Real Estate Association Elects 2020-2021 Board
The Columbia Business School Real Estate Association (REA) is pleased to announce the board (Co-Presidents and Vice Presidents) for the 2020-21 academic year. The officers, all in the class of 2021, were elected by the REA membership.
Meet the board!
Co-Presidents
Jessica Rosner
Jessica Rosner is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2021 and Co-President of the Real Estate Association. In her first year at CBS, Jessica served as the AVP of Careers for the Real Estate Association. Prior to CBS, Jessica founded, grew, and profitably sold ACL Designs, a furniture and home design business in New York. She also founded REV, a residential development company that built and renovated properties on Long Island. Through these experiences, Jessica learned what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur in the real estate industry. Jessica graduated from Hofstra University's Honors College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
Lisa Weingarten
Lisa Weingarten is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2021, the elected Cluster Chair for her 70-person MBA class section, and the elected co-President of the CBS 200 member Real Estate Association. This summer, she will intern for Hines in its New York office in real estate development. Prior to attending Columbia Business School, Lisa worked in real estate development and asset management at Simone Development Companies in New York. She managed ground-up construction and redevelopment projects, negotiated commercial leases across asset classes, and represented the company at political/community functions. Lisa graduated from Cornell University in 2016 with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. As an undergraduate, Lisa interned for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Chairwoman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Congresswoman Nita Lowey.
Alumni & Mentorship:
Ali Mazzeo
Ali Mazzeo is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2021 focusing on Real Estate Finance. Prior to CBS, Ali worked in management consulting where she advised senior leadership of Finance functions across industries. Additionally, Ali has experience valuing various financial investment portfolios, specifically within the alternative asset management space. Ali has always been interested in the real estate space and came to fully transition into the real estate space. She interned at a Real Estate Private Equity firm between her first and second years at CBS. Ali graduated from Villanova University with a dual degree in Finance and Accounting.
Andrew Kim
Andrew Kim is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2021 and is Co-VP of Alumni & Mentorship for the Real Estate Association. Prior to CBS, he was a Senior Investment Analyst at GoldOller, a real estate investment firm. In this role, he worked on the acquisition, recapitalization, and disposition of apartment properties throughout the United States. Before GoldOller, Andrew was a CMBS Analyst at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, analyzing CMBS bonds and commercial real estate properties. Andrew graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Economics. This summer, Andrew will be at Invesco on their acquisitions team.
Careers
Rebecca Bendetson
Rebecca Bendetson is a member of the 2021 class at Columbia Business School, focusing on Real Estate and Finance. Rebecca graduated from Tufts University in 2013 with a B.A. in Economics and minors in Chinese and Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining business school, Rebecca was a consultant at C Space, where she advised the world’s leading brands on how to be more customer centric in their strategies. In the summer leading up to CBS, Rebecca interned as a Real Estate Analyst at Cabot House.
Victor Salama
Victor Salama is a Class of 2021 MBA student at Columbia Business School focused on real estate and finance. Prior to CBS, Victor worked as an Associate at Morgan Stanley, where he evaluated commercial real estate credit risk. Victor also worked at TD Bank in commercial real estate underwriting. In addition to his role in the Real Estate Association, Victor serves as Alumni Chair for CBS Cluster A 2021. Victor graduated with a BA from Vanderbilt University in 2013.
Case Competitions
Sergey Kim
Sergey Kim is a member of Columbia Business School Class of 2021. Prior to CBS, he worked in various roles for Turner Construction, one of the largest North American general contracting and construction management firms. Most recently, he worked as a project engineer on a design-build fit-out for the Toronto Blue Jays and on a $76M ground-up data center project for a transit agency in Ontario. Sergey is originally from Russia. He received a BASc in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2013. This past summer, he interned in the Real Estate Investment Banking group at J.P. Morgan in New York.
Communications & Technology
Amanda Martin
Amanda Martin is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2021. Prior to CBS, Amanda was an associate at Goldman Sachs, working in divisional management for the firm’s Chief Risk Officer. She came to CBS to pivot into a career in real estate development. In addition to being on the board of REA, she serves as a co-president of the General Management Association. Amanda graduated from Columbia University in 2014 with a degree in Economics-Statistics.
Site Tours & Company Visits
Peter Gross
Peter Gross is a New York City native. Prior to joining the Columbia Business School class of 2021, Peter was an Analyst at HR&A Advisors, a leading real estate and economic development consulting firm. Prior to that role, he was a rotational analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau focusing on mortgage markets and Bureau-wide strategy and innovation. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 2013 with a B.A. in Political Science and Economics.
