Bay Area Power Women

Jill Williams

Chairman & Principal
KTGY

Allison Koo

Managing Director
Sand Hill Property Company

Allison Koo is a Managing Director for Sand Hill Property Company. Allison is involved in all aspects of property development including site acquisitions, entitlements, construction, financing, and leasing. Allison was honored as one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “40 under 40” in 2016 for her projects in the Stanford Research Park. Prior to joining SHP, Ms. Koo worked for NAI BT Commercial in the Silicon Valley office, where she completed both sale and lease transactions totaling over $108MM in consideration. At NAI BT, Ms. Koo was also a founding member of the Asian-American Strategic Investment Advisory Group. Ms. Koo also has worked for the acquisitions and asset management teams of The Laramar Group, a national developer and operator of institutional grade multi-family assets, in both the Chicago, IL and San Francisco, CA offices. Ms. Koo holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management-Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She has studied abroad at the Beijing University as well as at the University of Seville. Ms. Koo is fluent in Chinese Mandarin and Spanish.

Ginger Bryant

COO & CFO
Sares Regis Group

Ms. Bryant joined Sares Regis Group in 1993 with responsibility for the Bay Area commercial property portfolio. She oversees Finance, Accounting, Treasury, and MIS activities for the company and closely monitors the performance of all active development and operating projects.

Lynn Tolin

COO
TMG Partners

Libby Schaaf

Mayor
City of Oakland

Melinda Ellis Evers

Managing Principal
Ellis Partners

Melinda Ellis Evers is a co-founder of Ellis Partners and co-manages the operation of the firm. She serves as Portfolio Manager with oversight responsibility for the firm’s asset management and financial teams. Melinda started her real estate career with A.R. Jarvis & Company, a regional mortgage brokerage firm and spent seven years in acquisitions and portfolio management with Grubb & Ellis Realty Advisers. Ms. Evers holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is a Member of the Lambda Alpha Land Economics Honor Society, the Urban Land Institute, the Stanford Professionals in Real Estate, and the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, and is a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Ms. Evers’ past industry board affiliations include The Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage and the Bay Area Mortgage Association.

Jackie Safier

President
Prometheus

Laura Crescimano

Co-founder & Principal
SITELAB urban studio

Laura Crescimano is co-founder and leader of SITELAB urban studio. An expert on urban design and entitlements with an emphasis on the public realm, Laura’s work investigates the social and political power of the built environment. Designing both processes and places, Laura’s projects range from Pier 70, where she is leading a multidisciplinary design team through the design and community process of a 35-acre mixed-use waterfront development in a historic industrial district in San Francisco, to leading the design for Google’s first proposed mixed-use neighborhood located at their headquarters in Mountain View. Her work also ranges from the Portola Green Plan, where she collaborates with a neighborhood community group to build a vision for their neighborhood to creating a graphic toolkit for the homeless services non-profit Lava Mae to open-source their mobile showers and approach to service. Laura serves on San Francisco Waterfront Design Advisory Committee and, from 2010-2012, on the Board of Directors for AIA San Francisco.

Shannon Shackerley-Bennett

CEO
North Star Hotel Development

Shannon Shackerley-Bennett is CEO of North Star Hotel Development, a new firm focused on capital raise, acquisition and entitlement of select service, luxury and lifestyle hotels across North America. She also does coaching and consulting work in the industry. Shackerley-Bennett was previously chief operating officer for Knowhere Holdings, a Bay Area development firm that focuses on large-scale, mixed-use urban village communities and hotel projects.

Kristin Connelly

President & CEO
East Bay Leadership Council

Kristin Braun Connelly is the President and CEO of the East Bay Leadership Council, an employer-led public policy advocacy organization focused on economic vitality and quality of life in the East Bay. She is also the Executive Director of the Contra Costa Economic Partnership. Prior to taking the lead of both the EBLC and CCEP, Kristin served as chief of staff to Contra Costa County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff. Kristin is also the former Executive Director of the California Forward Action Fund, a non-profit governance reform organization that sponsored a statewide ballot measure and advocated for legislative and budget reform. In addition, she practiced employment law at the firm Sidley Austin LLP in New York City. Kristin has extensive experience as a policy advisor and advocate for a variety of non-profit organizations that provided services to families affected by HIV/AIDS and has served as a development officer for the nation’s second largest food bank. A native of Contra Costa County, Kristin earned a law degree from Fordham University, a master’s in public policy from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s from UCLA. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Northern California Small Business Development Centers, the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board, and the Board of Trustees of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation. Kristin lives in Lafayette with her husband T.J. and their two children.

