Mr. Buchanan is a Principal of Buchanan Partners, a full service real estate

development company in office, retail, industrial, residential, and large mixeduse

planned communities. Mr. Buchanan is the President of the 2030 Group, an

association of Washington metropolitan area business leaders focused on

regional long-term decision-making and solutions. The mission of the 2030 Group

is to advance a strong regional economy with new employment opportunities

and sustainable prosperity for current and future residents of the Washington

metropolitan area.

Mr. Buchanan was recently recognized in the Washington Business Journal’s

“Power 100” list of the region’s most influential business leaders. Until recently, Mr.

Buchanan was chair of VisArts, a premier visual arts organization in the capital

region that’s based in Rockville. His extensive past community involvement also

involves Chair of Loudoun County Economic Development Commission and

Founding Member of the Ballston Partnership.

Kathy E. Hollinger serves as the CEO of the Greater Washington

Partnership (GWP), a first-of-its-kind alliance uniting leading

employers across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC to

collaborate in building a vibrant, economically competitive, and

prosperous place to live, work and build a business. Prioritizing

the economic growth of the region, Kathy directs GWP in its

mission to catalyze collaboration, convenings, thought leadership,

and collective action. She connects stakeholders across public,

private, and nonprofit sectors to address shared opportunities and

challenges in some of the region’s most pressing issues, including

skills and talent, regional mobility, infrastructure, and economic

growth and innovation. Through strategic alliances, focused

investments, and pioneering initiatives, she relentlessly works to

find practical, impactful, and visionary solutions to the region’s

challenges.

Prior to GWP, Kathy led the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) and its

Educated Eats Foundation as President and CEO. Her tenure marked a period of dramatic

growth for the region’s food service industry, culminating in national recognition including Bon

Appetit’s 2016 Restaurant City of the Year, ZAGAT’s Hottest Food City of 2016, and the

prestigious arrival of the Michelin Guide to Washington, DC in 2016.

Kathy’s leadership has earned widespread recognition. She has been named to the region’s

Power 100 list for five consecutive years (2021-2025), honored as Washington Business

Journal’s COVID-19 Response CEO Leader of the Year, and recognized as the 2021

Washington Woman of Excellence by Mayor Muriel Bowser and Person of the Year by

Downtown DC’s Business Improvement District.

Her career spans public service and private sector leadership. Kathy served on the DC City

Council, working with Councilmembers Charlene Drew Jarvis and Kevin P. Chavous. She was

later appointed Film Commissioner by Mayor Adrian Fenty. Kathy also led external affairs for

Comcast in Washington, DC. She holds degrees from American University and George Mason

University, where she received the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Kathy is an active member of The Economic Club of Washington, DC, and the Chair of

Leadership Greater Washington. She contributes her expertise to the Washington Business

Journal’s Leadership Trust and the American City Business Journals’ Bizwomen Leadership

Council.

Kathy resides in Washington, DC with her husband Anthony, son Bijan, and their dog Kalli.

Monica Backmon is the Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and has led NVTA since May 2014. Bringing more than 25 years of public and private sector transportation experience, Ms. Backmon oversees the region’s long-range planning, prioritization, and funding of regionally significant projects bringing multimodal transportation solutions to Northern Virginia. Managing an annual revenue stream provided through House Bill 2313 that is trending at $425 million per year, Ms. Backmon led the NVTA through the adoption of all seven funding programs, the most recent occurring in July of 2024. With the implementation of NVTA’s funding programs, NVTA is advancing 140 regional multimodal transportation projects totaling more than $3.8 billion for congestion reduction throughout the region. Ms. Backmon also oversees the distribution of $110 million annually to the Authority’s nine member localities for their local transportation priorities, which surpassed a total of $1 billion in September 2023.

Ms. Backmon holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Maura is a talented, dynamic leader and urban planning professional who has been engaged for many years in advocating to advance Washington, DC’s broad public interests, including the creation of affordable housing, supporting the region’s public transit system, and improving public spaces.

As President and CEO of the NoMa Business Improvement District (BID), Maura oversees all activities of the NoMa BID and is responsible for executing the organization’s strategic mission in partnership with the BID’s exceptional Board of Directors and staff. With a background in urban planning, Maura has spent her entire career in DC, working on issues related to housing, transportation, and the economy. Maura has a unique appreciation for the value of coalition-building among broad and diverse stakeholder groups, having worked in both community-focused and business-driven organizations. Maura is excited about all of the opportunities on the horizon for NoMa, and is mindful of the important role that the BID will play in shaping the future of the neighborhood.

Maura sits on the Board of Directors of the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) and as Vice President of DC Sustainable Transportation (DCST). She holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Elon University and a MPS in Urban and Regional Planning from Georgetown University.

Gary is the Chief Investment Officer and a Partner of Meridian. Gary is responsible for

acquisitions, capital activities and investor relations.  He also serves as Chair of the Investment

Committee. Gary led the fundraising and investing efforts of Meridian Realty Partners I and II,

Meridian’s discretionary private equity funds raised in 2012 and 2016. Between these two funds,

Gary has completed in excess of $2.5 billion in investments with over $1 billion of equity in 15

transactions.

