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Speakers and Panels

2024 Honorees

Recognizing The Top Women in Finance

Alex Lane

Alex Lane

SVP, Commercial Real Estate

Commerce Bank

Alice Chiang

Alice Chiang

Global Head of Investment Operations & Strategy

CBRE Investment Management

Amanda Osburn

Amanda Osburn

Senior Vice President & Community President

InterBank

Ariella Middlebrook

Ariella Middlebrook

CFO

Stream

Beth Zayicek

Beth Zayicek

Managing Director& COO

Invesco Private Markets

Camilla Harris

Camilla Harris

CFO

Willow Bridge Property Company

Charlotte Patterson

Charlotte Patterson

Director, Investor Coverage Group

Crow Holdings

Dawn Waye

Dawn Waye

COO

Edison Equity Residential

Elaine Agather

Elaine Agather

Global Vice Chair

The Dallas Region for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co

Eliza Solender

Eliza Solender

President, Solender/Hall Inc.

Director, Origin Bancorp

Emily Mosquera

Emily Mosquera

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

CapRock Partners

Ese Aihie

Ese Aihie

CEO & President

Admiral Legacy

Esther Cho

Esther Cho

Managing Director

GREA

Felicia Pierson

Felicia Pierson

Managing Director, Lending

Community Reinvestment Fund

Gillian Sutton Cho

Gillian Sutton Cho

Founder

Emerald Crest Capital

Jennifer Chandler

Jennifer Chandler

Managing Director, Head of Philanthropic Solutions

Bank of America

Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson

SVP

Cadence Bank

Jocelyn Ansley

Jocelyn Ansley

Principal

Caravel Ventures

Kristin Kolowich John

Kristin Kolowich John

Director of Finance & Senior Project Manager

OMNIPLAN

Mary Hager

Mary Hager

Executive Director , Investment Management

Greystar

Natalie Baumeister

Natalie Baumeister

Commercial Escrow Officer

Title Partners

Rose Hasham

Rose Hasham

Head of Brokerage and Investments

Axe Commercial Real Estate

Tiffany (Krass) Payan

Tiffany (Krass) Payan

VP, Fund Controller

Crescent Real Estate LLC

Tracey Bailey

Tracey Bailey

Shareholder

Winstead

Alice Chiang

Global Head of Investment Operations & Strategy

CBRE Investment Management

Alice Chiang is Head of Investment Operations & Strategy, leading investment operations across CBRE Investment Management’s solutions globally. In this role, she has executive oversight of investment practices and execution including product architecture evolution, capital deployment, performance analysis and risk.

Since joining CBRE Group in 2012, Alice has held roles with increasing responsibility in the Corporate Finance, Sales Management, and Corporate Development & Strategy organizations. Most recently, Alice served as the parent company’s Operational Head of Finance, overseeing programs designed to make the Finance organization a more effective strategic business partner.

Prior to CBRE, Alice worked in financial services in investment banking and sell-side equity research. She began her career in financial services in 2008.

Alice earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She is on the CBRE Women’s Network Advisory Board and the MIT Education Council.

Ariella Middlebrook

CFO

Stream

Ariella Middlebrook joined Stream in 2024 as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer. Based in Dallas, her role will help shape and drive Stream’s overall growth strategy. Ariella’s primary responsibilities include spearheading Stream’s financial strategy to promote fiscal excellence within the organization, which encompasses managing corporate accounting, treasury, and cash management, monitoring financial performance, and optimizing resources. Additionally, she will maintain and enhance banking relationships, conduct profitability analysis, and will play a vital part in the acquisition and structuring of brokerage teams.

Throughout her career, Ariella has carved a distinguished path, guiding financial operations through the waves of rapid organizational growth and pivotal transformation initiatives. Her strategic leadership is anchored in her vast experiences across Fortune 500 companies, global enterprises, agile startups, and Big 4 public accounting, with a keen specialization in the multifaceted realm of commercial real estate. Ariella has a rich history of collaborating with business partners to unearth and harness opportunities to elevate earnings.

Prior to joining Stream, Ariella served as Chief Accounting Officer & Global Controller at Kincentric (a SpencerStuart Company) for four years. Previous roles within the commercial real estate industry included U.S. Chief Financial Officer for Avison Young, Senior Director of Accounting Policy & Reporting for General Growth Properties, and SVP of Global Financial Accounting and Global SOX Program for JLL.