Ani Vartanian Boladian

Managing Partner
Rubicon Point Partners

Ani co-manages RPP and is specifically responsible for acquisitions and investor relations. Prior to Rubicon Point Partners, Ani served in the Obama administration responsible for the $200 billion TALF program and restarting the securitization market during the height of the recent financial crisis. Previously she was with Rockwood Capital, in the capacity of acquisitions, asset management, and establishing a $400 million separate account on behalf of a state pension fund. Her career began at Goldman, Sachs & Co.Ani is a graduate of StanforUniversity and Harvard Business School.

Amy Price

President
BentallGreenOak

Amy Price is president of BentallGreenOak (BGO). In her role, Amy also co-heads the firm’s U.S. Investment Management business and oversees its Canadian Investment Management and Real Estate Services businesses. Amy is a member of the Management Committee, chairs the U.S. Investment Committee for the firm's core, core plus and separate account clients, and co-chairs the U.S. Management Committee. Amy also leads BGO’s equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives globally and chairs the firm’s EDI Leadership Council. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Amy was a managing director and head of real estate investing for the western U.S. at Morgan Stanley, where she was an Investment Committee member, and built the real estate investment management business in San Francisco. Amy also spent time in Morgan Stanley’s New York and Hong Kong offices. Amy is a member of the Global Board of Directors of Urban Land Institute (ULI), a member of the Board of Directors and Chair Emeritus of NAREIM, and a member of the Board of Directors of AFIRE. She is also involved in philanthropic endeavors, as a member of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of San Francisco, the National Charity League with her daughter, and Service Corp with her son. Amy holds an MBA with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University.

Andrea Reeder

SVP Asset Management
Beacon Capital Partners

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.

Michele Leiva

CFO
DPR Construction

Lauren Seaver

President
Opportunity Housing Group

Lauren Seaver is President of OHG. In her role, Lauren is responsible for all stages of the acquisition, due diligence, financing and asset management process. She has over 8 years of experience in institutional multifamily and commercial development and acquisitions. Over her career, she has led the development, entitlement and acquisition of over $800 million in multifamily and commercial real estate. She was a 2019 Bay Area Power Woman and SF Business Times Woman of Influence. Lauren holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Stanford University in Economics with a minor in Mathematics. She is an active mentor for college-bound students in the College is Real, a licensed California Real Estate Broker, and mom of Brooke (3 yrs) and Clayton (<1 yr).

Holly Neber

CEO
AEI Consultants

Holly Neber is CEO of AEI Consultants, an international property consulting firm. AEI provides real property insights and solutions through environmental and property condition assessments, health and safety consulting, building performance evaluations, remediation and corrective action, and construction risk management from 25 offices in the US and Europe. Holly is the 2019 President of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Network and past president of the National Engineering and Environmental Due Diligence Association (NEEDDA). Holly was named among RealShare’s California Women of Influence in 2015 and Bisnow’s Bay Area Power Women in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Holly was named to the Real Estate Forum Women of Influence and Connect Media Women in Real Estate lists and honored with the Courage in Leadership Award at EDR’s PRISM Conference.

Elizabeth Hart

Vice Chairman
Newmark

Jill Collins

Director, Asset Services
Colliers

Kamala Subbarayan

RE & Workplace Services
Google

Bring twelve years of experience to the real estate industry with architecture, urban planning and project management expertise on a wide scale of national and international projects. Committed to sustainability, with wide experience with transit-oriented, LEED-ND and Clinton Climate Initiative projects. Experience working with campuses, developers, cities and communities, through public–private partnerships and taking projects through the entitlement process. Project sizes range from 10 acres to 5000 acres and $50,000 to $100 Million. Project Manager for award wining projects including: - AIA National Award winning project - Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, which is tracking for LEED-ND Gold and is a Clinton Climate Initiative project. - AIA CC award winning LEED-Gold Project - Station Park Green - Clinton Climate Initiative project Panama Pacifico Specialties: Project Types include: Transit-oriented development, brownfield, base-reuse, office campuses, urban in-fill redevelopment, campus planning, waterfront, mixed-use, sustainable development including LEED-ND and Clinton Climate Initiative projects.

