a networking group for women in real estate, and is a member of the USC Lusk Board, City of Hope LARE Council, and ICSC. A native Californian, Kenya lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

Sondra Wenger

Managing Director, Investments
CIM Group

Investments of CIM Group. Ms. Wenger has management responsibility for broker relations, and also sources real estate investments across CIM Group’s platforms. Prior to joining CIM in 2009, Ms. Wenger had an extensive career in real estate investments at firms such as Arden Realty under General Electric in the Western United States, Equity Office Properties, and MacFarlane Partners. Earlier in her career she was a Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Wenger earned a B.S. degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting, graduating with honors from the University of California Riverside. She is a member of the Urban Land Institute, serves on the Executive Board for the Urban Mixed Use Development Council (Gold Flight), and is a mentor for the young leader partnership program.

Kacy Keys

Founder & CEO
Praxis Development Group

Kacy Keys launched Praxis Development Group (www.praxisdevgroup.com) in 2019 with the express intent of “Building with Purpose.” She comes to the endeavor with 25 years of experience in large and complex development projects, with a track record of success. Kacy has overseen the development of more than $1B in real estate assets (exclusive of land value) with experience in residential, retail, office and mixed-use product types. Praxis partners with institutional and legacy land owners, to help realize vision and value, and is currently building out the Family Life Center for West Angeles Church, as well as partnering with a local family on Crenshaw Blvd. to build multi-family apartments. Specializing in urban infill, Kacy has a passion for projects that result in a positive impact, with an eye towards simultaneous value creation and neighborhood enhancement. With her multi-disciplinary background as a land use/real estate attorney and developer, she looks at opportunity as “what can be” versus “what is.” Understanding the regulatory and entitlement framework, and seeing opportunity in creative solutions, she brings her business savvy and creativity to everything she does. Prior to forming Praxis Development Group, Keys was Senior Vice President for Seritage Growth Properties, overseeing all development for the company in the Western United States. Prior her role at Seritage, Keys was Head of Development and General Counsel for JH Snyder for over a decade. Also having practiced law for several years and worked for the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, Keys brings depth and varied experience to her work.

Mimi Nguyen

EVP Underwriting
KBS Realty

As executive vice president of underwriting, Ms. Nguyen oversees a team responsible for the underwriting, due diligence and closing of acquisitions across the nation on behalf of KBS REIT, pension fund and sovereign wealth fund clients. Ms. Nguyen is a member of the Investment Committee which evaluates and authorizes all new investment opportunities. Ms. Nguyen plays a lead role in managing and building relationships with third-party consultants utilized during and after the due diligence process. Additionally, she is involved in the training of analysts and the development of operational and analytical tools used throughout the company. Prior to joining KBS, Ms. Nguyen was a senior consultant in the Financial Consultant Group at CBRE where she assisted brokers with the disposition and leasing of commercial real estate assets. Preceding her role as senior consultant, Mrs. Nguyen worked in the Appraisal Department at CBRE. Ms. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor’s degree in environmental design.

Alexa Arena

EVP
Lendlease

Alexa Arena, Executive Vice President, is responsible for leading and growing Lendlease’s development capabilities throughout the California market, pursuing and identifying urban regeneration projects, as well as supporting the development efforts nationally. Prior to joining Lendlease, Alexa ran Forest City’s Northern California office serving as Senior Vice President. Under her leadership the Company grew a pipeline of major mixed-use projects. She had over 6 million square feet of residential, office and retail space in development and completed hundreds of housing units. Two of these high profile projects include the 5M Project, the largest private SOMA up-zoning in San Francisco’s history, and Pier 70, a 30 acre public-private partnership with the Port of San Francisco. At Forest City she likewise partnered with Westfield on building out Bespoke in our San Francisco Center; a model for co-working and product marketing in a retail environment. She is deeply knowledgeable around products that serve the tech sector and the creative class in cities, and has pioneered several models in San Francisco to that end. Alexa received her MBA from the Harvard Business School, her MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, Sociology and Political Science from Columbia University. At HBS she wrote a case study on the financial consequence of political risk, which is continuously used across real estate programs and business schools nationally. She was recognized as one of The Most Influential Women in Business on years, and Top 40 under 40 by the San Francisco Business Times. Additionally, Alexa currently serves on several cultural and economic boards including SPUR, a leading civic planning organization focused on developing solutions to urban issues, United Playaz, a local non-profit for youth development and job training, the Museum of Craft and Design, Lamda Alpha and UC Berkely’s Fisher Center Policy Advisory Board.