Beth Zayicek

Managing Director& COO

Invesco Private Markets

Beth A. Zayicek. Ms. Zayicek has served as our Chief Operating Officer and as one of our directors since January 2019. Ms. Zayicek has served Invesco Real Estate since 2008 and currently is a Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of Invesco Private Markets. She is a member of Invesco Real Estate’s Global Executive Committee and Asia Investment Committee. Ms. Zayicek previously served as Invesco Real Estate’s Chief Administrative Officer from 2016 to 2018 and senior director of investment analytics from 2013 to 2016. She has also served on Invesco Real Estate’s portfolio management and acquisition teams and as a member of its North American Investment Committee. Ms. Zayicek has served as a director of Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. since February 2021. Prior to joining Invesco Real Estate, Ms. Zayicek served as a member of the corporate and investment banking analyst program and real estate private equity group at KeyBank. Ms. Zayicek also previously served as the director of capital markets at DDR Corp. Ms. Zayicek earned a B.S. in Management with a concentration in Finance from Case Western Reserve University. Ms. Zayicek is a valuable member of our board of directors because of her management experience, investment expertise and history with Invesco Real Estate.

Charlotte Patterson

Director, Investor Coverage Group

Crow Holdings

Charlotte Patterson is a Director in the Investor Coverage Group of Crow Holdings Capital. Her responsibilities include investor coverage of U.S. and Latin American based institutional investors, including capital formation, current and prospective investor relationship management, strategic initiatives, and business development.

Charlotte began her career in the Economic & Valuation Services group at KPMG where she performed real estate valuation analysis for a wide variety of property types. Charlotte has also held positions at Goldman Sachs where she focused on multifamily development and acquisitions across the United States.

Charlotte received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Dawn Waye

COO

Edison Equity Residential

30 plus years in multifamily and real estate with a heavy focus on operations. Dawn worked for some of

the largest management companies, servicing Institutional clients and family office investors with

market knowledge through-out the country. Growing in the industry afforded her a multi-faceted view

of real estate, serving in different capacities such as Asset Manager, V P of Operations, President/Owner

of a construction service company that included negotiating, bidding, and being awarded government

contracts.

As a Founder, President, and Principal Broker of City Gate Property Group from 2014-2021 she managed

2.2 billion in assets (18,000+ units) for investors. As a partner she helped grow a successful company

that sold to Asset Living. She holds broker licenses in multiple states as well as a CPM Designation. She

provides peers, clients, vendors, and residents a voice at the local, state and national level through

industry legislative advocacy as a volunteer to the various Apartment Associations. As the current

President of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas her focus is on serving the over 700,000 units

and the Owner Managers and Product Service members. Dawn is relationship driven, entrepreneur

minded, results oriented. She has the Owners perspective and able to solve systemic issues, addressing

concerns and communicate transparently.

Dawn is married and has five children, seventeen grandchildren. She currently the Denton County Tax

Assessor-Collector elect taking office in January of 2025.

Elaine Agather

Global Vice Chair

The Dallas Region for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co

Elaine Agather is a Global Vice Chair at J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Chairman of the Dallas Region for

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Previously, she served as the Central Region Head for J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

Elaine joined Chemical Bank of New York in 1979, working in London, San Francisco, and New York until she

relocated to Dallas in 1984. After the 1986 merger of Chemical Bank and Texas Commerce Bank, Elaine was

promoted to Chairman of Texas Commerce Bank in Fort Worth in 1992 and joined the Private Bank to manage

client advisory groups across the state in 1997. In 1999, she was elected Chairman and CEO of Dallas.

Elaine is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Performing Arts Fort Worth, serves as a Board Member for the

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, and is the Secretary of the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock

Show. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Dallas Citizens Council and serves on the University of

Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council. Additionally, she is a Strategic Advisor and a member of

the Texas Stock Exchange Listing Standards and Governance Advisory Council.

A native of Sherman, Texas, Elaine graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in history and

economics and received her MBA from The University of Texas. She and her husband, Neils, have two daughters,

Bradley and Lorene, her son-in-law, Coley Means, and two grandsons, George and Hunter.

Eliza Solender

President, Solender/Hall Inc.

