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Speakers and Panels

2024 Rising Star Honorees

Vera Halicki

Vera Halicki

Vice President of Asset Management

Beacon Capital

Drakia Wilkins

Drakia Wilkins

Principal

Crane

Meg Hanley

Meg Hanley

Managing Director

Sterling Bay

Abby McFadyen

Abby McFadyen

Leasing Director

Madison Rose Leasing Company

Amanda Friedlander

Amanda Friedlander

Chief Marketing Officer

Willard Jones Real Estate

Bonita Harrison

Bonita Harrison

CEO

Sunshine Management

Deanna Becker

Deanna Becker

Managing Director

JLL

Jane Acker

Jane Acker

Director

Farpoint Development

Julie Williams

Julie Williams

Partner

First Street Retail Partners

Katie Jahnke Dale

Katie Jahnke Dale

Partner

DLA Piper

Katie Jansen

Katie Jansen

Vice President of Acquisitions

Trilogy Real Estate Group

Lori Mukoyama

Lori Mukoyama

Hospitality Leader, Design Director, Principal

Gensler

Maggie Beckley

Maggie Beckley

Healthcare Development Executive

Providence

Seanna Walsh

Seanna Walsh

Project Leader

Studio Gang

Sarah Wick

Sarah Wick

Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing

Related Midwest

Sarah Norlander

Sarah Norlander

Principal

Mid-America Asset Management, Inc.

Rebecca Solomon

Rebecca Solomon

Vice President

Wintrust Financial Corporation

Nicole Lam

Nicole Lam

Senior Associate

Cushman & Wakefield

Natalie Hicks, AIA, CPHC, NCARB, LEED AP BDC

Natalie Hicks, AIA, CPHC, NCARB, LEED AP BDC

Associate, Sustainability Integration Leader

RATIO

Momei Qu

Momei Qu

Managing Director

PSP Growth

Marissa Rose

Marissa Rose

Vice President

Avison Young

Kelsey Cleland

Kelsey Cleland

Program Director

The Goldie Initiative

Elana Napp
Award Presenter

Elana Napp

Senior Director

33 Realty, a Poplar Company

Katie Jahnke Dale

Partner

DLA Piper

Katie Jahnke Dale concentrates her practice in the areas of land

use and zoning, public-private financing, public incentives,

community and economic development, as well as general real

estate.

Katie's practice involves representing developers, purchasers,

sellers and owners of institutional, residential and commercial

property in securing development and zoning approvals,

negotiating and implementing public-private development and

financing arrangements and incentives, performing general and

zoning due diligence, and negotiating and closing real estate

acquisitions and dispositions.

Katie has played a leading role in obtaining zoning and public

financing approvals in several of Chicago's largest developments

in recent years. In addition, she has led teams to secure zoning

and Class L approvals for many of the significant projects in

Chicago's Fulton Market District, one of the hottest neighborhoods for development in the United States.

Katie serves as the Chicago office hiring partner and as a member of DLA Piper's Chicago and North American Pro Bono Committee.

Panel: The Role of Mentorship for Women in CRE

Kimberly Dowdell

Kimberly Dowdell

Director of Strategic Relationships

HOK

Erin Spears

Erin Spears

President

Fifield Companies

Damla Gerhart

Damla Gerhart

Principal & Managing Director

Avison Young

Amanda Hassan

Amanda Hassan

Senior Vice President, Value-add Investments

LaSalle

Carrie Szarzynski

Carrie Szarzynski

Senior Managing Director, Head of Management Services

Hiffman National

Karoline Eigel
Moderator

Karoline Eigel

Executive Director

Cushman & Wakefield

Erin Spears

President

Fifield Companies

As President of Fifield Companies, Erin Spears oversees national operations and leads our strategic growth initiatives. During her career, Erin has worked on over $3.5 billion of real estate transactions consisting of multifamily, office, retail and industrial projects across the country. She has directed the acquisition and development of $1.6 billion of investments including 4,600 multifamily units and 400,000 square feet of office buildings in Chicago, the Southeast and Texas.

Prior to joining Fifield, Erin spent three years at Heitman as an Executive Vice President of Acquisitions for Heitman’s Value Fund. She was responsible for joint venture value-add acquisitions. Previously, Erin was Vice President of Multifamily Investments at Pearlmark and began her career as a financial analyst in investment banking at J.P. Morgan Securities.

Erin graduated with honors from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a member of the National Multi Housing Council; the Urban Land Institute and a WLI Advisory Board member. Erin was named a Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40, a Real Estate Forum “Woman of Influence” and Real Estate Forum Fifty Under 40. Erin is the proud mother of three young children, a Peloton addict and an eternally optimistic golfer.

