Bisnow's Big Midwest Office Event

Sam Yagan

CEO - Shoprunner

Click <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samyagan/" target="_blank">HERE </a> for LinkedIn

Jason Kern

CEO, Americas - LaSalle Investment Management

 Jason joined LaSalle Investment Management in July 2013 as the CEO of the Americas and is a member of the Global Management Committee and North American Investment Committee. He oversees all investment activities and personnel in the Americas.  Prior to joining LaSalle, Jason founded and led HSBC Asia Pacific Real Estate. He has worked with Asia’s leading investors, advising on high-profile IPOs, and has overseen equity and bond issues, private equity raises and asset acquisitions and sales, with total transaction volume exceeding $50 billion. Prior to HSBC, he spent 17 years at J.P. Morgan, mainly in senior roles within the real estate investment banking team across the U.S., UK, Continental Europe and Hong Kong.  Jason is a member of the Board of Directors of both the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM) and the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).  Jason earned an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a BA from Colgate University.

John O'Donnell

CEO - Riverside

​John O’Donnell founded Riverside Investment & Development Company (previously operating under O’Donnell Investment Company) in 2010 and was an early executive member of The John Buck Company, ultimately becoming the President and Chairman of the Investment Committee. Mr. O’Donnell left The John Buck Company in 2010, after 28 years at the firm. During his career, Mr. O’Donnell has managed development or redevelopment in excess of 34 million square feet with capital transactions in excess of $10 billion, which includes eight Chicago office buildings. John has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Loyola University, and a Master in Business Administration from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.

Betsy Traczek

Principal - The John Buck Company

Ms. Traczek joined JBC in 1995 and serves as a Director of Property Management and Principal for the Firm. Ms. Traczek assists with the coordination and implementation of various portfolio-wide initiatives, specifically related to insurance, real estate taxes, customer satisfaction, and security. Additionally, Ms. Traczek is a portfolio manager with oversight of JBC fund-owned properties and third-party facility management assignments. Ms. Traczek serves on JBC’s Board of Directors.

David Cohen

VP I Talent Solutions - LinkedIn

Click <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidalyncohen/" target="_blank">HERE </a> for LinkedIn

Charles Adler

Co-Founder - Kickstarter

Click<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesadler/" target="_blank">HERE </a> for LinkedIn

Eric Nordness

VP & CFO - Hickory Street Capital

Click<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericnordness/" target="_blank">HERE </a> for LinkedIn

Richard Blum

Managing Principal - White Oak Realty Partners

Jonathan H. Pearce has more than 23 years of experience in office leasing and the sale of corporate investment assets in multiple markets, with a strong focus on landlord agency.

Stephen Sotoloff

Principal - Walton Street Capital

Click <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-sotoloff-2583b367/" target="_blank">HERE </a> for LinkedIn

Aasif Bade

President - Ambrose Property Group

As president of Ambrose Property Group, Aasif M. Bade focuses on long-range planning, capital management, and customer relationships. Prior to founding Ambrose, Aasif worked in various positions at Duke Realty Corporation. During his career, Aasif has completed over $1 billion of commercial real estate transactions. Aasif received his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Real Estate from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Bloomington and completed the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program. Aasif was born and raised in Indianapolis where he attended North Central High School. Aasif enjoys spending time with his wife, Tasia, and son, Kamran. His passions outside of family include giving back to the community and fishing.

Dave Scherer

Principal - Origin Investments

David formed Origin Investments in 2007, along with cofounder Michael Episcope. He has more than 20 years of experience in real estate investing, finance, development and asset management. As principal, David co-chairs the Investment Committee and oversees the analysis, acquisition and asset-management teams at Origin. He also assembles and leads Origin’s team of investment professionals, who share more than $5 billion of transactional experience. Prior to forming Origin, David spent eight years at a privately financed hedge fund, where he opened and managed offices in New York and London and served as company president from 1999 to 2003. In 2006, David cofounded One Million Degrees, which has raised $10 million to help low-income community college students graduate and successfully enter the workforce. He currently serves as the organization’s Board Chair. He also serves as the president of the Harvard Club of Chicago and is on the Advisory Board of Invest For Kids. David received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and MBA from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is married, has two children, is a youth flag football coach and has an interest in languages.