Director, Origin Bancorp

Eliza Solender is the President of Solender/Hall, Inc., a commercial real estate and consulting company, that specializes in assisting nonprofit organizations buy, sell, lease, manage and finance commercial real estate in the D/FW area. Her years in the oil industry, management consulting and commercial real estate enable her to quickly understand organizational issues. Her areas of expertise are:

Commercial Real Estate

Board Governance

Strategic Planning

Banking

She serves on the Board of Directors of Origin Bancorp (NYSE), chairs the Compensation Committee and serves on the Nominating/Governance Committee. She is the former chair of the Advisory Board for Lost Oak Winery and former board member of ACCESS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Dallas based biotechnology company and Dallas National Bank Holding Company. She has served on Advisory Boards for Zweave, Inc. in New York, ClubCorp in Dallas, and Barrie Pace, a division of James K. Wilson.

Her background includes having served in several human resource management positions including Manager of Human Resources for the exploration division of Sun (Oil) Company. In addition, she was a senior lecturer for 15 years in the School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas teaching courses in organizational communication.

Eliza has a long-standing involvement in many national, community and civic organizations. Currently, she is a member of the Meadows Museum Advisory Council, Nasher Sculpture Center Drawings Forum, The Dallas Assembly, The Real Estate Council, Real Estate Breakfast Club, and the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors.

She is a past chair of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) North Texas Chapter. She served as the national President of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW Network) with over 13,500 members in the US and internationally and is the founder and a Past Chair of the CREW Foundation. She is a past Chairman of the Dallas Museum of Natural History (now the Perot Museum), former President of The Family Place and Greater Dallas Mental Health America; Co-Chair of the President’s Research Council at UTSW Medical Center; President of CREW Dallas (recipient of the Outstanding Achievement, Life Member and Philanthropic Excellence Awards) and on a variety of other human service and cultural boards. The City of Dallas appointed her to the boards of directors of the Cypress Waters Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District and the Sports Arena TIF District.

She received the 2012 National Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW Network) Circle of Excellence award, CREW Network’s highest honor. In 2015, Dallas Business Journal recognized her as one of the top 25 Women in Business in the DFW area. She was named a 2023 POWER BROKER and a 2023 Finalist for the Corporate Leadership Excellence Award by D CEO Magazine. In 2019, Bisnow named her a DFW Power Woman.

Eliza is the author of numerous articles on commercial real estate, and is a frequent speaker on commercial real estate, corporate board development/governance and corporate social responsibility. She developed and leads the popular Nonprofit Real Estate 101 Course for The Real Estate Council in Dallas. She also writes a highly regarded real estate blog for D CEO (D Magazine).

Eliza earned a master’s degree from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree from Emerson College in Boston. She is a licensed Texas real estate broker and is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Governance Fellow, the highest level of credentialing for corporate directors.

Emily Mosquera

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

CapRock Partners

Emily Mosquera serves as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at CapRock Partners. At CapRock, Emily manages the Firm’s investor relationships and leads the fundraising efforts for CapRock vehicles. Emily brings years of institutional capital raising and investor relations experience in the real estate private equity space. Emily is responsible for structuring vehicles, establishing relationships with investors, managing the investor due diligence process, and ultimately securing investor commitments. Additionally, Emily is responsible for the ongoing reporting and communication with investors. Emily lives in Dallas, Texas and joined Jon Pharris as the first employee in CapRock’s Dallas-Fort Worth office.

Prior to joining CapRock, Emily spent 10 years at a private equity real estate fund in Dallas where she was responsible for managing relationships with institutional investors and fundraising across different strategies.

Prior to starting in real estate private equity in 2012, Emily began her career in public accounting at PwC in the audit practice. Emily is a certified public accountant in the state of Texas and received her Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Accounting from the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi.

Ese Aihie

CEO & President

Admiral Legacy

Ese Aihie is an Entrepreneur and CRE industry expert with over 15 years in real estate. Serves as

President for Admiral Legacy Companies which includes Venture X Castle Hills, a premium flexible

office space provider and Founder/CEO for Work Innovators, a media production and marketing

company focused on amplifying the voice of businesses and communities. Current/Past experience

includes, office/collaborative work space, single –family development, mixed-use development, P3,

land procurement, community outreach, contract negotiations, business development.

Ese transitioned into real estate full-time after an 18 years career in Workforce Mgt. & Technology

Management in Fortune 100 organizations. My experience with real-estate, passion for people, and

community led me to the commercial real estate space pod i play in today. Enriching people’s lives

through communities; by creating environments and experiences is critical to how she approaches the

projects or investments she works on.

