MARKETING INFLUENCERS
PEOPLE TO WATCH
Nayda Arslanian
Daren Bascome
Karen Benoit
Elizabeth A. Brand
Martha Coacher
Savannah Diffenbaugh
Danielle Feroleto
Gianna Frederique
Melissa Gillham
Tiffany Johnson
Najla Kayyem
Eric Kim
Shannon Knuth
Kristine Maggio
Shannon McCorison
Ken McElroy
Anna McGrath
Jason Price
Jessica Reid
Maura K. Schafer
Candace Tuck
Kara Taylor
Melissa Swader
Jayson Siano
Marci L. Rankin
Michael Papagianakis
Madelyne F. Kirch
Design by David Palmer/ALM
Candace Tuck
Kara Taylor
Nayda Arslanian
During the past year, Nayda Arslanian has focused on supporting LaSalle Investment Management’s firmwide goal of operating in a more globally-aligned way. Arslanian serves as global head of marketing and communications at LaSalle, where she oversees all marketing and communications functions for the company, including managing a team of 14 marketing professionals across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA. Arslanian’s team is responsible for developing, managing and implementing internal and external marketing initiatives, including brand development, media and press opportunities, social media presence, website design, asset marketing, ESG and sustainability messaging, global research publications, and client pitches and events. Under her leadership, LaSalle has overhauled its marketing and brand campaigns to highlight the impact of its services and culture through external campaigns including Pride, International Women’s Day and external research reports, as well as internal campaigns such as Culture of Care, Recognition Round Up and Digital Transformation. As a collaborative leader, Arslanian embraces change and encourages her employees to deliver new ideas and unique perspectives along with business cases and implementation plans. She assists in implementing One LaSalle marketing initiatives across the firm, including creating, driving and delivering messaging, platforms and materials. In addition, Arslanian led the company’s efforts to build its first-ever global intranet, MyLaSalle, last year. She oversaw the development of the design, architecture, look and feel of the platform and managed the marketing efforts to launch MyLaSalle across the firm. She is also responsible for ongoing maintenance, engagement and improvement efforts. Arslanian is dedicated to helping junior team members progress and grow in their careers, and she is passionate about nurturing and building diverse talent thanks to her own experience as an Armenian woman who grew up in the Middle East and now lives in London.
Daren Bascome
Daren Bascome believes changing the conversation can change the culture in any environment, and he has built an agency based on the concept of place-branding; developing narrative shifts in the legacy of neighborhoods, the story of cities or the culture of places. Bascome is the founder and managing director of Proverb Agency, a place-branding agency in Boston that partners with real estate, hospitality, healthcare and non-profit organizations seeking to transform and humanize the built environment. Bascome works in tandem with the firm’s new business team to pitch and sign clients, build and manage relationships, and track company growth. In addition, he acts as Proverb Agency’s creative director; brainstorming with his team and vetting every piece of creative that leaves the agency. Bascome started his career in exhibit design where he saw an opportunity to apply a more holistic approach that included coming into projects early and developing a place-based story. Using research, strategy and story during the earliest stages of development ensured that each final brand is cohesive, with storytelling infused in every brand touchpoint. Bascome began with the goal of creating a diverse, dynamic and culturally relevant agency, and rather than trying to do it all at his firm, he encourages self-starters and welcomes suggestions for improving the work process. One of his most significant achievements was a $2.5 million tourism campaign for the City of Boston that featured flavors, stories, shops and small businesses that make the city impossible to replicate. The All Inclusive Boston campaign increased traffic to Boston’s official tourism website by 400%. Bascome serves as a speaker, thought-leader and panelist and he shares his expertise freely, while lifting emerging voices and investing in a new class of professionals.
