7th Annual Future of South Jersey

Dana Redd is a proven and experienced leader with over 20 years’ service in the public sector. She is known as a forward-thinking professional with a demonstrated ability to lead organizational change. In fact, SJ Magazine recognized Ms. Redd as “The woman warrior who just might change Camden” touting her tough stance and decision to join the Camden County Police Department. The transition, not only, lead to more officers patrolling the city, but also, resulted in significant crime reduction within the first year of operation. The NJ Spotlight published article “Upgrade In Troubled City’s Credit Rating Gives Camden New Hope” featured the city’s progress under her leadership. Dana Redd has worked in various positions from local government to the New Jersey State Senate. As a former Council Representative, and Chair of the Housing Authority, Ms. Redd secured the city’s third HOPE VI designation. The investment of $122 million transformed an entire community with new public housing, expanded access to healthcare, improved parks and open space, as well as, provided community supportive services for residents to reach self-sufficiency. As a former State Senator, Ms. Redd was a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, the Community and Urban Affairs Committee, as well as, the Joint Committee on the Public Schools. She sponsored and negotiated passage of legislation creating the Homeless Trust Fund, and $3.9 billion in new school construction funding for New Jersey Abbott Districts. As Mayor, she successfully transitioned the city from state takeover to local control. Ms. Redd immediately launched a capacity building retreat for her executive staff and department heads focused on the “change model.” The initiative, not only, allowed her to set the vision, mission and goals for transforming the city, but also, fostered team building to increase service delivery and improve customer satisfaction. While 2012 began the transition to a Camden County Police Department for public safety, in 2013, Ms. Redd led a full state intervention into the public school system to improve academic outcomes for urban youth. The state and local partnership focused on creating the “cradle to college to career” pathways in education offering Camden parent’s choice through traditional, charter, and Renaissance schools. Most notably, in 2014, Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) published an issuer credit rating of BBB+. S&P recognized the fiscal controls the Redd Administration instituted in order to improve and stabilize the finances of the city. This was a great achievement since the city had not received an investment grade rating in more than 15 years. Dana Redd is a newly appointed CEO of the Rowan University|Rutgers-Camden Board of Governors. In this role, Ms. Redd is responsible for overseeing board operations and the construction of a 95,000-square-foot Joint Health Sciences Center that will be located at Broadway and Stevens Street in Camden. The building will deliver education and training opportunities to a new generation of health care providers while also providing world-class research space for Rutgers, Rowan and Camden County College faculty developing innovations in the biosciences and allied health. Additionally, Ms. Redd is charged with developing programmatic and policy initiatives which reflect the Board’s mission and overarching objectives of education, economic development and civic engagement. Dana Redd is a graduate of Rutgers: The State University – Camden Campus with a B.S. degree in Business Studies. She earned CEUs at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning/Public Policy, as well as, at the CSC/ERC Robert J. Thompson Eastern Leadership Academy. She received her M.A. degree in Human Services Administration from The Lincoln University. In addition to her business acumen and volunteerism, Ms. Redd fosters and values the importance of civic engagement, grassroots organizing and responsible redevelopment. She strongly believes that a holistic approach must be undertaken to rebuild a city and to create a more vibrant, thriving urban core. She is a motivational speaker for interfaith organizations, nonprofit organizations, professional women’s groups and chambers of commerce. As a results driven leader, Ms. Redd has a unique ability to inspire hope, to effect change, and to transform organizations. Dana Redd clearly understands the enormous responsibility that comes with leadership.

Jackie, a seasoned real estate veteran, is Principal & CEO of AthenianRazak LLC, a Philadelphia-based real estate services company that consults on, creates, and manages real property. Prior to the 2011 merger between Athenian Properties and Razak Company to form AthenianRazak, Jackie was the president of Athenian Properties, which she founded in 2001. Before forming Athenian, Jackie was a founder and principal of Renaissance Properties, which she led for 10 years, and before that she was a senior staff member at the development firm Growth Properties. Jackie’s expertise includes real estate consulting and planning, historic redevelopment, financial structuring, data center construction and management, and real estate operations. She has completed projects as diverse as repositioning 700 distressed apartment units to the simultaneous construction of five data centers in an historic Chicago building, 8% under budget. At Athenian Properties, Jackie oversaw repositioning, redevelopment, management, or consulting for more than 8 million sf of commercial properties and 2,800 residential units, as well as leading 2 master plans for the 200-school Philadelphia School District. At Renaissance and Growth Properties she led development, consulting, and management projects for more than 3 million commercial sf and 3,000 residential units. Jackie speaks regularly on real estate and economic topics including urban redevelopment, sustainability, leasing, and management. She is a Board member of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, a member of the Counselors of Real Estate, where she leads the Land Use and Sustainability Network, a member of the Council of Philadelphia Yale Club, and a member of the Forum of Executive Women. She has served as President of CREW Philadelphia and Board member of the CREW National Network. Jackie holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Master of Architecture from University of Washington.

