John F. McDonough joined the Blackhawks in 2007 as President and was named President and Chief Executive Officer on June 1, 2011. Under his guidance, in what Forbes Magazine has called the "The Greatest Sports-Business Turnaround Ever," the Blackhawks have revitalized the team's profile and re-energized its fan base. Since McDonough joined the Blackhawks, the team has won Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015, becoming the first organization in the NHL's salary cap era to capture three championships.

Regina Stilp is a leading commercial real estate developer with over 30 years' experience

developing properties that strengthen cities.

As Founding Principal of Farpoint Development, Regina co-founded the firm in 2016 and has guided its

growth across the Midwest and Southeast, spearheading development work totaling $4.9 billion in

value created. She oversees Bronzeville Lakefront on Chicago's South Side, a 48-acre mixed-use

project reimagining the former Michael Reese Medical Center site.

Prior to founding Farpoint, Regina developed some of Chicago's most acclaimed projects, including

Google's first Midwest headquarters and McDonald's global headquarters at the former Harpo Studios.

Her expertise in public-private partnerships and innovative deal structures has positioned Farpoint as a

leader for groundbreaking urban projects.

As a prominent leader in Chicago real estate, Regina has received significant industry recognition,

including the 2024 Industry Leadership Award from Roosevelt University's Marshall Bennett Institute of

Real Estate and the 2025 Executive of the Year award from the Illinois Real Estate Journal. Currently,

she serves on the Board of Directors of The Magnificent Mile Association, Roosevelt University's

Advisory Board, the Membership Committee of the Economic Club of Chicago, the First Women's Bank

Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and CREW. She is also named

among Crain's Notable Chicago Women in Construction and Design.

Additionally, Regina actively mentors the next generation of real estate leaders through The Goldie

Initiative and the Howard E. Eisenberg Foundation. Regina holds a degree from the University of Iowa

and brings her global perspective, shaped by travels to every continent, to her work enriching the

urban landscape. She lives with her family in Wilmette.

Noah Gottlieb is the founder of The X Company; an unconventional members-only club with attainable apartments for the culturally curious. It’s a home, it’s a gym, it’s a work space, it’s energizing experiences, it’s a pool bar, and your new network. It’s an X.

The Chicago-based company’s project pipeline spans ten major markets, over $1 billion of construction activity, and over 10,000 beds.

In addition to running The X Company, Noah also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Thresholds; a provider of mental health services where he sits on the real estate committee, and The Dovetail Project; an initiative designed to help at risk, adolescent fathers.

As Executive Vice President and Regional Manager of McShane Construction Company's Rosemont office, Mat oversees the day-to-day operations of the firm's headquarters and is a pivotal team member in the strategic planning process.

He contributes 18 years of construction experience at the McShane organization with a focus on multi-family residential and the commercial construction markets.

Mat establishes and maintains many of the firm’s relationships with clients, real estate developers and the brokerage community as well as governmental officials, architects and other affiliated industry representatives. He contributes proven leadership and experience providing direction and guidance throughout the region to ensure a growing portfolio of assignments, on-schedule project deliveries and superior client satisfaction.

Education:

• Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management

• Master of Business Administration

Marquette University

• Bachelor of Science – Civil Engineering

Professional Designations:

• Registered Professional Engineer – Illinois

• OSHA 30-Hour Certification

Professional Affiliations:

• ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)

• AGC (Associated General Contractors of America)

• Builders Association (AGC Chicago Chapter)

• CBC (Chicago Building Congress) – Merit Awards Committee

• NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association) – Chicago Chapter

• HACIA (Hispanic American Construction Industry Association)

• USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council)

As Managing Director for Kiser Group, Michael combines his financial analytical skills with his interest in commercial real estate to assist multi-family property owners and investors reach their investment goals. Before joining Kiser Group, Michael worked as an investment analyst on a $1.1 billion portfolio, supporting advisors on matters of equity, fixed income and cash, hedge funds, private equity, commodities, foreign exchange, and structured notes. Through his work in the mortgage syndication markets, Michael also gained experience managing structured products securities.

Michael’s focus is multi-family, mixed-use and investment properties on the near north side of Chicago with a focus on Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Ravenswood and Lincoln Square. During his first 2 years with Kiser Group, Michael closed over $40m in Real Estate.