Dani Evanson

Principal, Managing Director
RMA

Dani Evanson is a Principal and Managing Director of RMA. Together with executive management, Dani leads the firm’s strategic direction. Dani is responsible for capital raising, fund management and accounting, and investor relations. She co-manages RMA’s joint venture partner relationships and serves on RMA’s investment committee. Dani has over 20 years of experience in real estate with a background in acquisitions, dispositions and portfolio management. Prior to joining RMA, Dani was a Real Estate Director at a Los Angeles based family office. In that role, she had primary responsibility for investing and managing a $500 million real estate portfolio consisting of investments in commercial properties, investment funds, joint ventures and real estate operating companies. The portfolio included mixed-use, industrial, office, residential and retail assets. In addition, Dani served on the advisory board for two real estate investment funds. Dani holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Washington. She is a licensed CPA (inactive), CMA (inactive) and California real estate broker. Dani is a current member of the Entrepreneur’s Organization and 2017/18 Finance Co-Chair of the EO Los Angeles Chapter, City of Angeles and 2007 President, 2009 and 2012 Advisor Board Member of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) – Los Angeles Chapter.

Marianne Lowenthal

EVP, West Coast Acquisitions & Development
Combined Properties

Marianne Lowenthal directs all acquisition and development activity for both mixed-use and retail projects on the West Coast for Combined Properties. She joined the company in 2005 and has been responsible for developing and/or redeveloping: Lincoln & Rose, Commons at La Verne, Turnpike Shopping Center, Foothill Ranch Towne Centre, 990 Palm, Santa Monica and La Brea, Shops at Bear Creek, and the Terraces. Acquisitions during her tenure include: Brentwood Place, Studio City Place, Courthouse Shopping Center, land for Sunset Time, Kings Road, Parcel B in Culver City, and the Terraces. Current development projects are: Sunset Time, The Crown, and Culver City. Ms. Lowenthal has been in the development business for 28 years and has worked through complicated entitlements and design issues. In her previous position as Executive Vice President for Bond Companies in Los Angeles, she specialized in mixed-use development and was responsible for the first major mixed-use development in Hollywood CA which contained 300 residential units and 100,000 SF of retail. Prior to holding that position, she had equity investment and management positions as principal of her own business, Lowenthal & Company. There she completed the sale of 3.2 million square feet of office buildings in two high-rise mixed-use projects in Los Angeles, in addition to being project manager for the development of a 500,000 square foot mixed-use project in Burbank, CA. Ms. Lowenthal began her career at The Prudential Realty Group where she started in the development division and rose to become manager of the Western Region portfolio, totaling over 6 million square feet with a combined value in excess of $1.5 billion. Marianne Lowenthal received a B.A. in Political Science and an M.B.A. with concentrations in Finance and Real Estate, from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jessica Levin

Senior Director, Acquisitions
Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation

Ms. Levin is Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation’s Senior Director, Acquisitions and Head of its West Coast Office, located in Los Angeles. Ms. Levin is responsible for acquisition opportunities for Intercontinental sponsored funds with a primary focus on the Western United States. In this role, she is responsible for opportunity identification and transaction execution for all asset classes. She oversees the solicitation, analysis, underwriting and negotiation of all real estate acquisitions and development and is a member of the Intercontinental Investment Committee and Senior Leadership Committee. Ms. Levin has over 22 years of experience in the real estate industry and has transaction experience in excess of $9 billion including over 20M SF of office, industrial, and retail as well as over 9,500 residential units. Prior to joining Intercontinental in 2007, Ms. Levin worked in acquisitions at Colony Realty Partners in Los Angeles. Ms. Levin has also held positions at Arden Realty, Jones Lang LaSalle and Archon Group, a Goldman Sachs subsidiary Ms. Levin has been featured as a California Deal Maker in the California Real Estate Journal’s Annual Deal maker’s Issue, in Real Estate Forum’s Next Generation of Leaders, twice in the Women of Influence issue of Real Estate Southern California, in Real Estate Forum’s 40 Under 40 Issue as well as being recognized at the Bisnow LA Power Women Awards. Ms. Levin is active within ULI (IOPC Silver, ULI DEI Committee, WLI), NAREIM, ICSC, NMHC, City of Hope LARE board member and currently serves as co-chair of RPO. Ms. Levin earned her BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Visit Jessica's LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-levin-57440911/

