Sierra Atilano joined BRIDGE Housing as Executive Vice President – Head of Development and Southern California in October 2022. In this new role, Ms. Atilano is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of BRIDGE’s real estate development activities across all regions, and provides day-to-day leadership in Southern California.

During her career of 25+ years, Ms. Atilano has developed more than 3,130 apartment homes in 17 cities across three states, and one million square feet of commercial retail. Prior to BRIDGE, she was Chief Executive Officer of Skid Row Housing Trust, a respected developer, manager and operator of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals in the Los Angeles area.

Ms. Atilano began her career at one of the largest Real Estate Investment Trusts, Lincoln Property Company, where she gained a firm foundation in leadership and portfolio oversight, then joined a construction company specializing in multifamily new construction and rehab projects. She subsequently worked for several family-owned developers such as Cal-American, Korda Construction and Miller Family Companies, where her unique experience in project and portfolio management earned her a reputation as a problem solver and an asset to the finance and development teams. Later, at Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation and Watt Residential, she applied her expertise in finance and portfolio management to affordable housing. Over the last 12 years, Ms. Atilano honed her asset management and development expertise working for developers AMCAL Residential and Skid Row Housing Trust.

Tonja Boykin joined the Weingart Center in 2016 to serve as its Chief Operating Officer. Tonja has 28 years working as a high-performing nonprofit management executive with national and regional expertise in building/optimizing organizational processes, measurement systems, and infrastructure to maximize business results in philanthropy, resident programs and permanent and affordable housing development industries. She is a skilled strategist who transforms strategic plans into workable solutions and benchmarks performance against key operational targets/goals. Tonja is recognized as a national leader in community organizing, program development and strategic initiatives focused on the hardest to serve populations including families, youth, seniors, and individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their housing.

Prior to joining the Weingart Center, Tonja served as the Chief Operating Officer for Skid Row Housing Trust and the Regional Director of Philanthropy for Mercy Housing California. Tonja’s career with Mercy Housing began in 2001 and she served in various regional and national capacities throughout her fourteen year career there. Her early working life began as a program liaison in Mayor Richard Riordan’s office for L.A.’s Best After-School Enrichment program. She was also a Program Director at the Weingart Urban Center YMCA and a Senior Development Associate at Netzel Associates prior to joining Mercy Housing.

Tonja studied at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, Pacific Oaks in Pasadena California, and the Fashion Institute Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California.

As Chief Operating Officer for Decro Corporation, Ms. Vandeweghe is responsible for the expansion of Decro’s affordable portfolio and the daily operation of Decro’s pipeline developments, including the coordination of the financing, construction and operation of all new developments, including an affordable, mixed-use, mixed-income development with 50,000 square feet of commercial space and approximately 200 units proposed to be built in Los Angeles.

Ms. Vandeweghe comes to Decro Corporation with more than 15 years of experience in complex, mixed-use development transactions. She has entitled more than 4,700 housing units in California and developed more than 1,500 multi-family units in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, including 90 affordable units.

Ms. Vandeweghe is a veteran in structuring complex real estate transactions comprised of multi-layered financing using New Market Tax Credits (NMTCs) and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), and successfully bringing difficult projects to fruition, including Del Mar Station in Pasadena, California and the Wilshire Vermont Station in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Decro, Ms. Vandeweghe was a managing member of a real estate development and asset management firm that handled the entitlements for the 1,100 acre master planned community in unincorporated Imperial County, California, Rancho Los Lagos, comprised of 3,800 housing units, a 100 acre business park, 10 acres of commercial, a 40-acre community park, two schools and an active adult golf community. She was vice president at CityScape Capital Group, LLC, where she managed new market, historic, and energy tax credit portfolios worth more than $100 million, and director of marketing and asset management at Urban Partners, LLC where she oversaw a portfolio of over $1 billion in development in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Ms. Vandeweghe holds a Master in Business Administration with an emphasis in real estate from the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management, a Master in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. She is a member of the American Planning Association and Urban Land Institute.