Barbara Carley

SVP - American Landmark Properties

Barbara Carley is a Senior Vice President with American Landmark Properties with more than twenty-five years of commercial management and leasing experience in the greater Chicago, Boston and Indianapolis markets. In addition to coordinating the corporate operations for American Landmark Properties, Ms. Carley is integrally involved in all property investments with extensive experience in the management and leasing of office, industrial, retail and residential properties across all classes. Ms. Carley was formerly managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, CB Richard Ellis and Equity Office Properties, with responsibility for the business development, marketing, operations and financial performance of portfolios in excess of 52 million square feet. In addition to her corporate leadership roles, Ms. Carley also served as director of the Willis Tower and has spearheaded property management and/or leasing efforts at many noteworthy developments including Windham Lakes, Woodfield Corporate Center, Macy’s Chicago Warehouse, 311 South Wacker Drive, NBC Tower, Oakbrook Terrace Tower, the Boeing HQ at 100 North Riverside Plaza, and the Glen Town Center. Ms. Carley received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Valparaiso University and went on to do her Master’s work in Public Policy (MPP) at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, as part of a joint program with the Law School. She is a past member of the Board of Directors for BOMA Chicago and earned the RPA® designation from BOMI International.

Jonathan H. Pearce

SVP - Ivanhoé Cambridge

As Senior Vice President, Office Leasing, North America, Jonathan Pearce is responsible for office leasing across Ivanhoé Cambridge’s $17 Billion (CAD$) North American Office Platform. His responsibilities include leasing for all owned (managed and non-managed) office properties and developments in Canada and the US, and currently comprising more than 30 million square feet in the following markets: Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Denver, Chicago, New York and Boston. Jonathan is based in Toronto. Jonathan H. Pearce has more than 23 years of experience in office leasing and the sale of corporate investment assets in multiple markets, with a strong focus on landlord agency. Jonathan H. Pearce holds a B.Sc. Honours in Urban Land Economics from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England, and is a Professional Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Tom Irgens

VP - Irgens

As a Development Representative based in Irgens’ Milwaukee office, Tom is involved in all aspects of the firm’s commercial, healthcare, mixed-use and industrial developments within the State of Wisconsin. Tom’s primary responsibilities include conducting market research to forecast and analyze business trends for the firm’s brokerage and leasing team. He also assists project developers by providing financial analysis, development budgets and accounting reports including project feasibility analysis, market research, planning and design oversight, contract adherence, obtaining government pprovals/permits and leasing

