Speaker Profiles

Elizabeth Bell is a Principal on Hamilton Lane’s Real Assets team, where she is responsible for due diligence of primary, secondary, and co-investment opportunities in real estate.    

Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2022, Elizabeth was a Managing Director with Jaguar Growth Partners where she was responsible for leading Latin American real estate private equity investments.  Previously, Elizabeth was an Investment Manager at Aberdeen Asset Management on the Property Multi-Manager team and was a Vice President at Equity International, responsible for investing in emerging markets real estate companies.  Earlier in her career, Elizabeth was an Associate at real estate private equity firm, JER Partners, and an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank.    

Elizabeth received her M.B.A from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B. from Princeton University.   

Brian Cannella is a senior managing director and head of transactions and capital markets at KA Real Estate where he is responsible for managing the execution of all developments, acquisitions and dispositions for KA Real Estate’s equity funds. Cannella is also responsible for sourcing & structuring all debt and managing lender relationships for KA Real Estate’s equity funds. During his tenure at KA Real Estate, Cannella has closed more than $20 billion of transactions in the student housing, multifamily, seniors housing, medical office and storage sectors. Cannella also serves on the KA Real Estate Executive Committee.

Prior to joining Kayne Anderson in 2013, Cannella spent time at Tishman Construction and Newmark. In these roles, he focused on managing and analyzing financial, operational, and business risks related to the development, acquisition and disposition of commercial space in New York City. Cannella also spent three years as a consultant for a leading consulting firm in New York City.

Cannella earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Toll Brothers, Inc. (Tollbrothers.com) (NYSE: TOL) is a Fortune 500 Company, the leading builder of luxury homes in the U.S. and one the nation’s largest Multi-Family rental and land developers. The Company began business in 1967 and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1986. Toll Brothers serves first-time, move-up, empty-nester, active-adult and second-home buyers, as well as renters, in suburban and urban markets in 24 states across the U.S. and Washington, D.C.  In 2023, Fortune magazine named Toll Brothers the World’s Most Admired Homebuilder, the eighth year it has been so honored. 
 
Fred Cooper joined Toll Brothers in 1993 to establish its Finance and Investor Relations Departments. As the firm’s in-house investment bank, the team he leads is responsible for Toll’s capital markets and investor relations activities, its ESG and financial planning initiatives, and its partnering relationships with major U.S. and international financial and development institutions. Since formation, the group has raised over $25 billion from U.S., European and Asian banks, the public capital markets and U.S. and International institutional partners. In addition to capital raising, they advise on complex project structuring, joint ventures, corporate mergers and acquisitions and major property acquisitions.
 
Fred has been financial point for Toll’s expansion into the urban high-rise condo business through Toll Brothers City Living, which has grown into an operation of over 45 buildings and 5,500 units, primarily in the metro-NYC area.  He also has been financial point for Toll’s expansion into the rental apartment business through Toll Brothers Apartment Living (TBAL), which has grown to become the 11^th largest apartment developer in the U.S. and now controls $3 billion in assets in a pipeline of completed and in-development projects totaling over 20,000 units. He also has overseen Toll Brothers’ development of international relationships in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
 
From 1989 to 1993, Fred was Director of Corporate Finance and Planning at DKM Properties Corp., the real estate arm of a Forbes Private 50 company and of the nation’s largest private companies. From 1984 to 1989, he was Senior Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee of the NYC Financial Services Corporation, (now NYC Economic Development Corp.), New York City’s economic development bank.    From 1980 to 1983 he worked in community-based affordable housing and economic development in the South Bronx and Brooklyn, New York.
 
He holds an A.B. from Brown University and a Master of Public Policy in finance and international development from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Jacob Feingold is a Managing Director responsible for the firm’s debt and equity real estate investments in the East Coast, as well as securitized investments and secondary opportunities nationally. Prior to joining Canyon in 2014, Mr. Feingold worked at iStar as a member of its investments team where he focused on structured real estate investments, development, and distressed opportunities. Mr. Feingold is a graduate of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (B.B.A., Honors) and Columbia Business School (M.B.A., Honors).