Rosemarie Rae

Vice Chancellor & CFO
UC Berkeley

Rosemarie Rae brings more than 35 years of experience in finance and administration to her role as UC Berkeley’s Vice Chancellor of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. During the course of her work in the public and nonprofit sectors, she has developed a wide depth and breadth of knowledge in budget and financial management, strategic planning, and operations. The Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance includes Capital Strategies, the Controller’s Office, Finance & Capital Asset Strategies, Financial Planning & Analysis, University Business Partnerships & Services, and the Immediate Office. Together these teams oversee university financial services and controls, lead an integrated approach to planning and development, provide accurate and timely information and analyses to inform campus decision-making in service of UC Berkeley’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. Rosemarie takes great pride in how our institution shapes higher education and her focus on collaboration, accountability, and the greater harmonization of operating and capital planning continues to further the goal of financial sustainability. Prior to coming to Berkeley, she served as the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, she also served as an Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief Financial Officer at Volunteers of America; held senior leadership positions at Experience Works and LORAL Space and Communications; and was a principal and founder of Balrae Associates, an Information Technology services firm. Rosemarie holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Radford University and a masters degree in public administration from American University.

Georgia Collins

Executive Managing Director & Global Lead
CBRE

Elaine Forbes

Executive Director
Port of San Francisco

Elaine Forbes was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee as Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco in October 2016, with the recommendation of the Port Commission. Forbes is one of eight women Port Directors in the United States. Before her appointment as Executive Director, she served as Interim Director and Deputy Director for Finance and Administration for the Port. Prior to joining the Port, Elaine Forbes held executive management and leadership positions at both the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco International Airport. In addition, she has worked for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget Analyst’s Office providing fiscal and policy analysis and evaluating and reporting on complex municipal issues. Before beginning her tenure with the City and County of San Francisco, she worked as a redevelopment agency planner for the City of Oakland. She also has worked for several non-profit land use policy and economic development organizations including the Urban Strategies Council and the California Budget Project. Forbes holds a Master’s degree with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in Community and Economic Development, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland. Forbes was born in San Francisco and resides in the Castro neighborhood with her partner.

Claudia Folzman

COO & Co-Founder
Iron Construction/Titanium

Janice Thacher

Partner
Wilson Meany

Before joining Wilson Meany, Janice led the development of Pier 1 — an award-winning historic rehabilitation project on San Francisco’s waterfront — in her role leading AMB Corporate Real Estate Advisors as a part of the development group at AMB Property Corporation (now Prologis). While there, she also represented clients in the acquisition and disposition of assets, portfolio evaluation and lease negotiations. Prior to that, Janice was a partner at Trammell Crow Company in Southern California.

Nasim Yalpani

Director of Real Estate & Workplace Services
Waymo

Annie Rice

Vice President
CBRE

Katie Bowman

Principal
Acta Non Verba

Katie Bowman a Principal to Acta Non Verba Architecture & Design. For the last 15+ years she has been in charge of leading large architecture and interiors teams like HOK, RTKL, and VOA not only to the project finish lines but to award winning designs. She has designed efficient & innovative office spaces for Google, Allied Administrators, Motorola, General Electric, Novell, Seven Worldwide, Pointe O’Hare and was M Moser’s first choice in designing their first San Francisco office.Katie has transformed and inspired hospitality spaces like the Hyatt Regency in St. Louis, various Bally Fitness Centers in Chicago, and the freshly renovated restaurant, Palio in San Francisco. Katie’s expertise led her to Aviation design, she accomplished 6 million sq feet of lighting & interior design for Doha Qatar Intl Airport and Alaska’s Airlines Ramp & Ticketing Offices. She is currently working on SFO Terminal 1 due to open in July 2019. Katie’s dedication and tactic to solving problems relating to space as well as technical issues makes her an amazing asset to any team and an even better example to her own team as a woman doing it all. Katie Graduated from Auburn University in her Alabama hometown, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design.