With over 25 years of experience as an award-winning architect, landscape architect, educator, and author, Greg brings a wealth of knowledge and a holistic design philosophy to the GGA+ practice. As Design Principal, Greg is responsible for shaping the design culture of the firm. His unique perspective at the intersection of urban design, landscape, and architecture has been particularly influential in the firms’ recent affordable and supportive multi-family housing projects. Greg seeks design opportunities in the built environment that positively impact communities through access to quality housing, restorative green space, and equitable economic development.

By harnessing diversity and building a culture of empowerment, agency, and growth with every project, Greg reinforces the firm’s mission of ‘Doing Good with Great Design.’

Greg holds a Master of Architecture degree from University of California, Los Angeles, is currently the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture & Urban Design, Co-President, and has published several books and pieces on Climate Change and Resiliency.

Eric is a licensed Architect with over 14 years of diverse architectural experience, covering a range project types that include mixed-use buildings, multi-family residential, affordable housing, single-family residential, hospitality, telecommunications, and commercial. He works in all phases of the design process, from conceptual design to construction documents, and coordinates with consultants for an integrated design process. From entitlements to building permit, he works closely with owners and agencies to deliver projects that meet the objectives of all parties involved. Eric received a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Cal Poly Pomona, and he is registered by the NCARB and Green Building Certification Institute.

Bench Park is a family limited partnership real estate investment company owned by the family office Gorman Family Circle. Mia leads Bench Park’s ESG investment strategy and social impact initiatives. She advocates and evangelizes for all stakeholders to mutually benefit from real estate transactions from the designer, the developer to the dweller. Currently, she working on the launch of a Homeowner DPA (down payment assistance) fund for to provide forever homes for foster care alumni.

Alex Valente serves as a Senior Vice President for the Los Angeles Business Unit of Trammell Crow Company. Alex focuses on all multifamily opportunities within Greater Los Angeles for High Street Residential, TCC's residential subsidiary. In his role, Alex is responsible for identifying new development and investment opportunities, debt and equity partnerships, entitlements and community outreach, design, construction and leasing.

Prior to joining TCC, Alex worked for The Ratkovich Company, a Los Angeles-based developer. Alex focused his time working on three Ratkovich assets: The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista, a 28-acre 530,000-square-foot creative office and studio campus, 5900 Wilshire, a 30-story 491,000-square-foot office building in Miracle Mile, and The Alhambra, a 1,000,000-square-foot office campus.

Prior to The Ratkovich Company, Alex worked for Thomas Safran & Associates, a Los Angeles-based affordable housing developer. Alex focused his efforts on the development of The Renaissance at City Center, a 150-unit multifamily project in Carson, California and Canyon Creek, a 75-unit tax-credit, senior multifamily project in Calabasas, CA.

Ms. Lawshe joined the company in 2002 and is responsible for providing leadership to the acquisition and development team. She has extensive experience with the use of low-income housing tax credits, multi-layered financing structures and HUD project-based rental programs, as well as conventional financing. While at GHC, Ms. Lawshe has been responsible for the acquisition and financing of approximately 15,000 units exceeding $750 million dollars in value.

Ms. Lawshe has more than 20 years of experience in real estate development and finance. Prior to joining GHC, Ms. Lawshe served as the chief executive officer of A Community of Friends (ACOF), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit development organization. Under her leadership, ACOF produced approximately 800 units in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, and raised more than $100 million in capital from private and public sources.

Ms. Lawshe obtained an MBA, with a concentration in real estate finance, at the Anderson School at UCLA and a bachelor of science in industrial management/industrial engineering from Purdue University.

As VP of Development, Mr. Montano is responsible for managing developments from

acquisition through entitlements, and construction through sales. These projects

have included residential condo and apartments with various types, from ground

up, to historic adaptive reuse, office conversions. He also oversees the Adept’s

Japan’s Investor office which includes a number of publicly traded transportation

and development focused companies as well as a large pool to high net-worth

individuals and family offices.

