Women Leading Real Estate

Jessica has been with Lendlease’s unique not-for-profit employment vehicle BeOnsite since inception and has led it for the past seven years. BeOnsite reaches those most in need of employment support, including long-term unemployed people, former offenders and serving prisoners nearing the end of their sentence. Jessica is member of the Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending leadership team and her innovative Mind the Gap programme led to Lendlease being named the Corbett Network’s Employer of the Year for 2020 and one of only nine companies to be awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Enabling Opportunity category in 2022.

Reena's expertise is in dealing with multi-let and portfolio acquisitions, asset management, forward funding arrangements, mixed use and commercial development projects, as well as investment in the alternatives such as student accommodation, co-living, build to rent, senior living, social housing and hotels. Reena's clients include BAE Systems Pension Funds, Columbia Threadneedle, Empiric Student Property, Hyde Housing Association, Land Securities, LaSalle Investment Management, Orion Capital Managers, Romulus, UCL and Westminster Council.

Debra is the co-founder of SAY Property, an award-winning consultancy business working with investors and developers to provide strategic operational advice for mixed-use and living assets. Debra has over 25 years’ experience in residential property and is recognised as one of the major contributors to the industry. Before starting SAY with Charles Seifert, Debra was Director of Asset and Property Management at Grainger plc. Debra is an expert in residential property and asset management with a particular focus on build to rent, placemaking, regeneration and industry innovation. She has a keen interest in the positive social impact that can be delivered through new development. Debra has been a long-standing advocate for encouraging diversity within the real estate sector. Debra also sits on the board of Deverell Smith, a global real estate recruitment and executive search practice, as a Non-Executive Director.

Sue Brown is managing director for Real Estate Balance, a campaigning organisation working to improve diversity and inclusion in the real estate industry. Brown has four decades of business, property and economic development experience. Brown joined Real Estate Balance in April 2020 from London First, where she was executive director with responsibility for property, planning, the environment and development since 2016. She started her career in government, serving as a senior adviser in a variety of high-profile roles before going on to establish her own real estate consultancy. Brown was a driving force behind the launch of MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate investment conference that takes place each year in Cannes, and she was the co-founder and co-chair of REWIRE, the network for women in property. She has been an ally for other diversity and inclusivity organisations in the space, including Black Professionals in Construction, Freehold LGBT and Pathways to Property. In her spare time, Brown is a very frustrated (at the moment) Chelsea season ticket holder. She loves spending time with her grandson and is looking forward to her second grandson being born very soon.

Rosalind is a Partner in our Real Estate Disputes team. She has acted for a wide range of both landlord and tenant clients including institutional landlords, asset managers, retail and office tenants as well as HNW and high profile individuals. Her expertise covers primarily commercial property disputes but she also has experience of some areas of residential property as well as construction disputes. She has also written many articles for the legal and property press.