Amanda Hassan

Senior Vice President, Value-add Investments

LaSalle

Ms. Hassan is a Senior Vice President responsible for the sourcing and evaluation of investment opportunities. Since joining LaSalle in 2014, she has completed over $3.5 billion in property transactions across property sectors throughout the US and has also held asset management, portfolio management and capital formation responsibilities.

Ms. Hassan earned a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois and an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate Finance and Investment from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University.

Carrie Szarzynski

Senior Managing Director, Head of Management Services

Hiffman National

Carrie Szarzynski has more than 29 years of experience in the operations and management of commercial real estate and provides leadership and oversight to the management services division. She has extensive experience managing teams, day-to-day property operations, capital planning and management, construction oversight, and assisting with marketing and leasing.

In her role, Carrie has been instrumental in the transformation that the Hiffman National management services department has undergone over the past three years. Under her guidance as Senior Vice President, the organization transitioned from individual teams to a harmonious collaborative group that makes each other better and keeps growing. She leads by example, and not only does she understand the real estate industry incredibly well, but she also has a fantastic talent for understanding individual strengths and weaknesses.

Carrie focuses on the strength each person brings and a deep understanding of the industry to move the whole department forward. Carrie recognizes the value of the leadership team’s experience and leverages knowledge to streamline processes, add efficient new protocols, and solicit team members’ opinions. Somehow she balances all of her responsibilities, is available to all employees and clients, is on the Sync committee, has corporate responsibilities, is a BOMA mentor and speaker, has been interviewed and published by several real estate publications, and is helping launch and grow Hiffman’s national platform.

Before joining Hiffman, Carrie worked with several real estate firms, including U.S. Equities Realty, GE Capital, JLL, and Equity Office.

Karoline Eigel

Moderator

Cushman & Wakefield

Karoline Eigel is a commercial real estate broker with 20+ years of experience in commercial leasing for both landlord and tenant rep clients. Currently expanding the Healthcare Advisory team at Cushman & Wakefield, Karoline is utilizing her expertise to grow the burgeoning footprint in the Chicagoland market, leveraging her successful experience in healthcare advisory and portfolio management. Ms. Eigel is currently working with physician practice groups, hospital systems and investors in healthcare real estate across the country, providing strategic advisory and brokerage services, with a focus on the patient experience, service line growth projections, payer mix analysis, clinical space utilization and regulatory compliance. The Healthcare Advisory team represents Mag Mile Medical Pavilion, a newly developed MOB within a building located in the iconic 875 N Michigan Ave. Prior to joining C&W, Ms. Eigel lead the leasing for Harrison Square Chicago, a 13-acre life science and medical office innovation hub located within the Illinois Medical District. The first phase of the $1 billion redevelopment project included the Old Cook County Hospital building. The new iteration of the historic landmark includes a dual-branded 210-room hotel, 70K RSF for Cook County Health medical offices, a childcare center, and a food hall.

As a commercial real estate consultant, she developed and managed leasing programs and marketing initiatives for national and international institutional investors and developers, working with landlord leasing teams to develop and implement leasing/marketing strategies. Notable clients include Advanced Dermatology, Accent Care, MedStar Health, Remedy, United Urology, Rethink Healthcare Real Estate and Hearn.

Ms. Eigel is on the Board of Directors and is a mentor for the HEAR Foundation (HEARFoundation.org), which provides $20,000 college scholarships and four years of mentoring to excelling Chicagoland high school seniors who are outstanding citizens in financial need.

Recognizing Women in Chicago Real Estate

For its second year in Chicago, Bisnow is excited to host our Women Leading Real Estate (WLRE) event series. At this event, we will honor and learn from rising stars in Chicago Commercial Real Estate who are changing the industry and breaking barriers. 

The core purpose of this women's leadership initiative is to recognize and enhance the success of women in commercial real estate and promote industry diversity more generally. The event is an opportunity to provide education, networking and resources for professional development. Through our WLRE series, hosted in our markets across the country and internationally, we aim to promote the employment and advancement of women in CRE and strive to create better awareness of viable career paths for them.

We will bring together top executives from all walks of the local real estate community to discuss diversity, talent, entrepreneurship, resilience and what it takes to get to the top of a male-dominated industry. Find out what makes these leaders tick and how they are leaving their mark.

For any questions, sponsorship interest, group tickets or press inquiries, contact Will Follett, our Chicago event producer, at will.follett@bisnow.com. To request disability-related accommodations, please contact janet.fernandez@bisnow.com no later than 7 business days prior to the event.

Agenda

Time Activity
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
Coffee, Breakfast and Networking
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
Panel Discussion: Guiding Success

Nurturing Tomorrow's Real Estate Leaders: The Crucial Role of Mentorship for Women in Business

4:00 PM
4:30 PM
Award Ceremony

Recognizing Chicago's Rising Stars

4:30 PM
5:00 PM
Closing Networking

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