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Speakers and Panels

WOMEN WHO WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE OF UK REAL ESTATE

Cherine Aboulzelof

Cherine Aboulzelof

Managing Director, Co-Head, Strategic Capital Partner

BentalGreenOak

Adina David

Adina David

The Collective

Ghislaine Halpenny

Ghislaine Halpenny

British Property Federation

Isabelle Hease

Isabelle Hease

CEO & Head of Product

Visitor Insights

Jill Xiaozhou Ju

Jill Xiaozhou Ju

Investment Director

The Collective

Kat Hanna

Kat Hanna

Masterplan Strategist

Lendlease

Lorna Walker

Lorna Walker

CBRE

Vasiliki Arvaniti

Vasiliki Arvaniti

Capital & Regional

Morwenna Hall

Morwenna Hall

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director

Related Argent

Belinda Chain

Belinda Chain

Partner, Head of Asset Financing

Europa Capital

Alex Notay

Alex Notay

Placemaking and Investment Director

PfP Capital

Natalie Adomait

Natalie Adomait

Senior Vice President

Brookfield Asset Management

Leia de Guzman

Leia de Guzman

Associate Director, Investments Europe

Oxford Properties

Natalie Lelliott

Natalie Lelliott

Colliers Interntional

Angela Kearns

Angela Kearns

Corporate Real Estate Partner

Clifford Chance

Safinaz Zakaria

Safinaz Zakaria

Partner

Crosstree

Lois Kay

Lois Kay

Peel

Sophie Shannon

Sophie Shannon

NewRiver

Rosanna Lawn

Rosanna Lawn

Yoo Living

Victoria Turnbull

Victoria Turnbull

Joint Managing Director

Opus Land

Savannah de Savary

Savannah de Savary

Founder & CEO

Built-ID

Emily Prideaux

Emily Prideaux

Director

Derwent London

Gabriella Sonabend

Gabriella Sonabend

Oaksure

Sowgol Zaringchang

Sowgol Zaringchang

Long Harbour

Ilna Patel

Ilna Patel

Nuveen

Alex Chitty

Alex Chitty

Landsec

Bumjoo Maclennan

Bumjoo Maclennan

Invesco

Cassandra Wheeldon

Cassandra Wheeldon

WiredScore

Claire Shepherd

Claire Shepherd

Safe I nnovations

Emily Hamilton

Emily Hamilton

Senior Sustainability Manager

Grosvenor Britain & Ireland

Emma Long

Emma Long

LGIM Real Assets

Emma Steele

Emma Steele

Savills

Emma Tattersall

Emma Tattersall

JLL

Harri John

Harri John

Cushman & Wakefield

Jennie Fojtik

Jennie Fojtik

Head of Mobilisation

Quintain

Gemma Kataky

Gemma Kataky

Managing Director

Blackstone

Joyeeta Das

Joyeeta Das

CEO

Gyana

Kelly Cleveland

Kelly Cleveland

Head of Real Estate and Investment

British Land

Natasha Guerra

Natasha Guerra

CEO

Runway East

Rachel Shone

Rachel Shone

Principal Global Investors

Rajdeep Gahir

Rajdeep Gahir

Head of Development EMEA

Urban Rest

Sheima Salloum

Sheima Salloum

Eastdil

Rebeca Guzman Vidal

Rebeca Guzman Vidal

Founding Partner

Curate Ventures

Tracey Pollard

Tracey Pollard

BGP

Tracy Peacock

Tracy Peacock

Head of BTR

Native

Victoria Hall

Victoria Hall

AXA IM

Cherine Aboulzelof

Managing Director, Co-Head, Strategic Capital Partner

BentalGreenOak

Cherine Aboulzelof currently heads the European business for BGO’s real estate multi manager (“BGO Strategic Capital Partners”) business and is based in London. Through its dedicated Secondaries and Co-Investment programmes, SCP provides equity solutions to real estate managers via recapitalisations and growth equity. SCP also works with LPs in providing liquidity solutions for their portfolios. With 15 years of direct real estate investment experience as a GP before joining BGO SCP, Cherine is responsible for the European strategy and for sourcing and executing investment opportunities across sectors and geographies. She sits on SCP’s global investment committee. Cherine started her career in investment banking with JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, is an alumni of EM Lyon and holds an MBA from INSEAD. She speaks French, Arabic, English, Spanish and Italian.