Diane Pearse

CEO - Hickory Farms

Diane is Chief Executive Officer and President of Hickory Farms, LLC, a leading retailer of food gifts and specialty foods available online and in catalogs, leading mass merchants, supermarkets and approximately 700 seasonal retail shopping locations. She assumed this role in March of 2016 and is leading a transformation of the company to reinvent the brand and grow revenue by developing new products and growing the loyal customer base. The brand celebrated its 65th Anniversary in 2016, and is focused on being the best retailer in the food gifting space, making the next 65 years even greater than the first. From May of 2015 to March of 2016, Diane held the position of Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance for Garrett Brands, LLC. Garrett is a privately held Chicago-based retailer of gourmet, handcrafted popcorn with over 40 locations globally. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing the strategy to drive overall growth of the business, and had oversight of the company’s supply chain, Ecommerce fulfillment, warehousing and distribution, information technology and finance functions. Immediately prior to joining Garrett, Diane spent four years as the Senior Vice President of Operations and Merchandising for Redbox Automated Retail, LLC. In this role, she was responsible for leading the company’s field operations, technical support center, inventory and logistics function, and strategy and analytics team. Diane joined Redbox as the Senior Vice President of Finance in May of 2010, and was responsible for overseeing all finance activities, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, controls and financial systems. From 2001 to May of 2010, she served as the Chief Financial Officer of Crate and Barrel, a leading specialty retailer of home furnishings. In addition to her responsibilities for the company’s finance function, she served on the company’s Executive Committee, Operations Committee, Real Estate Committee and Management Information Systems Steering Committee. Prior to joining Crate and Barrel, she served as the Chief Financial Officer for iCastle.com, an internet start-up company in the home improvement industry. Before joining iCastle.com, Diane served as the Vice President, Business Financial Services – Americas for BP Amoco Corporation; with responsibility for corporate and structured finance transactions and risk management activities for the Americas-based businesses. After the merger of BP and Amoco, as a senior member of the Finance management team, she played a key role in the design and integration of the worldwide corporate finance and treasury function of the company. She began her career with Amoco Corporation in 1980, and over a period of eighteen years held a variety of financial positions in the corporate finance, treasury, accounting, and information technology areas. Since 2004, Diane has served as a director for MSA Safety, Incorporated, a New York Stock Exchange listed company that develops, manufactures, and supplies health and safety products for workers in the fire service, homeland security, construction, and other industries. She chairs the Finance Committee and serves on the Audit, Compensation and Law Committees. Diane also serves on the board of the Chicago Children’s Choir and the Dean’s Advisory Council for DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business. Diane graduated Bronze Tablet from the University of Illinois-Urbana with a BS in Accountancy and obtained an MBA in Finance with Honors from DePaul University. She resides in Western Springs, Illinois, with her husband, Jim.

Ari Glass

President - Zeller Realty Corporation

Ari Glass joined Zeller Realty Group in 2002. As President of Zeller Realty Corporation, he is engaged in locating, analyzing and recommending potential acquisition opportunities for ZRG, including financing, equity sourcing and transaction structuring. Previously, Glass was Leasing Director and responsible for leasing and marketing the commercial space at 401 North Michigan Avenue and 211 East Ontario Street. In his acquisition/recapitalization role, Glass has been integrally involved in structuring and executing 15 transactions worth over $1.5B. Glass led the successful restructuring of the securitized first mortgage on Meridian Mark I & II with JE Roberts (now part of C-III Asset Management). In his capacity as Project Manager, he has led the award winning repositioning of The Wrigley Building which has included securing Landmark status; structuring equity co-investment in Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits; planning and executing a $125MM renovation and re-leasing strategy for the 22% leased project. Prior to joining Zeller Realty Group, Glass worked for Golub & Company as the Director of Marketing. During his four year tenure, he was responsible for leasing and marketing Golub’s downtown Chicago portfolio, completing 140 transactions for nearly 700,000 square feet of space in three and a half years. Glass also worked as a financial analyst and leasing representative for Jones Lang LaSalle in Chicago. Among the properties he was responsible for were 500 West Madison Street, 30 North LaSalle Street and One East Wacker Drive. Glass is a graduate of Bradley University, where he earned a BS in Business with a concentration in Finance. He earned an MBA with honors at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Glass is on the Board of Directors of Landmarks Illinois, and active in the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF). In addition, he is a past President of the board of FTC Chicago.

Michael Klein

Managing Principal - GlenStar Properties

Michael is a co-founder of GlenStar Properties. He leads the firm's acquisition, disposition and project financing efforts throughout the U.S. In addition, Mr. Klein shares responsibility for the firm’s asset management business and serves on the investment committee.

Jeff Brown

Founder | CEO | CIO - T2 Capital Management

As CEO, Mr. Brown works closely with the principals of the firm in providing broad corporate initiatives, specific investment strategies, and operational oversight. As CIO, he oversees the origination, underwriting, and day-to-day management of T2’s investments. Mr. Brown began his career in real estate in the mid-1990s when working with a national consumer finance company that was later acquired by Wells Fargo. That was followed by his tenure at a Michigan-based family office that doubled as a multi-hundred million dollar hedge fund-of-funds. Mr. Brown received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his Bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). While at Wheaton, Mr. Brown was captain of the football team and a 1st Team GTE Academic All-American quarterback.