Karen Benoit
Karen Benoit began her career more than 30 years ago at Kidder Mathews, where she now serves as EVP of marketing. Benoit leads the firm’s 12-person corporate marketing team and oversees 80 marketing professionals throughout the firm’s 21 West Coast locations. As head of corporate marketing, Benoit’s leadership helps guide best practices at each of the firm’s locations. She holds overall responsibility for creating Kidder Mathews’ brand strategy, marketing strategy and budget, communications, corporate environments, events and growing its presence on the West Coast. This includes developing robust thought-leadership, speaking and social media programs to communicate and promote the firm’s expertise, as well as strategic campaigns to support its brand, recruiting, and sales opportunities. Benoit is one of four women on the company’s 11-member executive leadership team, and she has served on the firm’s strategic planning committee her entire career. During her time at the firm, Benoit has overseen the opening of 19 new offices and led the company through four unique rebrands – most recently in 2019 when the firm celebrated its 50-year anniversary. Her 2019 rebrand of the company’s website increased visitor traffic by 55% in the first year. She also directed remodels of 22 of the firm’s offices; curating each detail to reflect company culture and ensure clients and colleagues are able to make the best use of the spaces. In addition to helping prepare the firm for potential COVID-19 lockdowns by creating work-from-home and office health safety policies, Benoit was instrumental in finding redundancies and irrelevancies that saved the firm more than $1 million in expenses with minimal job loss when the firm reduced operational budget at the onset of the pandemic.
Elizabeth A. Brand
Elizabeth Brand is director of marketing at Colliers with responsibility for the Northeast - Philadelphia Tri-State region. She has 13 years of industry experience, including four years in her current role. Within Colliers, Brand serves as a creative spark and a champion in the success of modern marketing practices and technologies. As a team leader, Brand inspires others to care about the organization’s work, and she fosters an inclusive, collaborative environment. She is a key member of the firm’s executive leadership team throughout the Philadelphia Tri-State region, which encompasses six offices and 72 brokerage professionals. Brand’s responsibilities include firmwide branding, PR/communications and local marketing initiatives, and she is additionally responsible for the development and implementation of strategic marketing campaigns that meet the goals of clients. She works alongside Colliers’ internal clients to produce business development tools and campaigns for brokerage professionals. Brand responded to COVID-19 challenges by quickly creating digital content that addressed client needs for market information in a rapidly changing business environment. From an operational perspective, Brand has transformed Colliers’ local digital marketing strategy throughout the past three years by implementing a marketing automation platform, prospecting tools and digital ad capability, fostering a modern marketing inbound and lead generation marketing mindset, and supporting it with the right marketing technology stack. At a project level, Brand has been instrumental in securing and developing some of the top projects and listings at Colliers, including the Keystone Trade Center, the largest logistics development on the East Coast. In early 2021, Brand launched a multichannel campaign to share the 100-year story of Colliers in the region and she additionally led Colliers’ Helping Healthcare Heroes initiative which organized and packed more than 600 lunches for essential healthcare workers.
Martha Coacher
Martha Coacher serves as the CMO at Trepp, a position that she has held for 10 years, during which she has grown the marketing department to the size and success it is today. Coacher leads a global marketing team on several integrated marketing initiatives. During the pandemic, Coacher continued to grow her team internally, while increasing the department’s impact on the industry and company counterparts through marketing strategy, initiatives and brand enhancements. Coacher has been an integral part of the company’s strategic expansion into complementary markets with the launch of a content management marketing approach and digital platform. During her time at Trepp, Coacher created and launched a successful corporate blog, which generates more than 40,000 views a month, as well as a successful daily client newsletter, TreppWire. Coacher also moderates the firm’s commercial real estate and structured finance-focused podcast. She has been instrumental to the success of the podcast by both planning and outlining the content for each episode, as well as sourcing special guests and promoting each episode externally. Each week, Coacher highlights key market trends, Trepp research and content, updated industry regulations, and any market news from the week. She has moderated 97 episodes, hosted more than 20 commercial real estate guests, built a following of nearly 200,000 listens, and created an audio source of commercial real estate and financial market news for thousands of industry professionals. During the pandemic, she implemented daily check-in meetings within her department to address the influx of media requests, research reports and marketing content. She also spearheaded numerous other initiatives to keep market participants informed, such as new, in-depth research reports and free content from the Trepp team.