With over 30 years of industry experience, Gary represented Meridian in its first 3 years of

investments as a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Washington, DC. He then headed up the

Real Estate Fund’s Acquisitions Group as a partner at The Carlyle Group, where he led and

completed over $12 billion of investments with $3.4 billion of equity in nearly 200 transactions.

These included the acquisition, development, structured financing, and recapitalization of office,

hotel, retail, residential, industrial, land, senior living, and mixed-use properties. He also led the

firm’s efforts in the formation of Carlyle Realty Partners I, II, III, IV and V – an aggregate of

over $5 billion in investor commitments – before joining The Meridian Group in November

2007.

Gary received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from The University of Texas

School of Law. Gary is on the Advisory Board for George Washington University Business

School's Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis.

Yesim Sayin Taylor is the founding Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center.

With over ten years of public policy experience in the District, Yesim is recognized by policymakers and advocates as a source of reliable, balanced analyses on the District’s economy and demography.

Before joining the D.C. Policy Center, Yesim lead the team within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer that scored the fiscal impact of all legislation the District considered. She frequently testified on high profile legislation and worked closely with the executive and Council staff to ensure that policymakers fully understand the fiscal implications of their proposed legislation. She co-founded and blogged at District Measured and her work was highlighted in Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, City Paper, and the Governing Magazine, among others. Yesim also has worked in the private sector, and consulted with international organization on a large portfolio of public finance topics.

Yesim holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University, located in Istanbul, Turkey.

Bob Murphy is the Managing Principal for MRP Realty. He has over 34 years of experience in commercial real estate operations, ownership and investment. He joined Trammell Crow Company (TCC) in 1987, managing the firm’s regional operations for many years as Principal. Bob’s last role with TCC was area president of the development and investment group in the Mid-Atlantic where Bob and his team completed $1.8B of investments totaling over 10 million square feet. He co-founded MRP Realty (MRP) in 2005, capitalizing on his in-depth knowledge of Mid-Atlantic real estate markets, extensive network of capital relationships, and his reputation as a collaborative and creative partner to drive the firm. Under Bob’s leadership, MRP has deployed nearly $7.8B of office, residential/mixed-use and industrial developments and acquisition investments with an active pipeline totaling over 8 million square feet. He has actively participated in leadership roles at NAIOP and ULI and at various charitable activities during his career; currently serving on the board of Habitat for Humanity of Washington D.C. Bob received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame; his M.B.A. in Finance at Columbia Business School; and was an officer in the United States Army.

Darin Mellott is a Senior Director of Capital Markets Research at CBRE. In this capacity,

Darin leads a global team of Capital Markets Research Analysts and works with other

members of senior leadership to provide analysis and develop “house views” on global

markets and economic conditions, with a focus on their impact on real estate.

Beyond this, Darin leads and contributes to research and strategy efforts across the

globe on behalf of clients, and has authored numerous white papers for the firm. He also

represents CBRE with the media and at public forums on a frequent basis. Prior to his

current role, Darin was CBRE’s Director of Research for the Americas.

Achievements

Outside of his formal responsibilities, Darin serves on various boards for prominent

institutions and is often called upon to provide expert opinion on a wide range of

issues, including real estate, public policy and economic matters. He also regularly

provides economic and real estate insights to policymakers at the local, state and

federal levels. Darin currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Kem C. Gardner Policy

Institute at the University of Utah and is a member of the Utah Economic Council.

Both in his native Utah and more broadly, Darin is a respected contributor to economic

thought leadership and the business community. He was named a Forty Under

40 honoree by Utah Business, and Harvard Business School selected him to be a

participant in the Young American Leaders Program—an extension of the school’s

U.S. competitiveness project aimed at promoting cross-sector collaboration to solve

pressing issues and achieve shared prosperity in communities.

Darin completed his master’s degree in Real Estate Finance at the University of

Cambridge and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brigham Young

University.

Amy Carbins works with real estate clients in structuring, negotiating and executing complex commercial real estate transactions.

Amy advises owners, developers, investors, lenders and tenants in acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings, restructurings, leases and other matters related to commercial real estate. Her experience includes transactions involving office buildings, hotels and resorts, shopping centers, mixed-use projects, multi-family and industrial properties. Amy’s clients appreciate her focus on creating practical solutions for complex problems with careful analysis and an emphasis on mitigating risk.

Amy advises lenders and borrowers in construction, bridge and permanent financings. Her finance experience includes multi-jurisdiction/multi-property portfolios, preferred equity and mezzanine debt, CMBS and syndicated debt arrangements and other structured finance transactions. She also advises clients on leasing and asset management matters for office, retail and industrial properties including work with landlords and tenants on headquarters leases, single-tenant buildings, new construction leasing and representation of landlords owning large, multi-state portfolios. Prior to relocating to Washington, DC, Amy spent several years in the firm's San Francisco office.