Nicola specialises in the relationship between design, people, behaviour & the built environment. An architect and author, Nicola is widely recognised within the industry as a leading authority on workplace strategy, design and behaviour change management. Based in London, Nicola draws from 25 years’ experience delivering workplace strategy and innovation internationally. Clients; Accenture, Argent, Ascential, EBA, ESB, DLA Piper, Freshfields, GSK, Harley-Davidson, National Grid, Nelsons, Rolls-Royce, Orion, Patrizia, Pella, R&F, Shoosmiths, Schneider, TD Synnex. Occupier; ongoing advice and project work with a wide range of global corporates on workplace strategy, future of work and workplace pre and in response to COVID19. Investor; working with developers and architects in the UK and Europe to shape new developments, from the occupier perspective, pre-planning submission and through design development. Conferences, Publications & Podcasts: Nicola is an author and regular conference speaker. • N Gillen, ‘Future of work and workplace’, UK CFO Network, Sept 2021 • N Gillen, ‘Hybrid work_What the office could look like now’, BBC Worklife, August 2021 • N Gillen, Healthy post-pandemic workplace, speaker, Henley Business School, May 2021 • N Gillen, Future of Legal Workplace, WORKTECH Academy, BVN, C&W, panel and report publication, April 2021 • N Gillen, co author, ‘ReThink Design Guide for a Post Pandemic world’, RIBA publishing, Jan 2021 • N Gillen, RSAW RIBA Annual Conference, lecture, Nov 2020 • Co Chair Workplace Trends Annual Research conference, October 2020 • ‘COVID19 ‘Reimagine How and Where the World will Work’, CRE Journal, September 2020. • The Times, April 2020 https://www.raconteur.net/business-innovation/sustainable-workplace-design • COVID19 Recovery Readiness Blog Series; https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-kingdom/insights/covid- 19/future-of-work-and-place; https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-kingdom/insights/covid-19/road-to-recovery • Podcast Series ‘Rebalancing the work/life experience’ https://audioboom.com/posts/7564414-rebalancing-the-work-life- experience-episode-3-staying-informed-collaborating-virtually • N Gillen, lead author, ‘Future Office’, RIBA Publications, March 2019 • N Gillen, lead author, ‘People, Performance and Place: How using perceptive and cognitive data can growth and innovation.’ Corporate Real Estate Journal, Dec 2018 • R Harris, M Bedford, N Gillen, F Jack, BCO Report ‘Density and Utilisation’, Dec 2017 • ABC Radio, ‘This Working Life’, Podcast with Lisa Leong, June 2019 • BBC Radio 4, ‘Out of Office’ series, Nicola Gillen, AECOM & Anna Bartle ELC, April & Oct 2019 Professional Affiliations ARB, RIBA, BCO Corenet. Nicola is a BCO National Judge. Professional Recognition Bisnow 51 Women who survived and thrived in 2020 and 2021 Finalist CIBSE Innovation Award, 2020. AECOM Fellow Education • Visiting lecturer, Design Masters Course, IE School of Architecture and Design, Madrid, Spain • Cert Prof Practice, The Bartlett School of Architecture, RIBA Part 3 • M.Sc. SGBS, RIBA Part 2, B.Sc. (Hons) Architecture, Strathclyde University, RIBA Part 1 Previous Roles AECOM 2009 – 2019 Director, EMEA Workplace Market Sector Leader 2018 to current. • Growth (revenue and profit), int. and ext. marketing, bid leadership, thought leadership. Director, Global practice leader from 2014 to 2018. • Thought leadership, global practice lead, business management, client, project and team leadership. Director, EMIA practice leader for workplace strategy 2009 – 2014. • Thought leadership, Research leadership, EMIA practice lead, business planning and management, client, project, commercial and team leadership. Davis Langdon (acquired by AECOM in 2009) 2007 - 2009 • Director, UK Workplace Leader. Pharma sector lead globally. • P&L management, line management, client account management, project and team leadership. DEGW (acquired by Davis Langdon in 2007) August 1998 - 2007 • Director, UK workplace leader. EMEA and Global Market Sector Leader. • P&L management, line management, client account management, project and team leadership. Clients BBC, BCO, BSkyB BMS, BP, Diageo, ESB, Estee Lauder Companies, City of London, Capital One, CCLRC, Dublin County Council, Google, GSK, KPF, HMRC, National Grid, Novartis, Cambridge University, GSK, Land Sec, Microsoft, McNeil (J&J), Museum of London, National Grid, Nokia, NZMFAT, Palace of Westminster, Pfizer, Stanhope, SOM, Swisscom, RSH-P, Rolls Royce. Consultancy Work Strategies for workplace, universities, cities and cultural centres, organisational modelling (work patterns, culture), change management, workplace guidelines, experience design, space planning and building appraisal.

James Boadle is a member of Oxford Properties’ European leadership team and is responsible for its logistics and residential strategies across the region, as well as the development of Oxford’s wider European strategy. Mr Boadle also serves as a non-executive director on the boards of a number of Oxford’s portfolio companies. Mr Boadle has 15 years’ experience in the real estate sector and has executed over C$25 billion (£15 billion) of transactions, with global investment experience across all of the major asset classes. He joined Oxford in 2015, and has been responsible for some of the organization’s most significant investments, including leading Oxford’s foray into the European logistics and the UK multifamily sectors. Prior to Oxford, Mr Boadle spent 7 years at real estate advisory firms CBRE and Savills in their Central London capital markets business. Mr Boadle holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics (Honours) from the University of Southampton, and is a member of the Investment Property Forum (IPF) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Bella Peacock is a Managing Director and member of the European Leadership team. She is responsible for asset execution across student and multifamily leading the company’s Asset Management and Operations teams across Europe. Bella works with her teams in France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and UK to ensure the effective implementation of the Greystar global operating model, applying it to the local context of each market to drive asset performance across all stages of the investment lifecycle. Bella joined Greystar in 2014 as one of the first members of the new European business where she was engaged with the growth of the platform across the region. Prior to Greystar, she worked in the residential real estate sector covering serviced apartments, PRS and BTR at Native where she was responsible for portfolio growth, investor relations and asset management. Bella started her career at The UNITE Group. Bella is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Real Estate Balance and The Class Foundation. She earned her Master of Arts in Geography from the University of Oxford before completing her Master of Science in Real Estate Investment and Finance from Henley Business School at the University of Reading.