Prior to joining Adept Development, Robert spent over two decades in the public

sector with the City of Pasadena and County of Los Angeles in redevelopment and

economic development. While with the City of Pasadena, he was responsible for a

wide variety of public/private partnerships and projects of community-wide

significance. He oversaw retail recruitment efforts contributing to the Old Pasadena,

Playhouse and South Lake Avenue Districts, and was the point person facilitating all

mixed-use and commercial development for the City. Prior to Pasadena, Robert was

a project manager for the East Rancho Dominguez Project area and West Altadena

Redevelopment Project area where he played a role in funding and constructing the

Business Technology Center – a 30,000 high technology business incubator focused

on transferring patents from institutions at NASA’s JPL and Caltech for commercial

purposes, paving the way for the revitalization of the Lincoln Avenue Corridor in

Altadena.

Robert attended Cal Poly Pomona where he earned his Bachelor’s of Science in

Urban and Regional Planning.

John Petersen is Vice President and Mortgage Banker with KeyBank Real Estate Capital in Newport Beach, California. John provides clients with financing options through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, CMBS and Investor Placements across a variety of multifamily asset types to include conventional, student housing, manufactured housing and affordable housing for clients based in California and Western Region.

Mr. Petersen brings nearly a decade of experience in commercial real estate finance and commercial mortgage banking to Key. Prior to joining Key, he was a director at Greystone and Co. and was responsible for managing a production pipeline of more than a billion dollars of annual real estate loan originations. Previously, Mr. Petersen was a multifamily underwriter and production analyst at Freddie Mac.

Petersen earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Emory University.

John Arnold, AIA, is a Partner at KFA Architecture, where he leads design and client relationships for a wide range of multifamily, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use projects across Los Angeles and California. He also provides firm-wide oversight to maintain KFA’s culture and mentorship of staff. With more than two decades of experience shaping urban housing, John brings a thoughtful approach to density—balancing livability, efficiency, and community context in every project. His portfolio includes high-density and affordable housing developments such as Vivo on Harbor, Llewellyn Apartments, Las Palmas Apartments, and The Laurel Apartments, each integrating site and city in meaningful ways.

John also leads KFA’s adaptive reuse practice, having completed over a dozen projects in historically significant buildings. He also remains deeply engaged in civic life through his service on the boards of AIA|LA, Abode Communities Housing, and FORT:LA. He is longtime resident and advocate in his South LA neighborhood of Jefferson Park, serving 17 years on the neighborhood council and two local design review boards, bringing a grounded, real-world perspective on how thoughtful design and planning can elevate neighborhoods. John’s insights on designing for density and optimizing space reflect both his architectural expertise and his lived experience navigating Los Angeles’ evolving urban fabric.

Sabine Grimes is the Founder and Principal of Unison. Sabine graduated from Ontario College

of Art and Design in Toronto and has since proceeded to work through many of Canadas top

interior design and architecture firms. Sabine has also spent an extensive amount of time

working on the client side for real estate developers as well as fortune 500 companies managing

the development of their interior spaces. With this unique background, Sabine leads a design

group that provides forward thinking design solutions that consist of award-winning aesthetics

paired with a pragmatic business sensibility for condominium, purpose-built rental and hospitality

projects worldwide.

Marc Szabo Studios has been producing award-winning visualizations since the early 1970's. Marc was a pioneer among illustrators creating such books as "Drawing File" which has sold thousands of copies in multiple languages. Since then, MSS was one of the first teams to go digital, and continues setting the trends for how we visualize real estate. His daughter Sofia, took over the business in 2015, and has expanded their portfolio to predominantly multifamily and commercial properties. Sofia has brought the company to luxury markets and is consistently raising the bar for how developers and buyers showcase and approve their projects. Based out of Los Angeles, Sofia and her family maintain the highest quality presentations, and what sets them apart from the rest is their client relationships. Coming from twenty years of working in restaurants, Sofia brought the focus and attention to detail that is often missed in our industry. Deemed a concierge service studio, Sofia goes above and beyond to make sure each deadline is met with excellence

Sara Neff is a Partner and General Manager of Sustainability for Microsoft's Cloud Operations + Innovation team.