Spencer Garfield is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group LLC in the Credit and Real Estate business. Mr. Garfield is responsible for real estate debt originations and acquisitions, equity investing and forming strategic relationships with real estate related companies.

Prior to joining Fortress, Mr. Garfield spent 12 years with Hudson Realty Capital LLC as a Managing Director responsible for loan originations, equity investments, business development and building and maintaining real estate industry relations.

Mr. Garfield received his B.S. from the University of Colorado, his Masters Degree in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University and was an adjunct professor at NYU in the Masters in Real Estate Program for three years. Mr. Garfield has received extensive recognition for his contributions to the commercial real estate and finance community.

Rose Xu Haas is a Senior Vice President at Cerberus Capital Management, where she leads ESG initiatives across its real estate equity, real estate credit, RMBS and CMBS platforms. Previously, she was part of Cerberus’s North American Real Estate team responsible for sourcing, underwriting, financing and closing real estate transactions. Prior to joining Cerberus, Ms. Haas worked from 2013 to 2017 at Dune Real Estate Partners, where she was responsible for the acquisition and asset management of distressed, deep value-add and contrarian opportunities across the United States. From 2007 to 2011, Ms. Haas was at The Carlyle Group, where she was involved in real estate acquisitions. She started her career at Merrill Lynch in real estate investment banking. Ms. Haas is a graduate of Princeton University and received an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

David W. Hamm is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Real Estate at Wafra. Mr. Hamm chairs the Real Estate Investment Committee and is responsible for overall investment performance and the implementation of investment strategies for traditional real estate. Prior to his current role, Mr. Hamm served as Head of Real Estate Acquisitions at Wafra.

Mr. Hamm was previously a Managing Director at DWS RREEF America LLC, responsible for leading the East Coast transactions team focusing on office, retail, industrial and multifamily products for direct equity and structured debt investments. During his 19 years at DWS he completed more than $7.0 billion in transactions.

Andrea Himmel serves as Principal and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at leading Manhattan-based commercial real estate owner/developer Himmel + Meringoff Properties. In this key role, Andrea is working to expand the company’s $2 billion NYC portfolio of Outer Borough industrial warehouses and secondary office buildings in Manhattan. In July 2021, Andrea was chosen to serve as a Board Member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Andrea currently serves on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity and is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Diversity Committee.

Prior to joining Himmel + Meringoff in 2018, Andrea held a number of key positions with several well-known commercial real estate firms, including Brookfield Properties.

As a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s esteemed Wharton School, Andrea earned her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Real Estate Finance. During her tenure at Wharton, she was also chosen to be part of the Joseph Wharton Scholar Honors Program.

Himmel + Meringoff Properties is a privately held New York real estate investment company with a commitment to the long-term ownership and hands-on operation and management of one of the largest privately-owned portfolios of secondary office buildings in Manhattan and a growing portfolio of industrial warehouses located in the boroughs of New York City. The company acquires opportunistic commercial real estate properties with significant value-add potential.

Ryan LaRue is a member of the Barings’ Real Estate Team, a global real estate platform with extensive capabilities across both debt and equity strategies. Ryan is responsible for real estate research coverage for the U.S. multifamily and hotel property sectors. He uses a top-down macro perspective and market-level real estate fundamentals for deal-level analyses on debt and equity real estate transactions. Ryan has worked in the industry since 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Environmental Studies from State University of New York, Binghamton.

Chester P. Lee is co-chair of Duane Morris' Real Estate Practice Group. Mr. Lee practices in the area of real estate law, providing strategic and legal advice for all types of commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Lee has represented both lenders and borrowers in secured financings and loan restructurings, including construction loans, Real-Estate-Owned properties (REOs), leasehold financings, debtor-in-possession loans, exit financings, project financings and mezzanine debt.