She is actively involved in and understands the value of communities, and the different neighborhood

dynamics. Her community involvement proves her to be not just a real estate professional, but also

trusted advisor and partner. She is known for her integrity and equanimity in difficult situations. She is

an active member of the nonprofit Urban Land Institute (ULI) as a Council & Facilitator of UrbanPlan for

Education Committee. An advocate for small businesses serves on several boards and Leadership

Councils including the Board of Directors at The Colony Chamber of Commerce, the National Small

Business Association (NSBA) Leadership Council, The Scott Murray Scholarship Fund, and Texas Real

Estate Council.(TREC)

Master’s in public management from University of Texas Dallas and bachelor's degree in law (BL)

Faith, Family and Fun-Travel are key areas of her non-work life. Married to her life and business partner

Andrew and they have 3kids together.

Esther Cho

Managing Director

GREA

Esther Cho made the leap into multifamily brokering in 2018 after spending a year in residential sales. Her experience and exposure to both commercial and residential transactions has broadened her ability to be versatile when advising clients. Before becoming a full-time real estate profession, Esther spent time as an online editor for a national real estate publication, which spurred her interest to work in the industry instead of writing about it. After selling her first real estate acquisition and experiencing the power of wealth building through real estate, she decided it was time to make real estate a full-time venture to help others achieve their investment goals. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with her doodles Katsu and Champ and playing pickleball.

Jennifer Chandler

Managing Director, Head of Philanthropic Solutions

Bank of America

Jennifer Chandler is Managing Director, President of Bank America Dallas, and

Head of Philanthropic Solutions for Bank of America. As President, Jennifer

directs effective collaboration across multiple lines of business, advancing

purposeful engagement with client priorities. Deeply committed to corporate

stewardship, she serves on the Bank of America Foundation committee and

promotes a culture of volunteerism and community support.

As Head of Philanthropic Solutions, Jennifer oversees strategy development

and advisory/consulting services for non-profit institutions, corporate and

private foundations, and ultra-high-net-worth families. She directs a nationwide

team that offers a suite of integrated capabilities, including Outsourced Chief

Investment Office services, board governance and development, grant making,

high-impact philanthropy, and fiduciary administration. She also fosters the

effective use of cross-enterprise capabilities, resulting in a more unified and

directed client experience.

Jennifer joined Bank of America in 2001. She earned her B.A. in Government

from the University of Texas at Austin in two and a half years and her M.B.A.

from the University of Dallas, which honored her in 2018 as a College of

Business Hall of Fame inductee.

Born and raised in Dallas County, Jennifer is very active in the greater Dallas

community. She is a Leadership Dallas 2011 alumni, Women’s Exchange Sue

Haskoor honoree, and 2023 DCEO Corporate Leadership Excellence Award

recipient. Jennifer is also a Dallas Business Journal “40 under 40” and Women

in Business honoree. She currently serves on the Dallas Citizens Council, Dallas

Regional Chamber, Dallas Museum of Art, and Phoenix House Texas boards

and is also a member of the Crystal Charity Ball, Texas Lyceum, United Way

Women of Tocqueville, the Dallas Symphony League and the National Charity

League. Jennifer and her husband have 4 children and enjoy serving their local

community.

Jennifer Jackson

SVP

Cadence Bank

Jennifer Jackson is a seasoned commercial lender with over 12 years of experience in the real estate industry. As Senior Vice President at Cadence Bank, she specializes in financing a variety of asset types including industrial properties, lot development, mix use, multifamily, office, retail, and student housing. She helps clients secure the capital needed for growth and expansion. With a deep understanding of the market trends and the unique financial needs within this space, Jennifer has successfully facilitated transactions ranging from acquisitions to refinancing and development projects. Utilizing her knowledge as a CCIM designee, her expertise in structuring complex deals, coupled with a client-focused approach, has earned her recognition as a trusted advisor in the industry. Jennifer is passionate about building relationships and supporting businesses through tailored financial solutions. She currently serves on the board of IWIRE (Industrial Women in Real Estate), is participating in ULI’s Center for Leadership Program, and is a member of Junior League of Collin County. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her two kids, hiking, and playing tennis.

