Smart Spaces: Unlocking the Future of Workplace Access And Amenities

Katie focuses on leasing as well as maintaining broker and tenant relationships at Meridian. She has over 15 years of experience in commercial real estate, including leasing and market research. Prior to joining Meridian, Katie was a vice president with Boston Properties, where she oversaw the company’s Reston Town Center portfolio totaling more than three million square feet and completed over 115 transactions with a diverse mix of tenants including tech companies, law firms, government contractors, and Fortune 100 companies. She began her career with Lincoln Property Company, where she focused on research and brokerage in Washington, DC. Katie received her B.S. in management from Georgetown University.

Rachel Casanova is the Tri-State Senior Managing Director of Workplace Innovation at Cushman & Wakefield, a branch of the Strategic Consulting practice. In 2017, she founded Balansett after working in the field of Workplace Strategy for over 20 years, helping companies transform their real estate assets to reinforce long-term business strategies, corporate culture, and increasingly integrated space, digital tools and technology and performance goals.

Mike joined Arch Amenities Group after acquisition of LifeStart to lead the firm's growth. Working with national and regional leadership and leading the new business development team, Mike focuses on maintaining, enhancing, and growing client relationships across the portfolio. Experience Mike has more than 30 years of experience in fitness and real estate operations.  Mike most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for LifeStart’s portfolio of 100 properties. He had direct oversight of the management divisions of their fitness and hospitality platforms. He lead operations, design, construction, sales and marketing, growing the management portfolio from 29 sites to 100. The main catalyst of growth was the added scope of full-building programming and amenity management. LifeStart helped Tishman Speyer launch their ZO program in the Chicago and Boston Markets and subsequently started providing Community Engagement and hospitality management solutions for groups like Zeller, MBRE, Shorenstein, Brookfield, Silverstein and CIM. Education and affiliations Mike received a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Rehabilitation from the Illinois State University, a Master of Science in Exercise Science from Illinois State University and a Master of Education from University of Illinois Chicago.

A seasoned executive with 30+ years of experience as a leader in TMT, Mary is the CMO at Brivo, the global leader in cloud-based access control and smart buildings technologies. Previously Mary served as the Chief Product Officer and Chief Marketing Officer for Synchronoss and prior to that served as Syniverse’s Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Roaming. Throughout her career she has served on several boards and is currently a board member of CTS, Industry Advisor for Astra Capital Management as well as Lynk Global. Mary is passionate about women in technology leadership roles and has long played an active role in driving diversity and gender equity in the mobile industry through her work with the former GSMA’s Women4Tech organization and the recently formed GSMA’s Diversity4Tech.

As Vice President, Office & Life Science Leasing within Ivanhoé Cambridge's Leasing & Development Team, Charlie oversees all leasing efforts within IC’s portfolio of Office & Life Science assets across North America. He has a particular focus on & fascination for the conceptualization, design, customer- experience and ultimately, the lease-up of world-class & magnetic commercial real estate. Charlie’s nearly 20 year career as a commercial real estate professional spans various world-class markets including: Toronto, Hong Kong and New York City. He is a graduate of McGill University with a MSc in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Charlie currently sits on both the NAIOP Corporate Board of Directors (as a Member At Large); and is the co-Chair of the Eva’s Golf Classic - raising funds & awareness to benefit homeless and at-risk youth in the Greater Toronto Area. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for NAIOP Greater Toronto and the Canadian Leadership Council for CoreNet Global.

With more than 35 years of leadership experience in commercial real estate, Mitchell Schear ran two of Washington’s most influential real estate companies owning and developing some of the most iconic office and residential projects in DC. Today, Mitchell has turned his focus to “PropTech”, the dynamic intersection of the burgeoning new creative/tech sector and traditional brick and mortar. From 2019 - 2023 Mitchell was an Executive Partner at Camber Creek, effectively combining his passion for PropTech with his wealth of commercial real estate experience. Camber Creek is the longest standing real estate technology venture capital firm with a proven and successful track record of investing in emerging real estate technology market leaders, catalyzing growth for those companies, and achieving outsized returns for its investors. In his role at Camber Creek, Mitchell focused on selecting portfolio companies to invest in, and then cultivating and growing them. He brought investing, operating and leadership experience and expertise across a broad range of real estate verticals, including development, leasing, construction and property management. From 2003 until 2017, Mitchell was President of Vornado/Charles E. Smith, the DC division of Vornado Realty Trust, a $20 billion real estate investment trust. In that role, he directed the strategy, performance and growth of Vornado’s extensive 20+ million square foot portfolio in the Washington DC region. In Arlington, VA, his forward-thinking, placemaking vision transformed Crystal City (now “National Landing”) into a vibrant, creative community that became home to a growing innovation hub and great restaurants/retail concepts. From 2017 – 2020, Mitchell served as a board member for JBG SMITH, a successor company and the largest real estate company in the Washington metropolitan area. Prior to joining Vornado in April 2003, Mitchell spent 15 years at The Kaempfer Company, where, as President, he oversaw all of the company’s development, leasing, and management activities. In 2021, Mitchell was appointed to the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents Facilities Committee where he will work to provide leadership and oversight for the revitalization and maintenance of the vast real estate holdings of Smithsonian. He is also involved in a variety of organizations and charities, including Higher Achievement where he rallied the real estate and business community to raise more than $1 million annually for this organization dedicated to helping at-risk middle-school kids excel and succeed. In 2016, Mitchell was honored by Higher Achievement for his extraordinary leadership and commitment. For many years, Mitchell has been a value-add member of numerous private and public boards, task forces, and advisory committees. In 2015, he was honored by Transwestern as Trendsetter of the Year in recognition of his legacy of innovation, quality and many contributions to the Washington community. In 2007, Mitchell was recognized by the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) with its highest honor, the Achievement Award.