William Peduto was elected to the office of Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh in the General Election on November 5, 2013, and took office as Pittsburgh’s 60th Mayor in January of 2014. Prior to taking office, he worked for 19 years on Pittsburgh City Council - seven years as a staffer then twelve years as a Member of Council. As a Councilman, Bill Peduto wrote the most comprehensive package of government reform legislation in Pittsburgh’s history. He strengthened the Ethics Code, created the city’s first Campaign Finance Limits, established Lobbyist Disclosure and Lobbyist Registration and ended No-Bid Contracts. As Mayor, Peduto continues to champion the protection and enhancement of Pittsburgh’s new reputation - maintaining fiscal responsibility, establishing community based development plans, embracing innovative solutions and becoming a leader in green initiatives.

The Peduto administration is committed to modernizing city government and implementing leading practices to provide taxpayers with an efficient, effective, transparent, and a more accountable government. Under Peduto’s leadership, the City of Pittsburgh has experienced a complete transformation of the city’s procurement process; the reorganization of the Department of Permits, Licenses & Inspections; a commitment to developing a long-term maintenance and investment plan for the city’s assets; the creation of the ONEPGH Resilience Strategy, and technological upgrades including a GPS based Snow Plow Tracker website, 311 Response Center mobile app, an interactive street paving website and several digital tools built with public information in a new open data portal. Setting priorities around strengthening Pittsburgh's 90 communities, Peduto established the Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment to promote the city's role in housing, small business, and education; led the development of the city's land bank; and championed the creation of a neighborhood-strengthening Rental Registration program.

Since taking office, Mayor Peduto has lead a collaborative effort to make Pittsburgh a leading 21st Century city. The Peduto administration haspartnered with the White House on numerous initiatives, resulting in direct access to federal support related to affordable housing, education, economic development, energy efficiency, immigration, manufacturing, community policing, workforce development, technology and transportation. Under Peduto’s leadership the City of Pittsburgh has played an active role in National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Pennsylvania Municipal League initiatives. Pittsburgh was recently selected to join the Rockefeller Foundation network’s 100 Resilient Cities, which provides resources to improve city resilience in the face of climate change, globalization and urbanization trends. In 2015 Mayor Peduto signed a unique agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to make the city a world leader in district energy production and Pittsburgh joined the UN's Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of climate leaders committed to local action and global impact. Recently Mayor Peduto joined with mayors across the world to reaffirm Pittsburgh's commitment to the Paris Agreement and efforts to combat climate change.Mayor Peduto is also a founding member of the MetroLab Network, a national alliance of cities and universities committed to providing analytically-based solutions to improve urban infrastructure, services and other public sector priorities.

The Peduto administration is working to ensure that everyone benefits from Pittsburgh’s transformation and growth because, “If it’s not for all, it’s not for us.”

Emeka Onwugbenu is the Founder and CEO of E Properties and Development, a private held real estate

development and management company, with specific focus in the development of mixed use,

multifamily, office and educational facilities.

Under Emeka’s leadership, the company has completed over $80+ Million of real estate development,

owns and manages over 300K square feet of commercial real estate. Emeka is responsible for the

ultimate performance of the company’s residential, commercial, mixed-use and educational activities,

leading all real estate development efforts, property acquisition, financing, construction and corporate

operations. Since founding the company in 2012, Emeka has grown the company to over $50+ million in

assets, including ownership and management of 300K square feet of commercial real estate, and 100+

apartments. In addition, Emeka founded and owns The School Builder, a boutique real estate

development company that focuses on the development and management of educational facilities.

Emeka serves as a Board of Directors of Jubilee Association – a non-profit focused on feeding the pour,

365 days a year - and as a Board of Director of Union of African Communities – a non-profit focused on

fostering unity and empowerment of Africans in Southwester Pennsylvania.

Emeka earned a Bachelors’ Degree from Penn State University, with a major in Industrial Engineering,

and holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business.

As Chief Executive Officer & President of GMH Communities, Gary Holloway Jr., draws on 20 years of acquisition, property management, asset management, and development experience to lead the second generation of the family business. Gary focuses on GMH’s current portfolio of real estate assets while researching and investing in new niche-related multifamily housing opportunities nationwide. Gary sets company goals to meet the ever- changing market trends in the multifamily space making sure that GMH is at the forefront of the industry. Gary takes the lead in sourcing joint venture partnerships with institutional investors and takes pride in maintaining long term partnerships with well know institutions.