Savannah Diffenbaugh
Savannah Diffenbaugh is described as self-motivated, inquisitive and passionate – qualities which make her a standout professional at CIRE Partners & CIRE Equity, where she serves as marketing manager. Diffenbaugh has pioneered marketing efficiencies for the firm by creating streamlined templates and developing a long-term marketing plan. With more than a decade of industry experience, Diffenbaugh personifies the company’s core quality performance and persistent improvement values. She is a valuable mentor and has allowed team members to hone their skills by providing constant and consistent support. Throughout the past year, Diffenbaugh led the rebranding of two separate websites for CIRE Partners and CIRE Equity, including overall site objectives, content writing and graphic design elements. With a fresh eye and attention to detail, she helped elevate the company’s vision and showcase the firm’s expertise and offerings. Diffenbaugh develops polished marketing collateral and confidential financial information for high net worth investors and brokers and supplies quality brand messaging and creative copywriting. In addition, Diffenbaugh provides the offering memoranda and sales packages for a team of nine brokers and she creates a weekly news update for dissemination to more than 5,000 global industry subscribers. She launched a successful social media marketing campaign with reported increased metrics tracked quarterly, emphasizing external engagement. She also branded and created content for the firm’s Feed the Leads campaign, an initiative that provided meals to front-line workers from its restaurant tenant base.
Danielle Feroleto
For the past 25 years, Danielle Feroleto has been dedicated to growing companies in the commercial real estate industry through marketing. She is recognized for her strategic approach, strong networking practices, creative marketing strategies and effective training skills. Feroleto is the owner and founder of Small Giants, one of the largest AEC/CRE-focused marketing agencies in the country. She is a crucial source of industry knowledge for clients and plays a central role in project proposal preparation and execution; helping clients land lucrative projects through strategic approaches. During the pandemic as remote interviews became the norm, Feroleto guided Small Giants into creating and acquiring technology setups, which included video and sound expertise for clients to succeed in such situations. Using professional video and interview services improved first impressions during remote project interviews and resulted in Small Giants’ clients earning more than $975 million in project wins. In 2020, Feroleto also invested in continued education, provided tools and equipment, and created workshops to enhance and expand Small Giants' offerings despite pandemic challenges. These efforts resulted in 35% revenue growth for the firm, while growing the team by 20% from 27 employees to 35 employees. Feroleto impacts future professionals entering the industry by teaching students the importance of marketing at Arizona State University. As an associate faculty member and an industry advisory executive committee member, she pioneered the first marketing course at Arizona State University’s Del E. Webb School of Construction, where she has taught marketing and business growth strategies to more than 700 students during the past 16 years.
Gianna Frederique
With a focus on the New York City market, Gianna Frederique serves as VP at Silverstein Properties, where she leads the firm’s public relations and marketing efforts for major development projects. Among her notable projects are 30 Park Place, which sold 157 condos at record prices, and the successful marketing and sale of condos at One West End. She has also provided community relations for Innovation QNS, Disney HQ Hudson Square and 5 World Trade Center, and she currently handles the marketing for the firm’s $2 billion debt fund, Silverstein Capital Partners. With 15 years of industry experience, Frederique is effective at gaining the trust and support of a variety of diverse stakeholders, including potential condo purchasers and tenants, governmental authorities and community activists, as well as many consultants. Each of Frederique’s projects are long-term endeavors, for which she designs and implements appropriate long-term strategies that are nimble enough to respond to marketplace changes. Frederique is credited with being flexible in the face of Black Swan events, such as the pandemic, in effort to keep projects on track to accomplish their goals. Frederique has additionally helped the firm utilize technology for enhanced community relations, including interactive websites that facilitate efficient communication with stakeholders. Outside of work, she volunteers in the RIIS Settlement Houses' ESL Program and at St. Gregory the Great catholic school in Queens.