Jocelyn Ansley

Principal

Caravel Ventures

Jocelyn Ansley is involved in all day-to-day activities of Caravel, including sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities, portfolio management of existing opportunities, and maintaining relationships with current and prospective sponsors. Prior to joining Caravel, Jocelyn spent over 15 years in the banking industry, focused exclusively on the single-family real estate industry. During this time, she helped launch the Specialized Residential Real Estate division at Texas Capital Bank that grew to ~$3.5B in loans, which generated strong returns and always maintained sound credit quality for the bank. Jocelyn obtained a BA from The University of Texas at Austin and MBA from Rice University

Kristin Kolowich John

Director of Finance & Senior Project Manager

OMNIPLAN

With more than a decade of experience, Kristin specializes in the higher education and food & beverage market sectors. Kristin started her career in fast-paced retail rollouts then moved into tenant development and higher education. While working on higher education projects, she found her passion for food service and restaurant design. Kristin is currently the leading our Food & Beverage market sector where they do Higher Education and Corporate food service projects all around the country. She excels at managing multiple projects throughout their entire life cycles and has managed more than 100 projects for Compass across multiple states.

Kristin's favorite part about her work seeing how food spaces can bring diverse groups of people together. She often says that everyone has to eat and it should be in beautiful spaces. Kristin enjoys the challenge of designing culinary experiences for people and often spends hours researching to better understand the hearts and minds of different user groups. She always strives to stay on top of what is currently trending. Recently she has been inspired by the starring role that sustainability is playing in food culture and how that message can go even further when paired with sustainable, responsible design.

At home Kristin enjoys spending time with her family, frequenting Dallas' robust restaurant scene, reading everything and being an awesome dog-mom to her basset hound.

Mary Hager

Executive Director , Investment Management

Greystar

Mary Hager is an Executive Director at Greystar, where she co-leads the Greystar-Thackeray business along with Greystar’s commercial real estate businesses, which currently includes industrial warehouses and life sciences. Mary is a member of the Greystar Global Investment Committee and Board of Directors. She is based in Dallas, Texas.

Prior to joining Greystar in 2021, Mary was the co-CEO and co-founder of Thackeray Partners, a diversified private real estate company based in Dallas. Since its inception in 2005, Thackeray sponsored five private equity funds where Mary was responsible for overall strategy, partner communications, deal sourcing, asset management, and fund administration. Prior to founding Thackeray Partners, Mary was with Trammell Crow Company and other Crow-affiliated entities for 16 years, working in a variety of roles.

Mary is a member of the Urban Land Institute, where she currently serves on the Board and is Chairman of the Investment Committee for the Urban Land Institute Foundation. She is also a past Americas Global Governing Trustee and past Chair of a national small-scale development product council. Mary is a Director of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc., and serves on the board of Goodwill Industries of Dallas. She is also currently an Executive Council member and past Chair of the Advisory Council for the University of Texas Real Estate Center.

She received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Natalie Baumeister

Commercial Escrow Officer

Title Partners

Natalie Baumeister serves as a commercial escrow officer for Title Partners. Natalie joined the title business in 2012 as an intern while completing her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance Real Estate at Texas Christian University, where she graduated cum laude. After graduation, she became an escrow assistant for commercial closings of standard property types such as industrial, office, retail and medical offices. A licensed escrow officer, Natalie specializes in closing multi-family, senior living and custom single-family dwellings and has handled a significantly active builder account from a Dallas-Fort Worth regional developer.

Natalie has an active network with an assortment of investors and developers. These connections have opened doors to multimillion-dollar projects associated with the hotel industry and have allowed her to close on several mobile home parks in Texas and on a national scale. Natalie’s network includes key relationships with fee attorneys, allowing her to leverage her expertise with another talented pool of professionals. She has also formed binding reciprocal relationships with many players in the title industry including their educational staff and underwriting attorneys in Texas and nationwide.

Tracey Bailey

Shareholder

Winstead

Tracey Bailey is a real estate finance attorney, representing national and regional lenders in a wide variety of commercial real estate transactions, with a particular focus on construction lending in all asset types including retail, industrial, multifamily, healthcare, and hospitality. Known as dependable and responsive, Tracey is deeply experienced in all aspects of the loan process, managing transactions from origination to closing, as well as loan modifications and workouts.