Jill Xiaozhou Ju

Investment Director

The Collective

As Investment Director at The Collective, Jill is responsible for the firm’s debt and equity fund raising, investment acquisitions, and strategic growth internationally. The Collective has developed the largest co-living community, a well-amentinized, fully-stablized 550-bed asset in London, and is expanding internationally to be the best co-living provider worldwide.

Prior to The Collective, Jill worked for Greystar managing its £1.5bn student housing portfolio in London and Charleston, and for UBS Investment Bank on its Asia cross-border M&A team in Hong Kong and Beijing.

Jill received her MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated from Peking University with a Bachelor of Economics. Jill is fluent in Chinese and conversational in German with professional experience in U.S., Europe and China.

Jill was recently listed by Forbes as “30 Under 30” in European Finance.

Kat Hanna

Masterplan Strategist

Lendlease

An experienced urbanist and researcher, Kat has worked in London politics, planning, and policy for almost a decade. Her interests include urban economies, transport, and the relationship between technology and the built environment. Kat has authored a number of reports and articles on urban development in London and regularly appears as a commentator on urban affairs across a range of publications, media, and events.

Kat joined Lendlease in April 2019 as masterplan strategist for the 60 acre Euston over-site development. Her role focuses on developing the masterplan vision and ensuring both the plan and the project itself respond to trends and innovations in urban development, transport and technology.

Morwenna Hall

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director

Related Argent

Morwenna joined the former Argent business in 2011. She became Chief Operating Officer in 2017 and Partner in 2020. Since 2023, Morwenna has been Executive Director of Related Argent.

In addition to her corporate leadership role, Morwenna led the design and delivery of several major projects at King’s Cross, including Coal Drops Yard, the Fish & Coal Building and Gasholder Park. At Brent Cross Town, Morwenna is responsible for the ground plane experience, retail, leisure and public realm.

Morwenna is a chartered mechanical engineer and started her career at Arup as a mechanical building services engineer. During this time, she was the lead mechanical engineer for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, designed by Stanton Williams architects, which in 2012 won the most sought-after accolade in the industry – the RIBA Stirling Prize.

Belinda Chain

Partner, Head of Asset Financing

Europa Capital

Belinda is a Partner and Head of Asset Financing at Europa Capital, and is responsible for third-party financing and hedging of all Europa’s value-add pan-European investments. Before joining Europa in 2006, Belinda spent ten years in real estate investment banking at Deutsche Bank, Babcock & Brown and Schroders Property, in both the UK and Australia. Belinda started her career at Price Waterhouse as an accountant. She is also a member of Women on Boards in the UK and its mentoring programme. Belinda received a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from Macquarie University in Sydney and completed her post-graduate qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Alex Notay

Placemaking and Investment Director

PfP Capital

Alexandra Notay is Build to Rent fund director at PfP Capital, the fund and asset

management arm of Places for People, tasked with raising a £550M fund to deliver 3,000

BTR homes across the UK. She is also an internationally recognised expert on build to rent,

placemaking and sustainable urban development, with 15 years’ strategic advisory

experience to public and private sector clients across four continents. In January 2019 Alex

was selected as one of the 48 women shaping the future of UK real estate at the prestigious

BISNOW Women Leaders event.

Alex is a published author and editor of over 30 books and reports on real estate including

the renowned ULI UK Best Practice Guide on Build to Rent (2014, 2016). Alex is a vice-chair

of ULI UK Residential Council and on the ULI UK Executive Committee, serves on the BPF

Build to Rent Committee and is an Associate Member of CREFC Europe. She is also a non-

executive director of Sound Diplomacy, SouthWest Board Member for LandAid and trustee

of SunScreenIT Foundation.

Natalie Adomait

Senior Vice President

Brookfield Asset Management

Natalie Adomait is a Senior Vice President in Brookfield’s Real Estate Group and Head of Portfolio Management for Real Estate in Europe. Ms. Adomait joined Brookfield in Canada in 2011 as part of the Renewable Power Group and relocated to London in 2014. Ms. Adomait is currently a director of Student Roost, Edyn, Center Parcs U.K., International Campus, Grand M Group, Harwell Life Sciences and Brookfield Properties London. Since joining Brookfield, she has been involved in multiple transactions including the acquisitions of Bord Gais Energy, Alcoa Tapoco Hydro, White Pine Hydro, Alta Wind, various U.K. student housing assets and the sale of Gazeley. Ms. Adomait received an honours degree in International Business from the Sprott School of Business in Ottawa.