Mr. Lee also has counseled clients acquiring, disposing and/or developing real property, including ground-lease and sale-leaseback transactions (including sale-leasebacks involving call centers and medical facilities). Many of these matters involved purchases of multiple sites located in numerous jurisdictions. He has represented many foreign investors (including those from China, Russia and France) in their initial acquisitions and developments of projects in the United States (such as retail and manufacturing sites). He also has worked with landlords, tenants and subtenants in the leasing and subleasing of real estate assets, including built-to-suit facilities, retail locations and warehouse and distribution centers.

Mr. Lee has represented international and domestic investors in natural resource acquisitions, including uranium and coal mining projects. Mr. Lee has counseled clients in the financing of energy assets such as wind farms and propane gas distribution facilities.

Mr. Lee is a 1982 graduate of Harvard Law School and a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University.

Eric is responsible for treasury, investment management, and pension fund accounting. He serves as a Trustee on the Classified Employees Retirement Fund Board, Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) Board, Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Board and City’s Investment Advisory Committee. Eric is a Trustee on the Town of Fairfield Employee Retirement Board and Joint Retirement Investment Board. Prior to entering government finance, Eric held finance positions at Royal Bank of Scotland, IBM Global Financing, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, Price Waterhouse and Soros Fund Management.

Eric received his B.B.A. in Accounting from Adelphi University; Certificate in Investment Banking from New York University, M.B.A. in Finance from Sacred Heart University and is pursuing a Corporate Finance Certificate at Harvard University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Anna Benjamin, PhD, is the VP for climate strategy for Bridge Investment Group, a leading, vertically integrated real estate investment manager that is diversified across specialized asset classes. Anna heads the group’s decarbonization efforts across all verticals.

Anna has 19 years of experience in sustainability analysis, programs, and investment. Prior to joining Bridge, Anna was a senior economist with the World Bank, the UN’s largest agency, working on increasing climate actions in World Bank investments. She led the climate strategy for the Latin America and Caribbean region, increasing climate finance from 19% to 26%. She worked with 15 cities to invest about $3B in urban public private partnerships. She advised the prop tech start-up Polygon Research on data and modeling for social equity in the mortgage industry.

Anna holds a PhD in environmental economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the American University in Bulgaria.

Carly G. Saviano is a partner in the firm's Real Estate Department. Carly represents all types of clients in the real estate industry, including developers, private equity investors and funds, hedge funds, REITS, public companies, high net worth real estate families and other real estate investors and operators, across all real estate asset classes. She advises on a broad range of complex real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, preferred equity investments, financings, workout negotiations and restructurings.

Carly was recognized as a 2020 Law360 Rising Star in Real Estate. She was also selected to serve on Law360’s Real Estate Editorial Advisory Board in 2020.

Mr. Vu is a Senior Managing Director and sits on the Investment Committee. Mr. Vu is responsible for developing and implementing the acquisition and asset management activities of Artemis. Mr. Vu joined Artemis in May 2010 and is based in metropolitan Washington, DC.

Previously, Mr. Vu was an associate at The Carlyle Group, where he served in the Transactions Group within U.S. Real Estate. Mr. Vu was focused on property and portfolio acquisitions, dispositions, financings and workouts across all major property types. Prior to The Carlyle Group, Mr. Vu was an analyst at Lazard Frères & Co. where he focused on mergers and acquisitions within the U.S. Real Estate group in New York.

Mr. Vu earned a BS in Politics and Finance from Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude. Mr. Vu was awarded the Lyman H. Atwater Prize for the top thesis within the Politics department. Mr. Vu is the Vice Chair on the board of the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., which focuses on providing a second chance to high schoolers and young adults to put them back on track towards a high school diploma or equivalent credential and a path for a productive post-secondary career. Mr. Vu is also an active council member with the Urban Land Institute.

