Anzor Zurhaev is the founder and CEO of Crimson IT, a leading managed service provider based in Los Angeles, California. His previous experience at notable companies like CBRE, Dolby Laboratories, Maguire Properties, and Las Vegas Sands has equipped him with a deep understanding of how to align technology with business objectives effectively.

Anzor’s strategic emphasis on cybersecurity with standards such as NIST, HIPAA, and SOC 2, along with initiatives in building Zero Trust architectures, underscores his dedication to enhancing IT frameworks. Additionally, Anzor’s ongoing projects focus on leveraging AI to automate service delivery, enhance decision-making, and unlock new value across managed service provider (MSP) operations and client ecosystems. This approach not only reinforces Crimson IT's position as a leader in innovative IT solutions but also exemplifies Anzor's vision of using technology to drive business growth and resilience in an increasingly digital world.

Taylor brings significant experience as a credits and incentives specialist to CTI, including 10 years in the Research and Development credit space. With a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University, and a J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston, he utilizes his background in business, law, and technical application to identify and secure tax incentives for various types of businesses across various industries. Throughout his career, he has performed hundreds of R&D credit projects and secured millions in tax credits for his clients.

As one of CTI’s Managing Directors, Taylor oversees and works directly with CTI Project Managers and incentives teams, focusing on detailed analysis, substantiation of credit and incentive claims, and application of the governing tax law to the specific activities and operations of each client. Taylor also works directly with CPAs and businesses to evaluate eligibility, assess compliance, and determine available benefits.

Neville Rhone is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Arc Capital Partners. Along with Quincy Allen, he is responsible for overall firm strategy, investments, asset management, financing and dispositions. Neville is also primarily responsible for overseeing the firm’s Texas opportunities.

Neville is a 25-year veteran of real estate development, finance and investing with over $6 billion of transaction experience. Prior to forming Arc Capital Partners, Neville was a Managing Director and investment committee member of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors (“Canyon”). At Canyon, Neville led Texas/Southeast acquisitions and invested in over $1 billion of real estate. Prior to joining Canyon, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley focused on real estate investing. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Neville was a senior development executive with Tishman Realty Corporation, a leading mixed-use developer and operator located in New York City.

Neville is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Pension Real Estate Association and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He is also a trustee of the Marlborough School and board member of the Economic Resources Corporation.

Neville graduated from Cornell University with both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering (Civil Engineering) and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. Neville is also an avid triathlete and marathoner.

Oliver Anderson joins us as Head of Real Estate Banking for UMTB USA and brings experience from such banks as Wells Fargo, Union Bank and Cathay Bank. Oliver has led custom credit, term, bridge and construction lending teams covering major US MSA’s over the past 20-years.

Carey is the managing principal of the real estate industry, leading a team dedicated to helping clients navigate every phase of the real estate investment life cycle. With 20 years of experience, Carey specializes in providing accounting, assurance, tax, and consulting services to real estate owners, operators, developers, syndicators, and family offices.

CLA’s real estate practice serves over 30,000 clients across various property types and asset classes. Carey and the team deliver strategic insights to support acquisitions, improve operations, and guide transitions, helping clients maximize property value and achieve their long-term goals.

Carey also contributes regularly as an editor and writer for the Real Estate Industry Insights blog, sharing valuable expertise and thought leadership.

He is passionate about providing impeccable client service and is committed to becoming the premier resource for privately held businesses and their owners. Carey is honored to lead the dynamic industry team and mentor the next great generation of real estate professionals.

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.

Prior to founding The Max Collaborative, Kevin ran Forest City Realty Trust’s Los Angeles office, where he’d been employed since 1998. During his career, he was extensively involved in the entitlement, development, rehabilitation, and repositioning of over 10 million square feet of real estate, including over 3,000 apartment units. He developed market rate, affordable, and high-density urban housing, both new and through the adaptive re-use of preexisting structures. Additionally, Kevin oversaw several mixed-use developments focused on placemaking and today’s innovation economy; as a result, he has significant expertise in revitalizing urban neighborhoods.

Kevin has spent the majority of his professional career working in California and is deeply embedded in its civic community. He is currently on the Board of Directors for SCI-Arc and The Hammer Museum.

