Bay Area Power Women

Melinda Ellis Evers

Managing Principal
Ellis Partners

Melinda Ellis Evers is a co-founder of Ellis Partners and co-manages the operation of the firm. She serves as Portfolio Manager with oversight responsibility for the firm’s asset management and financial teams. Melinda started her real estate career with A.R. Jarvis & Company, a regional mortgage brokerage firm and spent seven years in acquisitions and portfolio management with Grubb & Ellis Realty Advisers. Ms. Evers holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is a Member of the Lambda Alpha Land Economics Honor Society, the Urban Land Institute, the Stanford Professionals in Real Estate, and the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, and is a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Ms. Evers’ past industry board affiliations include The Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage and the Bay Area Mortgage Association.

Jackie Safier

President
Prometheus

Jill Williams

Chairman & Principal
KTGY

Libby Schaaf

Mayor
City of Oakland

Lynn Tolin

COO
TMG Partners

Ginger Bryant

COO & CFO
Sares Regis Group

Ms. Bryant joined Sares Regis Group in 1993 with responsibility for the Bay Area commercial property portfolio. She oversees Finance, Accounting, Treasury, and MIS activities for the company and closely monitors the performance of all active development and operating projects.

Allison Koo

Managing Director
Sand Hill Property Company

Allison Koo is a Managing Director for Sand Hill Property Company. Allison is involved in all aspects of property development including site acquisitions, entitlements, construction, financing, and leasing. Allison was honored as one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “40 under 40” in 2016 for her projects in the Stanford Research Park. Prior to joining SHP, Ms. Koo worked for NAI BT Commercial in the Silicon Valley office, where she completed both sale and lease transactions totaling over $108MM in consideration. At NAI BT, Ms. Koo was also a founding member of the Asian-American Strategic Investment Advisory Group. Ms. Koo also has worked for the acquisitions and asset management teams of The Laramar Group, a national developer and operator of institutional grade multi-family assets, in both the Chicago, IL and San Francisco, CA offices. Ms. Koo holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management-Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She has studied abroad at the Beijing University as well as at the University of Seville. Ms. Koo is fluent in Chinese Mandarin and Spanish.

Holly Neber

CEO
AEI Consultants

Holly Neber is CEO of AEI Consultants, an international property consulting firm. AEI provides real property insights and solutions through environmental and property condition assessments, health and safety consulting, building performance evaluations, remediation and corrective action, and construction risk management from 25 offices in the US and Europe. Holly is the 2019 President of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Network and past president of the National Engineering and Environmental Due Diligence Association (NEEDDA). Holly was named among RealShare’s California Women of Influence in 2015 and Bisnow’s Bay Area Power Women in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Holly was named to the Real Estate Forum Women of Influence and Connect Media Women in Real Estate lists and honored with the Courage in Leadership Award at EDR’s PRISM Conference.

Michele Leiva

CFO
DPR Construction

Andrea Reeder

Northwest Director of Office Asset Management
Nuveen Real Estate

Sara Neff

SVP, Sustainability
Kilroy Realty Corporation

Sara Neff is Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty. Sara started the sustainability program at Kilroy from the ground up, and under her leadership the company was named the #1 publicly traded real estate company for sustainability in North America by GRESB, and recently became the first North American real estate company to publicly commit to establishing carbon neutral operations by the end of 2020. At Kilroy, she oversees all sustainability initiatives such as solar and battery deal-making, implementation of energy and water efficiency initiatives throughout existing and development assets, integration of sustainability standards into annual financial reports, launch of the Kilroy Innovation Lab, and the award-winning green leasing program. She holds a BS from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Lauren Seaver

VP, Development
Blake Griggs Properties

Laura Crescimano

Co-founder & Principal
SITELAB urban studio

Laura Crescimano is co-founder and leader of SITELAB urban studio. An expert on urban design and entitlements with an emphasis on the public realm, Laura’s work investigates the social and political power of the built environment. Designing both processes and places, Laura’s projects range from Pier 70, where she is leading a multidisciplinary design team through the design and community process of a 35-acre mixed-use waterfront development in a historic industrial district in San Francisco, to leading the design for Google’s first proposed mixed-use neighborhood located at their headquarters in Mountain View. Her work also ranges from the Portola Green Plan, where she collaborates with a neighborhood community group to build a vision for their neighborhood to creating a graphic toolkit for the homeless services non-profit Lava Mae to open-source their mobile showers and approach to service. Laura serves on San Francisco Waterfront Design Advisory Committee and, from 2010-2012, on the Board of Directors for AIA San Francisco.