Claire is a corporate audit partner and heads up RSM’s real estate and construction team across Scotland and Northern Ireland, working closely with RSM’s national sector group. The group provides a range of advice to investors, developers, funds, family offices and construction businesses. Alongside this, Claire acts for a number of hotel groups and has a wealth of experience in infrastructure, advising many PFIs. She also acts for a number of UK subsidiaries with international parents and is responsible for the international relationship and overseeing group audit reporting.

Katherine Beisler is the head of ESG Consulting at international, independent real estate consultancy, Hollis. Based in Amsterdam, Katherine is an experienced real estate professional with a focus on sustainability, health and wellbeing, and innovation in the built environment. Since joining Hollis in 2019, Katherine has been instrumental in developing the firm’s integrated ESG model, providing strategic advice focused on clients’ ESG goals and aspirations across various sectors and regions, and working with them to develop pathways towards net zero carbon. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in Management in the Built Environment from TU Delft. She is also a certified LEED AP BD+C and Fitwel Ambassador.

Stephanie was appointed Chief Financial Officer on joining the Board in June 2019. She is a highly experienced financial services practitioner with significant sector knowledge, both technical and commercial. She brings experience of working with boards and management teams of financial institutions in respect of financial and commercial management, reporting, risk and control frameworks and regulatory requirements. She is also a representative director on the board of VUMTM, our joint venture with Virgin Money. Before joining abrdn, Stephanie was a partner at PwC, leading the financial services assurance practice and a member of the Assurance Executive. Her responsibilities included client growth and services, product development, operations and quality assurance across the UK business. During her career, she has specialised in the financial services sector working with organisations across asset management, insurance and banking, with national and international operations. Stephanie is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and served as the Chair of the Audit Committee. She is an associate of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Edinburgh.

Sasha is a Senior Director of CBRE Investment Management, having joined the company in 2000. She is the Fund Manager, leading a team responsible for five UK Separate Accounts. During her time at CBRE Investment Management Sasha has undertaken numerous investment purchases and sales, whilst overseeing high value asset management initiatives on behalf of clients. A member of the CBRE Investment Management UK Investment Oversight Committee, she is responsible for reviewing and discussing investment performance, strategy and risk with the Portfolio and Fund Managers. This includes performance analysis, benchmarking, investment plans for new capital (acquisitions and projects) and ESG strategy. Prior to joining CBRE Investment Management Sasha worked as an investment agent at Matthews & Goodman buying and selling commercial properties for Funds and Property Companies across all sectors of the UK property market. Sasha is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and holds a Bsc (Hons) in Land Management from Reading University. She is a Chartered Manager and a member of the company’s UK Diversity Committee with a particular interest in diverse recruitment. She is also a Trustee for CB Hillier Parker Pension Fund.

With over 15 years of supporting companies to implement digital solutions, Fay Chester, Yardi regional director, internal solutions consulting is a powerhouse of knowledge in how to get the most from technology to support businesses and people. Clients that have benefitted from Fay’s experience include Schroders, CBRE, Grosvenor and Blackstone. Working on both property and investment solutions at Yardi, Fay leads a team of 17 consultants helping Yardi’s prospects and clients understand how digitisation of processes can increase efficiencies and optimise performance. Fay is also leading RISE, an initiative at Yardi to recognise, inspire, support, and empower female and LBGTQ employees.

Patrick Williams is a partner in Fried Frank's European Real Estate Group, resident in London. Mr. Williams has wide transactional experience on commercial real estate matters, including large scale mixed-use developments and pre-letting arrangements, joint venture agreements, complex real estate investment transactions and real estate finance. He acts for a broad mix of clients, including property investment companies (including those on the FTSE100), global real estate fund managers, banks, infrastructure development and land promoter specialists, ultra high-net-worth individuals and family offices, and a range of Asian sovereign wealth funds and state-owned enterprises. Prior to joining Fried Frank, Mr. Williams was a partner at a large international law firm.