Melissa Gillham
Melissa Gillham joined Origin Investments when it was eight years old and had only 300 investors and $200 million in assets under management, thanks to word-of-mouth referrals. Gillham built and continually improves a sophisticated marketing engine that has expanded the company’s reach to 1,800 investors with $1.4 billion in AUM and more than 50,000 contacts in its database. As SVP of marketing, Gillham is responsible for the firm’s brand strategy and positioning, focused on high net worth investors and registered investment advisors; managing lead acquisition campaigns including paid search, retargeting, paid social media and affiliate marketing; solidifying the firm’s lead nurture strategy; creating and executing a content strategy; and overseeing new product marketing strategy and all aspects of the company’s website. She is credited with bringing Origin Investments into the digital age by changing its branding and lead-generation practices and developing creative digital retention marketing, nurture marketing and product marketing campaigns. Gillham continues to embrace new tools to enhance the firm’s marketing strategies. When the pandemic hit, she began producing monthly webinars for the firm in order to update investors and share decisions and investment performance in real time. These webinars drew an average of 1,000 attendees each month. Gillham has effectively increased the firm’s annual number of net new leads generated by 1,482%, annual website visitors by 359% and unique investors by 563%. She has also elevated the firm’s profile in trade and business media. Notable accomplishments for Gillham include developing creative, A-B nurture campaigns to acquire new investors, developing hard-hitting thought-leadership campaigns that include white papers and educational reports, transforming Origin Investments’ website, launching an ongoing series of new products, and pivoting strategies based on analytics. Gillham is one of only two women in senior management roles at Origin Investments and she has helped drive practices related to the company’s culture, charitable giving and HR.
Tiffany Johnson
Having completed more than $1 billion in commercial real estate transactions during her career, Tiffany Johnson serves as the global communications lead for CBRE’s largest and most complex corporate accounts. In 2020, Johnson transitioned to one of CBRE’s largest technology client accounts, for which she spearheads program management. During the pandemic, Johnson served as the Americas PMO lead for the account’s Workplace Design of the Future campaign, for which she worked with a global team to develop an improved process on COVID-19 compliance. Her role has since expanded to global communications, managing global governance, communications and employee engagement programs. Johnson has been instrumental in providing essential communication to her team on the latest policies and resources to support a safe work environment. She also leads multiple employee engagement, governance, integration and communication plans globally. Her communication responsibilities focus on unifying the organization through culture, team connectivity, global alignment, conflict prevention and strengthening of client relationships, and she provides accountability, compliance and risk mitigation. Johnson completed the CBRE EMPOWER program, during which she obtained certifications from Harvard Management Mentor in Business Case Development, Strategic Thinking and Team Management. Johnson holds a leadership role on the CBRE Charlotte women’s network committee and she has held multiple leadership roles within CREW as a longtime member. Within CREW, Johnson advocates for members, promotes their successes, participates in the mentor/mentee program and serves as the co-chair for the communication committee. She has provided professional development and implemented workshops and other learning opportunities for CREW, including a year-long, one-on-one mentorship program for 350 members. She is also dedicated to helping her community through volunteer efforts.
Najla Kayyem
With two decades of industry experience as an industry marketing executive, Najla Kayyem has been involved with more than 50 shopping centers or mixed-use entities across the country and she has emerged as an expert on national retail real estate branding. As EVP of marketing at Pacific Retail Capital Partners, Kayyem oversees comprehensive branding, strategic communications, digital integration, repositioning, public relations, strategic alliances, corporate initiatives and marketing activities for the company’s expanding portfolio of development and operational properties nationally. In addition, she provides executive leadership, direction and mentorship for a team of 45 professionals focused on operational and development marketing, special initiatives, digital marketing, guest services, omnichannel retail interaction and business development/sponsorship. She developed the Come Together marketing campaign in 2020 and she recently started working to influence how Metro National City development unfolds in Houston. Kayyem has doubled the firm’s portfolio by focusing on activating places and spaces that have a good reason to exist within the communities. In addition to leading PRCP’s marketing group, Kayyem started Kayyem Marketing, a strategic advisory firm for consumer real estate in 2008 and she manages a team of subject matter experts and local influencers focused on enhancing asset value through merchandising, placemaking and digital marketing efforts.