Amy Price

President & COO
Bentall Kennedy

Based in San Francisco, Amy has overall responsibility for the operating and financial performance of Bentall Kennedy’s U.S.-based businesses. Amy also serves on the Bentall Kennedy Group Management Committee, the U.S. Executive Committee and the U.S. Investment Committee. Amy has over 20 years of experience in investment strategy and transaction execution, combined with significant management experience in asset management and finance. Amy has direct day-to-day responsibility for all asset management, financing and transactions activities in the U.S., as well as leading the account relationship with one of our significant and rapidly growing U.S. separate accounts. Prior to joining Bentall Kennedy U.S. in 2012, Amy was a Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Investing for the Western United States at Morgan Stanley, where she was an Investment Committee member and founded their San Francisco office. Amy also spent time in Morgan Stanley’s New York and Hong Kong offices.

Ani Vartanian Boladian

Managing Partner
Rubicon Point Partners

Ani co-manages RPP and is specifically responsible for acquisitions and investor relations. Prior to Rubicon Point Partners, Ani served in the Obama administration responsible for the $200 billion TALF program and restarting the securitization market during the height of the recent financial crisis. Previously she was with Rockwood Capital, in the capacity of acquisitions, asset management, and establishing a $400 million separate account on behalf of a state pension fund. Her career began at Goldman, Sachs & Co.Ani is a graduate of StanforUniversity and Harvard Business School.

Elizabeth Hart

Vice Chairman
Newmark Knight Frank

Shannon Shackerley-Bennett

CEO
North Star Hotel Development

Shannon Shackerley-Bennett is CEO of North Star Hotel Development, a new firm focused on capital raise, acquisition and entitlement of select service, luxury and lifestyle hotels across North America. She also does coaching and consulting work in the industry. Shackerley-Bennett was previously chief operating officer for Knowhere Holdings, a Bay Area development firm that focuses on large-scale, mixed-use urban village communities and hotel projects.

Rosemarie Rae

Vice Chancellor & CFO
UC Berkeley

Rosemarie Rae brings more than 35 years of experience in finance and administration to her role as UC Berkeley’s Vice Chancellor of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. During the course of her work in the public and nonprofit sectors, she has developed a wide depth and breadth of knowledge in budget and financial management, strategic planning, and operations. The Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance includes Capital Strategies, the Controller’s Office, Finance & Capital Asset Strategies, Financial Planning & Analysis, University Business Partnerships & Services, and the Immediate Office. Together these teams oversee university financial services and controls, lead an integrated approach to planning and development, provide accurate and timely information and analyses to inform campus decision-making in service of UC Berkeley’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. Rosemarie takes great pride in how our institution shapes higher education and her focus on collaboration, accountability, and the greater harmonization of operating and capital planning continues to further the goal of financial sustainability. Prior to coming to Berkeley, she served as the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, she also served as an Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief Financial Officer at Volunteers of America; held senior leadership positions at Experience Works and LORAL Space and Communications; and was a principal and founder of Balrae Associates, an Information Technology services firm. Rosemarie holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Radford University and a masters degree in public administration from American University.

Kristin Connelly

President & CEO
East Bay Leadership Council

Kristin Braun Connelly is the President and CEO of the East Bay Leadership Council, an employer-led public policy advocacy organization focused on economic vitality and quality of life in the East Bay. She is also the Executive Director of the Contra Costa Economic Partnership. Prior to taking the lead of both the EBLC and CCEP, Kristin served as chief of staff to Contra Costa County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff. Kristin is also the former Executive Director of the California Forward Action Fund, a non-profit governance reform organization that sponsored a statewide ballot measure and advocated for legislative and budget reform. In addition, she practiced employment law at the firm Sidley Austin LLP in New York City. Kristin has extensive experience as a policy advisor and advocate for a variety of non-profit organizations that provided services to families affected by HIV/AIDS and has served as a development officer for the nation’s second largest food bank. A native of Contra Costa County, Kristin earned a law degree from Fordham University, a master’s in public policy from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s from UCLA. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Northern California Small Business Development Centers, the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board, and the Board of Trustees of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation. Kristin lives in Lafayette with her husband T.J. and their two children.

Claudia Folzman

COO & Co-Founder
Iron Construction/Titanium

Nasim Yalpani

Head, RE, Workplace Services, & Physical Security
Dropbox

Janice Thacher

Partner
Wilson Meany

Before joining Wilson Meany, Janice led the development of Pier 1 — an award-winning historic rehabilitation project on San Francisco’s waterfront — in her role leading AMB Corporate Real Estate Advisors as a part of the development group at AMB Property Corporation (now Prologis). While there, she also represented clients in the acquisition and disposition of assets, portfolio evaluation and lease negotiations. Prior to that, Janice was a partner at Trammell Crow Company in Southern California.

Elaine Forbes

Executive Director
Port of San Francisco

Elaine Forbes was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee as Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco in October 2016, with the recommendation of the Port Commission. Forbes is one of eight women Port Directors in the United States. Before her appointment as Executive Director, she served as Interim Director and Deputy Director for Finance and Administration for the Port. Prior to joining the Port, Elaine Forbes held executive management and leadership positions at both the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco International Airport. In addition, she has worked for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget Analyst’s Office providing fiscal and policy analysis and evaluating and reporting on complex municipal issues. Before beginning her tenure with the City and County of San Francisco, she worked as a redevelopment agency planner for the City of Oakland. She also has worked for several non-profit land use policy and economic development organizations including the Urban Strategies Council and the California Budget Project. Forbes holds a Master’s degree with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in Community and Economic Development, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland. Forbes was born in San Francisco and resides in the Castro neighborhood with her partner.

Georgia Collins

Executive Managing Director & Global Lead
Host by CBRE

Kamala Subbarayan

RE & Workplace Services
Google

Jill Collins

Director, Asset Services
Colliers

Aliza Skolnik

VP & Director of SF Office
ESD

Aliza Skolnik focuses on strategic leadership, sustainable solutions and healthy environments. As Vice President and Director of the ESD San Francisco Office, she is responsible for managing the business development, recruitment and operations for the West Coast. She is a registered Professional Engineer as well as a LEED and WELL Accredited Professional, Green Globes Professional and Fitwel Ambassador. Aliza is also an active leader in the real estate industry through her involvement in the local USGBC and CoreNet chapters. She specializes in improving the well-being of the people who occupy the communities, buildings and workplaces we design.

Teresa Alvarado

San Jose Director
SPUR

Kristin Molano

Director, Acquisitions & Capital Markets
Jay Paul Company

Annie Rice

Vice President
CBRE

Cheryl Johnson

Director of Preconstruction
Swinerton

Darien Louie

Former Executive Director
East Bay Economic Development Alliance

Darien Louie has over 40 years of experience in program development, fund development, economic development and community investment. Her background includes work in community non-profit, public sector and corporate partnership settings, and also experience as an entrepreneur. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alameda County Workforce Development Board, the Oakland Workforce Development Board, ICA Fund Good Jobs, and the Jefferson Awards Foundation. She has been recognized as Alameda County’s Woman of the Year for Assembly District 16, Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and received a City of Oakland Proclamation for “Darien Louie Day” from then Mayor Jerry Brown. Darien is a Bay Area native and resides in Oakland with her husband Michael Fong. Her son, Ryan, is a recent graduate from her alma mater, UC Berkeley.