Brian is a Director on the New York Office & Life Science team, and is responsible for both acquisitions and asset management.  He has recently overseen two large-scale redevelopments of Class A office assets and is currently working on both office and life science ground-up developments in New York City.  Prior to his current role, he worked on the Debt Asset Management team within Nuveen, where he oversaw the TIAA Bank transitional mortgage portfolio.  In addition to this responsibility, he managed a fixed and floating rate mortgage portfolio for the TIAA General Account and other third-party separate account and pooled vehicles.     

Brian received his BA from Columbia University and an MBA from Baruch College, with a concentration in finance and real estate.

Tim Wang, equity owner and Managing Director, is the Head of Investment Research at Clarion Partners. Tim leads the group in supporting the development of Firm-wide and business unit-specific investment strategy and advising on portfolio strategy through proprietary analytics and econometric forecasting. Additionally, he is responsible for macroeconomic analysis, market forecasting, and research support for capital raising and client services. He joined the Firm in 2006 and is a member of Clarion Partners’ Investment Committee. Tim has published numerous real estate research articles and co-authored five real estate strategy books, including Active Private Equity Real Estate Strategy (2009), Guide to U.S. Real Estate Investing (2009), Emerging Market Real Estate Investment: Investing in China, India, and Brazil (2010), Inside the Real Estate Fund Investor (2011), and Real Estate Mathematics (2011). He was an appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Real Estate Development Program at Columbia University in 2018-2020. Tim ​​​​​​is a frequent guest speaker at real estate investment conferences. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and currently serves on the PREA Research Committee (Chair), the NCREIF Research Committee, and the Real Estate Research Institute Advisory Board.

Ms. Cappola serves as ESG Manager on the Portfolio & Asset Management team, with primary responsibility for Madison’s ESG initiatives. Prior to joining Madison, Ms. Cappola held positions including Sustainability/ESG Manager at Empire State Realty Trust,  Sustainability Manager at Jones Lang LaSalle, and Associate Sustainability Project Manager at Jones Lang LaSalle.  Ms. Cappola graduated from Freeman College of management at Bucknell University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. 

Kamran Soleiman is the Director of Real Estate Investment Research & Strategy for the real estate arm of Manulife Investment Management. In his role, Kamran is responsible for the firm’s overall strategic investment research plan and contributes to portfolio management strategy with dop-down market analysis focused on delivering strong risk adjusted returns. Kamran received his Bachelor of Business degree in Information Technology from American University in Dubai, Masters degree in Finance from Rotman School of Management and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Mr. Abrams is a member of the real estate team.

Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Abrams was a principal at GCM Grosvenor, where he focused on its real estate primary funds (previously part of Credit Suisse as the Customized Fund Investment Group). Before that he was an associate attorney at Goodwin Procter and Orrick where he focused on private real estate and fund formation.

Mr. Abrams received a JD from Boston College Law School and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeff is the Real Estate & Real Assets Portfolio Manager at Arizona’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS), which provides retirement befits for Arizona’s police officers, firefighters, corrections/detention officers, and elected officials. He joined the Trust in 2016, sits on multiple advisory and editorial boards, and has recommended investments and directed due diligence for multiple alternative asset mandates during his time with PSPRS. He holds an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, and a BS in Finance and Economics from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.

The AM Companies is a New York based first generation family office focused on acquiring alternative assets with tangible assets such as real estate, oil and gas or other commodities.  We aim to create value over a multi-year horizon via operational improvements, resolving management issues, and/or strengthening the capital stack.  Through our committed equity partners and investors we form special purpose vehicles to quickly deploy project specific equity to take advantage of opportunities.

Augustus Moy is the managing member of the AM Companies. He is a New York based real estate professional with multifaceted experiences that has touched a wide range.  Over the past 15 years, Augustus has gained experiences in multiple areas of the industry ranging from land acquisition and development to property management and asset management.  The AM Companies and affiliates currently operate in excess of $3B in Real Estate spanning the asset classes and across multiple strategies.