Robin Hughes

CEO
Housing Partnership Network

Robin Hughes joined the Housing Partnership Network as its President and Chief Executive Officer in 2022. She brings over 35 years of experience in the affordable housing and community development sector. As HPN’s chief executive, Hughes leads a collective network of the nation’s leading affordable housing and community development nonprofits and oversees the vision, strategy, and sustainability of practitioner-driven peer exchange, policy, and innovation/R&D to spark systems change and social enterprises that solve for closing the gaps in the sector. Hughes also manages a portfolio of businesses co-designed and/or launched with network members, which currently include Housing Partnership Fund (CDFI), Housing Partnership Insurance Exchange, Framework Homeownership®, and the Charter School Financing Partnership. Prior to joining HPN, Hughes served as the President and CEO of Abode Communities for 26 years. Abode Communities is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit architect, developer, manager, and operator of service- enhanced affordable housing. Under her leadership, Hughes transformed the organization into one of the nation’s top developers and the premier provider of environmentally sustainable affordable housing in California. During Hughes’ tenure, Abode Communities developed more than 50 residential and mixed-use communities; created new affordable homes for over 12,000 California residents and provided a social safety net for its residents through Beyond Homes, the organization’s substantive resident services program. Early in her career, Hughes held positions in the private and public sectors including The Richmond Group of Companies, Citibank, the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles, and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Hughes received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California and certification from the executive program in Community Development at Harvard Kennedy School.

Alla Sorochinsky

CFO
Cypress Equity Investments

Alla Sorochinsky is the Managing Director of CWP and is responsible for acquisitions, financing and asset management. Since 2001, Alla was the Chief Financial Officer of Cypress Equity Investments where she developed and managed the company's asset repositioning and financial reporting infrastructure. Alla oversaw all aspects of the company, including acquisitions, finance, asset management and dispositions. Previously, Alla was the financial controller of several publicly traded technology companies. Alla graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in International Economics and received a Master's degree from the University of Southern California. Upon graduation Alla joined BDO Seidman LLP where she received her CPA license.

Lynn Owen

COO
TruAmerica

Ms. Lynn Owen is the Chief Operations Officer of TruAmerica Multifamily and brings over 30 years of multifamily and commercial property management experience to her role. Ms. Owen is responsible for overseeing all asset and construction management and portfolio operations functions and is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Ms. Owen has expertise in managing multifamily and commercial properties of varying investment criteria and business objectives. Prior to joining TruAmerica Multifamily, Ms. Owen was Senior Director of Real Estate at Greystar. Before joining Greystar, Ms. Owen was a Principal/Owner and the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Glacier Real Estate Services, where she had an integral role in selling to Greystar in 2010. Prior to Glacier, Ms. Owen held senior positions at Etico Property Management Company, Allied Group, Lexford NW, New Ventures and C.G. Rein Company. Ms. Owen attended The University of Minnesota, majoring in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing. She holds a real estate broker license in Washington State and has served on the Board of Directors for the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association. Ms. Owen is a frequent speaker at regional and national industry-related events and was named one of Real Estate Forum’s California Women of Influence in 2015, and Southern California’s Most Powerful Women in Commercial Real Estate for 2017. Ms. Owen is dedicated to fundraising for charities that support children’s health and well-being, non-profit organizations that teach job skills to homeless individuals, and organizations that assist victims of domestic abuse.