Eric Kim
Shortly after joining Newmark in 2019, Eric Kim developed an aggressive, multifaceted long-term strategy and a 5-10 year roadmap that has set the course for the company to transform into a digital-first operation, necessary in today’s CRE environment. Serving as VP of digital marketing at Newmark, Kim is an out-of-the-box thinker who considers multiple scenarios before taking action. In his role, Kim leads Newmark’s digital strategy, oversees its digital initiatives (channels, earned, owned, paid engagements) and manages a small, nimble team of two to develop and implement tactics to help transform the business digitally. Since joining Newmark, Kim has leveraged a multidisciplinary approach to promote and evangelize the value of a well-rounded and established digital footprint to the company. He quickly developed a multichannel plan for advancing Newmark’s digital marketing and creative output, which elevated brand perception and awareness within a few months. He has gained support within the firm, obtained executive-level buy-in and built and reinforced key connections with team members and business groups. He holds a passion for building a narrative through the production of diverse, inclusive and thought-provoking digital content that is easy for today’s fast-paced business professional to access, consume and share on the go. He possesses a well-rounded suite of digital marketing skills, which he couples with a creative mindset and soft skills that are critical to his and his team’s success in developing and executing campaigns, producing content, developing and executing digital innovations and looping in the right resources to deliver within challenging timeframes. His most impactful achievements at Newmark have been creating a centralized digital hub for COVID-19 content, the relaunch of Newmark’s website and fostering Newmark’s culture through collaboration and communication.
Madelyne F. Kirch
Madelyne Kirch founded Sun & Moon Marketing Communications in her basement with a $2,500 investment, 25 years ago. The company has since created dozens of jobs and given many people a start in the industry. As president of the firm, Kirch counsels both longstanding and new clients on marketing and communications activities ranging from branding to websites to sales and leasing centers. She spearheads the company's new business efforts and supports the firm's account service, creative, media and production staff. She encourages real estate players to think outside the box, which has allowed her to introduce new technologies and approaches to sales and leasing environments. She helps every client reassess its marketing plans and budgets to realign strategies and tactics as appropriate for a COVID-19 environment. She also spearheaded the team that created the story for, branded and introduced 125 West End Ave., a 400,000-square-foot adaptive re-use project in Manhattan. Her team created the first social media campaign for almost 900 multifamily units in two Manhattan neighborhoods, rebranded and launched a new website for a third-generation Queens family real estate business and led the team that attracted two new office buildings in Lower Manhattan, representing 2.1 million square feet. Her team also developed an innovative advertising campaign for Small Change, a real estate impact investing platform for small investors. She has been an active member of CREW and ULI for many years and has held prominent leadership roles within each organization. She regularly guest lectures on strategic marketing in real estate at NYU's Schack Real Estate Institute.
Shannon Knuth
As SVP of marketing at Kilroy Realty Corp., Shannon Knuth leads the marketing, event, graphics and communications teams, and her communication and content strategies have helped propel the company’s brand to international recognition. She built the firm’s marketing department from scratch and strives to push the envelope for her campaigns to raise the marketing bar across the industry. She oversees brand, marketing technology, strategic marketing, communications and creative design for Kilroy’s stabilized portfolio, which includes 14.2 million square feet of primarily office and life science space, as well as 3.4 million square feet of in-process developments. Knuth holds 15 years of industry experience as a high-performance marketer with a passion for design, storytelling and environments that connect people. Knuth has helped reinforce the message that Kilroy Realty Corp. is focused on sustainable real estate development through marketing campaigns and content strategy that complements the firm’s forward-thinking ethos. She is credited with creating impressive marketing strategies through her ability to adapt to change, conceptualize new ideas and put them into practice. Knuth has served as a major force behind the firm’s successes, including delivering a cutting-edge virtual technology platform for touring company properties; the virtual reveal of a public art display coinciding with the company’s construction completion of a project; deploying light art atop Kilroy buildings to inspire hope during the pandemic; and the firm being named NAIOP’s developer of the year in 2020. Knuth additionally led Reunited, Reimagined, a multi-theme internal campaign to collectively share information, content, humor, camaraderie and resources as employees transitioned back to in-person work. Knuth also led a tenant-facing communications campaign for workplace re-entry, which involved custom signage, a communications piece and a website to reassure tenants of Kilroy’s best practices. Knuth has held leadership and board positions at numerous industry organizations during the past 10 years.
