Christina R. Callahan, CM, is currently the Deputy General Manager at LaGuardia Airport (LGA). Prior to joining the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in February 2019, Ms. Callahan was the Executive Director of the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA), a position she held since 2014. Prior to assuming that role, she served as the City of Syracuse Commissioner of Aviation from 2011 until 2014.

As LGA Deputy General Manager, Ms. Callahan is responsible for leading and overseeing Aeronautical Operations, Landside Operations, Customer Experience, Physical Plant and Redevelopment, Airport Maintenance, Finance and Airport Certification. Working in conjunction with the General Manager, Ms. Callahan advances the Port Authority’s unified vision for LGA; to be a world class operator of world class airports. Together, they focus on the agency’s strategic priorities; safety and security, capital plan, customer experience, operational excellence, sustainability and employer of choice. Ms. Callahan also directs the development and implementation of plans to ensure LGA facilities and assets meet the existing and future needs of customers and stakeholders.

In 2018 Ms. Callahan was named Airport Director of the Year, Small Airport Division, by Airport Experience News. Ms. Callahan serves on the Board of the New York Aviation Management Association, and Chairs NYAMA’s Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She is also a Vice Chair on the AAAE Diversity Committee. She is the Executive Sponsor of LGA’s Women Empowering Women (WOW) and is dedicated to mentoring and supporting the next generation of aviation leaders.

Ms. Callahan is married to attorney Joe Callahan, has one daughter, Taylor Reale, and three step children: Erin, Ellen and Brian Callahan.

Thomas Ahn is a civil engineer with over 30 years of experience in facilities,

real estate management and leadership of a large institutional/corporate

organization. He is currently System Vice President for Real Estate for the

Mount Sinai Health System which includes: Mount Sinai, St. Luke’s, Mount

Sinai West, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai Brooklyn Hospitals, New

York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Mount Sinai Queens Hospital and The Icahn

School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In this capacity, he is involved in all

aspects of ownership and management, including staff housing of over

3,000 apartments, off-campus medical and administrative offices, design

and construction, property management and acquisitions, leasing of

commercial and retail facilities and the operation of all Mount Sinai's real

estate holdings of over 14 million square feet of office and medical office

space.

Brian Collins is Executive Vice President and Director of Development where he oversees the development projects across the firm’s portfolio.

Previously, Mr. Collins was the Head of Acquisitions and Development at Fisher Brothers. Most recently, he oversaw over $1.5 billion in development of residential properties in New York City and Washington, DC, including 111 Murray, 225 East 39th Street, 101 West 87th Street, 37 Warren Street and 701 2nd Street NE on Capitol Hill.

Prior to joining Fisher Brothers, Brian was President of Intrawest, one of the largest resort owner/operators and real estate development companies in North America. As President, Brian oversaw all real estate activities worldwide. Before Intrawest, Brian was the founder of Colgate Development, a development company which specialized in the development of luxury hotels and condominiums. Under Brian’s leadership, Colgate developed several hotels and residential properties including The Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, NC and the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia.

Brian started his career in real estate development as a principal and COO of Millennium Partners. Overseeing the commercial components of Millennium’s projects, Brian was responsible for the development of The Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York, Boston and Washington and the Four Seasons hotels in San Francisco and Miami as well as five Sport Club/LA facilities, office space, movies theatres and parking garages. Brian is an active member of the Urban Land Institute where he serves as vice chairman for ULI New York. He is also active in numerous New York real estate groups and councils.

Mr. Collins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Colgate University and a Masters in Accounting from NYU. He and his wife have two children and live in Fairfield CT.

Tom Ortinau joined GFP in 2014 to lead the firm’s property acquisition efforts. Tom has since been instrumental in making over 10 investments comprising over $1 billion. Tom also handles leasing, asset management and development activities for GFP’s projects.

Prior to joining GFP, Tom was a member of the US Transactions team at PGIM Real Estate where he handled Northeast Acquisitions and Development activities for the firm’s private equity funds. At PREI, Tom handled 34 investments comprising over $5.5 billion. These property and entity level investments were made via common equity, preferred equity and mezzanine debt positions both on a direct basis and through joint ventures.

Tom began his career at WSP Group, a leading design and construction firm in New York. At WSP, Tom worked on the design and construction of over 50 public and private development projects in New York including The Hearst Building, The New York Times Building and The Plaza Hotel.

Tom holds a BSE from the University of Kansas, an MS from New York University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Tom is on the board of NYPEN Real Estate and a member of the Real Estate Circle at Columbia Business School. He is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University where he teaches real estate investing to graduate students.

Mr. Betesh joined Meridian Capital Group in May 2017, where he leads an eight-member team. Prior to joining Meridian, he served as a Director at Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets and a Director of Capital Services at Massey Knakal Realty Services. To date, Mr. Betesh has financed over 500 buildings across the United States and has closed well in excess of over $5 billion in transactions throughout his career. Previously, Mr. Betesh was a Portfolio Manager at a private family office, where he managed a portfolio of properties in Midtown Manhattan and was principally responsible for restructuring and developing the portfolio, in addition to directly leasing the properties and managing the finances at a corporate level. Mr. Betesh attended Brooklyn College, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Finance and was honored with the Brooklyn College Presidential Scholarship.