Beatrice Hsu

SVP, Development
Brookfield Properties

Bea Hsu is Senior Vice President at Brookfield Properties Development and oversees a pipeline of urban residential and mixed-use projects throughout California. Brookfield is a developer, owner and operator of real estate with over $190 billion in assets under management globally, including office, retail, residential, industrial and hotel properties.   Prior her career in development, Ms. Hsu served as a senior advisor to LA City Councilmember (now Mayor) Eric Garcetti. In that position she served as staff chair for the City Council’s Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee and staff to the City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee. Ms. Hsu is a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, a past member of the Board of Directors for Larchmont Charter Schools, the Planning Program Advisory Board of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, and the Los Angeles Industrial Development Authority. She has been twice recognized by Bisnow as one of the 50 Most Influential Women in LA Commercial Real Estate. Ms. Hsu is a graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history, and the University of Southern California’s Ross Minority Program in Real Estate.

Nadine Watt

CEO
Watt Capital Partners

Nadine Watt is CEO of Watt Capital Partners. Nadine brings over 25 years of real estate expertise and an entrepreneurial drive to her position, where she oversees day-to-day activities and strategic planning for all commercial investment activities including acquisitions, development, and asset management for the company’s 6 million- square-foot portfolio. Previously, Nadine served as President of Watt Companies. In 2011, she led a strategic reorganization of the company that moved the firm beyond traditional property management and leasing to a focus on acquisitions and real estate development, as well as joint venture opportunities. Nadine played a key role in launching Watt Companies’ acquisition division – Watt Investment Partners – that now actively invests $60 million in a variety of property types across the Western United States. Throughout her 20-year tenure at Watt Companies, Nadine has touched all facets of the company’s operations, including the development of thousands of apartment units and numerous shopping centers. Nadine was also responsible for a widely celebrated multi-million-dollar renovation program at Watt Plaza, a 920,000 square foot, Class-A office building in Century City. The building was certified Platinum LEED and was recognized by BOMA International with an award for Outstanding Building of the Year. Nadine was recently inducted as the President of the University of Southern California Board of Governors and serves as Vice-Chair of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, as well as on the USC Associates Board of Directors. She was the first woman to be named Chair of the Los Angeles Business Council, a position she held for 7 years and is now the immediate past chair. She is a Board Member of Fisker Inc. (FSR) chairing the Compensation Committee, Visionary Women, and the City of Hope Los Angeles Real Estate & Construction Industries Council. Nadine received the Century City Citizen of the Year award in 2017 and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2018. Nadine has also been the subject of a spotlight piece in the Los Angeles Times highlighting her career path and business success. She has also previously held Board Positions on two other publicly traded companies, The New Home Company (NWHM) and 1 st Century Bank. A graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Nadine also holds a Master of Arts degree from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. Nadine currently resides in Beverly Hills with her husband Andrew Jameson and their two daughters, Keira and Reese Jameson.

Robin Potts

Co-Head of Real Estate Investments
Canyon Partners Real Estate

Robin Potts is the Co-Head of Real Estate Investments and Director of Acquisitions for Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC. Ms. Potts has been with Canyon for 11 years and is responsible for overseeing the origination and acquisitions of debt and equity investments across Canyon’s real estate platforms and holds a seat on all real estate investment committees. During her tenure at Canyon, Ms. Potts has facilitated the acquisition, financing and development of over $5 billion of commercial real estate transactions across all asset classes including multifamily, condominiums, office, retail, hospitality, industrial, student housing and mixed-use. Ms. Potts previously worked in the Financial Institutions Group of Credit Suisse in Los Angeles and focused on equity, debt, and M&A transactions in the mortgage real estate investment trust sector. Ms. Potts is a graduate of Harvard University, and received a B.A. degree in Economics.