Leia de Guzman

Associate Director, Investments Europe

Oxford Properties

Leia is an Associate Director at Oxford Properties, the real estate investment arm of Canadian pension fund, OMERS. Joining the European and Asia Pac Investments team in 2016, Leia has executed more than C$8 Bn of transactions across the UK, France, and Germany, including follow-on opportunities associated with the Delancey Oxford Residential (DOOR) multifamily platform in the UK, as fronted by the Get Living operational platform and brand.

Angela Kearns

Corporate Real Estate Partner

Clifford Chance

Angela Kearns is a Corporate Real Estate partner in Clifford Chance's London office specialising in complex development and urban regeneration projects and their funding, direct and indirect investments and HQ occupiers work. Her work spans a broad range of asset classes including life sciences. Angela was shortlisted for Real Estate Individual (London) of the year at the Legal 500 Awards 2020 and is recognised as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 UK.

Safinaz Zakaria

Partner

Crosstree

Safi joined Crosstree in 2013 and is responsible for sourcing, execution and delivery of investments. Safi has worked on deals across most asset classes including office, retail, hotel, industrial, residential, co-living and student, investing across the capital stack. Prior to joining Crosstree, Safi was with Rothschild in the Real Estate and Leisure Investment Banking team. Safi holds an MA in Economics and Arabic from the University of Edinburgh.

Victoria Turnbull

Joint Managing Director

Opus Land

Victoria Turnbull is the Joint Managing Director of Opus Land, a leading Property Investment company with offices within the

West Midlands and London.

Founded in 1999 and part owned and funded by Fiera Real Estate. , the company has an established track record in delivering

added-value solutions for real estate. The company has extensive experience of working in partnership with landowners,

investors and occupiers with assets under management approaching 3 million sq ft.

Previously Victoria was based in London where she worked as an Associate Director for Fiera Real Estate, a Real Estate Fund

Manager and Venture Capital backer of companies with a focus on opportunistic real estate investment. Before that, she was a

Senior Surveyor at King Sturge (now Jones Lang La Salle) in London where she specialised in commercial investment and

business recovery.

Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate Management from The University of Reading and is a chartered

member of RICS and CFA. She has a breadth of experience with over 15 years in the property industry dealing with direct

and indirect property investment, development and asset management. She has an appreciation of the challenges and

opportunities facing the Midlands and is uniquely placed to view these alongside her experience in the London market.

Savannah de Savary

Founder & CEO

Built-ID

Savannah de Savary is the Founder and CEO of Built-ID. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Savannah joined Thor Equities, where she managed NYC real estate development projects before founding the PropTech start-up, Built-ID at the age of 23.

Featured as one of the PropTech companies changing real estate forever and one of Forbes’ Groundbreaking Female Founded PropTech Startups, Built-ID is the tech-for-good innovator behind the market-leading community engagement platform, Give My View. By making it fun and easy for hard-to-reach groups to engage with decision-makers, Built-ID consistently generates unprecedented community engagement results. Their client base includes Mitsubishi Estate, Legal & General, The University of Oxford, Innogy, Grosvenor Estate, The City of London, Cadogan Estates, C C Land Holdings, Haringey Council, ASM Global and many more, both in the property industry and increasingly beyond.

In 2020, Savannah was featured alongside Greta Thunberg as one of Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. Savannah is a regular columnist for Property Week, part of the ULI Europe Leadership Council, Urban Art Forum and sits on the Board of Trustees for The Legacy Foundation. Savannah was invited onto The Evening Standard’s Women Tech Charge podcast, “which looks at the incredible women revolutionising our lives through technology.”

Her work with Built-ID has resulted in various accolades, including being named one of the Top 30 Female Entrepreneurs in the UK to Watch, voted one of The Women Who Will Shape the Future of Real Estate by Bisnow, Young Personality of the Year at the Property Awards and featured in Property Week’s Power 100: Top 20 Ones to Watch, and as one of the Top 20 PropTech influencers in a poll by the UK PropTech Association.

Her work creating inclusive technology has led to coverage on BBC News & in The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Evening Standard as well as Tech & Real Estate press in the UK & internationally.