Kristine Maggio
EVP of administration and marketing at Transwestern Real Estate Services, Kristine Maggio partners with Transwestern’s east region president to develop business, operational and marketing plans for the southeast region. In this position, Maggio provides strategic direction for new business pursuits and external marketing activities across all service lines, while elevating the company’s market presence by continually enhancing creative concepts, processes and client-facing content. In the southeast region, Transwestern had its best year ever in terms of financial results and team member retention along with recruitment to the firm, which Maggio was instrumental in. Maggio took a leadership role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic for Transwestern by creating national initiatives centered on remote work, return to work and creating safe environments for tenants and employees. Beyond the pandemic, Maggio has led the development of Transwestern’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative by partnering with team members from across the country and from all service areas to advance the focus and corporate responsibility of the company. Described as positive and inspirational, Maggio has become a recognized leader at the company and within her community. She remains actively engaged in the Atlanta metropolitan community with groups that serve the needs of a diverse and underprivileged population. She has also partnered with team members and been a leader in efforts to activate an internship program with Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Shannon McCorison
Within her first three months on the job, Shannon McCorison was on the front lines of a rebranding while Security Capital Industrial Trust transformed into Prologis, the company where she now serves as VP of marketing for the Americas. Three years later, she helped launch Prologis in Japan and since then, she has helped the company go through multiple mergers and acquisitions, a second rebranding, while growing customer offerings and building a worldwide reputation. In her current role, McCorison drives the company’s global brand and marketing messages, and through her work, company representatives speak cohesively across all markets and regions. With 23 years of industry experience, McCorison understands the power a strong branding strategy has in building and sustaining an industry reputation. She incorporates innovation and modern solutions to the Prologis marketing program, enabling agility and flexibility in high-demand situations, and through her guidance, her team maintains high-quality brand standards across all marketing activities and initiatives. A key part of her role is learning from regional teams who manage customer and partner relationships and incorporating those insights into the way the firm responds to customer demands worldwide, resulting in a more customer-centric approach. During major acquisitions, for example, McCorison expanded a program where Prologis teams across different markets visited every new customer, making sure they felt fully supported and that trust in the Prologis brand remained high. The program, which expanded nationwide, later became known as the Day 1.
Ken McElroy
Ken McElroy has connected with millions of people around the world; inspiring and educating them by sharing his expertise with creating passive income through real estate investing. McElroy is a real estate investing expert and social media influencer at KenMcElroy.com. His focus is primarily on the U.S. market, but he also works in Canada, Australia and the U.K. He has built a community of 263,000 YouTube subscribers on his channel, which offers videos on real-estate-related topics and a weekly live feed where viewers can ask questions about business and investing. KenMcElroy.com is a real estate investing education platform that supports McElroy’s presence on YouTube, podcasts, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Through these channels, McElroy has provided free education regarding multifamily rentals and the economic factors affecting the multifamily investing space. Along with his team, he develops and films all of the content. During the past three years, McElroy has become a macro-influencer on YouTube and micro-influencer on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Having weathered the housing crash of 2008, McElroy was already mindful of the potential of outside events that could disrupt his business. During the past year, McElroy and his partners at his real estate investment company, MC Cos., faced not only the pandemic but also disruptive winter storms in Texas. Thanks to its longstanding policy of keeping one year of operating expenses in reserve, MC Cos. was able to help employees and tenants impacted by both events. Together with MC Companies, McElroy has transacted more than $1 billion in real estate. Through MC Cos., McElroy and his partners additionally created the Sharing the Good Life Foundation, which positively impacts the communities it operates in and has helped hundreds of non-profit organizations since its inception in 2014.
Anna McGrath
As SVP and head of integrated communications at W.P. Carey, Anna McGrath is responsible for developing and implementing a holistic communications plan that aligns PR, marketing, digital and creative functions to increase brand awareness and support new business efforts through targeted communications across multiple channels. McGrath has worked tirelessly to foster increased collaboration among the firm’s departments since its integrated communications team was established last year. She is also focused on creating innovative ways to communicate with target audiences. During the past year, McGrath and her team have partnered on at least one large project with every department in the company, including investments, asset management, institutional investor relations, retail investor relations, human resources, information technology, accounting and legal. Along with her team, McGrath has made an impact on the company through projects such as a new corporate blog, an upgraded website, new infrastructure to help create a data-driven culture, an employee toolkit with branded materials and helpful resources, new marketing assets for the various teams, and a revamped communications strategy. McGrath quickly learned the digital and marketing technology landscape, in addition to many nuances such as web development, data management, data privacy and web accessibility compliance. McGrath has helped shape W. P. Carey’s internal Carey Forward volunteer team to align with the firm’s corporate values and grow employee participation in various community outreach opportunities. She is also a member of W. P. Carey’s ESG Committee, which seeks to continue expanding the company’s commitment to ESG matters.