Gary pursues many philanthropic interests. Currently, he serves as a Trustee for the Westtown School. He is the Clerk of the Buildings, Grounds, and Environment Committee and serves on the Executive Committee and Athletic Advisory Council. Gary is a past board member of the Pennsylvania Apartment Association (PAA) and is a lifetime member of the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholars program that benefits deserving caddies in their pursuit of higher education.

Gary regularly lends his real estate knowledge by speaking at events for the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and BISNOW. He has also been a featured speaker for Villanova University and The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Gary is currently a member of NMHC’s Student Housing Advisory Group.

Gary received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Villanova University.

Ethan Fellheimer has been active in real estate acquisition and development for over 10 years. In 2000, Fellheimer founded The Fellheimer Group which was responsible for the development of the former Bookbinders Building at South 15th Street, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Other significant Philadelphia area development/acquisition deals include: 1401 Walnut Street, The Shops at Lasalle University, 211 North 13th Street, The Essex Condominiums at 300 North Vine Street, among others. Prior to engaging in real estate full time, Mr. Fellheimer spent seven years as Senior Vice President of Pennsylvania Business Bank as a commercial lender and Head of Marketing. Fellheimer was selected as one of the Philadelphia regions "40 under 40" young business leaders and in 2000 received Philly Tech Magazine's "30 under 30" award. Mr. Fellheimer remains active in the business community of Philadelphia, and is often a lecturer at universities and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute regarding entrepreneurial endeavors, networking, and legal issues of debtor/creditor law. Fellheimer serves on the Board of Directors of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and received his law degree from Temple University School of Law. He lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia with his wife and two children.

As President and Chief Operating Officer, Lucas Piatt’s responsibilities are to oversee commercial, retail and industrial leasing activities, identify and develop new business for the corporation as a whole and direct the short and long-term marketing goals of Millcraft Investments and its subsidiaries.

Mr. Piatt brings to Millcraft knowledgeable experience in the areas of project management in commercial and residential construction as well as many aspects of leasing and land planning. Mr. Piatt’s work history leaves him experienced in sales and marketing, contract negotiations, material purchasing and logistics, inventory control, building maintenance, space planning, interior design and real estate development.

Christopher Doerr, managing director, joined Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales group in November 2015. Mr. Doerr will be responsible for the origination and execution of investment sales and equity capital raise for multifamily assets in the Mid-Atlantic and will be based out of the Bethesda, Maryland office.

Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Doerr served as a senior managing director for five years at Cushman & Wakefield where he worked with the owners of institutional real estate providing disposition services for multifamily properties and land in the Washington, D.C. area as well as joint venture structuring, recapitalization, and equity placement. Before Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Doerr was vice president of multifamily investments for Grubb & Ellis.

Mr. Doerr holds a juris doctorate/MBA from the University of Richmond and a BBA from James Madison University.

Beyond the Company, Mr. Doerr is a member of the DC Real Estate Group, Urban Land Institute, National Multi-Housing Council, and the Virginia Bar Association.

Mr. Stauber has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate. He is directly responsible for the purchase and redevelopment of more than 10 million square feet of commercial properties with a market value of over $1 Billion. Mr. Stauber’s projects include the rehabilitation of a former 800,000-square-foot department store building into a mixed-use office/retail building, restoration of over 1.5 million square feet of historic buildings, and the conversion of numerous 100,000 to 500,000-square-foot single-user manufacturing facilities into multi-user “flex-spaces.” Mr. Stauber is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the New York, Florida and District of Columbia Bars.

In his role as Managing Partner of Faros Properties, Jeremy's main focus lies in handling property acquisitions, corporate operations and investor relations. Prior to joining Faros Properties, Jeremy worked in the Real Estate Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley in New York. His background in corporate finance entails work in M&A, debt and equity structuring, and asset management. Jeremy received a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University.