Stephen R. Preuss is a Vice Chairman of Investment Sales at Ripco Real Estate, where he focuses on investment sales for the New York Metropolitan Area primarily in the outer boroughs. Team Preuss has several team leaders and consists of an office of more than 20 associates. Each team leader focuses on a specific market and attributes neighborhood specific knowledge and experience while the balance of the team provides support in all areas. Over his 18-year career Stephen has produced an ambitious track record with over $4.5 billion of investment and commercial real estate transactions while consistently performing over 500 property valuations per year. Throughout his tenure Stephen has sold in excess of 450 properties and currently has over $1 billion in exclusive offerings – the largest commercial inventory in Queens. Stephen is widely recognized as the #1 top performer in Queens and Brooklyn and Top 100 Nationwide for Investment Sales and Capital Markets. He is a major contributor to multiple major publications including Commercial Observer and The Real Deal, among several other regional and national publications. In addition, he is a regular speaker/panelist on several prestigious panels including Commercial Observer Brooklyn Queens Forum and BISNOW. Stephen is a board member of the Queens Community House, executive board member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, and a major contributor to several other not-for-profit organizations including the Long Island City Partnership, Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Business Association, and the Chinese American Planning Council.

Brian Klansky is the Northeast Regional Vice President for View (NASDAQ: VIEW). View manufactures a new generation of Smart Windows that get rid of blinds, let in natural light and views, and enhance occupant health while saving energy. Brian is responsible for all aspects of sales and customer satisfaction in the northeast. He is a seasoned tech executive with a passion for sustainability. Prior to View, he led sales and marketing efforts for BrightPower and US Energy Group. Before this, Brian was Vice President of sales at M5 Networks, an innovative cloud telephony company. While at M5, Brian built the business from under $10M to over $50M annually, leading to an acquisition by ShoreTel (NASDAQ: SHOR). Brian lives in NY with his wife, 2 children and dog.

Elizabeth Lusskin is the President of the LIC Partnership and Executive Director of the LIC Business Improvement District. In this role, she promotes economic development across the vibrant Long Island City industrial, commercial, residential and cultural arts mixed-use community. She is the Co-Chair of the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan Steering Committee, was Co-Chair of the Amazon Community Advisory Committee Project Plan Committee and is a Member of the Western Queens Tech Task Force, among other roles. Prior to LIC, she served as the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Through her former consulting practice, Elizabeth Lusskin Consulting LLC, she advised public, private for-profit and non-profit clients on economic and community development, organizational management and strategic planning. Elizabeth has served as Deputy Commissioner of NYC SBS, General Counsel to the Downtown Alliance and Legislative Counsel at NYS Office of Federal Affairs. She is a graduate of Yale University and NYU School of Law.

A sought after voice in Queens real estate, Eric Benaim’s entry into real estate began in 2001, after a successful career as owner of a live event production and marketing firm. Initially concentrating on Manhattan luxury sales, Eric later recognized the untapped opportunity in his own beloved borough, and turned his focus exclusively to Long Island City. The result was the sale of 50 residences in 2006 alone.

In the midst of 2008’s severe economic crisis, Eric instinctively decided the time was right to launch Modern Spaces, permanently changing the perception and value of real estate in LIC. In just 10 years, Eric’s insightful and personal approach resulted in the swift expansion of Modern Spaces, including opening additional offices in Astoria where 100 agents work, capturing a 70% market share in Long Island City. In 2019, Modern Spaces crossed the river to capture 10% of the burgeoning market share over the next three years, in Jersey City.

He is responsible for successfully completing over $7B in sales and is currently responsible for overseeing over $4B in real estate, which translates to over 8000 units. Eric was the first person to be recognized as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star in both Queens and Brooklyn by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, respectively.

Eric has been the recipient of the 2018 Community Impact Award by the LIC Partnership, as well as the Community Hero award by the Long Island City YMCA. Eric is a member of REBNY, and serves on the Advisory Board of Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as the Board of Directors for the Long Island City Partnership. In 2016 the City and State Award honored him for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Eric is consistently called upon to speak at a diverse array of events and is frequently featured, quoted, interviewed and profiled in prominent outlets including CNN, Fox Business, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CRAIN’S, The Real Deal, CNBC, and NY1.

Eric is an art collector and avid supporter of the arts. As the informal ‘Mayor of LIC,’ it is his passion for building a prosperous community that informs Modern Spaces ‘unparalleled perspective. He currently resides in Long Island City with his wife Stephanie and son Greyson.

Rhonda Binda, raised in Southeast Queens, is a visionary leader with a passion for social and environmental justice. In her youth, Rhonda successfully lobbied the New York City Council for New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG) to shut down Fresh Kills, the largest toxic site in the country. As an attorney, she represented and released wrongly detained clients before the US Immigration Court of Appeals after 9/11 pro bono and broke up internet and cable monopolies. In government, she served in both the Obama-Biden and Clinton-Gore Administrations as a US Diplomat and in the West Wing.

Inspired by her love for her hometown, Rhonda returned to Queens as the Executive Director for the Jamaica BID, the borough’s largest business district where she took action against stark inequality of resources and investments made in the Borough. Under her leadership, Jamaica remarkably rose through the ranks to be named the #1 neighborhood in the city, won #1 awards from the NYC Department of Small Business Services (NYC SBS) and #1 in the state for downtown revitalization, raising Jamaica’s profile as a unique, vibrant multicultural center for retail and tourism.

She continued to serve her community as Chairwoman of South Asian American Voice, Vice President of the Guyanese Girls Rock Foundation High School Women’s Leadership Academy and on the boards for The Boys and Girls Club of Metro Queens, The New York Hall of Science and Positive Women United.

Rhonda is an internationally recognized People’s Choice leader in building smart cities and connected communities. She is an Adjunct Professor at Medgar Evers College at the City University of New York and served on both the 21 Century Government and Foreign Policy teams for the Biden-Harris 2020 Presidential campaign. Rhonda attended Queens public schools in District 29 and, because of her academic potential, was recruited for the prestigious Prep for Prep program, which provided her a path to scholarships to The Lawrencevill School, Duke University, Georgetown University and Oxford University. Rhonda has traveled to 6 continents, 40+ countries and hundreds of cities working with state and local leaders, and lives in Jamaica Estates, Queens.