His past involvement includes serving on the LA Conservancy Board, the Board of Directors for the Center for Creative Land Recycling, as an Advisory Board Member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, and membership in the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Leadership Council.

Kevin graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BA degree and holds a Masters in Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.

Evan Staggs, CPA, has more than a decade of experience in tax services and focuses on real estate tax, investment fund structuring and flow-through entity compliance. Evan has a background at Big Four firms and has led the real estate tax group in Southern California at a top ten firm. He advises real estate investors, private equity firms and public and private REITs on tax compliance and strategic planning. Throughout his career, Evan has supported complex client engagements involving partnership taxation, REITs (income/asset testing), asset capitalization, depreciation and 1031 exchange and other transaction due diligence. He has worked closely with CFOs, tax directors and legal teams across retail, hospitality, industrial and office development sectors and brings deep knowledge of property tax strategies and change-in-ownership issues.

Evan is a certified public accountant (CPA) in California. He holds a Master of Science in taxation from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Arts in economics with a minor in accounting from the University of Southern California.

Victor DiFede is a Vice President in the Investments Group at CIM. He is responsible for leading the acquisition, management, and disposition of assets across several U.S. submarkets. Prior to joining CIM, Victor worked at J.P. Morgan in their Investment Bank advising Financial Institution clients. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management with a concentration in Finance.

Chris Fraley is Chief Investment Officer for RealtyMogul, overseeing underwriting, closing and asset management for the firm’s debt and equity investments. Chris has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, including sourcing transactions and negotiating complex joint venture equity partnerships.

Prior to joining RealtyMogul, Chris was a Partner of Rockwood Capital, a privately held real estate investment and advisory firm managing more than $8.3 billion of equity commitments from investors. From 1999 through 2011, Chris was responsible for acquisitions and asset management on the East Coast Chris served on the Investment Committees of multiple funds, and was member of the Research and Strategy Committee and of the Management Committee.

Chris is also an Advisor to Forge Development Partners, a San Francisco based affordable housing developer with $500M under development. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Brookwood Group and an Advisor to RealBlocks.

Chris remains an active voice in the LGBTQ community, having previously served as Vice Chair the Board of Directors of StartOut, as well as the Board of GLAAD.

James Nelson is Principal and Head of U.S. Investment Sales where he leads Avison Young’s significant investment sale efforts and growth strategies in the top U.S. markets. Avison Young is a full service global real estate firm with over 5,000 real estate professionals located in 120 offices in 20 countries including more than 50 offices across the United States. With a differentiated approach, the cohesive U.S. Investment Sales Group leverages best in class execution to deliver superior results for clients.

Since joining Avison Young in 2018, James has been involved in over 225 sales valued at well above $3 billion dollars, resulting in his being named a top global top producer, a Commercial Observer’s Power 100, and a CoStar Power Broker. James has also been a recipient of REBNY’s prestigious Edward S. Gordan Deal of the Year award. Some noteworthy clients include The Archdiocese of New York, Breaking Ground, The Carlyle Group, JP Morgan Chase, Salvation Army and Vornado among others.

James builds unique sales platforms at Avison Young consisting of a unified, client-first sales group that is broken out by asset class and providing the best client experience. This approach aligns with Avison Young’s principally owned structure which allows principals to be personally invested in the long-term success of their clients.

Throughout his over 25-year career, James has been involved in the sale of approximately 500 property and loan sales for an aggregate value of over $5 billion dollars. Prior to joining Avison Young, James served as Vice Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield, where his team was ranked the number one Investment Sales broker nationwide in 2016. Previously, James was a partner and top producer for Massey Knakal for six of their last eight years and was named the company’s youngest partner in 2004.

James is passionate about real estate and helping others achieve success. With his Wall Street Journal bestselling book The Insider’s Edge To Real Estate Investing, podcast, videos, and weekly Forbes articles, he advises on how to navigate and stay on top of this ever-changing market. He enjoys guest lecturing at Columbia, Fordham, NYU, Wharton, and of course his alma mater Colgate. He often provides this real estate expertise to notable mainstream publications such as The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, and the NY Post.

