New York Women Leading Real Estate Cocktail & Award Ceremony

Laurie, an accomplished deal maker, is partner and co-chair of the firm’s global real estate practice. She takes a client-focused approach to her real estate practice, often acting as in-house counsel for her clients and becoming a trusted member of their businesses. She has a long list of clients who have been with her since the beginning of her practice and appreciate her ability to adeptly and efficiently handle any type of real estate deal. She is recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA 2021, noting that she is “a strong negotiator” and “she has a great business sense combined with legal knowledge.” Most recently, for the second year in a row, Commercial Observer included her in their elite “Power 100” list, which recognizes the most powerful players in real estate. Laurie represents real estate private equity funds, companies, institutional REITs, investors and other property owners in structuring and closing real estate transactions such as acquisitions and dispositions, developments, financings, portfolio transactions, preferred equity investments, leasing and real estate joint ventures. Her work touches all asset classes, including office, multifamily, affordable housing, workforce housing, mixed-use, life sciences, hospitality, retail and condominium. She also maintains an active capital markets and fund practice, representing investors in joint venture transactions and sophisticated fund and tax structures. Laurie is also well-versed in the Opportunity Zone program and helps clients through the process of structuring and investing in qualified properties and vehicles. Laurie is involved in a number of non-profit and charitable organizations focusing on increasing diversity in real estate. She serves on the Advisory Board and spearheads the firm’s legal partnership with Project Destined, an organization dedicated to transforming minority youth into owners in the communities in which they live, work and play. She also serves as co-chair for Rebuilding New York’s “She Builds” program, where she organizes an annual renovation day, rehabilitating a New York City community center in need.

The Wall Street Journal has written, “(There is) an exceedingly small club of women who have managed to move to the top of the brokerage business. That club’s most prominent member is Mary Ann Tighe.” Crain’s New York Business has named Mary Ann the most powerful woman—across both the public and private sectors—in New York. Placing her at the top of its ranking of the City’s most powerful women, Crain’s observed, “Ms. Tighe has a history of…transforming the face of Manhattan.” Indeed she does. From the revitalization of Times Square and the rebirth of Downtown to the westward expansion of Midtown’s central business district, Mary Ann Tighe has been at the forefront of the transformation of New York’s skyline during her 31 years in the real estate industry. Mary Ann has conceived, structured and negotiated virtually every form of deal including ground leases, air rights acquisitions and dispositions, net and gross leases, government incentive packages, and a range of equity transfers from partnership and condominium interests through fee simple sales. She has been responsible for more than 101.6 million square feet of commercial transactions, and her deals have anchored more than 14.4 million square feet of new construction in the New York region—believed to be a record in commercial brokerage. Mary Ann has been CEO of CBRE’s New York Tri-State Region since 2002, a region of 2,500 employees. Under her leadership, CBRE has become New York’s preeminent firm, outdistancing all competitors in market share, revenue and margins. Mary Ann is an nine-time winner of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Deal of the Year Award for ingenious brokerage, a record number of wins since the award was created in 1944. She received the Louis Smadbeck Memorial Broker Recognition Award, REBNY’s highest award in brokerage, and REBNY’s Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Achievement Award. Mary Ann was also honored by the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate with its Urban Leadership Award; she was the first woman to receive this award. Most significantly, Mary Ann has enjoyed unbroken, long-term relationships with a number of public and private companies and non-profit organizations, shaping and implementing their real estate strategies for large and small projects. Her ongoing accounts include the Archdiocese of New York, AMC, Crain’s, 21st Century Fox, News Corp and WPP Group. For a three-year term starting in January 2010, Mary Ann served as Chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York, the first woman to hold this position in REBNY’s then 114-year history, and the first broker in 30 years. Mary Ann began her real estate career as a broker at the Edward S. Gordon Company, ultimately rising to the position of Vice Chairman of Insignia/ESG, where she was regularly recognized among the firm’s top producers. Prior to entering the real estate field, Mary Ann served as a Vice President of the American Broadcasting Companies, where she launched the A&E cable channel. Recognized nationally for her expertise in the arts, Mary Ann was also formerly the Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Advisor to Vice President Walter Mondale, and a staff member of the Smithsonian Institution.