Emily Prideaux

Director

Derwent London

Appointed to the Board: 2021

Skills and expertise: Emily has overall responsibility for overseeing Leasing and Asset Management transactions, building on our excellent customer service and relations, leading our marketing and digital strategy, whilst continuing to ensure that our future developments provide best in class workspace for the next generation of businesses. Emily is a chartered surveyor and was previously Director of Investment Management at CB Richard Ellis North America.

Other current appointments: Director of The Paddington Partnership.

Emily Hamilton

Senior Sustainability Manager

Grosvenor Britain & Ireland

Emily Hamilton (MIEMA) has more than ten years’ experience running environmental and social impact programmes. Emily’s role at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland involves working with internal and external stakeholders to influence staff, suppliers and customers to adopt sustainable practices. Most recently she has worked with our senior leadership team to set ambitious, time bound goals which enable the business to help lead the transition towards a sustainable economy and environment. Emily is a Board Director for the Better Buildings Partnership, as well as alumni of the UK Green Building Council’s Future Leaders Programme. In February 2019 she was named one of 49 women in the UK shaping the future of real estate by BisNow. In 2019 she also won the Lady Tamara Prize, an international award given by the Grosvenor Estate to employees who go above and beyond to deliver positive social and environmental outcomes.

Gemma Kataky

Managing Director

Blackstone

Gemma Kataky joined Blackstone in 2015 and is a managing director in its European real estate asset management team, based in London. She oversees the day-to-day operations of more than €7B of complex portfolios in the mixed-use, flexible office and affordable housing spaces, most notably The Office Group, Sage Housing and Obligo. Over the last three years she has also transacted on €4B of asset and portfolio sales in the Nordics, Germany and UK.

Kataky started her career at Bank of America in the general European mergers and acquisitions team. She then went on to spend seven years at Carlyle focusing on UK real estate acquisitions.

Joyeeta Das

CEO

Gyana

Joyeeta Das is an entrepreneur who has built a career in the technology sector. Her early work was defined by progress in the engineering and program management ranks in Fortune Ten tech companies. She founded and exited two successful startups, one in the tech sector and one nonprofit.

Along with fellow Oxford graduate David Kell, in 2015 Das founded technology company Gyana AI. Gyana is a self-service data science platform that enables insights around locations and people, using big data and artificial intelligence technologies. The platform is designed to be used without any technical background, so that a client can access customer insights and advanced big data intelligence within seconds without any training.

Das is in the MIT 35 under 35 shortlist, is a TEDx speaker and is an ambassador for Innovate UK’s Women In Innovation programme. She volunteers with numerous charitable organisations and has been selected to be a diplomatic representative at UK-Brazil/Canada/USA trade delegations.

Kelly Cleveland

Head of Real Estate and Investment

British Land

Kelly became Head of Real Estate and Investment at British Land last year, and has overall responsibility for asset management, leasing and investment across the business. Kelly has been at British Land since 2011, with roles in corporate finance and heading up strategy, and has been Head of Investment since 2016. She joined the Executive Committee in November 2020. Kelly is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified in New Zealand in 2001 at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and has worked in real estate in the UK since 2004.

Kelly is also a Non-Executive Director at Sirius Real Estate, the FTSE250 owner and operator of business parks, offices and mixed use workspace.

Natasha Guerra

CEO

Runway East

As CEO of the successful coworking hub, Runway East, and Chair of the ICE List, Natasha’s core interests lie in nurturing high-growth startups and building collaborative tech communities.

With over 1800 members and 170 companies spread across four locations in London and Bristol, members at Runway East include ClassPass, Settled and YellowDog, with a community that has raised over £300m in funding to date.

The ICE List is a thriving community of over 300 entrepreneurs and investors, striving to improve the professional and personal lives of members, as well as embolden the UK tech scene as a whole.

Prior to Runway East and the ICE List, Natasha has contributed to the success of leading companies across Silicon Valley and London, as well as launching TaskFirm - providing on-demand, vetted freelancers to startups and entrepreneurs.

Rajdeep Gahir

Head of Development EMEA

Urban Rest

Rajdeep Gahir brings a bold, future-focused lens to growth at Urban Rest, recognised as a new category leader in flexible living for the modern corporate traveller. With a career spanning hospitality, real estate, and prop-tech, she previously founded micro-coliving business Vivahouse and held senior roles at Good Hotels, eBay and WeWork, building ventures that reimagine urban living from the ground up.