Peter Wang is Managing Director of Portfolio Management at Elion, and participates in the firm’s Asset Management Committee and Investment Committee. Peter works closely with the acquisitions and investment teams to execute the portfolio investment strategy with a focus on enhancing portfolio performance through acquisitions, disposition and refinancing activity to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns. Peter also plays an active role in the quarterly reforecast and valuation process.

Previously, Peter served as Vice President of Portfolio Management at Lone Star Funds, where he headed the portfolio management team that oversaw $14 billion AUM for its commercial real estate investments and led the quarterly reforecast and valuation process. He began his career at Goldman Sachs & Co within its Private Equity Group focused on risk management and analytics, portfolio optimization and fund financing for its alternative investments. 

Peter earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Business Economics, with honors, from Hofstra University.

Philip Mintz is Partner, Real Assets of Apollo, and serves as Chief Investment Officer of the Firm’s US and Asia Real Estate Equity business. Philip joined Apollo in 2015, following Apollo’s acquisition of Venator Real Estate Capital Partners, the firm he founded in 2013 and the manager of the $1 billion Trophy Property Development Fund. Philip also served as Chief Investment Officer of Winnington Capital in Hong Kong. Previously, he was Chief Investment Officer of Asia Pacific Land. Prior to that, he was Partner at Warburg Pincus, where he initiated the Asian real estate investing efforts. He was also CEO of General Electric Real Estate Asia. Prior to GE, Philip was a director in Mergers and Acquisitions at Merrill Lynch, and an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Linda J. Isaacson is Partner and Head of ESG & Impact at ACRE. She is responsible for leading the firm’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, and ensuring that ongoing investment decisions, operational actions and overall business philosophy reflect its core principles and those of its investors, including environmental justice, economic equality, social initiatives, and transparency.

Isaacson also serves as Chair of ACRE’s Venture and Impact Capital vertical, working closely with the firm’s Founding Partners to form and manage investment vehicles focused on early-stage companies and technologies aimed at creating social impact and disruption related to the built environment, sustainable communities, climate tech, health tech and other emerging priorities. 

Isaacson is a globally recognized strategic thinker, accelerator of change, and developer of high-impact organizational cultures, with a deep understanding of the environmental, societal, technological factors reshaping the built environment. Prior to ACRE, she was Senior Managing Director, Global Innovation + Technology for Ferguson Partners. 

She currently serves as both an Americas Executive Board Member and a Global Governing Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, and as a member of the board of Local Logic, CRETech as well board advisor and mentor to numerous other organizations and founders. Ms. Isaacson is Chair of Urban Land Institute’s Global Exchange Council; a member of PREA’s Innovation Affinity Group; WX, New York Women Executives in Real Estate; and Chief, a private network of the most influential senior women leaders in the United States. 

A native of South Africa, she is a graduate of the University of Miami and holds a master’s degree from Boston University.

Paula Campbell Roberts (New York) joined KKR in 2017 and is a Managing Director and the Chief Investment Strategist of the Private Wealth business. As Chief Investment Strategist, Paula is a trusted advisor and thought leader delivering insights to our wealth clients across macroeconomics, strategic asset allocation, and portfolio construction. As a member of the Global Macro & Asset Allocation team, Paula also leads Global Consumer & Real Estate Macro where she partners with KKR’s real estate, consumer private equity and credit teams in driving the firm’s thematic investing efforts. Prior to joining KKR, Ms. Roberts was an executive director at Morgan Stanley, where she managed coverage of the US consumer sector, advised Fortune 500 CEOs on their consumer strategy, and used big data to predict inflections in key sectors of the economy. Before Morgan Stanley, Ms. Roberts was a management consultant leading case teams and advising Fortune 500 companies at Bain & Co. Ms. Roberts earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Yale University. Currently, Ms. Roberts serves on the boards of The Brearley School and the American Friends of Jamaica. Ms. Roberts is also a Lincoln Center Leadership Fellow.