Colleen is President and Chief Operating Officer at Taconic. She also leads Taconic’s Development and Construction practice. As President and COO, Colleen oversees corporate matters across the firm. As Head of Development and Construction she manages all aspects of development including strategic planning, zoning and entitlements, predevelopment, project budgeting, design management, construction oversight, procurement, risk management and insurance, community relations, branding, and marketing through sale or lease-up. Since joining Taconic in 2000, Colleen has planned and overseen both ground-up and restoration projects in the commercial, residential and mixed-use sectors, totaling over 7 million square feet of commercial space and 1,500 units of housing. In addition, Colleen leads Taconic’s development advisory business, which focuses on key partnerships for client-led development and construction projects. Colleen received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in psychology from Boston College, and earned a Master of Science degree in real estate development and finance from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate. Colleen is an active member of ULI’s Program Steering Committee, NYPEN, Professional Women in Construction, and sits on the Fordham Real Estate Executive Advisory Council.

Wesley LePatner is a Senior Managing Director in the Real Estate Group and the Global Head of Core+ Real Estate, based in New York. Ms. LePatner is a member of Blackstone Real Estate’s Investment Committee. She currently serves as a Director and the Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer as of January 1, 2025. Prior to joining Blackstone in 2014, Ms. LePatner spent over a decade at Goldman Sachs. Ms. LePatner received a BA in History from Yale University, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and serves on the boards of The Abraham Joshua Heschel School and Yale University Library Council.

Miriam runs large loan origination within the Real Estate Financing Group, responsible for originating and structuring mortgage and mezzanine financings. Previously, she worked in Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities in mortgage sales from 2005 to 2007. Miriam joined Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an analyst, was named managing director in 2015 and partner in 2018. Miriam is a junior board member of Win Partners, a New York-based nonprofit that provides safe housing, critical services and programs to help homeless women and their children rebuild their lives. Miriam earned a BA, cum laude, in Ethics, Politics and Economics from Yale University in 2005.

Mrs. Santiago is Head of Real Estate Private Credit and Managing Director at Cerberus. Prior to joining Cerberus in 2020, Mrs. Santiago spent eight years at Goldman Sachs, where she was a Managing Director in the Real Estate Principal Investment Area investing both in private equity and debt. While at Goldman Sachs, she oversaw the firm’s investment strategy in the Midwest, Texas, and South Florida as well as the hospitality sector. Mrs. Santiago began her 15-year real estate investing career as a real estate banking analyst at Merrill Lynch and held principal investing positions at Lehman Brothers, Scout Real Estate Capital, and H/2 Capital. Mrs. Santiago graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University and received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Perkins is Principal, Head of U.S. Multifamily Asset Management East at BGO where she oversees a portfolio totaling approximately 11,400 units and $4.9 billion in AUM. She drives value by managing the financial and operational performance of the portfolio. She is responsible for assets through the full life cycle from acquisition and development to disposition. Jennifer has 20 years of experience investing across multiple commercial real-estate product types for a variety of funds and other institutional clients. She has successfully repositioned assets, overseen developments through lease-up, negotiated complex buyouts, managed substantial capital projects, overcome challenging operating issues, and implemented strategic sustainability initiatives. Prior to joining BGO, Jennifer worked with The Bernstein Companies in its acquisitions and asset management group as well as with Eastdil Secured’s commercial real estate investment sales group. A LEED Accredited Professional and CCIM designee, Jennifer holds an M.B.A. in finance and real estate from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She was a board member of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) D.C. chapter and is an active member of CREW, the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), a global program of ULI.

Carolyn recently joined Lightstone Capital as Managing Director/Head of Asset Management for Lightstone’s Debt Platform. Carolyn is an accomplished executive with experience in asset management, capital raising, dispositions, acquisitions, property management and strategic planning. Prior to joining Lightstone, she was Managing Director at Ankura and prior to that she spent over 10 years as Senior Vice President at Arcturus Group where she led the Asset Management and HNW practice, providing strategic advice for over $2 Bn in AUM and overseeing over $400 MM in dispositions on behalf of clients. Carolyn was also the CFO of Arcturus Property Management. Carolyn has also held senior executive roles at AIG Global Real Estate, Starwood Capital, Square Mile Capital and New Star Financial. Carolyn has an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell, an MS in Real Estate from the Schack School at NYU and a BA from Wellesley College. She sits on the boards of the Snowbird Cliff Club Owner’s Association, Wellesley College’s Business Leadership Council and the Fairfield Villages Wellesley Club. She is a guest lecturer for Baruch’s Real Estate program as well as Thirty Capital’s Academy of CRE Finance and Innovation and is a sought after speaker in the CRE industry.