Chris is an experienced developer, attorney and former commercial banking executive who has been involved in well over a billion dollars of first-of-a-kind, urban development projects that have helped revive many out-of-favor neighborhoods, created thousands of jobs and helped shape current day Philadelphia. To name just a few, Chris played key roles in 1010 Race Street in Philadelphia’s Chinatown; Locust on the Park in Philadelphia’s Fitler Square neighborhood; The Left Bank and World Café projects in University City; Symphony House on Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts; Victor Lofts which was Camden’s first market rate multifamily project in decades; and the revolutionary Piazza at Schmidt's Brewery project. Chris formed Millennial Partners to focus on the Camden market. In April, Millennial acquired and began renovation of the Victor Records Building on the Camden Waterfront. The global music industry was launched from this building and the Philadelphia Inquirer called it “probably the most historic place for recorded music in the world.” Millennial also has over one thousand multifamily residential units in its pipeline. Our mission at Millennial is to help Camden transform from mostly a 9 to 5 work location into a 24 hour city. Chris, a Philadelphia native, has served as a guest speaker and expert panelist for many business forums including Fox News, Sirius Business Radio powered by University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, the Urban Land Institute and as an Adjunct Professor teaching several undergraduate and graduate level real estate courses.

Troy Adams is the Vice President of Real Estate at NFI and leads the site selection, leasing, development, and portfolio management of more than 70 million square feet. Troy joined the NFI team in 2013 and works closely with the NFI operating companies, our customers, and third-party brokers to structure creative real estate solutions and customized build-to-suits. Before joining NFI, Troy spent ten years in economic development roles with the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and Select Greater Philadelphia. Troy serves on the Board of Directors of the St. Joseph’s Carpenter’s Society (SJCS), a community development non-profit located in Camden, NJ. Since its founding over 30 years ago, SJCS has rehabilitated or developed more than 1,027 homes for sale or rent to qualifying families throughout East Camden and the surrounding community. Troy has an MBA with a finance concentration from Drexel University and a BA in Political Science from James Madison University. He resides with his family in Haddonfield, NJ.

Michael Mattera brings over 18 years of diversified wholesale banking experience to his clients. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2011, Mattera held commercial banking relationship management positions at a super-regional bank and a local community bank. Throughout his career, Mattera has provided creative lending solutions to his clients throughout the Delaware Valley. Most recently, Mattera has focused his energy in the South Jersey marketplace where he has supported clients in diversified industries with a concentration of investment real estate transactions. A magna cum laude graduate, he earned a BA in Finance from Temple University’s Fox School of Business & Management. Mattera is a Board of Trustees Member for the Southern New Jersey Development Counsel and a Board Member of the Legacy Foundation. Michael resides in Philadelphia with his wife and daughter.

Dante joined Nexus Properties in 1990 as Chief Financial Officer and became Chief Operating Officer in 2002. He has been responsible for negotiating and closing over 30 private and public financings totaling in excess of $500 million. He previously held positions at LCOR, a national real estate developer, and KPMG, an international accounting firm. As such, he has contributed to the growth of the Company through his financial and accounting expertise. As Chief Operating Officer, Dante currently oversees the day to day management of the Company. In this capacity, he is involved in all aspects of the business including development, property management, construction, finance, and leasing. Dante is concentrating his efforts on redevelopment and is currently working with the Borough of Glassboro and Rowan University on the Rowan Boulevard Redevelopment Project. Dante and his wife, Diana, have established a four year partial scholarship at Rowan University which is awarded annually to a Glassboro High School graduate based on financial need and academic performance. Married for 33 years, Dante and Diana have three grown daughters and three grandchildren. He and his wife reside in Pennington, NJ.

Matt Weilheimer joined The Kislak Company, Inc. in 1996 and specializes in the sale of Apartment buildings, REO assets, and other investment properties in New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Consistently one of Kislak’s leading producers. Mr. Weilheimer is also involved in the overall management of the company and is responsible for supervising a team of salespeople. He has won numerous sales production awards at Kislak including the company’s 2010 and 2015 Production Award and has been recognized repeatedly by the Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal and Real Estate New Jersey for his sales accomplishments. Mr. Weilheimer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University at Albany, State University of New York and is a member of the National Multi Housing Council, the New Jersey Apartment Association, the Apartment Association of Greater Philadelphia and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He is a licensed real estate salesperson in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York, and is the Vice Chairman of the Township of Marlboro (NJ) Zoning Board of Adjustment.