Michael attended the Applied Investment Management Program at Marquette University where he majored in finance, and graduated with a B.S. degree in Business Administration. He also earned and currently holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. In his spare time, Michael competes in triathlons, plays golf and skis. He lives in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, serves on the Cystic Fibrosis Junior Advisory Board, and is an active member of Young Real Estate Professionals as well as the Chicago CFA Society.

David Pezza is a partner in the firm’s real estate group and is located in White & Case’s Chicago office. Mr. Pezza’s practice focuses on sophisticated real estate transactions, including the representation of private and institutional investors, and owners and developers in connection with the acquisition, disposition, development and financing of commercial real estate properties. He has also been involved in the negotiation and structuring of joint-venture agreements with respect to the various transactions he has been involved in.

Mr. Pezza’s experience includes a wide range of asset types, including mixed use projects, land for development, retail properties, office buildings and hospitality projects.

Joe is a Managing Director and the Investment Officer for the Income & Growth Funds, LaSalle’s flagship U.S. value-add fund series. He is responsible for fund investment strategy and execution of investments, joint ventures and financings. Prior to joining the Income & Growth Fund team, Joe was a member of LaSalle’s Acquisitions Group.

Since joining the LaSalle in 2004, Joe has completed more than $3.5 billion in property transactions, across all major property types and across the risk spectrum.

Joe has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania

Paul Gaines is managing director of capital markets for Accesso Partners, LLC. a boutique real estate investment fund in Hallendale Beach, FL that owns and manages 60-plus downtown and suburban office properties nationwide. In addition to serving as Accesso’s corporate liaison in the handling of all existing lender relationships, he is involved the company’s acquisition debt financings and re-financings. He is also asset manager for the company’s Chicago/Midwest region. Paul joined Accesso in 2013 as asset manager for the Southeast region. He was previously chief investment officer for Argus Realty Investors, senior vice president for Equitable Real Estate Investment Management in Atlanta and southeast regional manager for Heller Real Estate/GE Real Estate. He has a BA in business administration and accounting from Hofstra University and is a graduate of the GE Financial Management Program. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute. Paul lives in Atlanta with his wife Jan.

Greg Cazel is a Managing Director with Hunt Mortgage Group, a wholly owned

subsidiary of the Hunt Companies. He has a senior loan production role based in Chicago,

and focuses on sourcing opportunities for both the proprietary lending and conventional

agency businesses in the Midwest. Mr. Cazel has more than 32 years of commercial

real estate finance, acquisition, loan origination and securitization, mortgage banking,

underwriting, analysis, and investment experience. Throughout his career, Mr. Cazel has

been responsible for closing in excess of $4.5 billion of commercial real estate loans

including: fixed-rate, floating-rate, construction and mezzanine financings throughout the

United States.

Prior to joining Hunt Mortgage Group, Cazel was a Managing Director in Wells Fargo’s

Real Estate Capital Markets group, where he handled CMBS lending in the Midwest region

of the United States. Between June 2010 and May 2013, Mr. Cazel was an Executive Vice

President and Principal with A10 Capital, which specializes in financing commercial real

estate and providing advisory and management services for the workout of all types of

troubled loans and real estate assets. Prior to joining A10, Mr. Cazel was a Partner with

Prairie Realty Advisors, Inc., a Chicago-based mortgage banking firm. From April 2007 to

June 2008, he was an Executive Director with Dexia Real Estate Capital Markets Company,

a Division of Dexia Bank, a Belgium-based financial institution, where he was responsible

for establishing the Chicago office and managing the Midwest presence for the CMBS

loan program. From 1999 to April 2007, Mr. Cazel was a Vice President at JP Morgan

Mortgage Capital where he ran a commercial loan production team that closed more

than $3.6 billion in permanent, floating, and mezzanine loans, representing the highest

loan production volume in the country for JP Morgan. During his tenure there, he earned

the number one ranking throughout the JP Morgan branch office CMBS loan production

system. Before JP Morgan, Mr. Cazel opened and ran a Fannie Mae DUS loan origination

office for Washington Capital in Chicago from 1993-1997. Prior to that he spent 7 years

from 1985-1992 as an analyst and mortgage banker with the predecessor to Berkadia

Commercial Mortgage, the Chicago-based Republic Realty/First Interstate Mortgage. He

began his career at Landauer, a New York based real estate consulting firm in June, 1984

as a commercial real estate appraiser.

