Wendy Berger is CEO and Founder of WBS Equities, LLC. WBS Equities is a real estate

development firm which specializes in ground-up construction, renovation, development, sale

lease back transactions and acquisition of industrial buildings for food and beverage

manufacturers and distributors. Wendy is also an active investor across multiple real estate asset

classes including retail, multi-family, senior housing and self-storage.

Over the last 28 years she has been involved in the real estate business as a developer, property

manager, broker and principally as an owner-investor. Wendy began her career at American

National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago (a subsidiary of First Chicago, now JP Morgan

Chase) in Commercial Lending. Wendy spent several years as a principal with Berger Realty

Group, an 80-year- old family owned Real Estate business where she focused on residential and

industrial property management and development. She was responsible for managing 3,000

apartment units, 200,000 square feet of commercial space and 250,000 square feet of industrial

space.

Aside from her experience in the real estate field, Wendy spent 10 years working with ultra-high

growth technology startups. Wendy was employee number 10 at Orbitz, the Travel web site

founded in 2000 by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United Airlines. Wendy was

Director of the Enterprise Planning at Orbitz and focused on strategic planning. Prior to Orbitz,

Wendy co-founded and was COO of Neoglyphics Media Corporation, one of the country’s first

web site development firms. Neoglyphics grew from a small start-up to a corporation with a staff

of more than 150 employees before it was sold in March 1998 for $65 million.

Wendy earned her MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg

School of Business. She received a B.S., cum laude, in Finance and Marketing from Syracuse

University.

In her spare time Wendy is an avid triathlete and runner, having completed 31 Olympic Distance

triathlons and six half-marathons.

Wendy serves on the Board of directors of the Chicago Public Library Foundation (2016 –

present), the Board of directors of the Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Chicago (2001 –

2007, and 2009 – present). Wendy has volunteered for TimeLine Theater, The Marwen

Foundation, Chicago Run and the Uptown Cafe. Wendy served until 2004 as Vice-President and

Membership Chair at The Standard Club of Chicago and as a member of the Board of Directors

(1994 – 2004). Wendy is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and served as the

chair of the Real Estate Membership Committee. Wendy served two years on the Board of

Directors of TEDxMidwest. Wendy co-founded Illinois Women in Cannabis in 2014. Wendy is

an active mentor, a role she takes very seriously, usually mentoring 4 – 5 young women at any

given time.

Most recently, Wendy is proud to now call herself a TED speaker, her talk is available on the

TED web site.