IRES – ERES Industry Seminar

Steve Williams, Conference Chair

A Past President of RICS, Steve is a Non-Executive Director of Capright Inc. and a VP Emeritus at global data provider, Real Capital Analytics (now part of MSCI).  In his various ambassadorial roles, Steve has travelled extensively advocating market transparency as a catalyst for attracting global capital into institutional real estate. Steve is incoming President (2023) of IRES, guest lecturer at a number of universities and sits on several editorial advisory boards. A citizen both of UK and USA, he is a Freeman of the City of London.

François Viruly, IRES 2022 President and Panel Moderator

Current IRES President, Dr. François Viruly has been a property economist in the South African property market for 25 years. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town’s School of Construction Economics and Management where he leads their Urban Real Estate Research Unit. A Fellow of the RICS and a Director of Viruly Consulting. François is a respected South African business leader. His research in Sub-Saharan Africa’s property markets has received wide acclaim.

Gunther Maier, ERES 2022 President

Dr. Gunther Maier is Professor in the Department of Sustainability, Governance and Methods, and Program Area Director for Real Estate Management at Modul University Vienna. His research interests are in sustainable buildings and behavioral aspects of real estate. He is co-founder of the Austrian Green Buildings Council.

Lisette van Doorn, Speaker

Lisette van Doorn is Chief Executive of ULI Europe where she has responsibility for developing the Institute’s activities across the region, including its renowned pan-European conferences and more than 250 annual events across 14 countries. Lisette joined ULI from her own international real estate investment advisory consultancy, LIRE. Prior to this, she was a CBRE country manager responsible for managing a €1.6bn portfolio of assets in Italy and a €1.3 billion fund with assets in Spain, Portugal and Italy.  Lisette was also a founder and chief executive of INREV and, prior to this, was Managing Director of Research & Strategy at ING Real Estate Investment Management Europe.

Jim Clayton, Speaker

Dr. Jim Clayton is the Timothy R. Price Chair and Director of the Brookfield Centre in Real Estate & Infrastructure in the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. He joined Schulich in 2018 from global investment manager Barings (formerly Cornerstone), where he was Head of Real Estate Investment Strategy. Previously Jim was Director of Research at the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), after holding faculty positions at the University of Cincinnati and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, NS. Jim has a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, an MA from Western Ontario, and BA from Queen’s University.

Stephanie Fernhaber, Speaker

Dr. Stephanie Fernhaber is Professor of Entrepreneurship at Butler University where she teaches entrepreneurship at undergraduate and graduate levels . Her research into international entrepreneurship and grassroots innovation has been widely published in multiple peer-reviewed journals. She has also co-created four entrepreneurship books and serves as a Field Editor for the Journal of Business Venturing. Dr. Fernhaber and her husband own a social impact-oriented real estate business that renovates and manages apartments throughout Indiana. At the community level, Stephanie has a passion for spurring innovation with an emphasis on social entrepreneurship.

Paul Kennedy, Panel Moderator 

Dr. Paul Kennedy is Managing Director and Head of J.P Morgan Asset Management for Europe.  As part of their senior leadership, he is a voting member of their European Investment Committee. Previously, he served as Head of Private Markets Strategy for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)and, prior to that, was Invesco Real Estate’s Senior Director and Co-Head of Research.  Earlier, he held senior positions at Parkes & Co. and Henderson Global Investors. Paul is a qualified RICS member and currently sits on its property investment valuation advisory group. He is a founder and Hon. Secretary of The Nick Tyrrell Research Prize.  Paul has a PhD. in real estate and serves as a visiting lecturer at several universities.

Elizabeth Gannon, Panel Moderator 

Elizabeth Gannon holds a BBA in Finance- Accounting from St. Bonaventure University and an MA in Education from Montclair State University.  She has played key roles in the development of over $1 billion of office, mixed-use, and infrastructure space and has helped launch ESG and corporate social responsibility movements at Eastman Kodak and the DuPont Corporation. In addition to her current work as a consultant for practitioners and service providers in the built environment, Ms. Gannon is currently initiating a ESG program in commercial real estate  for GWU.   She sits on the Boards of CREW, St. Bonaventure University, and the VOICExperience and volunteers in several public service programs including the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Louise Brooke-Smith, Panelist

Dr. Louise Brooke-Smith has more than 30 years’ experience across the property, land use and construction sectors within the UK and overseas. She holds numerous Non-Executive Directorships and was previously a Partner and UK Head of Development & Strategic Planning at Arcadis.   As the first female RICS Global President (2014-15), Louise led a series of ground- breaking property related initiatives, and championed diversity and inclusivity. She is a Freeman of the City of London, was National Construction Achiever (2015) and holds Honorary Doctorates from the UK Universities of Wolverhampton, Sheffield Hallam and Birmingham City. Louise was awarded the OBE in 2019 for services to the built environment.