Erin Mavian

COO
Runyon Group

Jaime Lee

CEO
Jamison Realty

Jaime Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of the Jamison group of companies, a privately-held, family-run real estate business, which controls over 18 million square feet of commercial office, retail, medical, and multifamily properties throughout Southern California.  Jamison has been one of the largest commercial landlords in Los Angeles for the past twenty-five years. Since 2014, it has quickly become one of the city’s most active multifamily developers as well, bringing to market 5,000 units with an additional 2,500 units currently under construction and 7,500 more in development. Earning both BA and JD degrees from the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles native currently sits on the USC Board of Trustees where she co-chairs the Alumni Affairs and University Development committee and sits on the Executive, Audit Compliance Risk & Privacy, Nominating & Governance, and Academic Affairs committees. She is also a member of the Board of Councilors for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and an Executive Committee member of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. A longtime university volunteer, Jaime previously served as President of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors and President of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association Board of Directors. Jaime is active with her high school alma mater, where she is a member of the Harvard-Westlake Board of Trustees and a founding member of its inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. Jaime is also involved in a number of civic and non-profit organizations at the city, state, and community levels. She has served the City of Los Angeles as an appointed commissioner under three different mayoral administrations. Appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, she was elected President of the Board of Harbor Commissioners for the Port of Los Angeles in April 2018, the largest container port by trade volume in the western hemisphere. She also serves on the Mayor’s International Advisory Council and as co- chair of the public-private partnership non-profit Global LA. She previously served for four years as President of the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System Board of Administration, which oversees the City’s $22 billion employee pension fund, and on the boards for the Industrial Development Authority and the Quality and Productivity Commission. She currently serves the State of California as Vice Chair of the California Film Commission and previously spent seven years as a commissioner on the Speech Language Pathology, Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers Board. Jaime is active in the community as a board member of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 where she sits on the Executive, Compensation, and Conflicts committees, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall, and the Korean American Foundation Advisory Board. Recognized for her professional and civic contributions, Jaime has been named one of the 500 most influential people in Los Angeles by the LA Business Journal every year since 2018. She was honored by Asia Society Southern California as their 2020 Urban Visionary, by the USC School of Architecture with their 2021 Distinguished Business Leadership Award, and in 2022 with the LA Parks Foundation’s Rose Award and a Los Angeles Times Woman of Influence Award. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their three children.

Lily Kao

Managing Director
AEW Capital Management

Ms. Kao is a Managing Director at AEW and Head of Asset Management for the firm’s Private Equity Group. In this capacity, she is responsible for the oversight of all asset management activities across all funds and separate accounts. Ms. Kao is also a Senior Portfolio Manager for the firm’s open-end core property fund, the AEW Core Property strategy, where she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Fund’s investments and operations as well as working closely with investor relations on marketing and providing support to the Fund’s investors. She has been with the firm since 1998 and is a member of AEW’s Risk Management Committee, and Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee. Ms. Kao serves as a Council Member for the Urban Land Institute (ULI). She holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California.

Ochi Scobie

Workplace Services Manager
Netflix

• Lead facilities and space planning strategy for all offices and studios. • Successfully evaluate, analyze, negotiate and recommend commercial property leases, purchases and dispositions. • Manage the transition of properties from development/construction to operating phase. • Evaluate, develop, and implement departmental policies and procedures, goals and objectives, and standards of work performance for the staff, building, building systems, and equipment. • Facilitate and oversee office moves. • Have direct involvement in design and supervision of all studio and office construction projects. This includes vendor recommendation and negotiation. • Regularly communicate high-level real estate & studio requests, projects and concerns with Senior Executives. • Develop and track budgets for capital projects, operational expenses and internal events. • Assure projects are delivered on time / on budget. • Manage interactions with the Landlord for building services and to ensure all legal and lease obligations are met. • Manage ongoing maintenance of the offices: serve as direct contact for all vendors and building relationships. • Manage relationship and delegate projects between in-house office and facilities staff with landlord and other studio staff. • Track employee requests and department response to assure a very high level of satisfaction. • Recommend new or modified processes that improve functional efficiency and effectiveness. • Work closely with our Director of Company Life and in-house design team on all office space internal and external signage.