Molly Jans

Director, Operations
Paradigm General Contractors

Samantha S. Low

Director
Cushman & Wakefield

Samantha S. Low, LEED AP (BD+C) is a tenant real estate advisor at Cushman & Wakefield and a co-founder of TenantSee (www.tenantsee.co), a technology that empowers tenants with knowledge on what goes on behind the CRE transaction curtain, which provides transparency and efficiency from site selections to moving into a new space. TenantSee won an award at the CRE Tech Conference in December 2018. She is the 2020 CREW SF President, whose mission is to develop and advance women as leaders in the CRE industry. She was recognized by Bisnow as one of the Bay Area Power Women in 2019 and the 2019 CREW SF MVP in the Elevate hosted by The Registry. She is also the Industry Outreach chair of the Cushman & Wakefield WIN (Women Integrated Network) SF Chapter, the West Region co-chair of C&W ASPIRE (Asian and Pacific Islanders Professionals in Real Estate), and a prominent diversity & inclusion advocator. She lives in SF with her husband and three daughters. When not tirelessly supporting her family and purposes, she can easily spend an entire day at the museum or watch Game of Thornes.

Katie Bowman

Principal
Acta Non Verba

Katie Bowman a Principal to Acta Non Verba Architecture & Design. For the last 15+ years she has been in charge of leading large architecture and interiors teams like HOK, RTKL, and VOA not only to the project finish lines but to award winning designs. She has designed efficient & innovative office spaces for Google, Allied Administrators, Motorola, General Electric, Novell, Seven Worldwide, Pointe O’Hare and was M Moser’s first choice in designing their first San Francisco office.Katie has transformed and inspired hospitality spaces like the Hyatt Regency in St. Louis, various Bally Fitness Centers in Chicago, and the freshly renovated restaurant, Palio in San Francisco. Katie’s expertise led her to Aviation design, she accomplished 6 million sq feet of lighting & interior design for Doha Qatar Intl Airport and Alaska’s Airlines Ramp & Ticketing Offices. She is currently working on SFO Terminal 1 due to open in July 2019. Katie’s dedication and tactic to solving problems relating to space as well as technical issues makes her an amazing asset to any team and an even better example to her own team as a woman doing it all. Katie Graduated from Auburn University in her Alabama hometown, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design.

Ratna Amin

Principal
Deutsche Bahn

Kristina Owyoung Vinson

Senior Director of People, Culture & Communications
Pankow

As Pankow Builders’ Senior Director of People, Culture and Communications, Kristina is a change agent for the organization. She is a trusted advisor and executive partner to the company’s senior leaders, functioning as the expert on people and organizational issues. Kristina strategically leads People Operations: Talent Resources, Lean and Learning, Development, and Communications and Marketing to cultivate employee engagement and transform culture. As a Certified Professional Coach, Kristina establishes and implements talent and leadership development programs at Pankow. She champions the Emerging Leaders Program and leads Leadership Teams and workshops to foster relatedness and establish fundamental personal growth practices company-wide. Kristina was named among ENR’s Top Young Professionals in 2019. She was awarded the 2018 Rising Rockstar Award from ELEVATE: Honoring Diversity & Women Leadership in the Bay Area and a Rising Star Award from Northern California Real Estate Women of Influence. As an active member of CREW SF, Kristina has devoted herself to the organization’s mission of changing business’ gender trends and closing the parity gap by giving women in real estate the support, resources and opportunities they need to connect, influence, and lead. Kristina is a fourth generation, Bay Area native and lives on the Peninsula with her husband Todd and their toddler, Kayla. In her spare time she enjoys scuba diving, traveling, dancing, and wine tasting.

Leslie Moulton-Post

President/CEO
Environmental Science Associates

Jessica Carps

CFO
Skyline Construction

Jessica brings more than 15 years of experience in corporate accounting and finance to her role as CFO. Her responsibilities include providing direction and control to the financial and accounting functions of the company; participating in the formation and implementation of financial plans and company policy; furnishing information for planning and control; and providing general financial, accounting and management decisions. As a member of the executive team, she provides the detailed financial analyses that enable strategic and data-driven decision making. Jessica believes that construction is a great industry for accounting professionals to build their careers. “This industry is always in need of experienced professionals who understand and can strategically manage construction financials,” said Jessica. “Further, project accountants who can effectively support and partner with their Operations counterparts to manage projects are an invaluable resource.” Jessica looks forward to mentoring those who are in pursuit of growing their careers in the construction industry, particularly those who are interested in a CPA career path as an experienced professional, rather than directly out of school. Jessica enjoys traveling and recently spent time in Southeast Asia. She also takes an annual trip to Croatia to visit with her husband’s family. Next up on her travel bucket list are South America and Northern Europe.

Barbara Mark, Ph.D.

CEO & Founder
A Time Of My Own / Full Circle Institute

Barbara Mark, Ph.D. has a deeply held passion for working with women in midlife and has built a decades long career as an elite leadership, career and life strategies coach and advisor to senior executive women. She is a recognized expert on the psychology of women and the stages of adult development and how these stages impact career development and leadership in women. As a result, Barbara is a sought-after coach by women who are looking to make appropriate and actionable personal and professional decisions at critical stages of their lives and careers. Helping her clients find clarity around everything from how to deal with career and life challenges to avoiding hot flashes in the boardroom makes her an invaluable asset to every woman in business. “I have been with very senior women leaders in every professional and personal situation along the continuum from their most broken, disappointed and confused to their most confident, successful, proud and empowered. I appreciate their confidence and trust." Determined to see more women at leadership tables, Barbara chose to use her clinical psychology training to support the continuing development of leadership skills and resilience in executive women. She uses her insights into human thought and behavior along with her decades of working with women in corporate settings across industries to listen, guide, support and cajole them to clarity and decisive action as well as fulfillment and deep satisfaction. "Today's environment requires that we work together for the betterment of all. Women naturally bring skills to the table that are invaluable on the current global playing field. Life serves up many changes, opportunities, and challenges; my goal is to help and inspire women to face them with courage, passion, grit, wisdom, and grace."

Barbara Morrison

Founder & President
TMC Financing

Barbara Morrison, a Bay Area business and civic leader, is the founder and president of TMC Financing, a certified Development Company that provides SBA commercial real estate financing. Since 1981, TMC has provided U.S. Small Business Administration funding for real estate projects totaling more than $9 billion in California and Nevada, benefiting nearly 5,000 businesses and creating and retaining an estimated 60,000 jobs throughout the region. TMC consistently ranks among the top CDCs nationwide, and is the largest SBA 504 lender in Northern California and Southern Nevada. In 2015, TMC became the largest SBA 504 hotel lender in the nation. Morrison developed her passion for small business economic development early in her career while serving as deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development in San Francisco. A former mayor and city council member for the city of Belvedere, Morrison has been widely recognized for her advocacy for women and small business owners, as well as the leadership she provided for many community organizations. Awards and Accomplishments 2011 – Northern California Real Estate Women of Influence Hall of Fame, San Francisco Business Times and law firm Allen Matkins 2012 – Financial Woman of the Year, Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco 2013 – Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business Award 2014 – Forever Influential Award, SF Business Times 2016 – Inducted into YWCA Marin Women’s Hall of Fame 2017 – Industry Impact Award, CREW Network 2017 – Most Admired CEO, SF Business Times 2017 – Top East Bay Women Business Owners, Oakland Chamber of Commerce 2017 – TMC named Main Street Lender of the Year, Coleman Report 2019 – San Francisco Business Times, TMC named Bay Area Best Places to Work for the fourth time Professional Affiliations Presidio Bank, Advisory Board Member Marin Theater Company, Board Member Renaissance Women’s Leadership Council, Member Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Committee Working Solutions, Founder and former Board Member Renaissance Entrepreneur Center, Former Founding Board Member Harvard Kennedy School, Women and Public Policy Women’s Leadership Board, Former Board Member The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Former Board Member