James serves on the boards of REBNY, SparkYouth NYC, and USA Water Polo and is a former Chairman of YM/WREA. He is also a co-founder of the Real Estate Services Alliance (RESA) and the Colgate Real Estate Council. His greatest joy is spending time with his wife Allison and three sons Luke, Austin, and TJ either at home in Connecticut, up on the Cape, or travelling to their water polo tournaments on the West Coast. You can follow James on Instagram at @jamesnelsonnyc or visit jamesnelson.com for more information.

Cesar Reynoso is an assurance leader specializing in audit and related services for large, complex companies and multinational entities. He has 20+ years of experience providing assurance services to SEC accelerated filers, public cannabis companies, large multinational companies, private corporations, and real estate firms, including REITs, private equity funds, and pension funds investing in real estate.

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.

In March 2017, Doane Liu was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as the Executive Director of the City Tourism Department (CTD), with the goal to further enhance and increase Los Angeles’ prominence and attraction as a world-class tourist and convention destination. Liu was also designated as Chief Tourism Officer for the City of Los Angeles in the Mayor's Executive Directive on Tourism.

Liu joined the CTD after serving as Deputy Executive Director and Chief of Staff at the Port of Los Angeles, where he was the second in command at the busiest container port in North America and head of the Port’s External Affairs Bureau.

Before the Port, Liu was Deputy Mayor for the City of Los Angeles. He managed the Mayor's Office of City Services and helped the Mayor oversee 15 City Departments, including the Los Angeles Department Water and Power, Public Works, Transportation, Recreation and Parks, Public Library, and LA Zoo. He also established the Great Streets Studio and LA RiverWorks in the Mayor’s Office. A second-generation Korean-American, Liu also was a liaison in the Mayor’s Office to the Korean-American community in Los Angeles.

Liu was previously Chief of Staff for Councilman Joe Buscaino and served as Chief of Staff for Councilwoman Janice Hahn, Deputy Mayor for Mayor James K. Hahn, Director of Community Affairs for City Attorney James K. Hahn and District Director for Congresswoman Jane Harman. He was also Senior Vice President of Government Banking at JP Morgan Chase and Vice President in the Real Estate Industries Group at Security Pacific National Bank.

Liu currently serves on the boards of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Fleet Week Foundation and Sister Cities of Los Angeles. He has previously served on the boards of the LA24 Olympic Bid Committee, LA County Business Federation, Harbor Interfaith Shelter, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Mary Star of the Sea High School, and Holy Trinity School.

Liu graduated from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and received an MBA from University of Southern California. He and his wife have four adult children and have lived in San Pedro for over 35 years.

Joe Vargas, based in Bakersfield, joined Wonderful Real Estate in July 2017 as

President of the Real Estate Development team. Joe has over 35 years of

experience in the real estate industry and has held executive positions with

Grubb & Ellis, Cushman & Wakefield (where he served in several key leadership

roles, including President of the West Region), and Executive Vice President at

Lee & Associates. In his role with Wonderful, Joe oversees industrial

development projects in the Central Valley.

Joe serves on several boards, including the board of AIR CRE as co-chair

of the arbitration committee. Joe is a two-time Olympian in Water Polo, a

Silver Medalist in the 1984 Olympics, and a 1992 inductee into the USA Water

Polo Hall of Fame.

As the Executive Vice President of Business Development at Chargie, Chris is responsible for bringing intelligent and reliable EV charging solutions to multifamily and commercial properties around the country. He has a proven track record of delivering products and services that drive innovation and growth for real estate owners, managers and investors. Before joining Chargie, he served as Director of Business Development at Boingo Wireless, a leading provider of 5G technology. Prior to Boingo, Chris held leadership positions at Verizon Enhanced Communities, Hughes Communications, rent.com, Global Enterprise Resource Group, and CU Solutions Group, and was one of the first five employees at DirecTV.

With 12 years in the construction industry, project executive Matt Stratton serves as the key owner liaison accountable for client satisfaction, process innovation, and project success. He has a deep understanding of what it takes to safely and successfully execute a project, and the proof is in his repeat client work—he led teams on 46 projects throughout SoFi Stadium and is currently working on his eighth project for the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara. His portfolio of projects spans hospitality, commercial, and retail—from upgrading the LAFC’s performance center locker rooms to building out 90,000 square feet of space for Regus Santa Monica. He’s worked with some of the most well-known names in the hospitality and retail industries, including Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Nobu Hospitality, Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, and Valentino.