Sarah Schwarzschild is the Managing Director and Co-Head of BGO Strategic Capital Partners. With more than 10 years of experience in real estate, Sarah is responsible for sourcing and evaluating primary, secondary and co-investment opportunities globally. Sarah also manages BGO Strategic Capital Partners’ secondaries funds and separately managed accounts with oversight for the business’ and co-manages the business’ platform. Prior to merging with BentallGreenOak in April 2021, Sarah held the same responsibilities under the firm name Metropolitan Real Estate Equity Management, wholly owned by The Carlyle Group. Prior to joining Metropolitan, Sarah led Partners Group’s real estate Secondary team in the U.S., where she was responsible for acquisitions as well as the portfolio management of Partners Group’s dedicated real estate Secondary capital totaling over $2 billion. In addition, she was involved in management and business development activities for the real estate Secondary practice globally. Prior to joining Partners Group, Sarah was an Assistant Vice President in the acquisitions team in the Global Opportunity Funds group at RREEF. She began her career at Rothschild as an investment banking analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Placement groups. Sarah received a B.A. (summa cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. with honors from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Sarah sits on the MBA Council for the Tuck School of Business and is a member of the boards of The Mianus River Gorge Preserve and INCEPTIV.

Dino Christoforakis is the Founder & Managing Principal of Vential Investments, a New York City based private equity real estate investment and advisory firm that deploys capital in major markets in the United States and Europe on behalf of foreign and domestic private investors, family offices, and like-minded institutions. Dino brings over 16 years of experience in domestic and international real estate investment management and development across all asset classes and strategies.

Prior to founding Vential, Dino was responsible for acquiring office, life science, and retail properties in the Northeast and Midwest U.S., across the risk/return spectrum at CBRE Investment Management and was leading the transaction execution, asset and portfolio management of core, core-plus, and value-add office, retail, and mixed-use real assets across major North American markets at AFIAA, a Switzerland-based global pension fund investment foundation.

Before joining AFIAA, Dino was responsible for acquisitions, dispositions, and asset management of value-add and opportunistic retail, industrial, and mixed-use real estate across major U.S. east coast markets at MCB Real Estate, an institutionally capitalized private equity group out of Baltimore, Maryland. Earlier in his career, he was part of the acquisitions and development teams at various firms in the U.S. and Europe.

Dino is a frequent speaker and host at industry events and conferences. He earned an MBA in Real Estate and Finance from The George Washington University in Washington, DC and sits on the University's Advisory Board at the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he currently serves on the New York Advisory Board, the Global Exchange Council, the New York Mixed-Use Council, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee, and as the Vice Chair of the New York Mentor program.

Clarke Hitch is a Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group, where he is involved in sourcing, underwriting, negotiating and structuring senior loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other debt investments across all asset types and geographies throughout the U.S.

Prior to joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Hitch worked at Morgan Stanley in the Commercial Real Estate Lending Group.

Mr. Hitch graduated from Duke University with an AB in Public Policy.

William Pattison is the head of the real estate research & strategy team within the risk, research & analytics group of MetLife Investment Management (MIM). He is responsible for research and strategy development in support of MIM’s real estate equity and debt platforms. In this role, he works closely with MIM's real estate regional offices and portfolio managers to craft the strategic house view, drive thought leadership initiatives, project capital market trends, and develop investment strategies that seek to maximize returns while minimizing market, rate, and liquidity risks. As a member of the Investment Committee, William is responsible for reviewing and voting on all U.S. real estate acquisitions.

Elefant is an experienced real estate executive with two decades of experience investing and managing a variety of assets. His real estate expertise covers urban office buildings, mixed-use value-add projects, specialty asset classes, and venture investing in companies at the intersection of real estate and innovation.

Currently he oversees $3B of commercial assets as the CEO of Property & Building Corp. US. Previously he was a managing director at Winthrop Capital, where he was responsible for special situation investing, joint venture, M&A and portfolio transactions.

Alongside this work, Elefant serves on several non-profit boards and is an investor and advisor to a select group of real estate related ventures. He graduated from IDC Herzliya and holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management in Chicago; Elefant served as a Captain in the military.