Cheryl Johnson

Director of Preconstruction
Swinerton

Darien Louie

Former Executive Director
East Bay Economic Development Alliance

Darien Louie has over 40 years of experience in program development, fund development, economic development and community investment. Her background includes work in community non-profit, public sector and corporate partnership settings, and also experience as an entrepreneur. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alameda County Workforce Development Board, the Oakland Workforce Development Board, ICA Fund Good Jobs, and the Jefferson Awards Foundation. She has been recognized as Alameda County’s Woman of the Year for Assembly District 16, Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and received a City of Oakland Proclamation for “Darien Louie Day” from then Mayor Jerry Brown. Darien is a Bay Area native and resides in Oakland with her husband Michael Fong. Her son, Ryan, is a recent graduate from her alma mater, UC Berkeley.

Molly Jans

Director, Operations
Paradigm General Contractors

Samantha S. Low

Director
Cushman & Wakefield

Samantha S. Low, LEED AP (BD+C) is a tenant real estate advisor at Cushman & Wakefield and a co-founder of TenantSee (www.tenantsee.co), a technology that empowers tenants with knowledge on what goes on behind the CRE transaction curtain, which provides transparency and efficiency from site selections to moving into a new space. TenantSee won an award at the CRE Tech Conference in December 2018. She is the 2020 CREW SF President, whose mission is to develop and advance women as leaders in the CRE industry. She was recognized by Bisnow as one of the Bay Area Power Women in 2019 and the 2019 CREW SF MVP in the Elevate hosted by The Registry. She is also the Industry Outreach chair of the Cushman & Wakefield WIN (Women Integrated Network) SF Chapter, the West Region co-chair of C&W ASPIRE (Asian and Pacific Islanders Professionals in Real Estate), and a prominent diversity & inclusion advocator. She lives in SF with her husband and three daughters. When not tirelessly supporting her family and purposes, she can easily spend an entire day at the museum or watch Game of Thornes.

Kristin Molano

Director, Acquisitions & Capital Markets
Jay Paul Company

Teresa Alvarado

San Jose Director
SPUR

Aliza Skolnik

VP & Director of SF Office
ESD

Aliza Skolnik focuses on strategic leadership, sustainable solutions and healthy environments. As Vice President and Director of the ESD San Francisco Office, she is responsible for managing the business development, recruitment and operations for the West Coast. She is a registered Professional Engineer as well as a LEED and WELL Accredited Professional, Green Globes Professional and Fitwel Ambassador. Aliza is also an active leader in the real estate industry through her involvement in the local USGBC and CoreNet chapters. She specializes in improving the well-being of the people who occupy the communities, buildings and workplaces we design.

Barbara Mark, Ph.D.

CEO & Founder
A Time Of My Own / Full Circle Institute

Barbara Mark, Ph.D. has a deeply held passion for working with women in midlife and has built a decades long career as an elite leadership, career and life strategies coach and advisor to senior executive women. She is a recognized expert on the psychology of women and the stages of adult development and how these stages impact career development and leadership in women. As a result, Barbara is a sought-after coach by women who are looking to make appropriate and actionable personal and professional decisions at critical stages of their lives and careers. Helping her clients find clarity around everything from how to deal with career and life challenges to avoiding hot flashes in the boardroom makes her an invaluable asset to every woman in business. “I have been with very senior women leaders in every professional and personal situation along the continuum from their most broken, disappointed and confused to their most confident, successful, proud and empowered. I appreciate their confidence and trust." Determined to see more women at leadership tables, Barbara chose to use her clinical psychology training to support the continuing development of leadership skills and resilience in executive women. She uses her insights into human thought and behavior along with her decades of working with women in corporate settings across industries to listen, guide, support and cajole them to clarity and decisive action as well as fulfillment and deep satisfaction. "Today's environment requires that we work together for the betterment of all. Women naturally bring skills to the table that are invaluable on the current global playing field. Life serves up many changes, opportunities, and challenges; my goal is to help and inspire women to face them with courage, passion, grit, wisdom, and grace."