Stephen Sise

SVP - Golub & Company

Steve Sise oversees the operations of properties within Golub’s commercial and residential portfolio with an intense focus on financial and operating performance. He ensures that the property management teams collaborate with leasing, acquisitions, development and accounting groups, as well as with Golub’s capital partners, to create and execute successful business plans. Prior to joining Golub, Steve was a member of Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler’s office and retail investment sales team, where he completed more than $250 million in transactions. With additional experience in acquisition, disposition and development underwriting for Duke Realty as well as national portfolio property and asset management for Grubb & Ellis, Steve leverages his diverse background and keen sense of real estate to further the strong performance of the company’s portfolio. He earned a BA degree from John Carroll University, and is a Board Member for BOMA Chicago as well as the Chicagoland Apartment Association. Steve is a licensed real estate broker with the State of Illinois. He joined Golub & Company in 2008.

Diane Pearse

CEO - Hickory Farms

Diane is Chief Executive Officer and President of Hickory Farms, LLC, a leading retailer of food gifts and specialty foods available online and in catalogs, leading mass merchants, supermarkets and approximately 700 seasonal retail shopping locations. She assumed this role in March of 2016 and is leading a transformation of the company to reinvent the brand and grow revenue by developing new products and growing the loyal customer base. The brand celebrated its 65th Anniversary in 2016, and is focused on being the best retailer in the food gifting space, making the next 65 years even greater than the first. From May of 2015 to March of 2016, Diane held the position of Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance for Garrett Brands, LLC. Garrett is a privately held Chicago-based retailer of gourmet, handcrafted popcorn with over 40 locations globally. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing the strategy to drive overall growth of the business, and had oversight of the company’s supply chain, Ecommerce fulfillment, warehousing and distribution, information technology and finance functions. Immediately prior to joining Garrett, Diane spent four years as the Senior Vice President of Operations and Merchandising for Redbox Automated Retail, LLC. In this role, she was responsible for leading the company’s field operations, technical support center, inventory and logistics function, and strategy and analytics team. Diane joined Redbox as the Senior Vice President of Finance in May of 2010, and was responsible for overseeing all finance activities, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, controls and financial systems. From 2001 to May of 2010, she served as the Chief Financial Officer of Crate and Barrel, a leading specialty retailer of home furnishings. In addition to her responsibilities for the company’s finance function, she served on the company’s Executive Committee, Operations Committee, Real Estate Committee and Management Information Systems Steering Committee. Prior to joining Crate and Barrel, she served as the Chief Financial Officer for iCastle.com, an internet start-up company in the home improvement industry. Before joining iCastle.com, Diane served as the Vice President, Business Financial Services – Americas for BP Amoco Corporation; with responsibility for corporate and structured finance transactions and risk management activities for the Americas-based businesses. After the merger of BP and Amoco, as a senior member of the Finance management team, she played a key role in the design and integration of the worldwide corporate finance and treasury function of the company. She began her career with Amoco Corporation in 1980, and over a period of eighteen years held a variety of financial positions in the corporate finance, treasury, accounting, and information technology areas. Since 2004, Diane has served as a director for MSA Safety, Incorporated, a New York Stock Exchange listed company that develops, manufactures, and supplies health and safety products for workers in the fire service, homeland security, construction, and other industries. She chairs the Finance Committee and serves on the Audit, Compensation and Law Committees. Diane also serves on the board of the Chicago Children’s Choir and the Dean’s Advisory Council for DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business. Diane graduated Bronze Tablet from the University of Illinois-Urbana with a BS in Accountancy and obtained an MBA in Finance with Honors from DePaul University. She resides in Western Springs, Illinois, with her husband, Jim.