Marion is a Managing Director in the Stamford, CT office of JLL Capital Markets, Americas. As a senior member of the Suburban Tri-State investment advisory team, she leads JLL’s capital markets activity across Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. She the Stamford office with 20 years of experience conducting capital markets transactions in the greater NYC area. Marion is known for her deal-making, underwriting, presentation, and communication skills, as well as for her abilities to develop and execute real estate strategies for clients. Having extraordinary experience across a broad range of capital markets services, she provides insight and guidance to JLL clients negotiating a shifting market. Prior to joining JLL, Marion was with several top commercial real estate firms, where she co-led teams of professionals providing investment sales and advisory services. During her career, she has closed over $9 billion in investment sales and capital market transactions in both institutional and middle-market arenas. Marion is frequent speaker and was named a New York City Power Woman by Bisnow and Woman of Influence by GlobeSt. She is active in the Urban Land Institute, where she currently serves as Chair of Membership for the Westchester/Fairfield District Council and previously served as Chair of Mission Advancement for ULI New York. She is a Board Member of Phipps Neighborhoods and a member of REFA (Real Estate Finance Association, Connecticut) as well as WX (Women Executives in New York Real Estate).

Madeleine joined Domain as Director of Development in 2021 and is responsible for managing real estate transactions across a diverse, owner-operated portfolio in New York, New Orleans and Salt Lake City – including acquisitions, capital markets, and all components of new development from predevelopment stages through stabilization. Prior to Domain, Madeleine led over $2.5B of acquisitions and capital markets transactions in her roles with institutional real estate owners, including ARK Capital Advisors (WeWork’s $3.0B private equity arm) and the private New York development firm, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc. Madeleine is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration with a concentration in Finance, Real Estate, and Accounting.

A well-known figure in New York City's affordable housing community, Louise Carroll has the depth of experience to steer clients through the financial and legal complexities of affordable housing and mixed-income housing projects. With a distinguished career in public service that spanned over 20 years, including a tenure as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and chair of the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the city's bond issuer, Louise has a keen understanding of the policies and processes that developers and project owners must navigate. Clients benefit from the knowledge and tools that Louise acquired throughout her years in public service, during which she earned a reputation as a highly effective agent of change. She served for nearly 15 years in HPD, working to produce and preserve affordable housing across New York City. Appointed as HPD commissioner and chair of HDC by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in May 2019, Louise managed over 1 billion dollars in city and federal funds to finance one of the most significant and complex affordable housing plans in the country. During her tenure, she pushed the plan's goal of 300,000 units ahead of schedule by two years. Prior to leading HPD, Louise developed a deep understanding of the affordable housing framework while holding several leadership positions there, including assistant commissioner for inclusionary housing and associate commissioner for housing incentives. In these positions, she worked to craft changes to New York City's tax programs to achieve greater affordability. Additionally, she led the team as one of the chief architects in designing and implementing the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program to require the creation of permanently affordable housing in conjunction with residential rezonings and streamlined the Voluntary Inclusionary Housing Program to increase production.

Ms. Kitay is the Chief Legal Officer where she is responsible for providing and/or supervising all of Savanna’s legal activities, including ensuring that all investment vehicles and transactions are structured and documented appropriately, with particular attention to business objectives. She also provides legal support and guidance with respect to acquisitions, dispositions, financings, fundraising, investor relations and corporate governance matters. Additionally, Ms. Kitay serves as Savanna’s Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Savanna, Ms. Kitay practiced law as an Associate in the real estate departments of King & Spalding LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP, and most recently as counsel at Hunton & Williams LLP. Her practice focused on representing sponsors in the formation of private real estate debt and equity funds, including Savanna, and representing institutional investors, real estate investment managers, fund sponsors, REITs and other public and private real estate companies in a broad range of complex commercial real estate transactions, including purchases and sales, joint ventures, financings, restructurings, recapitalizations, and development projects. Ms. Kitay received her JD from Emory University School of Law and her BA from Trinity College. Ms. Kitay was named the Global General Counsel of the Year by Lexology and the Association of Corporate Counsel in 2018.