Kristina Owyoung Vinson

Senior Director of People, Culture & Communications
Pankow

As Pankow Builders’ Senior Director of People, Culture and Communications, Kristina is a change agent for the organization. She is a trusted advisor and executive partner to the company’s senior leaders, functioning as the expert on people and organizational issues. Kristina strategically leads People Operations: Talent Resources, Lean and Learning, Development, and Communications and Marketing to cultivate employee engagement and transform culture. As a Certified Professional Coach, Kristina establishes and implements talent and leadership development programs at Pankow. She champions the Emerging Leaders Program and leads Leadership Teams and workshops to foster relatedness and establish fundamental personal growth practices company-wide. Kristina was named among ENR’s Top Young Professionals in 2019. She was awarded the 2018 Rising Rockstar Award from ELEVATE: Honoring Diversity & Women Leadership in the Bay Area and a Rising Star Award from Northern California Real Estate Women of Influence. As an active member of CREW SF, Kristina has devoted herself to the organization’s mission of changing business’ gender trends and closing the parity gap by giving women in real estate the support, resources and opportunities they need to connect, influence, and lead. Kristina is a fourth generation, Bay Area native and lives on the Peninsula with her husband Todd and their toddler, Kayla. In her spare time she enjoys scuba diving, traveling, dancing, and wine tasting.

Leslie Moulton-Post

President/CEO
Environmental Science Associates

Jessica Carps

CEO
Skyline Construction

Jessica brings more than 15 years of experience in corporate accounting and finance to her role as CEO. Her responsibilities include providing direction and control to the financial and accounting functions of the company; participating in the formation and implementation of financial plans and company policy; furnishing information for planning and control; and providing general financial, accounting and management decisions. As a member of the executive team, she provides the detailed financial analyses that enable strategic and data-driven decision making. Jessica believes that construction is a great industry for accounting professionals to build their careers. “This industry is always in need of experienced professionals who understand and can strategically manage construction financials,” said Jessica. “Further, project accountants who can effectively support and partner with their Operations counterparts to manage projects are an invaluable resource.” Jessica looks forward to mentoring those who are in pursuit of growing their careers in the construction industry, particularly those who are interested in a CPA career path as an experienced professional, rather than directly out of school. Jessica enjoys traveling and recently spent time in Southeast Asia. She also takes an annual trip to Croatia to visit with her husband’s family. Next up on her travel bucket list are South America and Northern Europe.

Barbara Morrison

CEO & President
TMC Financing

Barbara Morrison is a business and civic leader. A small business advocate. And a changemaker. She and her well- trained team ensure small-business owners can step onto the path of property ownership and business expansion. Small-Business Advocate As the founder, chief executive officer, and president of TMC Financing (TMC), a Certified Development Company (CDC), Ms. Morrison works closely with the Small Business Administration 504 (SBA 504) program to secure funding for business owners to purchase commercial real estate; often, in the exact building they lease from a landlord. To date, TMC has facilitated and secured more than $10 billion in funding for real estate projects in California and Nevada and Arizona, its designated service region. As a result, 6,000 businesses were able to create and retain 60,000 jobs throughout the region. In 2021, TMC earned the top rank as the nation’s number one SBA 504 lender in the nation. Serial Entrepreneur In 1981, Ms. Morrison created TMC to provide a clear and accessible roadmap for small-business owners to the SBA 504 loan program. Building on TMC's success, Ms. Morrison sought more in-depth solutions to address the needs of start-ups, women, minority, and low-income businesses unable to obtain conventional financing. In 1999, Working Solutions debuted to a welcoming audience; In 2009, it became a designated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). In early 2019, TMC Community Capital joined the Morrison family of companies, launching as an online, nonprofit microlender for under-served and resourced business owners. With emphasis on lower-income women entrepreneurs, Ms. Morrison and her team are closing in on lending inequality. Business to Public Service to Business Early in her career, Barbara Morrison spent two years on the institutional trading desk of a regional investment bank. In mayor Dianne Feinstein's administration, Ms. Morrison became the deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and developed the city's Small Business Administration (SBA) program. She also served as a former mayor and city council member in Belvedere, California. Among award recognitions: Financial Woman, San Francisco, Financial Woman of the Year for 2012; San Francisco Business Times’ "Northern California Real Estate Women of Influence Hall of Fame”; Marin County Women's Hall of Fame; TMC recognized for four years as San Francisco Business Times’ "Bay Area Best Places to Work"; SBA's "Small Business Advocate Award"; and the Arthur Goodman Achievement and Diversity award. Education Barbara Morrison earned her Master of Public Policy from California State University, San Francisco, and a Bachelor of Political Science and History from the University of Vermont.

Ratna Amin

Principal
Deutsche Bahn