Michael Papagianakis
Michael Papagianakis serves as a powerful voice for essential infrastructure projects and real estate developments that stimulate the economy, benefit New Yorkers and increase accessibility to transit and other public necessities. As chief of staff at the New York Building Congress, Papagianakis is an expert in government relations and communications in the building industry and the factors that affect the built environment, economic landscape and workforce. He oversees efforts to garner public and elected support for proposed and ongoing commercial projects and works to address the issues that developers face across the city. Before becoming chief of staff in January 2021, Papagianakis served as VP of public affairs at the Building Congress. In his current role, he oversees all external affairs for the organization, including communications, marketing, government advocacy and policy. He leads the strategizing, development and implementation of all public-facing initiatives and has helped spur growth at the organization through increased media coverage and greater influence in New York and Washington D.C. Papagianakis has focused on campaigning for infrastructure investment, job creation and economic development initiatives and he has been active in fundraising and membership acquisition for the organization. Most recently, he spearheaded the organization’s campaign in support of the federal infrastructure bill; drafting official statements and opinion pieces that underscore the importance of robust federal investment in infrastructure to kickstart economic recovery, create jobs and deliver infrastructure developments that create public good. He also oversaw the creation of a federal policy agenda, delivered to the Biden-Harris administration, to call for federal support, investments and approval processes for much-needed construction projects across the region. Papagianakis serves as a liaison to a number of boards and coalitions that support critical infrastructure developments in New York City and he currently serves on the A Better Way to LGA Coalition and the Build Gateway Now Coalition to garner media, public and elected officials' support for developments that increase transit capacity, access and public goods for New York.
Jason Price
At Commercial Properties Inc., Jason Price heads up media sales, marketing management, graphic design and presentation graphics, and innovative solutions for the firm’s sales team and its clients. A dedicated and supportive leader, Price has positively impacted both the company and individual employees by having an open-door policy and a willingness to listen and offer advice. His leadership as director of marketing and research was evident during the pandemic when he rolled up his sleeves to help complete projects and meet deadlines that might otherwise have been missed. Price regularly checked-in on his team members through one-on-one conversations to ensure that they were managing the stress of the pandemic, and he was available to assist with each person’s unique needs. Throughout the pandemic, Price worked with the executive team to ensure that his marketing staff was available to help move projects forward and continue to provide excellent service. With more than two decades of industry experience, Price is recognized in the industry for his outstanding leadership and performance. He consistently provides industry research that demonstrates the firm’s value and its ability to market properties using key performance indicators to help agents win multimillion-dollar listings. Price has additionally integrated virtual tours, drone and property videos and syndication technology to promote and deliver the most current marketing tools for clients. Outside of real estate, Price volunteers and works with organizations to coordinate charitable auction items to raise additional funds for charities.
Marci Rankin
Marci Rankin’s response to the pandemic, both professionally and personally, taught her team to prioritize the people behind each deal, each transaction, each campaign and each tactic. Rankin leveraged her knowledge and industry expertise to quickly pivot to digital operations and she identified ways to maximize communications through all channels to reach impacted clients. Rankin maintained a long-term vision throughout the crisis, allowing her to focus on the bigger picture by halting campaigns, repositioning messaging, moving events to virtual, altering communication cadence strategy and redirecting budgets to position her team and her business for success when the pandemic concludes. As marketing director and head of CRE marketing at JPMorgan Chase, Rankin provides marketing strategy and execution to the commercial real estate segment within the commercial bank at the firm. She leads a team of professionals who oversee the marketing coverage by business segment and provide sales resources to bankers across the country. As a member of the commercial real estate operating committee, Rankin manages a budget that aligns with critical operating tasks, oversees partnerships and drives change in the firm’s communities through storytelling and product synergies. Rankin has 19 years of industry experience, including 10 years as head of commercial real estate marketing. As an effective and reliable leader, Rankin values the approach as much as the result. She applies creativity to reach challenging business goals and embraces collaboration to achieve community impact. She has been recognized with numerous awards for her service, dedication, flexibility, collaboration, strategy and execution. Most recently, Rankin has been fundamental in JPMorgan Chase’s $30 billion commitment to racial equity through the development and preservation of affordable housing units in areas of need throughout the nation.