Mr. Cazel earned a B.A. with a concentration in Real Estate and Accounting, from the

University of Illinois in June 1984. He’s the former President of Rho Epsilon, the real estate

business fraternity, and former President and Director of the Illinois Real Estate Forum, a

non-profit University of Illinois alumni organization providing financial support to Illinois

real estate students while developing an effective network of Illinois alumni in the real

estate industry.

With 20 years of construction experience, Andy has managed many large, complex projects, including Motorola Mobility’s 600,000-SF relocation to the Merchandise Mart. As EVP, he co-leads Skender Construction’s operations and provides executive leadership on projects. Andrew earned a degree in philosophy from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Skender is a full-service construction firm with more than 200 employees, and offices in Chicago and San Francisco. Companies rely on Skender to efficiently and effectively manage new construction and renovation projects of all shapes, sizes, and complexities. Skender’s work is focused on interiors, healthcare, multi-unit housing, office, education and hospitality sectors with many of the world’s leading brands as our customers.

Andrew Lehrer serves as the practice leader for ESD’s High Performance Buildings group. He focuses on major repositioning/adaptive reuse, corporate headquarters and R&D/manufacturing markets. Andrew is committed to delivering sustainable, fit-for-purpose solutions for his clients.

Jason Burian is a partner in CohnReznick’s Chicago office and a member of the Firm’s Assurance Practice. He also leads the Commercial Real Estate Industry Practice in the Firm's Chicago office. Jason has 12 years of experience in public accounting, providing clients with audits, compilations, compliance, due diligence, agreed-upon procedures, and other accounting services. His clients include real estate operating companies, real estate syndicators, real estate investment funds, and real estate developers.

Jason specializes in the audits of commercial real estate entities, developments benefitting from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), and employee benefit plans. He is responsible for many aspects of client engagements including planning, determining audit scope, identifying audit issues, selecting audit procedures to be applied, supervising staff, coordinating all fieldwork, establishing budgets, reviewing workpapers , facilitating client communications, and preparing financial statements or reports.

In addition to Jason’s client responsibilities, he develops programs and techniques specifically tailored to auditing commercial real estate entities for the Firm. He also takes an active role in developing staff, recruiting, scheduling initiatives, and leading the Chicago office’s efforts for the Firm’s volunteer and charity outreach.

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.

Crane is in his 24th season with the Cubs organization ... he was named President of Business Operations following the

Ricketts’ family purchase of the Cubs in 2009 and is responsible for the strategic direction of the Cubs business operations

and the development of the Wrigleyville campus.

© In his role, Crane is responsible for the organization’s growth, including new business development; design, construction

and operation of its facilities; media strategy; government relations; associate recruitment and training; and develop-

ment of a winning culture.

© From 2003-2009, Crane was the principle executive in charge of Cubs operations on behalf of Tribune Company, the

previous owner.

w Overseeing all aspects of the Cubs organization for that period, the Cubs won the N.L. Central Division three times

(2003, 2007 and 2008), surpassed 3 million in attendance for eight consecutive seasons and set an all-time

attendance record of 3,300,200 in 2008.

© Is responsible for the continuing redevelopment and preservation of Wrigley Field ... under his watch, the Friendly Confines have been in a constant state

of change, adding new seating options, new amenities, expanded player facilities and integrated marketing partnerships, all while retaining its historic

charm and character ... in 2013, USA Today named Wrigley Field the No. 1 ballpark in Major League Baseball and in 2017, CNN named Wrigley Field one

of the 15 happiest places in the world ... Crane also oversees the current restoration plan for Wrigley Field, named the 1060 Project.

© As the executive in charge of the 1060 Project, he is responsible for the architectural design, preservation and modernization of Wrigley Field ... additions

in 2015 included the expansion of the famed Budweiser Bleachers and introduction of the first video boards to Wrigley Field ... in 2016, a state-of-the-art

clubhouse, second largest in baseball, opened.

© Is responsible for the vision, design, construction and programming of the Wrigleyville campus development, including a new 155,000 square foot execu-

tive office tower, 175,000 square foot Starwood hotel and restaurant hub, entertainment plaza and history walk.