Maureen Devenny
Maureen Devenny is a member of Columbia Business School Class of 2021. Prior to Columbia, Maureen was the Deputy Director of Operations at Bryant Park Corporation and 34th Street Partnership, two Business Improvement Districts in Midtown Manhattan. She worked closely with developers and government agencies on development and public realm improvement projects within the Penn Station area. Maureen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 where she studied political science and Spanish.
Education
Matt Giannuzzi
Matt Giannuzzi is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2021 focusing on Real Estate and Finance. Prior to CBS, Matt spent five years in Deloitte Consulting’s Real Estate and Location Strategy practice, helping corporate clients strategize about their portfolios and individual assets, enter new markets, optimize costs, and transform offices to attract and retain talent. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University, where he owned and operated a shipping and storage business for students. This summer, Matt is interning at Hines with their Development team in the Atlanta, GA.
Scott Ma
Scott Ma is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2021 focusing on real estate. Prior to Columbia, Scott worked as an attorney with the Real Estate Group at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Toronto, Canada, where he advised clients on a range of matters including acquisitions and dispositions, real property financings and commercial leasing across property types as well as development approvals and planning compliance. Prior to that, he worked as a broker at HomeLife Landmark Realty Inc. focusing on residential and pre-construction sales. Scott graduated from the Schulich School of Business, York University in 2012 with an International Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and obtained his JD in 2015 from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. This summer, Scott is working at Invesco in Real Estate Asset Management in their NYC office.
EMBA
Philip Zhou
Philip Zhou is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2021. He is currently a Vice President at Capital Group, home of American Funds, with $2T in assets under management. Philip co-manages the relationship team and partners with financial advisors to customize investment strategy plans. He was previously a Senior Associate at AllianceBernstein, a $600B investment research and management firm. Philip graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012, where he studied Political Economics and International Business. Philip also serves as a board member for the Cal Alumni Club of New York and is the New York City chapter representative for the Semester at Sea Alumni Association.
Events
Sam Udolf
Sam Udolf is an MBA student at Columbia Business School class of 2021. Prior to CBS, she completed a pre-MBA internship at Trammel Crow Company, working on industrial and senior housing development projects. Sam also spent three years at CBRE working in the Corporate Development Group on M&A and strategy initiatives. Sam graduated from Harvard College in 2016 with an AB in Statistics. While at Harvard, Sam was captain of the school's alpine ski racing team.
Finance
Gabriel Siegal
Gabriel Siegal is the VP of Finance of the Real Estate Association and a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2021. Prior to CBS Gabriel was a Senior Associate at TJNS Capital, an early stage VC fund, where he was responsible for sourcing, analyzing, negotiating, and structuring portfolio investments. Prior to this position, he was an Analyst at The Carlyle Group, where he played a pivotal role in helping raise a $2.5 billion distressed debt fund and was responsible for the accounting, reporting, and operations of the fund. Prior to working at Carlyle, Gabriel also held roles at PwC and Fortress Investment Group. Gabriel is from Los Angeles, CA and graduated from Yeshiva University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He is a Licensed CPA in the state of New York. Gabriel will be interning at Charney Companies this summer.
International
Angela Wang
Angela Wang is a member of Columbia Business School Class of 2021 focusing on Real Estate Investment. Prior to CBS, Angela worked as Vice President at Trinity Street Capital Partners in New York City, where she raised equity for the first private equity transaction of the company and closed commercial mortgages on 50+ projects in various US markets. She has 6 years of experience in real estate finance and is a CFA Charter Holder. Angela graduated from Central University of Finance and Economics in China in 2012 and from Columbia’s MSRED program in 2013.
J Term
John Bae
John Bae is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School, focusing on Real Estate and Finance. John is a real estate developer, managing $300M worth of development projects in Korea. John is heavily involved in developing a $90M residential office building project in Ansan city and a $100M residential hotel development project in Paju city. John graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce.
Trips
Javier Henriquez
Javier Henriquez was a Development Manager at Pensam Capital, an investor, developer, and owner/operator of multifamily housing across the US prior to CBS. At Pensam, Javier focused on site sourcing, underwriting, due diligence, deal structuring and planning for new development opportunities. Javier is from Miami, FL and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Certificate in Architectural Engineering from Duke University. He will be spending the upcoming summer as a Development Intern on Boston Properties' NYC Development team.
John Millett
John Millett was a Research Analyst at Kynikos Associates, an equities hedge fund, prior to CBS. At Kynikos, John covered companies operating in the TMT and consumer sectors. From Atlanta originally, John earned a BS in Business and a BA in History from the University of North Carolina. Over the summer, he interned at Drake Real Estate Partners in New York City. John is a Columbia Fellow.