Carol Schatz

President & CEO
Downtown Center BID

Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Downtown Center BID, is known as DTLA’s biggest champion. Before she landed in DTLA, she was an SVP at the California League of Savings Institutions and then deputy regional director for the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp, where she oversaw the liquidation of billions of dollars in assets of failed savings institutions in the 12 western states. The most rewarding part of her job these days is touting the success of DTLA’s transformation. “Being a pivotal player in Downtown’s complete transformation has given me the greatest satisfaction,” she says. The possibilities are endless in DTLA, according to Carol. She sees construction costs and land prices as challenges developers face as a result of the progress that has been made. “We’ve become a victim of our own success,” she says. Carol also has concerns about the “misguided” anti-development legislation now being tossed around. She advises women and others getting started in the industry to “trust your instincts, and don’t take no for an answer." Away from the office, she enjoys the opera and theater as well as traveling, hiking and swimming.

Tiffany Cooper

Head of Development, North America & Caribbean
Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group

Tiffany Cooper is the Senior Vice President, Development for the Americas for The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group. Tiffany is responsible for delivering growth to The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group by expanding the development pipeline and footprint for the Americas via quality hotel projects to include conversions, adaptive reuse and new build opportunities. Tiffany is a hospitality professional with over 20 years of experience, having begun her career working in sales & marketing/hotel operations for The Kimpton Group in early 1995. Tiffany joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 1999 and continued working in operations, leading sales teams for various Starwood properties until 2005 when she transitioned to the Real Estate Development Group for Starwood. During this time, Tiffany extensively grew Starwood’s portfolio, more than doubling the footprint throughout the Western Region. In September, 2016, following the Marriott acquisition of Starwood, Tiffany joined the Marriott International development team, focused on full service and luxury hotel development until moving to Kimpton in April 2018.

Cheryl Prell

Partner
Allen Matkins

Cheryl S. Prell is a partner in the Real Estate Department of Allen Matkins, and practices in the Century City office. Her practice has focused on the leasing and ongoing management of office and industrial projects and retail shopping centers, as well as the acquisition, disposition and redevelopment of retail and office building projects. She has worked on several complex lease workout transactions, including workouts with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, Ameriquest, Thelen LLP, and Heller Ehrman. She has also successfully represented numerous landlords in connection with operating expense audits by their tenants. Cheryl has represented a variety of clients during her more than 30 years of practice, including institutional investors and privately owned companies, such as Kilroy Realty Corporation, Beacon Capital Partners, Macquarie Office Trust, Maguire Partners, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, Sumitomo Life Realty (N.Y.), Inc., Douglas Emmet & Company, Equity Office Properties, and J.P. Morgan Investment Management, Inc. Cheryl is currently involved as one of the founders of REal Women, a group formed in 2009 which includes several women with careers in commercial real estate as members. REal Women is both a networking group that provides support for the members' own career development, and an informal organization that provides mentoring to high school and college age women with respect to education and career opportunities, and preparing for the job market.

Alicia Wachtel

ED, Facilities Planning, Design and Construction
Cedars Sinai Health System (CSHS)

During this time of system transformation and geographical growth for Cedars Sinai, Alicia is responsible for the management and leadership of capital projects related to the health system’s expansion, the Medical Delivery Network growth, and the built platforms supporting care delivery transformation. Her responsibilities include hands on work with Real-Estate strategies that support the robust portfolio of new clinical space. Since 1995, Wachtel has dedicated her career to Healthcare Design. Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai in 2017, Alicia Wachtel was a Principal in the Los Angeles office of HOK. Wachtel’s professional career has been focused on the delivery of complex replacement projects and the multiple delivery methodologies associated with them, including hospital P3s. Alicia holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, where she transferred from the School of Architecture, Universidad del Estado, Montevideo - Uruguay.