Collete English Dixon, Panelist

Collete English Dixon has more than 30 years in property development, asset management and the investment side of commercial real estate. Prior to her current role at Roosevelt University, she was Executive Director of Transactions for PGIM Real Estate (formerly PREI) and co-leader of PREI’s national investment dispositions program. At Roosevelt University, Collete oversees the real estate program at undergraduate and graduate levels, including its MSRE and MBA-RE degrees. She is also the program director for the university’s Hospitality and Tourism Management undergraduate and graduate programs. A member of several public and private real estate industry organizations, she is also a Global Governing Trustee and member of the ULI-Americas Executive Committee.

Charles Golding, Panelist

Charles Golding is Senior Specialist in Global Valuation and Investment at RICS. Prior to joining RICS, Charles was engaged by government and multi-national clients to value properties ranging from luxury hotels and Olympic venues to prime office blocks. He has been an expert witness to UK’s Upper Tribunal and a policy adviser to UK Government. Widely published in journals, Charles has presented at numerous ESG seminars globally. Most recently, he was technical lead on updates to the RICS’s Global Red Book and their 2021 Guide to Sustainability and ESG in Commercial Property Valuation.

Hao Liang, Panelist

Dr. Hao Liang is an Associate Professor of finance at Singapore Management University (SMU), where he teaches sustainable and entrepreneurial finance at the PhD level. He also holds several SMU Fellowships and is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and a Tilburg University extramural fellow. He regularly publishes in academic journals and sits on several editorial boards. Dr. Liang’s awards include two prestigious Moskowitz Prizes for Socially Responsible Investing (2014 and 2019). He is a frequent contributor on social media to several academic blogs and, together with 30 of China’s leading ESG experts, sits on Caixin Magazine’s ESG Forum.

Lori Mabardi , Panelist 

Lori Mabardi has spent most of her career in commercial real estate, research and strategy, the first half with Fidelity Investments.  Currently, she leads the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Research & Strategy program for JLL. In this role, she puts a spotlight on the opportunity and obligation investors and occupiers share in shaping real estate for a better, healthier and greener world. Lori is also the creator of CaterCares – a program created in partnership with leading catering marketplace, ezCater.  Available nationwide, CaterCares enables participants to fight hunger in their own communities with every office catering order.  (www.catercares.com).

Tebogo Kaga Mokgata, Panelist

Tebogo Mokgata is a Senior Investment Professional in the Old Mutual Alternative Investments Impact Investing business unit.  Previously she was with Redefine Properties, McKinsey and Company, and Intersite Properties. Tebogo holds a BSc in Town and Regional Planning and an MBA. She sits on several investee boards and was previously on the board of one of South Africa’s oldest dance companies. At Old Mutual Alternative Investments, she is responsible for the growth of its FSC fund. The fund invests in affordable rental housing and student housing as well as SME and micro finance.

Colette Temmink, Panelist 

Colette Temmink currently is Chief Strategy and Product Officer at Blue Skyre IBE. Blue Skyre IBE software, advisory and support services help real estate organizations maximize the performance of their teams, properties, portfolios and ESG programs. Prior to Blue Skyre IBE, Colette was Global Head of Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) for Cushman & Wakefield and SVP and Chief Administration Officer at Apollo Education Group. Previously, she held global real estate roles at Boeing and Oracle. She serves as a Global board member of the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) and is currently one of CoreNet’s top-rated faculty for the MCR Capstone course.

Megan Walters, Panelist 

Dr. Megan Walters is global head of research at Allianz Real Estate. Prior to joining Allianz, she led a team of 170 researchers at JLL as Head of Research–Asia Pacific and was a member of the JLL leadership board. Previously, she worked developing deals for schools, hospitals, and hotels, and as an academic. Megan is a Fellow and former Governing Council member of the RICS.  She holds a PhD in real estate economics from the University of Hong Kong, and a Masters from the University of Reading. She currently serves as a global governing trustee of ULI, sits on the ANREV management board and chairs the ANREV Investors Advisory Council.

Kisa Zehra, Panelist 

As a Global Sustainability Thought Leadership lead at RICS, Kisa Zehra is responsible for delivering specialised market insights around sustainability to facilitate adoption and support growth within the chartered surveying profession globally.  As part of this, she designs surveys and analyses datasets to track progress on key sustainability issues. She also monitors the global economy tracking the influence of the built environment on ESG issues. Kisa is the lead author of the annual RICS World Built Environment Forum Sustainability Report, a snapshot of how the real estate sector is adopting and responds to the principles of ‘ESG’.

Patrick Katabua, Audience Q&A Moderator 

A member of the IRES Board of Directors, Patrick is Account Director for Cushman and Wakefield-Broll’s Africa Desk.  In this role, he deploys use-consulting, strategic advisory, market research and transaction management skills to optimize his client’s real estate assets in ways that meet their strategic objectives. Patrick is a dual French/English speaker with more than 15 years of real estate experience covering African markets.  He previously worked in the banking sector, as a deal maker and originator, with primary focus on key African cities.  He has a Master’s Degree from Witwatersrand University, and is currently completing an MBA from Gordon Institute of Business Sciences.