Over the past thirty years, visionary entrepreneur Jim Scalo has built one of the largest integrated real estate businesses in Western Pennsylvania, Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services, Inc. (BSRES), which currently owns, manages, and provides third-party real estate services to more than 5 million square feet of commercial real estate assets. Following his graduation with a degree in Marketing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the early 80’s, Jim Scalo began his career as a manager of a small portfolio of rental investment properties owned by Burns & Scalo, a roofing company started in 1956 by his father and a partner. Soon, he expanded that residential rental business by taking on the management of larger properties and acting as a commercial developer. He was later named Director of Development, and in recognition of his contributions to growing the firm, in 1994 he was named President and CEO of Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services, Inc. – a company for which he now owns 100% interest. Jim Scalo has been largely self-taught in the real estate business, a fact that has served him well in building his current service and investment businesses exponentially. He often states that people hire BSRES due to the invaluable experience the firm has gained through investing and managing real estate with his own capital - as an owner – a fact that few other real estate service companies can claim in offering real value for their clients. Jim was a pioneer in the early development of ‘flex’ space, a combination of office and warehouse space joined together to create efficiency. He has been highly successful in bold real estate investments throughout the region, serving the worlds largest clients by controlling ‘key’ land parcels in suburban business parks. He is often quoted “We have built our portfolio with the common underwriting criteria of “term, credit, rate”. This has served BSRES well through the cycles of investment. In 2009, as a testament to Jim’s commitment to better development through sustainability, he trademarked “Class-G”. A program which was launched in 2012 as a new national business (www.Class-G.org) that focused on green building certification for sustainability in operations and corporate culture. The company has developed projects in key targeted markets such as Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Cincinnati and Louisville. Jim continues to push the boundaries of his firm through innovation and strategic growth, and has market-changing projects currently under development in new locations. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jim Scalo is active in professional, community and charitable organizations. He is the former president and national board member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). Jim is also married and is the father of four children.

Mark Popovich is Senior Managing Director and co-head of the Pittsburgh office of HFF. With over 25-years of experience in commercial real estate finance, in addition to overseeing the day-to- day operations of the firm’s Pittsburgh office, Mr. Popovich is primarily responsible for originating debt and investment sales transactions throughout the northeast United States. During the course of his career with HFF, Mr. Popovich has completed in excess of $5 billion in commercial real estate transactions. In addition to Mr. Popovich’s capital markets experience, he has also been engaged to perform several high-profile consulting assignments ranging from tenant representation services for certain Fortune 500 corporations to providing development counseling assistance to the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Allegheny County, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, Highmark, Goodwill, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers and Pirates. Mr. Popovich has also been deemed qualified to provide expert witness testimony for commercial real estate matters in Federal Bankruptcy Court as well as the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. Mr. Popovich joined HFF in January 1997 and prior to that was a Director with PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Hotel & Real Estate Advisory Services Group.

Chip Desmone, AIA, LEED AP, is the charismatic Principal/President of Desmone Architects. After graduating college in 1987 he joined his dad, Luke, at the firm. Before becoming an architect, Chip grew up around the office taking on many roles and learning about the business. Of his early days Chip says, “I started working for my dad’s company washing coffee mugs, cleaning drafting tools, vacuuming and making prints on an ammonia printer (major headache!) in early high school.”

As the Principal of the firm, Chip is no longer washing coffee mugs, but rather spends most of his time on the hunt for new projects. When asked to describe his job Chip said that he, “gets the firm new work, manages the vision and reputation, motivates the masses and smiles daily!” Chip’s favorite part of each project is getting the job and that he could not possibly pick a favorite project as he loves them all equally.

Having grown up in Pittsburgh and as a Central Catholic High School and CMU school of Architecture graduate, Chip has strong ties to the city. The Desmone office moved to Lawrenceville 20 years ago before the revitalization of the neighborhood was in full swing. Nowadays Chip enjoys the street vibe around the area. He lives in Fox Chapel with his wife, Lynn, and two sons Luke and Joey.

Dusty concentrates her practice on all aspects of real estate development, acquisitions and economic incentives, with an emphasis on real estate litigation, including real estate tax-assessment appeals, land-use and zoning appeals, and eminent domain proceedings. Dusty counsels her clients on an array of sustainability issues that impact development projects and facilities, including advice on sustainable development matters such as the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, and regulatory compliance matters such as greenhouse gas emission regulations, obtaining other regulatory approvals, negotiating complex contractual arrangements, resolving disputes, and managing risk avoidance.