Sara Neff

Partner & GM, Sustainability - CO + I
Microsoft

Sara Neff is a Partner and General Manager of Sustainability for Microsoft's Cloud Operations + Innovation team. Prior to joining Microsoft, she was Head of Sustainability, Lendlease Americas, where she provided leadership and management oversight in developing, implementing and driving Lendlease's corporate sustainability framework in the Americas region. Prior to that role, she served as Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation. Under her leadership, Kilroy was recognized as a leader among publicly traded real estate companies on sustainability in the Americas by GRESB for seven of the last eight years as well as being recognized by NAREIT, and achieved carbon neutral operations at the end of 2020. She is a LEED Fellow and holds a BS from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Sonnet Hui

GM and VP
Project Management Advisors

Sonnet currently serves as Vice President and General Manager for Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA), a national real estate advisory firm specializing in Development Management, Project Management, Investor Representation and Program Management services. She has spent the bulk of her 30-plus year career as an architect, developer, business strategist and planner working for both national and international firms. As general manager, Sonnet oversees projects across multiple sectors, including high-rise and multifamily residential, entertainment, healthcare, educational, and commercial. Prior to joining PMA, Sonnet was Vice President, Design and Construction at NBC Universal, where she was responsible for developing and leading design, construction and related capital planning services for NBCUniversal and DreamWork’s West Coast Studio Operations. In this role, she managed the planning and execution of construction projects at the iconic 400 + acre Universal Lot in Studio City. She was honored in 2016 and 2017 by Bisnow as one of “Los Angeles’ Power Women.” In the past year, Sonnet has been recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as part of their Women’s Leadership Series, the 2020 class of Thriving in Their 40s, and as a Women of Influence in Construction and Design. Sonnet Hui is a Trustee of the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU).

Gilda Rivera

Senior Vice President
George Smith Partners

Ms. Rivera has over 19 years as a commercial real estate lender and broker. With a focus in the Asian markets, Gilda is responsible for the origination, analysis, structuring and placement of debt & equity for all income producing property types throughout United States. This past year, Ms. Rivera reached $100 million in closed transactions which is the highest number of dollars brought in by a female broker at George Smith Partners. During her tenure at George Smith Partners, Ms. Rivera structured complex transactions and facilitated, structured, and closed over $2 billion dollars in commercial real estate financing. Gilda utilizes her outstanding lender relationships to provide certainty of execution and creative structured financings for her clients. Prior to joining George Smith Partners in 2004, Gilda was employed as an analyst and underwriter for Washington Mutual Bank (now JP Morgan Chase), of “on-book” multi- family & commercial real estate loans and commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS). Ms. Rivera holds Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science degrees from University of California Los Angeles. She has traveled internationally and is an open water scuba diver.

Sara Escobar Mailloux

VP, Real Estate & Workplace
Honey

Rhonda Slavik

Director
Polaris Pacific

Carolyn Leslie

Director, Asset Management
Atlas Capital

Carolyn Leslie, Director Asset Management. Ms. Leslie joined Atlas in 2017. She is responsible for the asset management of ROW DTLA including overseeing leasing, property operations, and the overall stabilization of the 30 acre site located in the heart of Los Angeles. Prior to joining Atlas, Ms. Leslie was a Senior Asset Manager at Watt Companies where she directed a portfolio of retail, office and multifamily assets as well as headed up acquisitions for the division. Ms. Leslie received an M.B.A. with an emphasis in Finance from the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University and graduated from Vanderbilt University with B.A. in Economics and Art History

Scé Pike

CEO & Founder
IOTAS

Scé started her career in the 90s in Silicon Valley, designing and developing the 1st ecommerce sites for GM, HP, Blue Cross and others. Later she helped to pioneer smart phones at Palm. In 2007, Scé started her own company, Citizen, the 7th fastest growing company in Oregon which focuses on Internet of Things (IoT) products such as connected cars and connected health. While developing IoT products for these industries, she realized that there was a lack of enterprise-level Smart Apartment solution designed specifically for the Multi-Family-Home Industry. In 2014, she founded IOTAS, a smart apartment hardware and software technology company to help the MFH industry increase revenue, save costs, gather insights & monetize data from their portfolios. IOTAS has been recognized by Fortune, Wired, Gigaom, ABC, NBC, Chicago Tribune and more as the new way of automating apartments to attract tenants. Scé has spoken at Health 2.0, TechFest NW, WebVisions, NAA, and BISNOW on the impact of Internet of Things.

