Conversation

Canadian CREW Chapters Present: RE-ENGAGE the Industry: A Conversation on the CREW Network Benchmark Study

Thursday, Feb 18, 2021

Join us for an important conversation surrounding CREW Network's 2020 Benchmark Study: Gender and Diversity in Commercial Real Estate at 12:00 pm MST on February 18th!

Join us for an important conversation surrounding CREW Network's 2020 Benchmark Study: Gender and Diversity in Commercial Real Estate. Our virtual panel discussion will be moderated by CREW's own Rhonda Holland and features speakers from all over North America: Ross Roy (Calgary, AB), LaShawn Bates (Tampa, FL), Pauline Hale (Orange County, CA), Jennifer Mazawey (Newark, NJ), and Chantelle Cole (Toronto, ON).

Our diverse panel will be exploring the results and utility of the recently released study, as well as what each of us can do to move the needle in the right direction to advance women in the Commercial Real Estate industry.

Rhonda Holland (Calgary, AB) – Moderator

rhonda

Rhonda Holland is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at MasterBuilt Hotels, managing financial strategy, and overseeing financial and treasury functions, corporate development, and investor relations for the company.  Before being named CFO, Ms. Holland started with the company in 2015 as Controller, holding both Director and Vice President roles through her tenure.  

Prior to MasterBuilt Hotels, Ms. Holland was Regional Finance Manager at AECOM (ACM – NYSE) in the United States, leading management teams in large scale transportation engineering projects and also held senior accounting roles with Brookfield Residential (BRP – NYSE). She has extensive experience in financial planning and analysis, profit-and-loss leadership, and project management.  Her career began in Sport Administration, managing the day to day financial operations for Hockey Canada through a decade of Gold medal winning performances.

Ms. Holland serves on the Board of Directors for the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, Calgary Chapter and is currently the Co-chair of the Network Industry Research Committee. In 2021, she will serve as President-Elect for the Calgary Chapter.  She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Ross Roy (Calgary, AB) – Panelist

ross roy

A Principal and Senior Account Manager with Stantec’s Alberta South Buildings Group, Ross is responsible for overall growth and direction for our region’s retail, commercial, and mixed-use markets. He brings over 30 years of experience helping clients deliver profitable and fit for purpose projects across Canada. His focus more recently has been on supporting clients with the redevelopment of their existing retail sites—achieving greater densities, mix of uses, and transit-oriented developments (TOD). Recently, he has also expanded into the multi-family residential sector and in particular affordable housing, a sector more critical than ever to Canadians today and one close to Ross’ heart. Ross believes that strong client relationships are the cornerstone of successful projects. From the start, he advocates for his client’s needs, and takes the time to listen carefully so their vision can come to life within budget. He is a Certified Design, Development & Construction Professional (CDP) with the International Council of Shopping Centres and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary. An active member of the community, Ross is on the Board of Directors for Rosebud Centre of the Arts, is an active musician, and Co-Chairman of the Peter Burgener Memorial Charity Concert—a fundraiser in its seventh year, co-sponsored by Stantec and well on its way to raising over a million dollars for deserving charities.

LaShawn Bates (Tampa, FL) – Panelist

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LaShawn Bates is a 20+ year commercial real estate veteran with a unique hybrid of office and industrial transactional expertise coupled with operational leadership. In her current role at JLL, LaShawn oversees Operations for JLL’s Florida Market. Ms. Bates is responsible for execution of the business and financial performance plan that generates over $100 million of revenue from all service lines including Brokerage, Property Management and Project Development Services. As the Senior Vice President, Ms. Bates partners with the Florida Market Director and JLL’s corporate partners in Finance, HR, Legal, Research and Marketing to implement and execute the firm’s national and regional strategic goals.

Prior to joining JLL, LaShawn served as Director of Cushman and Wakefield’s Florida Capital Markets offices.  In her role as Director, LaShawn managed a team of brokers, analysts and marketing staff. LaShawn provided project management oversight of client advisory services including requests for proposals (RFPs), offering memorandum (OMs) and financial analysis for all disposition assignments.  During her 11-year career at Cushman and Wakefield, LaShawn was directly responsible for managing the execution of over 350 disposition assignments totaling more than $5 billion.