Susan Hinkson-Carling, Managing Director: Susan Hinkson-Carling, AIA, LLM has a distinguished background in both the public and private sectors and specializes in housing, land use and real estate at Capalino. Susan, who has two law degrees from New York Law School, is a registered architect in New York state and is on the Board of Trustees at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York, specializes in housing, land use and real estate. As leader of Capalino Ventures, she helps developers, private equity firms, and broker/dealers to secure financing and mitigate risk for complicated, risky, or stalled real estate projects. Her distinguished background in both the public and private sectors includes serving as Vice Chair and Commissioner of the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals, where she adjudicated zoning variances, special permits and administrative appeal cases and Brooklyn Borough Commissioner for the NYC Department of Buildings. She also administered design and construction contracts for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. She is a trustee at New York Law School and sits on the board of The Bronx Museum of the Arts. Professional Affiliations: Trustee, New York Law School Trustee, Wave Hill Board of Trustee, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York Board Member, Bronx Museum of the Arts Senior Warden, Christ Church Riverdale

Valerie Kelly is a real estate partner in Fried Frank's Washington, DC office. She joined the Firm in 2007. Ms. Kelly represents prominent private and public commercial real estate investors and developers, office and retail tenants, investment funds, banks and other financial institutions in a broad range of real estate transactions. She advises her clients on all aspects of commercial real estate with a particular emphasis on large commercial leases for both landlords and tenants. Ms. Kelly also has worked extensively on acquisitions and dispositions of office buildings, apartment complexes and hotels, as well as joint ventures and real estate lending. Ms. Kelly recently advised Evercore in connection with its 350,000-square-foot lease expansion and extension for the firm’s global headquarters at Fisher Brothers’ Park Avenue Plaza. She also advised an affiliate of Carr Properties in its 700,000-square-foot lease of a building to be constructed for Fannie Mae’s new headquarters at 15th and L Streets in Washington, DC, which was the largest ever non-government lease in Washington, DC. In addition, Ms. Kelly advised clients on three of the top seven largest office lease deals in Manhattan as reported in “Costar’s Top Manhattan Office Leases” list for 2017 ranked by square footage, including Ernst & Young in connection with its 674,061-square-foot lease for its headquarters relocation to One Manhattan West; PBC USA in connection with its 548,000-square-foot lease to HSBC USA NA at 452 Fifth Avenue; and RXR Realty in a transaction with New York Presbyterian Hospital whereby the hospital will occupy over 500,000 square feet of office space at 237 Park Avenue. Ms. Kelly is recognized as an “Up & Coming” attorney in Real Estate by Chambers USA: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, where she is described as “nothing less than spectacular, diligent and extremely effective.” She is also recognized as a Next Generation Lawyer by Legal 500, as a “Rising Star” in Real Estate in the 2016 and 2017 Washington, DC – Metro editions of Super Lawyers, and in Real Estate Weekly’s 2018 list of Rising Stars in Real Estate.

Maria Torres-Springer is the NYC Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce, charged with spearheading the administration’s efforts to strengthen and diversify its economy, advance Mayor Adams’ moonshot goal of creating 500,000 new homes for New Yorkers over the next decade, preserve and improve the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), bolster small business, connect New Yorkers to family-sustaining jobs, and expand access to arts and culture. She previously was Vice President of US Programs at the Ford Foundation where she oversaw the foundation’s domestic grant making and made historic investments to support racial equity, workers’ rights, voting rights, and arts and culture across the country. As commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Maria focused on the production of housing for the city’s most vulnerable communities, while also launching several new programs to protect tenants’ rights. She led the implementation of Housing New York, a five-borough, 12-year plan to create or preserve 300,000 affordable homes; and she steered the financing of approximately 60,000 affordable homes. Earlier, as president and CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation, Maria led the implementation of the new citywide ferry service and made major investments in key sectors of the city’s economy. She also spearheaded several neighborhood revitalization plans. Prior to that, as commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, Maria prioritized efforts to raise wages and support women and immigrant-owned businesses and worked to prepare New Yorkers for 21st-century jobs. Maria earned her bachelor's degree in ethics, politics, and economics from Yale University and a master’s in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.

Clare Newman serves as the President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island (TGI), charged with the planning, redevelopment, and ongoing operations of 150 acres of Governors Island. Clare comes to TGI from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), where she served as Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President. At BNYDC, Clare implemented a suite of projects that will bring 10,000 jobs to the Yard by 2020 and foster future development. Before BNYDC, Clare was a senior leader on the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies in charge of the Mayors Challenge, an international competition to generate innovative ideas to solve major urban challenges. Prior to joining Bloomberg Philanthropies, Clare was a Vice President at New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC’s) Real Estate division. In her over five years at NYCEDC, Clare executed projects throughout the five boroughs, including the restoration of the Loews Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the City’s bike share program, and the Applied Sciences tech-campus initiative. Clare received a Masters of Urban Planning from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and a B.A. with honors in Political Economy from Williams College. She is a member of the board of TransitCenter and a member of WX.