Jodie Poirier

Executive Managing Director
Colliers

Natalie Bazarevitsch

Senior Vice President
CBRE

Natalie has over 25 combined years of experience as a Senior Managing Director and real estate Brokerage Professional with the CBRE, Inc. Specializing in Office Properties with extensive experience in leasing, investment sales, and ground up developments, Natalie focuses her efforts on representing owners and corporate and office tenants throughout the Tri-Cities markets of Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank and throughout the San Gabriel Valley. For 13 years, Natalie was an integral part of the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire’s office market growth. Her involvement within the commercial real estate community and the Cities and 3 Counties that make up these Regions, positioned her well in 2008 and for the next 6 years, to oversee two of the largest Regions in the U.S. as its Senior Managing Director. Charged with growing and overseeing over 200 sales professionals and staff in the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles North Regions, Natalie’s insight into and approach to the market in which she now represents Landlords, Tenants, Buyers and Sellers has been expanded through her leadership roles and balcony perspective. Natalie’s multi-faceted background, process-driven approach, commitment to the industry, Regional reach, and strong relationships, enable her to provide the highest level of service to her clients, with the strongest of business and work ethics, knowledge and experience.

Dana Trujillo

CEO
Excelerate Housing Group

Laura Stumm

Senior Managing Director
NGKF

Laura Stumm is a managing director with Newmark Knight Frank in Los Angeles and a lead member of Newmark Knight Frank's West Coast capital markets investment sales team, led by West Coast President Kevin Shannon. Since joining the Shannon Team in early 2011, Ms. Stumm has worked in various aspects of the investment sales process, including operations, marketing, analytics and brokerage. She has participated many of the West Coast's highest profile dispositions, contributing to over $25 billion in brokered transactions by the team since 2011. Ms. Stumm's dedication, professionalism, work ethic and attention to detail make her an essential member of the Shannon Team. Ms. Stumm has a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame. She lives with her husband and son in Manhattan Beach.

Kimberly Stepp

Principal
Stepp Commercial

Kimberly R. Stepp continues her 21-year career in commercial real estate, serving as Co-Founder and Principal at Stepp Commercial. Kimberly has been honored and recognized by the community, her peers and industry professionals with numerous awards, including #1 multifamily broker in Santa Monica from 2010-2016. In 2017, Kimberly has been recognized as a nominee of “Women of Influence” by the RE Forum and featured in “Who’s Brokering LA” in the LABJ. In 2016, she was named one of the “Top 50 Women in Commercial Real Estate in Southern California,” and has been nominated as an “Executive Of The Year” finalist with Bisnow for six consecutive years from 2011-2017. Prior to merging her team with Stepp Commercial’s firm in 2015, Stepp was the Senior Managing Director at the Charles Dunn Company and ranked as a Top Broker, earning a place annually in the prestigious Charlie’s Club for achievements. Kimberly leads a team of brokers at Stepp Commercial that specialize in the sale and exchange of Multi-Residential Commercial Real Estate in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and prime Westside markets; performing at list to sell ratio of 98.5%. Her decades of experience as an industry leader and her reputation for hard work, accountability, and commitment to excellence are the values she maintains daily.

Lori Atwater

Program Manager
Southern California Edison

Lori Atwater was born and raised in Los Angeles to educated and well-traveled parents. Her early exposure to international travel and community engagement established the framework for Lori’s life-long cross-cultural volunteerism and community service. Lori’s 30+ years of professional work experience is quite diverse, including energy program manager, solar project engineer, IBEW electrician, construction project manager, electronics technician, computer network technician, and communications consultant. After spending 25 years on the Central Coast, Lori Atwater returned to Los Angeles in 2011 where she joined the PV team at SolarReserve developing utility-scale solar power plants across the USA. In 2013, Lori joined Southern California Edison as Energy Program Manager. At SCE, she has overseen commercial, residential, and institutional energy efficiency projects and programs. Lori’s private world is quite public. She is active in women’s ministry and gospel choir at her church. She has led service teams to Europe, Indonesia, Israel, Malawi, Mozambique, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates. Today she serves as Battalion 1 CERT Coordinator for the Los Angeles Fire Department and leads a local Girl Scout troop in Downtown Los Angeles. Lori aspires to build sustainable communities that transform lives.