Prior to joining Cushman and Wakefield, Ms. Bates was a 10-year veteran of KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s CMBS lending group.  As a Senior Financial Analyst, Ms. Bates provided underwriting and deal structuring support, modeled various property types according to value and created cash flow analyses. 

Pauline Hale (Orange County, CA) – Panelist

Pauline

Pauline Hale has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate investment, finance, lease analysis, and budgeting. Her clients are large institutional property owners, developers, and lenders including large banks, insurance companies, and pension funds.  She attended Cal State Fullerton for her undergraduate degree in Business Administration, and received an MBA from Long Beach State.  Her long career in finance and commercial real estate gives her a unique perspective and expertise on issues such as maintaining property values, land use development, and lease negotiation, all vital in these uncertain times to keep our city solvent and maintain jobs and economic activity.

Pauline is also the Philanthropy Chair of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Orange County board of directors. She is a member of the Chrysalis Orange County Advisory Council, a non-profit dedicated to job assistance and training for the homeless and disadvantaged.  In addition to her non-profit work and career, Pauline spends her free time volunteering with various groups throughout South Orange County, competing in dog shows with her champion miniature dachshunds, and is a former professional and senior elite bowler who has represented the United States in Asia and Central America.

Jennifer Mazawey (Newark, NJ) – Panelist

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Jennifer Mazawey is a Partner in the Genova Burns' Newark, NJ office and a member of the Commercial Real Estate & Redevelopment, Environmental Law, and Land Use & Approvals Practice Groups as well as the Construction & Engineering, Education, Land Development and Real Estate Industry Groups. She represents developers in all aspects of projects, regularly appearing before planning boards and zoning boards of adjustment. Ms. Mazawey assists clients with permit acquisitions from agencies such as the Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation.

Ms. Mazawey advises clients on drafting professional services and construction contracts and represents them in construction-related disputes. She provides counseling and training on all aspects of the development process.

For almost twenty years, Ms. Mazawey has also practiced education law. She has served as general and special labor counsel to boards of education and trustees throughout New Jersey, advising her clients on board governance, labor relations, special education and school construction. She has handled matters at the Public Employment Relations Commission, Office of Administrative Law and before state and federal courts.

Ms. Mazawey is a frequent lecturer for the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, New Jersey State Bar Association, CapRate Events (CAPRE), Newark Regional Business Partnership (NRBP) and other industry groups, such as New Jersey Business and Industry Association and New Jersey School Boards Association. She co-authored “In the Election of 2002, the Voters of New Jersey Were the Winners," 27 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 77 in 2003.

Chantelle Cole (Toronto, ON) – Panelist

Chantelle is part of the global brand, marketing and communications leadership team, leading the global marketing team working across asset classes and geographies. 

Prior to joining the Oxford Properties Group in 2019, Chantelle spent nine years leading marketing, brand and strategic initiatives at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa; the V&A is a privately owned mixed-use development. She has spent much of her corporate career in senior marketing and strategic leadership roles. She has worked in diverse industries including the real estate, hospitality, tourism, technology and retail sectors, bringing deep consumer insights, business and marketing strategy and a passion for stakeholder relations to her positions.

Chantelle holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business and has done additional courses through Stern, Ivey and Kellogg. Chantelle was a non-executive director of Cape Town Tourism prior to relocating to Toronto in late 2018. She is currently a member of CREW Toronto and co-chair of CREW Network’s research committee.

Chantelle and her husband Andrew have a young son Benjamin. They value time together as a family camping, hiking, paddling, cooking and travelling. Chantelle loves books, music and movies – when time allows.

To access our 2020 Benchmark Study, click HERE.

Please consider making a donation to the CREW Foundation by clicking HERE.

  • When

    Thursday, Feb 18, 2021

  • Time

    12:00pm -1:00pm

  • Price
  • Registration closed

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