Dean Amhaus

President & CEO - The Water Council

Dean has served as the president and CEO of The Water Council since March 2010. His diverse, thirty-year background in multiple sectors encapsulates a wide-range of expertise in government relations, branding, fundraising, economic development and non-profit management in Washington, D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin. Dean has also served as the president of The Spirit of Milwaukee which is dedicated to enhancing Milwaukee’s image, as well as the president of Forward Wisconsin, the state’s economic development organization, and executive director of the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Commission.

Tricia Braun

COO - Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

Michael McLean Jr.

Partner - Condor Partners

Max Meyers

Principal + Chief Investment Officer - R2

Marc Turner

Managing Director of Investment Management - Origin Investments

Marc is a senior commercial real estate investment professional with 20 years of experience in asset management, acquisition, disposition, underwriting and valuation, leasing, and due diligence. As Managing Director of Investment Management at Origin, Marc is responsible for overseeing the company’s real estate portfolio and executing Fund and property-level business plans. Before Origin Investments, Marc served as Vice President of Asset Management at Lightstone, a New York investment firm with $2 billion of assets under management. Prior to Lightstone, he was involved in the HSBC Amanah Global Properties Income Fund ("GPIF"). As Head of Asset Management for the U.S. portfolio, he held responsibility for the investment performance of a 36 building national office, R&D, and an industrial portfolio containing 7 million square feet. Earlier in his career, Marc performed in various asset management and acquisition roles at Equity Office Properties Trust, previously the nation's largest publicly traded office building owner and REIT. During his decade long tenure at Equity Office, Marc was involved in the underwriting and valuation analysis on corporate acquisitions with a total value in excess of $15 billion and conceived investment strategy for assets with an aggregate value over $2 billion. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Marc lives with his wife and two daughters in a north suburb of Chicago. He is a faithful Cubs fan who also enjoys travel, the beach, and history.

Brian Atkinson

Managing Director - Hines

Mr. Atkinson is the leasing director for the Chicago market and represents both Hines owned and investor owned assets. He is leading the leasing efforts for more than 5 million square feet of existing assets in the Chicago CBD, plus assisting in the pre-leasing of office projects at Wolf Point South and The Lincoln Common. Additionally, Brian is part of the pre-development project team for the proposed T3 Goose Island and 645 West Madison properties and fills an integral role in the asset management, acquisition and disposition of projects throughout the Hines Chicago portfolio. Prior to joining Hines, Brian spent 14 years representing owners and tenants in the Chicago market while working at Grubb & Ellis, Equity Office Properties and Jones Lang LaSalle. Atkinson graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Masters of Business Administration from DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Management.

