The Columbia Business School Real Estate Association (REA) is pleased to announce the co-presidents and vice presidents elected for the 2018-2019 academic year. The officers, all in the class of 2019, were elected by the REA membership. Assistant vice presidents will be elected from the incoming class in the fall.

Co-Presidents: Robin Lore and Aditya Jain

Robin Lore is the incoming Co-President of the Real Estate Association and outgoing Co-VP of Trips. Prior to Columbia Business School, Robin worked at Bentall Kennedy, a North American real estate advisor, on both the investment management and corporate teams. She will be joining PGIM’s Real Estate team for her summer internship. Robin graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BCom in Finance and Real Estate and is a CFA Charterholder.

Aditya Jain graduated with honors from Boston University, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Aditya worked as an Investment Associate with Gulf Related in Abu Dhabi, handling the financial analysis and investor relations function for a mixed-use development on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, and a multifamily project in Saudi Arabia. Before Gulf Related, he worked with Mubadala Pramerica Real Estate Investors as a Senior Transactions Analyst. Aditya also has over three years of corporate banking experience with BNP Paribas and is a CFA Charter holder.

VPs of Education: Tommy Chan and Michael Stern

Tommy Chan graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2011 and a M.S. in Engineering Management from Northeastern University in 2012. Prior to business school, Tommy was an Owner’s Project Manager at Pinck & Co. in Boston, managing development projects from concept to completion. He has experience working on ground-up and redevelopment projects in multifamily housing, commercial offices, and municipal facilities. Tommy holds an Unrestricted Construction Supervisor’s License (CSL) in the State of Massachusetts. He is interning at PGIM Real Estate this summer in an investments and asset management role.

Michael Stern is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2019. Prior to Columbia, Michael worked as a Real Estate Private Equity Analyst at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI). At MSREI, Michael focused on opportunistic and core investing opportunities across all property types where he closed over $460MM of real estate transactions. Michael is a volunteer for the non-profit iMentor and is a councilmember of Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology Young Alumni Council. Michael received a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University.

VPs of Alumni and Mentorship: Kenny Thompson and J.C. Hay

Kenny Thompson is a rising second-year MBA student at Columbia Business School focused on real estate investment and development. He graduated with a BA in Economics from Brown University where he was also Co-Captain of the Men’s Track & Field team. Prior to CBS, Kenny was an Associate in the Real Estate Finance & Securitizations group at Credit Suisse where he focused on the origination of large commercial mortgage and mezzanine loans for a variety of institutional sponsors.

Prior to CBS, J.C. Hay was a Vice President at JPMorgan’s Private Bank working with High Net Worth Individuals, Families, Endowments and Foundations where he oversaw $650MM in client assets.  In his role there, J.C. advised clients on investments, banking, credit, and wealth advisory.  While advising his clients on their investments, J.C. became very interested in the real estate investments his clients were making and decided to attend Columbia Business School to transition into real estate investment.  J.C. is interning this summer at Greystar in Portfolio Management in Charleston, SC.  

VP of EMBA: Daniel Graca

Dan Graca is Vice President of Financing at Hudson Advisors with over 10 years of real estate experience.  Dan's focus is real estate debt and has helped close over $11B in acquisition financing on behalf of Lone Star Funds. Prior to Hudson Advisors, Dan worked at PGIM Real Estate Finance where he restructured non-performing debt and sized loans for Prudential’s multifamily bridge loan program. Dan is from Chicago, IL and graduated from DePaul University with a double major in Finance and Real Estate Investment.

VPs of Events: Hanna Cassorla and Oscar Hentschel

Hanna Cassorla is a member of the Columbia Business School class of 2019. Prior to business school, she spent 4 years at Value Retail, a real estate company focused on the development and operation of luxury outlet malls in Europe and China. At Value Retail, she spent one year as a Leasing Manager for Value Retail China, working on the opening of Shanghai Village, the newest and largest center in the VR portfolio. Prior to this, she spent three years in Paris as a Business Analyst for Value Retail France. Prior to Value Retail, Hanna spent two years at a New York-based boutique investment firm where she was responsible for due diligence and project management for third-party investment partnerships across alternative investment strategies including real estate, venture capital, natural resources, corporate credit and entertainment. She graduated in 2011 from Columbia University with a major in Political Science and a minor in Francophone Studies. This summer, Hanna is joining Building & Land Technology working across their development and private equity platforms, followed by a development internship with Hines in New York.

Oscar Hentschel graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. and an M.S. in Finance. Prior to business school, Oscar worked at PIMCO in Miami, covering Latin American retail and institutional investors. This summer, Oscar is interning at Building & Land Technology in Stamford, CT focusing on real estate development and private equity.

