D.C. Capital Markets & CRE Finance Summit

Jeanine Lester is head of Washington, D.C. regional office. She assumed her current role in 2018 and is responsible for the Washington, D.C. region’s commercial mortgage and real estate equity portfolios. In her 14 years with MetLife, Lester spent eight years originating or refinancing commercial mortgages totaling over $2 billion in the San Francisco region. In 2012, Lester transitioned to director of acquisitions in San Francisco and successfully led the team in over $2.8 billion of transaction volume with nearly $1.3 billion of equity investments. Prior to joining MetLife, Lester was a senior consultant with the Rosen Consulting Group responsible for co-authoring economic and real estate white papers and completing special projects on market strategies for real estate investor clients. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science and a minor in economics from Santa Clara University, and an MBA with a concentration in real estate from the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley.

Michael Vu is a Principal and sits on the Investment Committee of Artemis Real Estate Partners. Mr. Vu is responsible for developing and implementing the acquisition and asset management activities of Artemis. Mr. Vu joined as a founding member of Artemis in 2010, has been involved in over $1.9 billion in new investments, and is based in metropolitan Washington, DC. Previously, Mr. Vu was an associate at The Carlyle Group, where he served in the Transactions Group within U.S. Real Estate. Mr. Vu was focused on property and portfolio acquisitions, dispositions, and financings across all major property types. Prior to The Carlyle Group, Mr. Vu was an analyst at Lazard Frères & Co. where he focused on mergers and acquisitions within the U.S. Real Estate group in New York. Mr. Vu earned a bachelor's degree in Politics and Finance from Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude. Mr. Vu was awarded the Lyman H. Atwater Prize for the top thesis within the Politics department. Mr. Vu is the Vice Chair on the board of the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., which focuses on providing a second chance to high schoolers and young adults to put them back on track towards a high school diploma or equivalent credential and a path for a productive post-secondary career. Mr. Vu is also an active council member with the Urban Land Institute.

Ryan Dring joined Hoffman & Associates in 2018, and as Senior Vice President of Capital & Asset Management oversees sourcing and negotiating financing for Hoffman & Associates projects across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. In addition to overseeing project financing, Ryan manages the operational and financial performance of the Hoffman & Associates portfolio. Ryan’s past project experience at Hoffman & Associates includes managing the innovative financing of Waterfront Station II in the Southwest neighborhood of Washington, DC and the financing of West Falls in Falls Church, Virginia as well as Seaboard Station in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to joining the company, Ryan served as a Senior Associate in the institutional client relationship management division of J.P. Morgan Chase and as a Senior Associate at Deutsche Bank in their credit trading and debt capital markets division. Ryan graduated from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and holds a MBA from Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business.

Robbie Pinkas joined PLG in 2024 as Senior Vice President of Originations. He brings over 15 years of experience to the role, including three years leading transaction execution and program authority relationships at North Bridge, a C-PACE lender. At PLG, Robbie is responsible for loan origination, loan underwriting, and portfolio monitoring. Prior to PLG, he worked in progressively senior roles at Credit Suisse, Google, Douglaston Development, and The Collective, a London-based co-living company. Robbie graduated from Harvard University with an AB in History, cum laude.

Drew Schwartz is a member of the Capital Markets team and is focused on both asset and corporate finance. Since joining FCP in 2015, he has also worked on the multifamily acquisitions and asset management teams. Drew graduated from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where he earned his BBA with concentrations in Finance and Real Estate.

Melina Duggal, AICP is the Senior Director of Market Analytics at CoStar and Homes.com in Washington, D.C., where she provides strategic insights on real estate trends across for-sale, multifamily, office, industrial, and retail sectors. With over 25 years in real estate consulting and market analytics, Melina has advised developers, investors, and policymakers on market conditions and investment strategies. She teaches real estate at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Previously, she led Duggal Real Estate Advisors, taught at the University of Maryland and George Mason University, and worked with RCLCO, a real estate consulting firm. Melina holds a bachelor’s degree in honors anthropology and Spanish and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