Joseph Shaw

Managing Director - Manulife

Joseph Shaw is Managing Director, Real Estate Investments at Manulife Financial, a global financial institution operating in 19 countries with $550 billion in assets under management. Mr. Shaw’s current responsibilities focus on the acquisition and disposition of Canadian and American commercial real estate complementing Manulife’s existing $16 billion portfolio. He has transacted over $3 billion and 10 million square feet of real estate since 2009. He was instrumental in the creation and structuring of Manulife’s first real estate fund. Mr. Shaw was previously based in Boston as Managing Director, Bond and Corporate Finance, John Hancock Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manulife Financial, where he was involved in the origination, structuring and management of public and private corporate debt across a wide range of industries and domiciles. Prior to Boston, Mr. Shaw was based in Washington, DC as Regional Vice President, Real Estate Finance, Manulife Financial, responsible for origination, underwriting, loan structuring and commercial mortgage portfolio management in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Mr. Shaw has 20 years of real estate and finance industry experience primarily focused on debt, property and capital market transactions in both the United States and Canada. Prior to his return to Manulife in 2001, Mr. Shaw was Vice President, Corporate Finance at Deloitte & Touche LLP and was responsible for real estate advisory services to over 30 clients in four countries. Mr. Shaw has previous investment banking experience specializing in real estate at CIBC World Markets and additional real estate and cross- border merger and acquisition experience through consulting engagements at TD Securities, Ontario Power Generation, and Bentall Kennedy. Mr. Shaw holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Realty Investor designations, a Masters of Science in Real Estate from Johns Hopkins University, a Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Windsor, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts (Urban Development) from the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Shaw is a Fellow of the Life Management Association and is licensed in Ontario as real estate sales and mortgage agent. Mr. Shaw teaches at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto and the Urban Development Program at the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Shaw was adjunct professor at The Johns Hopkins University in Real Estate Finance and Investment, the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, and has lectured on real estate at Harvard University and for the Urban Land Institute. Currently, Mr. Shaw is Chairman of the Independent Review Committee of Edgepoint Wealth Management, a Canadian regulated investment management company. He is former Vice Chairman of the Education Committee of the Chartered Realty Investor Society. Mr. Shaw is a graduate of the Future Leaders Class of 2003 for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and sat on their Portfolio Investor’s Committee. He is former Chairman of the Income Property Committee and a member of the Board of Governors of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Metropolitan Washington. Mr. Shaw participates as a committee member with local real estate associations in Canada and the United States and is Treasurer of the Greater Toronto National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP), formerly chair of the Education Committee. Mr. Shaw has been an active volunteer with the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute since 1997. Mr. Shaw volunteers for Sleeping Children Around The World, a federally registered charity supplying necessities to third world children, where he acts as Portfolio Manager and is a member of the Real Estate Task Force of the Greater Toronto YMCA. He also oversees the annual distribution of the Shaw Family Scholarship for Real Estate Finance at Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School. Mr. Shaw was a member of the 2009 Canadian National Wildwater Kayak Team, coaches minor hockey and performed with the Toronto Ecumenical Choir for the Papal Mass in the Vatican, 2014. Mr. Shaw is married and has two children.

James Fox

CEO - North Wells Capital

The company’s Co-Founder and CEO is Jim Fox. In his role as CEO, Jim is responsible for the North Wells Capital investment strategy, fund-raising and financial operations. Jim has been a leader in commercial real estate for over 30 years, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of Home Partners of America (2012-2015) and Chief Financial Officer of Pearlmark Real Estate Partners (1998-2012). Jim, a Certified Public Accountant, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Wisconsin Parkside and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Since 2004, he has been an active member on the board of directors of Housing Opportunities for Women, a Chicago not-for-profit, and currently serves as the president.

Jason McCargo

Workplace Solutions Practice Leader - ESD

Jason McCargo champions attention to detail and open communication as a principal in charge. He is heavily involved in projects without micromanaging them and applies his expertise – gained from many years in the field as a project manager and as an electrical engineer – to all assignments. When challenges arise, he addresses them head-on to make sure solutions are provided quickly.

José Ramirez

CEO - Optik Technik

José Ramirez, co-founder & CEO – José is a Mechanical Engineer with MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering. With his first startup he invented, developed and commercialized technology worth more than $150 MM. The technology was licensed to Sealed Air/Diversey, Steris, Bissell and Bayer, in different vertical markets. He also led global innovation for $3B Diversey, responsible for an organization of 300+, a budget over $60 MM, and 15 product development centers around the world.

Ryan Simonetti

CEO & Co-Founder - Convene

Ryan is the co-founder and CEO of Convene, commercial real estate’s first workplace-as-a-service platform. Convene has set-out to change the way the world works by infusing hotel style services and amenities into commercial office buildings. Ryan has been recognized for his transformative achievements in Inc. magazine’s “30 Under 30,” a list of America’s Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs, was named “Top Entrepreneur” for 2013 by Crain’s New York, and was a finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year® 2013 New York. Prior to founding Convene, Ryan served as a vice president at Gramercy Capital Corp. where he oversaw the restructuring of a billion-dollar loan portfolio, including $600 million of hospitality-related real estate investments.

David Garman

Associate Vice Chancellor - University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Associate Vice Chancellor for Water Technology, Research, & Development; Professor School of Freshwater Sciences Education: Ph D University of Sydney - Separation of uranium isotopes by Ion Exchange.; MSc University of Sydney – Beryllium species in aqueous solution; BSc Sp Hons University of London (1966) Major in Chemistry; Research interests: His career has covered the full range of environmental management from water resources and pollution control through to new environmental technologies, covering all aspects of measurement, management policy and strategic analysis. Water resources and pollution control, environmental technologies, management policy and strategic analysis

Jack O'Brien

Executive President - The Telos Group

Jack O’Brien joined The Telos Group, LLC at its founding in 2012. Jack is a two-decade veteran of the Chicago commercial real estate industry. Formerly, he was a vice president of leasing for investment firm M&J Wilkow, Ltd. and Leasing Director of the Chicago region for Equity Office Properties. Jack has represented more than 20 different downtown Chicago office buildings and has negotiated and completed transactions with a total value of more than one billion dollars. His clients have also included Sam Zell, UBS and TIAA-CREF. In 2001, he was nominated as a finalist for Office Leasing Transaction of the Year (NAIOP) when he completed a ten year lease with DLA Piper for 265,000 RSF. In 2012, his team was awarded the Greater Chicago Food Depository Office Leasing Representative of the year. Jack earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of Kansas.

Dave Trolian

SVP - Clark Construction

Mike Curran

Managing Director - JLL

Mike Curran is a Managing Director for JLL’s Agency Leasing team in Chicago with more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. He began his career in property management and has spent the past 15 years in agency leasing. His extensive agency leasing experience has included assignments at Aon Center, 440 South LaSalle, 2 North LaSalle, 222 South Riverside and One East Wacker. He has completed more than 4.7 million square feet in transactions of varying sizes and levels of difficulty. In 2009, Curran completed one of the largest transactions of the year in Chicago with the KPMG lease of 268,000 s.f. and was the recipient of the NAIOP Deal of the Year Award. In 2012, he transacted more than 820,000 s.f. and completed the second largest transaction of the year with Aon Corporation. Education and Affiliations: Curran has been nominated for the Greater Chicago Food Depository Office Broker of the Year Award, as well as the Innovative Deal of the Year Award for his work in 2012. Strongly committed to the needs of the community, he is an active volunteer at Misercordia, the Evans Scholars Foundation and with St. John Fisher School. He also serves as President of the Board of Directors at his Country Club in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood. Curran holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree from Marquette University.

Jeff Dowdell

Senior Vice President, Agency Leasing - Transwestern

An 11 year industry veteran, Jeff is Senior Vice President for Transwestern’s Agency leasing group responsible for overseeing marketing and leasing efforts for numerous office projects within the downtown Chicago market. During his career, Jeff has been involved with leasing assignments totaling over 5.0+ million square feet and has completed over 2.0+ lease transactions of all sizes, complexities, and industry types. Jeff has represented owners, such as Bentall Kennedy, Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT), Shorenstein, FD Stonewater, LNR, Spectrum Properties, Ascentis Real Estate Group, Fortress Investments, and Condor Partners. Specializing in asset positioning, marketing and lease negotiations Jeff is focused on maximizing value for his clients by maintaining an acute understanding of the market and how each client can benefit. His background in both Landlord and Tenant representation allows him to fully understand and evaluate both sides of the transaction within the competitive marketplace leading towards a “win-win” outcome for all parties in less time with less risk. Jeff earned a B.S. in Economics from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA graduating Manga Cum Laude. He was the recipient of the John Godbold Award honoring the #1 student within the major with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Anthony Zeoli