VPs of Careers: Christian Coates and Gillian Dudeck

Christian Coates worked as an Acquisitions and Structured Finance Associate at Federal Capital Partners, an opportunistic real estate private equity firm which owns and operates over $2.3 billion in assets. At FCP, Christian was responsible for evaluating multifamily equity and debt investments in existing assets and new developments. Prior to joining FCP, Christian spent three years at Citigroup on their equity trading and fixed income sales desks. Christian is from Ocean City, MD and graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government and a minor in Economics. This summer, Christian is working at Morgan Stanley in their Real Estate Investing group.

Gillian Dudeck graduated from Hamilton College, where she captained the Women’s Varsity Golf Team, with a BA in Environmental Studies. Prior to Columbia Business School, Gillian worked in Boston, MA at CBRE/New England in Asset Services, working primarily on the Fan Pier Development. In addition to her role on the REA Board, she will serve as a Co-President of the Golf Club. This summer, Gillian is interning with Invesco Real Estate in San Francisco, focusing on underwriting in the Northern California and Pacific Northwest markets. 

VP of Site Tours: Verity Sylvester

Verity Sylvester is from Toronto, Canada. She graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business with a BA in Business Administration in 2013. Most recently, Verity worked as a Senior Real Estate Analyst at Manulife Real Estate, an active owner, developer and manager of C$21.6B of commercial real estate worldwide. Prior to Manulife, Verity worked in retail leasing at Cadillac Fairview. Verity is a CFA Charterholder. This summer, Verity is interning at SL Green in its acquisitions group.

VP of Finance: Alex Cherner

Alex Cherner is from Bethesda, Maryland, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014 with a BA in Psychology. After graduation, Alex joined AOL, Inc., where he worked in media strategy for two years. At AOL, Alex advised Fortune 500 companies on big picture strategies within the digital advertising landscape. Following AOL, he joined the venture capital arm of 1776, where he worked for one year before starting at Columbia Business School. At 1776, Alex worked closely with the CFO on the company’s operating financial model, in addition to sourcing deals and performing financial analysis on portfolio companies for the venture capital seed fund. Alex is a first-year student at Columbia focused on real estate investing, acquisitions and development. He is interning at Brookfield in New York this summer.

VP of Communications and Tech: Sasha Binderow and Luis-Ferdinand Mann

Sasha Binderow is a rising second year MBA student with a Real Estate focus. She comes from a background in finance and economics from her undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University and her work experience as a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She has always had an interest in Real Estate and earned her Salesperson’s License in her home state of California at age 19. Sasha is also a member and volunteer in the Financial Education Society at CBS.

Luis-Ferdinand is an MBA student of the Class of 2019 with concentrations in Real Estate, and Finance. He has worked for three years as an Associate with Aria Development Group on the acquisition and development of residential and commercial real estate in New York, Washington D.C. and Miami. Prior to working with Aria Development Group, he interned with the Development Team of Related Companies in Chicago. Luis-Ferdinand received his B.A. in Mathematics from Northwestern University. At CBS he is a member of the board of the Family Business Club and a Winger for the CBS Football Club.

VP of J-Term: Jodie Zhang

Jodie Zhang graduated from George Washington University with a BBA in International Business. Prior to business school, Jodie worked at a family real estate development company focused on building and managing senior homes in China. Later, she worked at CBRE’s transaction management group in New York. Jodie is in the J-term program and will be taking classes full-time in the summer. 

VPs of Trips: April Chye and Jason Yun

April Chye graduated from Columbia College in 2014 with a major in English Literature and double concentrations in Political Science and Business Management. Prior to Columbia Business School, she worked at Bloomberg where she ran several high profile financial data enhancement initiatives out of Singapore and Hong Kong. Having grown up in a family real estate enterprise, she hopes to pivot into a career in real estate post-MBA and is interning at Bank of America Merrill Lynch within their Real Estate, Gaming & Lodging investment banking coverage group this summer.  

Jason Yun graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in with a both B.S. and Master’s degree in Accounting. After graduation, he worked as a public accountant for 5.5 years, auditing financial statements for wide range of clients from coal mines to telecommunication companies. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the state of New York. 

VP of International: Jose Luis Pinto Basto

Jose Luis Pinto Basto is originally from Portugal, where his family’s business is an important player in the Real Estate Development market. After working for the business for a year and a half, he went to Madrid for two years to work for Telefonica, a Spanish multinational telecom, having then moved with them for four years to Sao Paulo, Brazil to work in B2B Strategy for the LatAm markets. After Columbia, he wishes to continue working abroad to further his experience in different international markets before returning to his home country and rejoin the family business.

VP of Case Competitions: Tricia Craig

Tricia Craig is a California native and second-year student focusing on real estate investment. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in French.  After graduating, she worked at with CAST Management Consultants, specializing in operational efficiency for financial services clients.  Tricia also worked in hotel operations while in college and is the Co-President of the Hospitality and Travel Association.  This summer, Tricia is interning with Allianz Real Estate of America working on their debt and equity platforms.