Angela Russell is the senior managing director for Greystar Europe, and brings to the company a wealth of private and listed property experience in both the US and Europe. Operating out of the company’s London office, Angela is responsible for overseeing the finance department across Europe for our student living and multifamily platforms. Prior to joining Greystar in 2016, she served as group financial controller the listed REIT Primary Health Properties Plc, and before that spent 10 years working in the real estate practice at PwC. She is a CPA and holds a bachelor of arts degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from California State University.

Julie became CEO of UK-GBC in April 2015 with ultimate responsibility for organisational strategy and execution. She is accountable to the Chairman and Board of Trustees for UK-GBC’s impact and performance and leads the team on a day to day basis. Julie is focused on delivering lasting change within the industry by engaging with UK-GBC members, regulators, and wider stakeholders in an effective and collaborative way. Julie was previously UK Head of Sustainability and an International Director at JLL, having come into JLL as a result of an acquisition. JLL acquired Upstream, a leading sustainability consultancy which Julie was co-founder and Joint MD of, in 2007. Having led the Upstream team through the integration into JLL, Julie oversaw further development of cutting-edge sustainability services to property investors and occupiers across the UK and EMEA. Julie sits on the Green Construction Board, the Igloo Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee, the ULI UK Sustainability Council Steering Committee, the Carbon Trust Advisory Panel, the Carillion Sustainability Committee and the Balfour Beatty Blueprint Advisory Panel. She also chaired the British Property Federation’s Sustainability Committee for two years.

Samantha Kempe is co-founder and CIO at IMMO Capital. Founded in 2017, IMMO Capital is a tech-enabled end-to-end platform for residential investment management. Having previously worked at PwC, Cushman & Wakefield and Blackstone, Samantha co-founded IMMO Capital with the intention of unlocking the Single Family Residential (SFR) market for institutional investors – the company was recently cited by Goldman Sachs and Fintech Collective as the ‘real estate asset manager of the future’. In her spare time (pre-lockdown!) she loves skiing, surfing and discovering new cultures / countries with her young family, as well as passionately championing female leadership and entrepreneurship.

A pioneer in the festival world, Katrina co-founded The Big Chill Festival in 1994. In 2013 she worked on the redevelopment, re-branding and curation of Camden Lock Market, with great success. In 2014, Katrina joined Market Tech, overseeing 16 acres of Central London real estate, and was influential in the planning and launching of Market Tech’s coworking office space ‘The Interchange’. She was also a driving force behind the Haiti fundraiser at The Roundhouse in 2011 and sits on the charity board of Charity in the City.

Abby leads Oxford’s European office, retail and life sciences businesses, which have a current AUM of >C$5bn and is accountable for these businesses’ strategies, capital deployment / acquisitions, strategic asset management, platform set up, strategic stakeholder relationships and total returns. Abby has 14 years of real estate experience across the USA and Europe. Abby started at Oxford in 2011 and since joining has contributed to the formulation and execution of Oxford’s investment and asset management strategies across the UK, Paris and Berlin including developing and maintaining strategic relationships to build Oxford’s profile within these markets / sectors. Abby sits on Oxford’s European Senior Management Team and is also sponsoring global strategic initiatives related to its operational model, ESG and digitalization including how Oxford can better harvest data across its portfolio and markets, all to help drive its performance. Abby holds a BA magna cum laude in Business Administration from American University in Washington, DC and an MSc with Distinction in Real Estate Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics.

Rebecca is the Managing Director of Long Harbour's build to rent/multifamily business. Since joining Long Harbour in 2015, Rebecca has deployed over £300m of equity and is responsible for all assets from strategy and deal origination, design, development, delivery and operations. Rebecca has over 15 years of experience in development and investment having worked on projects in Australia, UK and UAE. Prior to joining Long Harbour, Rebecca spent eight years at Laing O’Rourke working in their property and investment team. Here she worked on their offsite delivery solution, a number of PFI schemes and their residential and mixed use property portfolio.

Hanna recently founded Mood and Space, a development company that supports clients in embedding social value in their development vision and strategy as well as efficiently managing the processes to deliver community focused buildings and urban neighbourhoods. Prior to founding Mood and Space, Hanna Afolabi BA (Hons) MSc MRICS was a Development Director for Balfour Beatty Investments seconded into East Wick and Sweetwater Ltd, a joint venture with Places for People. She led on the feasibility, business planning, budget, design, programming and planning of the mixed-use regeneration project of c. 1900 homes on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. As a planning and development surveyor and a qualified Part I Architect, she is passionate about the built environment and ensuring that people come first in any development process. She has first hand experience of living on a council estate in Haggerston and the disenfranchisement that occurs when people feel that development is done ‘to’ them instead of for them. Growing up in a diverse environment and going to school there means she understands the value of community. Additionally, Hanna founded Black Women in Real Estate (BWRE) in 2019. BWRE is an organisation that aims to bring together black women in property, creating opportunities for upcoming talent and organising workshops for those already in the industry. She is also Vice Chair of the University of Greenwich’s Construction, Property and Surveying Practices Industry Advisory Board and is on Estates Gazette's Diversity & Inclusion Content Advisory Panel, advocating for diverse representation in property.