Partner - Freeborn & Peters

Anthony Zeoli is a Partner in the Corporate Practice Group and concentrates his practice in the areas of banking and commercial finance, securities, real estate, and general corporate law. Anthony’s commercial finance practice includes the representation of borrowers and lenders in: secured and unsecured lending transactions; corporate reorganizations and restructuring; syndicated commercial financing transactions; and loan workouts. Anthony also has a vibrant securities and general corporate practice including initial and subsequent private debt and equity offerings; mergers and acquisitions; company formation and governance; and general contract drafting and negotiation. Anthony has particular expertise in the negotiation and documentation of real estate transactions involving the acquisition, sale, construction, development, leasing and/or financing of real estate and has represented parties on both sides of such transactions. He is also an industry leader in the area of crowdfunding, in particular with respect to real estate crowdfunding, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, and Regulation A+ offerings. He has most recently drafted a bill to allow for an intrastate crowdfunding exemption in Illinois which was unanimously passed by the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate.

Collete English Dixon

Executive Director - Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate, Roosevelt University

Collete English Dixon has more than 30 years in investment management with a focus on commercial real estate investing. Prior to her formation of Libra Investments, Group, LLC, a commercial real estate consulting firm focused on helping investors with investment strategy and execution, she was Executive Director - Transactions for PGIM Real Estate (formerly known as PREI), a business unit of Prudential Financial, and co-leader of PREI’s national investment dispositions program. In that role, she oversaw the sale of more than 201 investment properties, with a total value of more than $8.7 Billion, on behalf of PREI’s investment funds. Prior to her role in dispositions, English Dixon was responsible for sourcing more than $2.75B of wholly-owned and joint venture real estate investment opportunities in the Midwestern markets covering all property types, including office, multi-family, hotel, industrial and retail properties. A regular and sought-after industry speaker and moderator, she is an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s Real Estate Center, a member of the advisory board for the Graaskamp Center at the Univ. of Wisconsin, a full member of ULI and the 2016-2019 Chair of the UDMU Product Council/Purple Flight. In addition, English Dixon is a member of the Economic Development Commission for the Village of River Forest, IL, and serves as a board member of the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, the International Women’s Forum (Chicago Forum) and of the Ely (Chicago) chapter of LAI.

Rahul Shah

Managing Principal - Sherpa Capital Group

Rahul Shah is a Managing Principal at Sherpa Capital Group, LLC (Sherpa), co-founding the company in 2010. Sherpa manages a private capital fund that specializes in originating bridge and hard money loans secured by commercial real estate. Sherpa has funded more than 250 transactions and is a direct lender with its own proprietary capital. All credit decisions and servicing administrations are performed in house by the firm's principals. Before co-founding Sherpa, Rahul founded a mortgage banking company. He originated more than $500M in residential and small balance commercial loans. Previously, Rahul was a Manager of Business Development and Strategic Alliance at Encyclopedia Britannica executing internet strategy. Prior to Britannica, he was a Senior Consultant in the Transaction Advisory Group at Arthur Andersen. His focus was performing due diligence on corporate finance transactions involving financial institutions, private equity firms and mid-sized corporations. He consulted on more than 50 transactions in various industries with deal sizes ranging from $50M to $1B. Rahul is a CPA and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy with Concentration in Finance.

Christopher Carroll

Managing Director - HFF

For LinkedIn, Click <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-carroll/" target="_blank">HERE </a>

Dan Lyne

SVP I Global Tech & Media - CBRE

Jonathan H. Pearce holds a B.Sc. Honours in Urban Land Economics from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England, and is a Professional Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Tim Hennelly

President - Ryan Companies

As President of Ryan’s Great Lakes region, Tim provides overall leadership and direction for the Ryan development, design, construction and real estate management divisions. Tim is known for his ability to provide strategic focus to broad development efforts, offering innovative and cost-effective solutions. With 30 years of experience in the real estate industry, Tim has a well-established track record of performance in site selection, planning and design concepts, financial packaging, managing construction coordination and lease or sale negotiation. With market knowledge and years of construction experience, he ensures that his team is driven towards the goal of exceeding customer expectations.