Alicia Glen is the Founder and Managing Principal of MSquared, a nationwide real estate development and investment platform creating the next generation of mixed-use, mixed-income projects in rapidly growing and increasingly unaffordable cities and metro regions. Alicia is the former New York City Deputy Mayor and a nationally recognized expert in urban development, infrastructure finance, job creation, and housing policy. As Deputy Mayor from 2014 to 2019, Alicia was the architect of “Housing New York” – the largest housing plan in the nation – and developed and financed over 125,000 affordable homes, shattering all previous records. She also created “NYCHA 2.0,” a stabilization and modernization plan to generate $24 billion in funds for renovations and essential capital repairs across NYCHA’s portfolio by converting units to private management and building new mixed-income projects. She also launched the largest municipal ferry system in the United States; initiated large scale planning efforts on the Long Island City waterfront, Sunnyside Yard and Governors Island; negotiated the expansion of Google’s NY campus, spearheaded the rezoning of the Garment District and East Midtown; established the Tech Talent Pipeline for the life sciences and technology sectors; and repositioned the City’s industrial assets to support modern manufacturing and film and TV production. Prior to serving as Deputy Mayor, Alicia was Head of the Urban Investment Group (UIG) at Goldman Sachs and co-led the firm’s 10,000 Small Businesses initiative. Under her leadership, UIG catalyzed more than $5 billion of mixed-use development in cities across the country through equity, debt, and tax investment vehicles. UIG also invested in and structured innovative public-private partnerships, including the first domestic Social Impact Bond, CitiBike bike share, “New Lab” in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the headquarters of the National Dance Institute at P.S. 90, and Teacher's Village in Newark, NJ. From 1998-2001, Alicia served as the Assistant Commissioner for Housing Finance at the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation and Development. An attorney who practiced at several national law firms in their real estate groups, she began her career at Brooklyn Legal Services. Alicia is the current Chair of the Trust for Governors Island and Chair of women.nyc. She is also an advisor to the Terner Center for Housing and Innovation at UC Berkeley and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Alicia received a BA from Amherst College and a law degree from Columbia University.

Architect and MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, FAIA, Int. FRIBA, is the founding principal of Studio Gang. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, Jeanne is internationally renowned for a design process that foregrounds the relationships between individuals, communities, and environments. Her diverse body of work spans scales and typologies, expanding beyond architecture’s conventional boundaries to pursuits ranging from the development of stronger materials to fostering stronger communities. Her approach has resulted in some of today’s most compelling architecture, including Aqua Tower, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, and Writers Theatre. She is currently designing major projects throughout the Americas and Europe, including the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York; a unified campus for the California College of the Arts in San Francisco; and the new United States Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil. A recipient of the 2013 National Design Award (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum), Jeanne was named the 2016 Architect of the Year by the Architectural Review. In 2017, she was honored with the Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award and made an honorary fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Widely published and acclaimed, her work has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, and Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of Reveal, the first volume on Studio Gang’s work and process, and Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago’s Waterways, which envisions a radically greener future for the Chicago River. Jeanne is a distinguished alumna of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she was recently appointed Professor in Practice. She lectures frequently throughout the world and serves on various civic and design-focused committees and advisory groups.

Laura Yablon Rapaport is Founder and CEO of North Bridge. North Bridge was formed to create sustainable real estate solutions. Currently, the firm is active in providing C-PACE financing nationwide. Prior to starting North Bridge, Ms Rapaport was a Managing Director at L&L Holding Company, an owner-operator and developer in New York City where she was a key member in multiple areas for almost a decade. During her tenure she was head of Capital Raising, raising over $1.5 B of institutional equity as well as the Project Director for 425 Park Avenue, a $1 B+ Norman Foster designed 670 k sf office tower, the first ground-up office building on Park Avenue in the last 50 years. Ms. Rapaport was previously a Director in the New York development group of Tishman Speyer Properties, where she was a project manager of a 3.5 M sf mixed-use development, with additional focus on residential development and commercial acquisitions. She started her career at Lehman Brothers Global Real Estate Group in London, closing over $2 B in transactions for a securitization exit. Ms. Rapaport graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and received her MBA with honors from the Wharton School of Business. She is on the board of PACENation, member and former board member of New York Women Executives in Real Estate (WX), Co-head of Wharton Real Estate Alumni in NY and Co-founder of Penn Women in Real Estate. In 2017 she was named by Crain’s Magazine as one of New York’s “40 Under 40” Rising Stars.