Since joining in 2025, Rajdeep has led Urban Rest’s expansion across the UK and Europe, forging institutional partnerships and scaling the portfolio with purpose. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree and LSE graduate, she’s passionate about the real estate industry and flexible living solutions that meet the evolving rhythms of modern work and life.

Rebeca Guzman Vidal

Founding Partner

Curate Ventures

Previously Head of Group Retail Strategy at Chelsfield, Director at CBRE and co-chairs the ULI Europe’s Retail and Entertainment Council. Co-hosts the podcast “Retail is Dead”. 15+ years in real estate.

Tracy Peacock

Head of BTR

Native

Tracy Peacock, is Head of BTR at Native, one of the largest BTR/aparthotel operators in the UK, with £1.7bn AUM. She oversees Native’s BTR business which comprises of 1,500 apartments, either in operation or under construction, across the UK. Key sites include the 533-apartment Kampus scheme in Manchester, a 183-unit Carolyn House scheme in East Croydon and the stylish 102-home Dalston Works development in London. Native BTR works with a broad range of Build to Rent investors including Dorrington, Aviva, LaSalle, CBREi, Woking Borough Council and Ares.

She ensures that Native BTR projects continue to be known for their design quality, as vibrant communities that are efficiently managed and supported by revenue management technology that drives consistently strong top line returns.

Tracy has over 20 years’ experience in residential leasing, working at the forefront of the ‘multi-family’ sector in Chicago, USA. She joins from Lennar Multi-Family Communities where she spent the last three years bringing 2,100 units to the market including liaison with the development team, operations, budget forecasts, marketing and asset management.

Work-Life-Balance

Michela Hancock

Michela Hancock

Managing Director

Greystar

Morwenna Wilson-Hall

Morwenna Wilson-Hall

COO

Argent

Mike Sales

Mike Sales

CEO

Nuveen Real Estate

Dellah Gilbert
Moderator

Dellah Gilbert

Partner

Maples Teesdale

Michela Hancock

Managing Director

Greystar

Michela leads the development business in the UK. She focuses on overseeing execution of current projects including financing, amenity and unit planning, design, entitlements, construction and lease up efforts on multifamily and student developments. In addition, Michela is helping to secure a pipeline of 10,000 units in the next 3-4 years. She is currently Vice Chairman of the Urban Land Institute’s UK Residential Council, a member of the British Property Federation (BPF) Build to Rent Committee and a board member, treasurer and chair of the events and marketing committee of the United Kingdom Apartment Association (UKAA).

Morwenna Wilson-Hall

COO

Argent

Morwenna Hall, a chartered mechanical engineer, is the COO of developer Argent LLP.  She joined the

firm in 2011 and in addition to her corporate leadership role has led the design and delivery of several

major projects at King’s Cross, including the Coal Drops Yard; a new shopping destination for London

with 65 retail units in the repurposed Victorian coal sheds which opens to the public in October 2018.

Morwenna started her career at Arup as a mechanical building services engineer where she gained

seven years’ experience working in building design teams.  During this time, she was the lead

mechanical engineer for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, designed by Stanton Williams

architects, which in 2012 won the most sought-after accolade in the industry – the RIBA Stirling Prize.  In

2015 Morwenna featured in Property Week’s ‘Forty under 40’ list of young entrepreneurs, disrupters

and leaders.

Morwenna has a passion for all aspects of design and was one of the 27 women showcased in the 2014

‘Women Fashion Power’ exhibition at the Design Museum, alongside Princess Diana, Dame Vivienne

Westwood and Dame Zaha Hadid.

Mike Sales

CEO

Nuveen Real Estate

As Head of Nuveen Real Estate, Mike is primarily responsible for overseeing the business across all regions. With over 25 years’ experience within the real estate industry, he is a member of the Global Executive Leadership Team, which sets and executes strategic goals for the business. Working closely with senior investment managers, he ensures the business delivers good investment performance and world-class service that is in line with clients’ expectations. He also assists the Investor Relations Team in developing and maintaining client relationships. Mike is a member of the Investment Committee and Real Estate Debt Investment Committee.

Mike joined the company as UK Property Investment Manager in 1994 and has held a number of senior management roles before his appointment as Head of TH Real Estate in 2015. He started his career in 1989 as a Development Surveyor at Morgan Grenfell Laurie, where he was then appointed to Head of UK Investment Agency in 1993.

