DARLENE POPE
CoR Advisors prez and CEO Darlene Pope has managed two large office buildings on Pennsylvania Ave and overseen major tenant retrofits. But she says her focus the last two decades has been making office buildings more tech savvy. Working for a startup telecom company in the '90s, she was a force in installing high-speed Internet for thousands of commercial properties nationwide. She also launched a consulting firm focused on tech applications for office buildings, intelligent buildings, and energy management. If you hear what CoR Advisors is doing to office buildings these days, you’d think DC-native Darlene was talking about something futuristic. The firm is taking existing buildings—some 100 years old—and upgrading all the systems and controls to an integrated web-based platform. The entire building could be operated using an iPad. Her best career lesson: Trust your instincts.