© Was responsible for the development of Sloan Park and the Under Armour Performance Center, the Cubs new $100 million training center in Arizona,

which was completed in 2013 ... Sloan Park set the top-10 Spring Training attendance records in its inaugural season (2014), and bested those results

in 2016, including setting the all time single-game Spring Training attendance record of 15,523 on March 20, 2016 vs. Kansas City.

© Expanding programming at Wrigley Field has been a focus since 2003, with world class performers such as Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen,

Elton John, Billy Joel, The Police, Jimmy Buffet, Roger Waters, Foo Fighters and Dave Matthews Band entertaining sold out crowds ... in 2013, Rolling Stone

named Wrigley Field the best outdoor music venue in the U.S. ... returning to its roots as a multi-sport venue, Crane brought the NHL Winter Classic, NCAA

football, and international soccer to Wrigley Field.

© Leads the team’s media rights development ... beginning in 1999, he led the expansion of Cubs media rights with the launch of Fox SportsNet Chicago

... in 2003, he founded Comcast SportsNet Chicago with Jerry Reinsdorf and has served on the Board of Directors since its formation ... Crane also led

the Cubs first Hispanic radio broadcast with partner WRTO in 2009.

© Began his career with the Cubs in 1994 as an attorney, representing the Cubs in sponsorship, concession, media rights, municipal and MLB negotiations.

© Serves on a variety of boards, including the Board of Directors of Comcast SportsNet, MLB’s Long Term Strategic Planning Committee, the Board of Advi-

sors of Winona Capital Management (a Chicago-based private equity firm), the University of Notre Dame Student Athlete Advisory Council, the Board of

Governors of Global Sports Management Summit and the Board of Directors of Good Sports.

© Is an investor in aXiomatic Gaming LLC, the majority owner of Team Liquid (a leading eSports team).

© Born December 31, 1962, in Quincy, Mass., Crane holds a law degree from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre

Dame ... Crane and his wife Kelly have four children, Ryan, Sophie, Clare and Caroline.

John Bucksbaum, founder of Bucksbaum Retail Properties, LLC. Bucksbaum previously served as chairman and CEO of General Growth Properties, Inc., a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which had ownership and management interest in over 200 regional and super regional shopping malls in 44 states. The company portfolio totaled approximately 200 million square feet of space.

Bucksbaum received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado in 1978. Professional affiliations include the following: past worldwide Chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of ICSC; past Chairman of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at The Wharton School; Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). In addition Bucksbaum serves on the boards of the University of Chicago Hospitals, The Field Museum, the Chicago Sports Commission, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team, USA Cycling, the Paralympics Advisory Committee to the U.S. Olympic Committee, Young Presidents Organization and the Advisory Board of the Chicago Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

John and his wife, Jackie, are the parents of Max and Eli Bucksbaum.

Matthias Merges is the chef and proprietor of Folkart Restaurant Management, a

a craft-driven hospitality group focused on operational excellence, state of the art design

and a deep-seated commitment to locally sourced ingredients. Founded in 2010, the

conceptually diverse organization includes Hyde Park neighborhood eatery A10, award-

winning cocktail bar Billy Sunday, Wrigley Park beer pub Lucky Dorr and craft brew

house Old Irving Brewing.

Merges began working in restaurants at the age of 14 and formalized his training at the

Culinary Institute of America. He went on to refine his skills and direction at iconic

Chicago restaurants including Carlos’, the 95th, LaTour at the Park Hyatt, Charlie

Trotter’s and Gabriel’s. Inspired by the leadership and enriching experiences of these

kitchens, Merges opened Metropolitan in Salt Lake City as chef and co-owner.

Metropolitan received several accolades, including “Best Restaurant Inter-Mountain

West” and a nomination at the James Beard Awards. Merges was lured back to Charlie

Trotter’s from Metropolitan and spent the next 14 years directing all culinary, service and

strategic operations.

A longtime contributor to Chicago’s culinary and hospitality community, Merges is

deeply passionate about giving back and leveraging the industry’s resources for

philanthropy. He is the co-founder of Pilot Light, a locally-based charity that connects

chefs and teachers, using food to support effective classroom teaching and learning.

Merges is the proud husband of fcSTUDIO designer Rachel Crowl and father to Kaitie,

Gretl and Tatum. In his free time, he’s an amateur photographer and climber. For reasons

unclear to everyone else, he studies sailing routes and oceanic currents but doesn’t own a

boat.