Mike has built a strong reputation in the market. He is a regular contributor to real estate media and participates in industry conferences and roundtables. He has a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and a MPhil in Land Management. He is a Member Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and a member of the Investment Property Forum (IPF).

Dellah Gilbert

Moderator

Maples Teesdale

Dellah joined Maples Teesdale as a partner in May 2015, having previously been a member of Hogan Lovells’ real estate disputes team since 1993. She specialises in a wide variety of property-related contentious commercial property issues through negotiation, mediation or proceedings, including high value dilapidations claims, hostile lease renewals, multi-million pound development disputes, rights of light, rent review and development issues. She is ranked by both Chambers & Partners and by The Legal 500 as a leader in her field in the UK.

The Changing Face of CRE Businesses

Madeleine McDougall

Madeleine McDougall

Managing Director, Head of Real Estate & Housing

Lloyds Banking Group

Ric Lewis

Ric Lewis

Co-Chief Executive & Chairman

Tristan Capital Partners

Kaela Fenn-Smith

Kaela Fenn-Smith

Managing Director

Real Estate Balance

Deepa Devani

Deepa Devani

VP

GIC

Amanda Howard
Moderator

Amanda Howard

Head of CMS Funds Group

CMS

Madeleine McDougall

Managing Director, Head of Real Estate & Housing

Lloyds Banking Group

Madeleine is the Head of the Commercial Real Estate team at Lloyds. She joined in November 2014 as Head of Institutional, looking after Private Equity, Pension Fund and Sovereign Wealth clients before taking up her current position in August 2017. Her role involves developing and leading the business activity plans for relationships across the Commercial Real Estate market with a specialist team based across 6 UK locations. In 2016 Lloyds lent £8.6 bn into the UK CRE market, delivering €1,547m of debt syndication and Madeleine was key in driving the client franchise which included both leading UK institutions and large global investors.

She previously held the Head of International clients at pbb, where she covered Europe wide real estate financing from 2011-2014. Prior to this, she worked at Westimmo and Eurohypo and started her career on the equity side at Trillium.

Ric Lewis

Co-Chief Executive & Chairman

Tristan Capital Partners

Regarded as one of the most creative and consummate professionals in the international real estate management industry, Ric is Tristan's Senior Portfolio Manager, responsible for the Fund's overall strategy and execution. He brings more than twenty-five years of experience and investment success to the roles of Chairman of the Investment Committee, Chief Executive and Founding Partner of Tristan Capital Partners.

A graduate of Dartmouth College in the USA, where he received an A.B., Economics, Ric is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School (PMD). In the US, he was a Partner and Senior Managing Director of AEW Capital Management, an investment management business with 200 staff and $25 billion under management. Moving to Europe, Ric then became Chief Investment Officer and Board Director of AEW Europe, a pan-European real estate investment management business with 11 offices, 270 staff and €18 billion in assets under management.

He then founded and served for several years as Chief Executive for Curzon Global Partners, a London based real estate investment company, owned by AEW Europe.

Outside of work, Ric is a passionate advocate for improving less advantaged children's access to quality education, in particular through his own Black Heart Foundation. He serves, or has recently served on the Board of Trustees for Dartmouth College, the Board of Directors of London First; the Board of Visitors for the Belfer Centre for International Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government; the Board of Trustees of The International Inspiration Foundation; The Ambassadors Council of Grassroots Soccer; the Board of Governors of King Solomon Academy; the Board of Directors of the Eastside Young Leaders Academy and Chair of the Board The Institute of Imagination (London Children’s Museum).

Kaela Fenn-Smith

Managing Director

Real Estate Balance

Kaela Fenn-Smith joins gender diversity organisation

Real Estate Balance, the non-profit membership organisation supported by the men and

women leaders in property and working to address the gender imbalance within the sector,

is announcing the appointment of Kaela Fenn-Smith as managing director. Working in

collaboration with the management committee to lead Real Estate Balance, Kaela will be

responsible for building the organisation’s capacity to support the UK real estate sector in its

journey towards gender diversity.