She regularly represents institutional lenders with respect to complex real estate finance issues including ground leases, tenant-in-common structures, mezzanine financing, A/B Notes and portfolio structures. Her experience also includes loan servicing matters including consents, modifications, assumptions, partial releases, workouts, forbearance arrangements and foreclosures. Tracey works with mezzanine lenders with respect to originations of real estate mezzanine loans including negotiations of complex intercreditor issues.

Her practice also includes the representation of purchasers and sellers in the acquisition and disposition of various types of real estate.

Panel Discussion: Capital Catalysts

Driving Deals and Defining Success in CRE

Sarah Lancarte
2019 Trailblazer

Sarah Lancarte

Founder

Lancarte Commercial

Melanie French
2023 Women In Finance

Melanie French

CEO

RREAF Residential

Adrienne Bain

Adrienne Bain

Managing Director

JPI

Theodora “Teddy” Leatherman
HONOREE

Theodora “Teddy” Leatherman

Managing Director, Capital Markets

JLL

Audrey Schmeltz
HONOREE

Audrey Schmeltz

VP, Capital Markets and Partner Relations

Matthews Southwest

Dee Estep
Moderator

Dee Estep

Principal

CLA

Sarah Lancarte

2019 Trailblazer

Lancarte Commercial

Sarah LanCarte is the visionary behind LanCarte Commercial real estate, a company specializing in commercial real estate investment, brokerage, and property management. Under her leadership, the company has thrived, growing from a one-person venture to a team of over 40 skilled professionals.

Before founding LanCarte Commercial, Sarah played a pivotal role as a principal at Transwestern, a prominent national commercial real estate firm. She also made substantial contributions to the success of Fort Capital, a Texas-based commercial real estate company. With over 13 years of experience in the industry, Sarah has been involved in numerous transactions, totaling more than 15 million square feet.

Sarah’s exceptional professional achievements have earned her prestigious awards from CoStar, D CEO Power Broker, Bisnow’s “35 under 35,” and Fort Worth Business Press’s “40 under 40.” Sarah graduated with dual degrees in Finance and Spanish from Auburn University.

Melanie French

2023 Women In Finance

RREAF Residential

Melanie is a seasoned and well recognized expert in multi-family management, strategic planning, human capital, organizational development, and executive leadership. Her diverse and impressive background includes having held executive level positions for more than 16 years with leading public and privately owned industry game changers including Cortland, AIMCO and DLP Capital.

Stepping into the role as RREAF Residential’s first Chief Executive Officer, she is responsible for all operational aspects of the organization. Focused on scaling and substantially growing the size of the business, Melanie understands that the desired growth is only possible by hiring and developing top talent to ensure the more than 30,000 residents living on RREAF managed communities are happily nesting and enjoying their rental homes each day.

Prior to joining RREAF Residential, Melanie held the position of Managing Principal and President for DLP Capital’s real estate management arm where she was a member of the investment committee in addition to having full responsibility for building and leading property management, asset management, construction redevelopment, sales, marketing, and due diligence for more than 20,000 units.

Melanie is proud of the growth and property management platform that she helped to build during her almost 6 years at Cortland where she was the Executive Vice President responsible for all aspects of property management and performance where she grew the management platform from 9,000 units to more than 50,000 units while also overseeing the completion of more than 45,000 interior and exterior unit renovations on billions of dollars in real estate.

AIMCO was Melanie’s work home for more than 13 years where she began as an RVP responsible for more than 18,000 units in 5 states, before being promoted to EVP of Learning & Organization for the entire organization of several thousand employees and more than 200,000 apartment homes spanning the nation.

For more than 15 years, Melanie has held designations and certifications as an IREM CPM (Certified Property Manager), SPHR (Senior Professional of Human Resources and a Master Trainer & Facilitator certified by DDI. She has regularly participated as a speaker, panelist and contributor to numerous industry events, articles, and conferences.

Melanie developed her passion for operating communities, learning the intimate importance and details of ensuring that apartments become true long term “homes” to residents from her early years of working as a leasing consultant. She is known and appreciated by all who have worked for her or with her as a partner who develops future all-star leaders, by offering guidance and leadership as a passionate, detail oriented, gritty but approachable leader.

Melanie understands that the key to success is hiring dynamic team members and she enjoys celebrating the teams that make success possible. Melanie and her husband of more than 35 years enjoy spending time boating, fishing, and playing with their grandchildren.