London based creative interior design studio with projects ranging from high volume top end residential to boutique nurseries. For the past 8.5 years, Fossey Arora has been responsible for delivering one of the most innovative interior and landscape design projects with Quintain at the UK’s largest Build to Rent development site. The Fossey Arora design ethos is simple; fluid concepts, client focused and above all, translating the vision into reality. Every project is special - a unique reflection of the client's vision, delivered with Fossey Arora's unique creativity, energy and enthusiasm. This diversity is showcased in two very different projects - The Robinson and Canada Gardens in Wembley Park

Tor Burrows is the Director of Sustainability and Innovation for Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. This role is designed to galvanize delivery of our environmental goals for 2030 which will see the business become net carbon zero and zero waste by the end of the decade, while also contributing to a significant increase in biodiversity in its communities. She sits on the business’ Executive Committee. Tor previously held the position of Director of Placemaking. She has worked in the company for nearly a decade, including leading the asset management programme for the Mayfair estate and working as Head of Strategy for Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. She sits on the Good Growth Steering Committee of London's West End Partnership and is part of the Westminster Property Association’s Senior Advisory Committee. Tor sits on the WPA’s Senior Advisory Committee and on the West End Partnership’s Good Growth sub-committee.

Sasha Covington is COO and Head of Diversity & Inclusion for JLL’s UK Valuation Advisory team. Sasha has more than 35 years’ experience in the Real Estate industry having commenced her career at JLL as a team secretary before moving into an operational role in 2003. Prior to JLL, Sasha held a position at a small building surveying practice before joining Lambert Smith Hampton as their Office Manager in 1996. “Sasha is really leading the charge when it comes to creating awareness of the challenges faced by individuals from diverse backgrounds in the wider Real Estate industry and she is crucially taking action by implementing policies that ensure JLL hire and promote from a diverse range of backgrounds.” Marcus Ginnn, Edozo Key Experience Sasha formed the JLL Apprentice Scheme in 2016 and has since been shortlisted for Diversity Champion of the Year by Forward Ladies and forms part of CRECF’s DE&I steering group. During her time at JLL, Sasha has been involved in many extracurricular initiatives which have included: JLL’s charity partnerships, gender balance initiatives, Race for Change Reserve Mentoring scheme and industry wide “Changing the Face of Property’ initiatives. Sasha has recently been shortlisted for Burberry’s “UK Diversity Champion on the Year”. Award Sasha has been listed as Women in UK Real Estate who are dominating in 2022.

Beatrice is a Partner with Venn Partners, deputy portfolio manager for the Commercial Real Estate team and a member of the Firm’s Management Board. Beatrice has an extensive background in real estate and corporate lending gained over her 17 years of experience at Citi, HSBC and the Bank of New York. In her previous role at Citi, Beatrice was instrumental on over EUR 2.5 billion of successful loan restructurings and worked on the distribution of over EUR 3 billion of CRE debt to a wide range of investors globally. Beatrice holds a Masters degree in Economics and Finance from Bristol University, and a first degree from the Sorbonne in Paris.

Charlotte Fletcher is an Associate Partner at Alvarium and Head of Transactions for Alvarium Home REIT Advisors, the investment manager to Home REIT plc. Home REIT seeks to contribute to the alleviation of homelessness in the UK, whilst targeting inflation-protected income and capital returns, by funding the acquisition and creation of a diversified portfolio of high-quality accommodation assets across the UK which are dedicated to providing accommodation to homeless people. Charlotte is a qualified solicitor and, since joining Alvarium, has negotiated, structured and executed over £1.2bn worth of transactions in the long income, social housing and commercial property spaces, including the acquisition of over 1500 properties for Home REIT. In addition she provides assistance with raising equity and debt finance for the fund. Prior to joining Alvarium, Charlotte practised as a solicitor at Travers Smith LLP in the commercial real estate department.