Prior to joining Microsoft, she was Head of Sustainability, Lendlease Americas, where she provided leadership and management oversight in developing, implementing and driving Lendlease's corporate sustainability framework in the Americas region.

Prior to that role, she served as Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation. Under her leadership, Kilroy was recognized as a leader among publicly traded real estate companies on sustainability in the Americas by GRESB for seven of the last eight years as well as being recognized by NAREIT, and achieved carbon neutral operations at the end of 2020. She is a LEED Fellow and holds a BS from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Ari Kahan began his career at Fortress Investment Group where he was responsible for underwriting and financial analysis across a wide range of asset classes. In 2012, Ari joined California Landmark as a consultant in the acquisitions and development departments, focusing on deal origination and the entitlement of several developments. In 2015, he launched the restaurant group Mainland Poke Shop, reinventing and popularizing the Hawaiian concept of Poke on a global scale, where he was recognized by Zagat in their 30 under 30 program for his efforts in this new restaurant field.

Ari rejoined CLG full time in 2017 and has been instrumental in the company’s growth strategy since then. Today, Ari oversees the Acquisitions group and co leads the Development Group. He also serves on the firm’s IMC (Investment and Management Committee), helping guide the company into the 21st century.

An LA native, Ari graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a BBA in Real Estate Finance. A pension for charity drives Ari to give back by serving on the boards of a charter school, a private Jewish high school and variety of food related charitable ventures. When not working, Ari enjoys both playing and watching hockey, skiing, cooking, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

A native Angeleno, Ben Stapleton is a recognized sustainability leader, who brings to this position extensive experience and connections across real estate, technology and innovation. He launched and managed the La Kretz Innovation Campus in Downtown Los Angeles, most recently serving as SVP, Operations & Finance for the LA Cleantech Incubator (LACI). The Campus has become an epicenter for sustainability in the region featuring events with prominent local, national and international leaders, while being home to a community of cutting-edge businesses and nonprofits. At LACI, Stapleton led major operational growth, program development, and partnerships to triple revenue for the non-profit. Simultaneously, he helped lead efforts that resulted in the La Kretz Innovation Campus becoming an iconic green building for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the City of Los Angeles, with multiple certifications, as well as pilot projects targeting waste, water, and energy efficiency. Stapleton has also held the positions of Managing Director of the LA Better Buildings Challenge and Vice President & Cleantech Practice Group Lead at JLL. He has served on the boards of LA Bioscience Hub and USGBC-LA. Representing competing schools in Los Angeles, Stapleton holds a MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

A 20 year veteran of the solar energy industry, Sean Doak has overseen the development and integration of hundreds of megawatts of commercial and residential solar projects nationwide. He’s managed sales divisions for some of the industry’s most successful solar companies, including two Fortune 500 firms (Mitsui and Direct Energy), and now leads SunPower’s multifamily new construction division.

In each of his roles, Sean has been an integral part of the senior leadership teams, and always brings a strong passion for building professional sales teams dedicated to the long-term growth of solar and energy infrastructure. Sean holds a B.S. in Political Science and a B.A. in Global Studies from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Daniel Gehman attended Cornell University in upstate New York before relocating to California. Daniel has been involved in the industry since 1986 and brings specialized expertise in architectural design to the Ware Malcomb team. As Director, Multifamily, he is responsible for the growth of the multifamily practice, focusing on business development, client service, and project execution. Daniel's background includes a variety of multifamily project types, with 25 years of specialization in Southern California and current projects in the Central Valley and Arizona. He currently teaches a class in the Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program at the University of Southern California as an adjunct professor and is active in many industry associations.