Dan Herman brings an urban sensibility to his work, with a focus on infill and densification through mixed-use development. His projects convert underutilized sites into lively micro-cities that are walkable, transit-oriented and sustainable. Dan brings this city-making approach to more than two decades managing commercial office, mixed-use, TOD, studio, residential, retail and hospitality projects. Dan manages an active roster of projects in LA as well as Texas, where he leads the firm's growing Austin office. Dan’s recent work includes the 1 Hotel West Hollywood, 8500 Sunset Boulevard, Centro Westlake, 100 West Walnut and 1111 Sunset Boulevard. Dan also leads SOM’s studio work, with projects including Radford Studio Center in Studio City, Basin Studios in Toronto and Alameda Crossing in LA’s Arts District. He has also led adaptive reuse projects that have transformed former industrial buildings into vibrant contemporary workplaces, including The Desmond in Downtown Los Angeles and the Pen Factory in Santa Monica.

Kevin is a partner of Greenberg Glusker’s Real Estate Group and has developed strong expertise within the industrial real estate space. Kevin has represented e-commerce enterprises, including a Fortune 100 company, negotiating millions of square feet of industrial warehouse space throughout the Western United States. In addition, Kevin works with a leading industrial real estate company in Southern California on dozens of acquisitions of mid-size and large industrial real properties involving millions of square feet of improvements, including multi-property portfolio acquisitions and seller leaseback transactions.

Kevin Sher has experience representing private owners, partnerships, REITs, and public companies in all aspects of real estate matters including residential and commercial purchase and sale transactions, retail and office leasing, and real estate financing. He has extensive experience in the office and multifamily sectors. Kevin has represented a global financial investment company on its acquisitions and dispositions of large office campuses and towers. He has also worked with multi-family real estate investment groups to assist in the acquisition and financing of thousands of apartments units.

Ethan is the Founder and Managing Partner, CIO of MREC Management, LLC. He is a recognized pioneer in the fields of real estate and finance with a 35-year career marked by filling voids and responding to unseen or poorly understood opportunities. Most consequently, he is credited with being the primary driver in the creation of the Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities market while at Nomura Securities, for which he received broad recognition including being named one of the U.S. Real Estate Industry’s 100 icons of the 20th century. In 2011, Real Estate Forum voted him one of the Real Estate Industry’s 65 living legends in their 65th anniversary issue. In 2008, Penner founded and served as President of CBRE Capital Partners, a real estate debt investment platform that successfully raised and managed over $600 million from institutional and high net worth investors. CBRE Capital Partners substantially exited all investments in 2014.

Ethan is also committed to improving the lives of others and enhancing awareness and does so in a number of ways including; Teaching – he currently serves as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, and previously held the same capacity at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business; Writing – he maintains a blog and has had many articles published in a variety of publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Wharton Real Estate Review and the Institutional Real Estate Investor; Public speaking – he is a frequent featured speaker at industry conferences and universities; Philanthropy & Civic involvement – He is a member of the Advisory Board of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, in 1996 he founded the Walt Frazier Youth Foundation which provided internships to teenagers at major U.S. corporations in New York City, and has been on numerous boards including that of The League, which had a competition-based, in-school community service model, KIND, which is dedicated to bringing education and opportunity to woman, and The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is dedicated to enhancing awareness to combat hate; and Fitness – he is the founder of Fitwall, LLC, a company aimed at revolutionizing the exercise industry through its patented Fitwall product.

Ethan is married to Marisol Penner, a former professional athlete and native of Venezuela, and they have five children and reside in Los Angeles.

President SKR, The Lot at Fromosa

She has built her career on creating and leading teams that drive strategic planning, support growth, and streamline operations across industries and disciplines. With extensive experience in media, broadcast, studio real estate, and facilities management, she began her career at Warner Bros., focusing on master planning and international portfolio management. Her subsequent roles at Boeing and NewsCorp/Fox further solidified her expertise in optimizing complex environments to scale with evolving business needs.

At SKR, she leverages her team’s capabilities and her deep operational insight to oversee strategies that adapt with the speed and agility required to thrive in an ever-changing business landscape.