Gary is the driving force behind Roofstock's goal to power the future of real estate investing. Gary brings a valuable perspective on using technology to disrupt incumbents through his deep industry expertise leading various real estate, hospitality, and tech companies.

“Disrupting a historically fragmented segment is no small feat - but well worth doing. Critically challenging the way that things have been done and solving for it are pieces of the puzzle, but staying motivated and constantly thinking of ‘what's next' is how you truly succeed.”

Gary has a proven track record of starting and launching successful companies, having led two companies through IPOs: ZipRealty as CFO and Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust (now a part of Invitation Homes, the largest single-family rental home REIT in the United States) as co-CEO. In addition, Gary was instrumental in acquiring and integrating more than $800 million of resort properties for KSL Resorts and also served as CEO of Joie De Vivre Hospitality, then the second-largest boutique hotel management company in the United States.

Gary was named a 2019 Top 50 Fintech CEO by Financial Technology Report and HousingWire's 2018 HW Vanguard. He earned his BA in Economics from Northwestern and holds an MBA from Stanford, where he regularly participates as a guest speaker.

Jennifer M. Schmalz is a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP in the Labor and Employment Practice Group. She advises employers in all facets of labor and employment law, with broad experience in preventing and resolving workplace disputes, compliance with the variety of laws governing the workplace, and the labor and employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions.

Ms. Schmalz has successfully litigated matters involving employment discrimination, wrongful termination, violations of restrictive covenants, breach of contract and wage and hour violations. She has represented clients in proceedings before the US Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and many state and local administrative agencies. She also has experience in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and providing day to day advice on contract interpretation and compliance. Her practice also includes representing employers at grievance proceedings, mediations and arbitrations.

She enjoys working with clients in a wide variety of industries including hospitality, real estate, transportation, retail, financial services, health care, manufacturing, technology and not-for-profit corporations. An important component of her practice involves preventative advice and business planning. Ms. Schmalz has provided employers with training in current workplace issues including the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the workplace. She also has experience working with matters involving multiemployer health, pension and welfare funds and has litigated and successfully resolved ERISA matters.

While in law school, Ms. Schmalz was awarded the Jurisprudence Achievement Award in Labor Law and she served as a judicial extern at the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Judges in New York City.

Claudine Cohen is a principal and leads CohnReznick’s Advisory Group’s Northeast Transactional Advisory Practice (TAS). With more than 25 years of business experience, Claudine has developed an expertise in providing transactional advisory services, serving as an adviser to public and private companies, both domestically and internationally. She works with private equity investors, family offices alternative investment funds, lenders, family offices and strategic investors.

Claudine’s specific advisory activities include: strategic advisory, quality of earnings analyses, identifying revenue sources and profitability drivers, examining operating cost structure and sustainability factors, investigating business models including cash flow and financial projections, reviewing quality and realization of assets and liabilities, identifying working capital requirements and negotiating positions, post-close working capital verification, and adjustment mechanisms. Claudine has advised on a number of different buy - and sell-side transactions, including standalone platforms; carve-out of business segments, product line, or facility; bankruptcy auction processes; mergers; and industry consolidations.

Claudine was named to Mergers and Acquisitions 2019 list of the most influential women in mid-market M&A, and Crains NY 2018 most notable women in consulting. She has authored several articles and Thought Leadership, The Deal and other publications focusing on buy and sell-side due diligence, working capital and purchase price allocation.

Wick Egan is the Vice President of Operations and Business Development at Egan-Jones Ratings, the leading NRSRO provider of private placements ratings. In this role, he has effectively managed teams which have developed strategies and solutions for client success, marketing, and operations. Wick has been serving in his current position since May 2021.

Before joining the operations team at Egan-Jones Ratings, Wick worked as a rating analyst at Egan-Jones and as a strategy consultant for OC&C Strategy Consultants in their New York and London offices. Wick holds a Bachelor of Science from MIT and currently resides in Haverford, PA.