Adrienne Bain

Managing Director

JPI

Adrienne loves competition, so capital markets is the perfect career for her. As Managing Director of Capital Markets, Adrienne is responsible for origination and recapitalization efforts for JPI, which includes identifying, sourcing, and advising on debt and equity capital for multifamily investment opportunities. As someone who naturally loves cultivating relationships and helping others, this role fits her personality perfectly. Adrienne has spent over two decades in real estate debt capital markets, so she thoroughly understands how many debt providers underwrite projects, as well as their reporting requirements and regulatory constraints. In addition, Adrienne has been a multifamily investor for many years, so she understands that side of the business as well.

Theodora “Teddy” Leatherman

HONOREE

JLL

Theodora “Teddy” Leatherman leads the Dallas branch of the National Student Housing Capital Markets business for JLL Capital Markets, Americas. She joined JLL as part of the HFF acquisition and has ten years of experience in student housing equity placement and investment sales. During her career, Teddy has been involved in more than $8.9 billion of real estate transactions on behalf of major corporate, institutional, and private owners.

Prior to joining HFF, she worked at Marcus & Millichap as an Associate with a focus on Texas student housing. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. Teddy is a Member of The Real Estate Council (TREC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). In her free time, she enjoys wake surfing, skiing, and is very involved with dog rescue within the city of Dallas.

Audrey Schmeltz

HONOREE

Matthews Southwest

Audrey serves as Vice President, Capital Markets and Partner Relations at Matthews, where she oversees capital markets, including structuring and implementing debt and equity financing to ensure optimal terms and seamless execution for all of Matthews’ projects. In addition, Audrey leads efforts in growing and maintaining strong relationships with partners and investors, providing support for all project funding requirements.

Since joining Matthews in 2018, Audrey has provided comprehensive financial insight and analysis for real estate development projects across various asset types, including Hospitality, Industrial, Multifamily, and Workforce and Single-Family Housing.

Before Matthews, Audrey worked at NorthMarq, where she arranged financing for multifamily, retail, industrial, and other commercial properties. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and is actively involved in McCombs School of Business Real Estate Center, The Real Estate Council, and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW).

Dee Estep

Moderator

CLA

Dee is a Principal with CLA’s Real Estate Group, is the Real Estate Leader for Texas, and the Dallas Office Tax Leader. Dee has more than 18 years of experience providing tax and consulting services to privately held businesses and their owners. Dee focuses primarily on serving real estate developers and operators, private equity funds, construction contractors and their families.

Dee graduated from Baylor University in 2003 and started her career in public accounting at a small local CPA firm, CPWR, LLP, which had a client focus in construction. For the next 13 years she gained a wide range of valuable experience in assurance, tax, general ledger management and consulting. Dee now focuses her practice as a tax specialist.

In 2016, CPWR, LLP joined CLA and Dee and her team became a part of the CLA family. Dee has worked with many of her clients for her entire 18 year career.

RECOGNIZING WOMEN LEADERS IN DFW COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FINANCE & CAPITAL MARKETS

Bisnow is excited to host our fourth annual Dallas Women Leading Real Estate (WLRE) awards. This year we are celebrating the remarkable women in finance who have shown unwavering perseverance during particularly challenging times for the capital markets. In a year marked by unprecedented trials, we are on a quest to recognize and celebrate those women who have not only excelled in the finance sector but have also exhibited resilience, creativity, determination and steadfast commitment to their goals. 
  

Our award ceremony seeks to spotlight individuals whose inspiring stories and dedication have not only inspired their peers but have also propelled the real estate finance industry forward. Join us in applauding and honoring these exceptional women as we come together to acknowledge their outstanding contributions and perseverance in shaping the future of finance in the real estate realm.
 

This is a great event to spotlight your company and its commitment to supporting a diverse workforce in CRE. Interested in reserving a table at the event or hearing about other fun sponsorship opportunities? Reach out to hussain.masumi@bisnow.com.

Agenda

Time Activity
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
Coffee, Breakfast and Networking
4:00 PM
4:45 PM
Panel Discussion: Capital Catalysts

Driving Deals and Defining Success in CRE

4:45 PM
5:00 PM
Networking Break
5:00 PM
5:30 PM
Award Ceremony

Recognizing DFW's Top Women In Finance

5:30 PM
6:00 PM
Closing Networking

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