Natalie Avery is the President and Director of the Friendship Heights Alliance. As a placemaker

and city builder, she has devoted her career to fostering stronger, more equitable, connected

and vibrant urban neighborhoods. A Washington, D.C., native with deep roots in the city’s music

and arts scenes, she brings knowledge and passion to the importance of people, place and

cities. From 2013-2020, she served as Executive Director of the DC Business Improvement

District Council, the association of Washington DC’s eleven BIDs. She led government relations

efforts, oversaw collective communications and advocacy initiatives and coordinated around a

range of operational issues. As an independent consultant, she has provided advisory services

to a range of business, community and youth development clients, including the SWBID, Dupont

Circle BID, Crystal City BID, the DowntownDC BID, the Golden Triangle BID, the Urban Institute,

the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, the Greater Washington Hispanic

Chamber of Commerce and the MidCity Business Association.

Mustafa Popal is the Investment and Leasing Officer for EQT Real Estate covering the Mid Atlantic region (DC, MD, VA). Prior to EQT Real Estate, Mustafa was a Senior Director at Tishman Speyer and focused on the residential and development platform and spear-headed the regional development projects. Furthermore, Mustafa has spent his career working on over $6B in transaction volume across various functions including acquisitions, asset management, and development of institutional retail, residential, and office properties both at Tishman Speyer and AvalonBay.

Vicki Davis is responsible for managing the acquisition, planning, design, and

implementation of all Urban Atlantic projects, and asset management of properties that

the company owns and its Mid-City Community CDE investment portfolio. With over 28

years of experience in real estate development, she formerly served as Deputy Director

of the Maryland Housing Fund and Maryland DHCD -Division of Credit Assurance. Her

experience also includes portfolio management for MNC Financial-South Charles Realty

and multifamily development for Trammell Crow Residential.

As President of Urban Atlantic Development, Ms. Davis has managed development of

over $2 billion in real estate projects and asset managed over $4 billion in real estate

investments. She has developed over 6,000 multifamily residential units and 600,000

commercial square feet for Urban Atlantic, including eight HOPE VI mixed-finance public

housing redevelopment projects, as well as transit-oriented mixed-use projects.

Ms. Davis holds a MBA in Finance from American University, an MS in Engineering &

Construction Management from University of Texas, and a BS in Civil Engineering from

the University of Maryland. She taught for 12 years in the Johns Hopkins Real Estate

MBA program and is a LEED AP.

John L. Ziegenhein is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Chevy Chase Land Company, overseeing the company’s new development and two-million square feet of commercial and residential properties. John has over 20 years of experience in real estate development and management, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at McCaffery, Inc. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc., Urban Land Institute, and National Multifamily Housing Council. John currently serves on the Land Company’s Executive Committee, and is active locally serving on the Board of the Arlington Food Assistance Center and Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing.

Jad Donohoe is Senior Vice President of Donohoe Development Company and of The Donohoe Companies, and is the Chair of the Friendship Heights Alliance, the future Business Improvement District for Friendship Heights. Jad is responsible for leading new development projects, entitlement, and community engagement, and identifying new residential, hotel, and mixed-use development opportunities. Jad has over 15 years of experience developing projects across northwest DC and suburban Maryland, including 1200 multifamily units currently under construction or development up and down Wisconsin Avenue.

Geoff is responsible for the development and redevelopment of Federal Realty’s core assets. With a background in urban design, he brings a design focus to developing the next generation of Federal’s retail and mixed-use properties. His responsibilities run from project conceptualization through design and construction to delivery, with a specific focus on master planning, entitlement and project management.

Geoff has over twenty years’ experience in the industry. Prior to joining the company in 2020, he was a vice president for EDENS, where he led the company’s design and project management group. He oversaw the design, entitlement, permitting and construction of over twenty projects, including Mosaic (Fairfax, VA) and Union Market (Washington, DC). Previous to his work at EDENS, Geoff practiced urban design at RTKL Associates and EDAW.

Geoff is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Society of Landscape Architects. He has won awards from the International Council of Shopping Centers, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and the American Planning Association, among others. Geoff received a BA from Oberlin College and an MLA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Eric Morales is the Maryland Market President of United Bank, a premier community bank headquartered in Greater Washington, D.C. As Market President, he is responsible for the

management and operation of all nine United Bank offices in the Maryland Market, including maintaining client relationships and new business development. Morales has an extensive background in commercial real estate lending, having financed the acquisition and construction of multiple commercial and residential real estate projects in and around the D.C. metro area.

He is also active in the local community, notably with United’s financial literacy programs, educating local youth through the Bank’s Teach Children to Save initiative, and volunteering with

Junior Achievement Finance Park. He has also served on the board of numerous organizations, most recently with the Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County and the Arlington

Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Eric was a proud recipient of the Washington Business Journal’s 40 under 40 awards in 2024.

Prior to his time at United Bank, Morales worked as a Financial Manager at TIER REIT, Inc. and a senior associate at EY. Morales holds both a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Accounting degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.