Josh Posnick serves as Senior Managing Director of Capital Markets for Mill Creek Residential. His overall responsibilities include identifying, structuring, and managing equity relationships throughout the United States. Previously, Mr. Posnick served as Managing Director of Development for Mill Creek Residential in the Mid-Atlantic. He was responsible for all new multifamily community development phases, including site acquisition, design, entitlements, financing, and eventual disposition for Mill Creek Mid-Atlantic communities. Before joining Mill Creek Residential, he was a Senior Consultant in the Real Estate Advisory Practice for Deloitte LLP. During his time there, Mr. Posnick participated in domestic and international real estate valuation of over $3 billion of the multi-family, land, retail, healthcare, and office product. He focused on deal underwriting, due diligence, market analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and financial statement reporting. Before working for Deloitte, Mr. Posnick was an Investment Manager at Federal City Property Investors, LLC, a private real estate investment firm based in Washington, DC. Mr. Posnick received a Bachelor of Science in Leadership and Consumer Economics from The University of Delaware and a Master of Real Estate Finance from Georgetown University. He is a board member of BayVanguard Bank, a Maryland-based financial institution.

D’Juan O’Donald’s career has spanned Commercial Real Estate, Distressed/Special Situations, Structured Finance, Institutional Investment Management and Capital Markets. D’Juan sits in JPMorgan’s Commercial & Investment Bank and currently spearheads a new platform to manage, and maximize value of, a national portfolio of large-scale, distressed and undervalued properties. Previously, D’Juan was responsible for investment strategy, acquisitions, redevelopments, and dispositions across JPMorgan’s balance sheet-owned real estate & REO portfolio ($20B). Prior to JPMC, he was sourced and executed equity, debt, and structured capital solutions ($2B) in the private market for institutional and middle market investors at Ackman Ziff. Before Ackman Ziff, he was employed by H/2 Capital Partners ($12B AUM international fund manager). While at H/2, D’Juan underwrote, managed, sourced, structured, and acquired CMBS, CDOs, senior mortgages, NPL’s, corporate loans, secondary equity fund LP interests and net-leased real estate, plus participated in investor relations activities. D’Juan began his career at LNR Property Corporation, a subsidiary of Starwood Property Trust, in the Real Estate Investment Management, Finance & Servicing Group, where he amassed a breadth and depth of experience by remaining active in every part of the economic cycle by rotating through each revenue generating business unit. Highlights include directly facilitating the acquisition of subordinate, unrated bonds from CMBS pools ($16B); distressed loan restructures/workouts ($500MM); assisting in the partnership formation with FinTech company Ten-X (f/k/a Auction.com) and evaluating B-Notes, mezzanine loans, REOs, NPLs, RPLs, distressed, special situation and other opportunistic real estate equity and high yield credit investments ($10B). D’Juan holds an M.B.A. from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School (Finance & Management), is a CAIA charterholder and obtained a B.A. in Mathematics from Duke University. On campus, D’Juan competed on the Football and Track & Field teams and was a member of the Duke Investment Club. Subsequently, D’Juan was a professional athlete in the Arena Football League. As an active member of the community, D’Juan serves as a board member of the DowntownDC BID (on the Finance Committee), previously served on the Advisory Board of the Robert F. Kennedy Young Leaders (RFK Human Rights Center) and volunteered with the Duke Alumni Clubs of NY and South Florida.

Ryan Riel has worked in Commercial Real Estate with EagleBank for more than 20 years and currently oversees the Bank’s $5 billion CRE lending portfolio. Throughout his tenure, he has worn multiple hats and participated in originating more than $6 billion in real estate transactions of various types across the DC region. Since February 2025, in addition to CRE Lending, Mr. Riel oversees more than 200 employees across retail banking, small business lending, loan and deposit operations, and information technology. Mr. Riel sits on the Board of Directors of the EagleBank Foundation, and on the Board for George Mason University’s Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship. He is a current Trustee for The Children’s Inn at NIH and previously served on the Board of Directors at the Inn for ten years. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from West Virginia University.

Aaron is the Managing Director of Market Development and Strategy at Nuveen Green Capital. Aaron has more than ten years of experience in the energy policy and markets space. Prior to Nuveen Green Capital, he was a Director of Policy and Electricity Markets for SolarCity, one of the largest solar and energy storage developers in North America. He led national policy activities for the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) segment of the market. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the energy practice of Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked on third-party financing mechanisms for renewable and energy efficiency projects, natural gas procurement, and energy-related legislative and budget matters for the U.S. Department of Defense. Aaron received his graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland.