Mayor Sylvester Turner was elected Mayor of Houston on December 12, 2015, to serve a four year term beginning January 4, 2016.

Sylvester Turner was born and raised in the Acres Homes community in northwest Houston. His parents moved to Acres Homes in 1954, the year Sylvester was born.

Sylvester’s mother worked as a maid in the old Rice Hotel in Houston. His father worked as a painter for Continental Ensco and cut yards with his sons on the weekends to make extra money. The Turners raised nine children in their modest two-bedroom home in Acres Homes. Sylvester lost his father to cancer when he was 13 years old. Afterward, his mother took over the Turner household. Although she never finished high school or learned to drive, she ensured her children got an education and inspired them to achieve.

Sylvester attended neighborhood public schools until forced integration came to Houston and he was bused to Klein High School. After a predictably rocky start, the student body adapted to its new enrollees – and Sylvester was later elected president of the student body and graduated as valedictorian.

Sylvester graduated from the University of Houston and Harvard Law School before joining the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski. He later founded the Houston law firm of Barnes & Turner in 1983.

In 1988, Sylvester was elected to the Texas House of Representatives to serve the people of House District 139 in Northwest Houston. He served until his election as mayor, working on the House Appropriations Committee for 21 years and serving as Speaker Pro Tem for three terms. He was appointed to several Budget Conference Committees to help balance the state’s budget and served on the Legislative Budget Board.

He is very proud of his daughter Ashley, who is continuing the Turner family tradition of public service in the healthcare field.

David Wolff is Chairman and President of Wolff Companies, a Houston-based holding company which manages his activities and investments in real estate development, financial assets, professional sports and agriculture.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Wolff graduated with honors from Amherst College in 1962 and with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1964. He has served as a Trustee of Amherst College and is presently a Trustee Emeritus. He has been an adviser to the faculty of Harvard Business School in the development of the study of entrepreneurship and was Chairman of his class’ 50th reunion campaign, which raised more money than any other reunion campaign in the school’s history.

He performed his military service with the U.S. Coast Guard and, subsequently, as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.

David Wolff founded Wolff, Morgan and Company in 1970, which evolved into Wolff Companies in 1985 and has guided the company to its position as Houston’s largest developer of office, business and industrial parks as well as sites for healthcare, hotels, retail and multi-family.

He is a partner in the San Francisco Giants and Oracle Park, San Francisco. His current agricultural interests include a 1,680-acre working cattle ranch in Independence, Texas, which he has operated for 36 years. For 16 years, he owned and oversaw operations for private vineyards in the Napa Valley of California.

During his five decades in Houston, David Wolff has worked on many community endeavors including: the West Houston Association which he co-founded and then chaired for six years; the Houston Parks Board on which he served for 12 years, including two terms as Chairman; the Houston Grand Opera where he was Vice President and Chairman of the Finance Committee; and the Greater Houston Partnership. Mr. Wolff was Chairman of METRO (the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County) from 2004 to 2010.

David and his wife, Mary, have been married for more than 40 years and have two daughters, two sons-in-law, three granddaughters and two grandsons.

Prior to establishing Sheridan Commercial, Steven served as Vice President of Operations for National Projects for The Howard Hughes Corporation, where he managed special projects with a primary focus on sustainability for more than eight million square feet of office, retail, and mixed-use properties inclusive of 70+ assets with over 800 tenants. Previously, Steven was with TPMC Realty Corporation for nearly twenty years where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President and led the asset management, property management, leasing, development, and marketing of office, retail, and mixed-use properties across Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles including various multi-million dollar office redevelopment projects. The office portfolio maintained an average 95% Energy Star rating and the high-rise buildings achieved LEED Gold certification. Steven was also instrumental in negotiating all vendor, service, construction, and utility agreements, while managing a $30 million dollar annual operating budget.

Prior to TPMC Realty Corporation, Steven held senior level positions with Hines, Prentiss Properties, The Horne Company, and Southwest Savings.

Steven received a B.A. from Sam Houston State University in 1977.

Paul H. Layne is President, Central Region for The Howard Hughes Corporation. He is responsible for the master planned communities of The Woodlands, Bridgeland, and The Woodlands Hills in Houston, Texas and the office development at 110 North Wacker in Chicago, Illinois. He also provides strategic oversight for Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada and Columbia, Maryland along with other smaller assets within the

HHC portfolio. For more than 30 years, Mr. Layne has been a vital leader in Houston’s commercial real estate community as well as in national and international real estate.

Mr. Layne received a bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Houston and attended South Texas College of Law. He currently serves on the boards for the University of Houston Graduate Real Estate Program, the Board of Trustees for Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston, advisory board member for Houston’s Urban Land Institute and Catholic Charities. He previously served on the boards for the Houston Downtown Management District, the Central Houston Association, the University of St. Thomas, Lone Star College Foundation, Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless and Houston’s Center for Hearing and Speech. He also serves as a Trustee for the Scanlan Foundation, a moderator and advisory board member for the Houston Business Ethics Forum and the South Texas College of Law Real Estate Conference and is a member of the Serra Club. He is President Emeritus of the Houston Downtown Management District Board and the Christian Community Service Center Board of Directors. Mr. Layne has been a speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Business Ethics Conference.

Mr. Parsley has been involved in and responsible for all phases of commercial real estate brokerage activity over the past 35 years. A native Houstonian, he returned to Houston after graduating from law school in 1979 to serve as an attorney with Bracewell & Patterson, specializing in corporate law. In 1983, he joined Colliers International, where he is one of the company’s principal shareholders. He served as President and CEO of Collier’s Houston office before assuming the position of Co-Chairman in 2004. He brings a wide range of real estate experience, along with an understanding of the legal issues involved in real estate transactions. He has represented a broad range of corporate clients, both public and private, in office and industrial sales and office tenant rep lease transactions in Houston and throughout the USA. Bob currently serves as a member of Colliers’ Occupier Services Group, Healthcare Services Group, and Law Firm Services Group. Bob has been one of the top two producers in the Colliers Houston office for the past fifteen years. He has also been a Colliers Everest Award recipient since the inception of the award, which is granted to the top 10% of producers for Colliers International in North America. The SIOR designation that he carries signifies the highest level of accountability and ethical standards in commercial real estate.

Rand Stephens is Principal and Managing Director of Avison Young’s Houston

office. He founded the office in 2010 and has guided it into one of Houston’s largest

commercial real estate brokerage companies, as recognized by the Houston Business

Journal. Rand also spearheaded the firm’s Texas expansion with the opening of offices

in Dallas and Austin by acquiring Dallas-based Dillon Corporate Services, Inc. and

Austin-based Commercial Texas.

As Avison Young increases its presence in the Houston market, Rand continues

expanding service lines with the recruitment of quality professionals, as well as

strategic acquisition and organic growth.

During his distinguished career, Rand has completed more than $5 billion in office,

industrial and land transactions. He is a well-respected and highly accomplished

commercial real estate professional with more than 30 years of experience in leasing,

sales, development, acquisition and disposition.

Rand Stephens

Principal and Managing Director

Credentials and professional affiliations

− Dartmouth College - Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science

− Past President, Society of Industrial Office Realtors (SIOR) - Gulf Coast chapter

− Past Board Member, Houston Office Leasing Broker Association (HOLBA)