In the newly created post, Kaela’s priorities include:

 Engaging with Real Estate Balance members and supporting their own commitments

for change

 Building the strength of Real Estate Balance’s membership, including identifying and

reaching out to new groups of potential members

 Working with Real Estate Balance members to monitor, measure and evaluate the

progress organisations are making towards their gender balance commitments

 Delivering the Real Estate Balance business strategy, including developing a

dynamic content programme and implementing initiatives focused on achieving

practical change

Vivienne King, Chair of Real Estate Balance, said:

“Kaela’s appointment represents an important new chapter for Real Estate Balance. Until

now, the organisation’s success has been down to its hard-working volunteers. With Kaela in

post as managing director, we have an experienced senior resource to support our

objectives for our future as a leading change agent for gender balance. Kaela is a property

insider – well-known, widely-respected and hugely popular – and she brings to Real Estate

Balance a track record of leading transformational change. Kaela will be an exceptional

ambassador for Real Estate Balance and an advocate for the wider property world and we

look forward to working together to ensure a better-balanced industry for all.”

Kaela Fenn-Smith, Managing Director of Real Estate Balance, said:

“I’m hugely excited to be joining Real Estate Balance and to be working alongside the

women and men on the management committee who share a vision for a more inclusive

property sector. Real Estate Balance is a unique organisation on an incredible mission,

working to bring about a change in the corporate culture of our industry. I have spent 25

years in property and I’ve been passionate about diversity throughout my career. I look

forward to supporting women in real estate by engaging with the men and women leaders to

deliver real practical change, so aspiration and ambition are not only accepted but

achievable.”

Prior to joining Real Estate Balance, Kaela was at Landsec for seven years as Head of

Commercial and a member of the executive team in London. Before joining Landsec,

Kaela’s previous positions have included director roles with JLL and CBRE.

Deepa Devani

VP

GIC

Ms Devani is Vice President at GIC Real Estate. Her current role includes

investment management across various asset classes in the UK which

involves sourcing potential investments and managing them through to

exit. She is responsible for managing GIC’s investment in Broadgate. Prior

to joining GIC in 2007, Ms Devani worked at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Ms

Devani is a Chartered Accountant and a professional member of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and

holds an MA in Economics and Management Studies from Cambridge

University.

Amanda Howard

Moderator

CMS

Amanda heads the firm’s Funds and Indirect Real Estate Assets team. She specialises in structuring, equity raisings and restructurings for real asset funds, complex joint ventures for investment and development, and structured acquisitions and disposals, with a particular focus on the real estate and infrastructure sectors in the UK and internationally. Amanda has structured funds and joint ventures for a wide range of investors, including institutional investors, property companies, overseas investors and family offices. Amanda’s experience includes UK, Pan European and global funds, limited partnerships, unit trusts, corporate structures, general partnerships, trusts and listed vehicles.

Summary

Bisnow is excited to bring you our Women Leading Real Estate event series for the second time! In 2018, more than 500 attendees joined the event - never had so many women from the sector been brought together in one room. 

“I think having role models are incredibly important. I’m incredibly excited to come here and I want to shout from the rooftops about how many talented women there are here today. I’ll have a spring in my step for the rest of the day.” Colette O’Shea, Landsec

The core purpose of this event is to enhance the success of women in the commercial real estate industry and promote industry diversity more generally. This event will provide education, networking, and resources for professional development. We hope through this event we are able to promote the employment and advancement of women in the industry and strive to create a better awareness of viable career paths for women in commercial real estate.

We will bring together the top female and male executives from all walks of the London 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 executives tick and how they are leaving their mark on the real estate industry.

To mark the second London Women Leading Real Estate event, Bisnow looked to the future. We compiled a list of the rising stars, the people behind the headlines, and those shaking up the sector. You can find our list here!

For questions, comments or press inquiries, email UK Director, Natascha, at Natascha.Bhuiyan@bisnow.com

Share your comments, post your photos and ask questions using #BisnowEurope on Twitter and Instagram, and follow us at @BisnowEurope on Twitter for more local news.

Agenda

Time Activity
3:30 PM
4:00 PM
Registration & Welcoming
4:00 PM
4:45 PM
Work-Life-Balance

Juggling family life and progressing professionally as a working mom. What does it take to get on boards and shoot for the C-level jobs?

4:45 PM
5:30 PM
The Changing Face of CRE Businesses

How are businesses driving change to become more diverse and entrepreneurial? What are they proactively doing to close the gender pay gap?

5:30 PM
7:30 PM
Networking & Cocktails