Jessica Reid
Jessica Reid’s heart for commercial real estate developed during her youth while observing her mother, who was one of few female commercial real estate brokers at the time. At the time, Reid helped her mom prepare presentations and pitches for potential clients, which led her to build a marketing career in the industry. In her multifaceted role of director of marketing and public relations at Harwood International, Reid manages marketing and PR for the firm’s four verticals – leasing and asset management, capital markets, development, and Harwood hospitality group. Reid focuses on international niche markets and has 15 years of industry experience. She is regarded as a driving force in commercial real estate, as she is adept at motivating her team and connecting with other departments and the community. She formed Harwood International’s crisis communications team to ensure all major incidents are reported on one confidential platform. The team includes ownership and key individuals from the executive, hospitality and property management teams to ensure consistent communication both internally and externally. Reid led two major campaigns during the past year: the Harwood Cares program, which promotes the health and wellbeing of every tenant, resident or visitor in the firm’s offices, condominiums, restaurants, museum and gardens, and the Wunder Series, an imaginative event series featuring free live music performances, happy hour experiences, a never-before-seen exhibition of samurai art. The campaigns resulted in impressive return on investment for tenant retention, new patrons for the restaurants and museum, and an increased the amount of residents buying condominiums.
Maura K. Schafer
During her 25-year commercial real estate marketing career, Maura Schafer has impacted companies, clients and co-workers through her capacity to listen, understand and create custom tailored marketing campaigns. As CMO at RDC-S111 Inc., an architecture firm with offices in the U.S. and China, Schafer is responsible for the firm's strategic marketing initiatives and she additionally serves as a member of the firm's board of directors. Working alongside key leaders, Schafer provides the direction for distinctive, comprehensive national marketing, business development and public relations platforms for the firm's three partner brands. She leads her team members to provide marketing and business development programs that support the professional practice areas of 160 professionals. During her career, Schafer has gained experience working with crisis communications, which proved useful during the pandemic. She is part of a management team that consistently and continuously communicated the state of the firm and its commitment to serving clients and retaining staff during the pandemic. These communications were key in maintaining morale, working collaboratively, retaining talent and providing excellent client service. Schafer is known for sharing her knowledge and helping organizations communicate their key messages and develop their careers. She was a member of the AIA Large Firm Roundtable on Marketing from 2017 to 2019, where leaders from architecture firms shared information and explored future-forward marketing techniques. She previously served as the marketing director for national architecture firm, KTGY and editor of its EXPAND magazine. Prior to that, she was responsible for global marketing and public relations for luxury mixed-use developments at OliverMcMillan, now Brookfield Properties.
In 2020, Schafer was named as an executive board member and secretary of OCCHC, an affordable housing organization that provides supportive services to break the cycle of poverty. Schafer also serves on RDC-S111’s racial equity diversity and inclusion steering committee.
Jayson Siano
Through his industry-focused vlog, Jayson Siano has learned about the value of social media, recruited talent to his firm and grown his business. Siano is the founder and CEO of SABRE Advisors. He launched the vlog, REAL SABRE, in 2016 and has since hosted a variety of influential social media marketers while drawing inspiration on how to push forward into the digital age. He travels the country weekly to meet and film early adopters of social media and content creators in the retail real estate industry; an effort which has taught him the true return on investment of social media. Siano began his commercial real estate career in 2001 and was soon engaged by Starbucks Coffee in Long Island, NY, which he continues to represent today. In 2003, he assisted Chipotle with its expansion into the New York market. In 2007, Siano was recruited by CBRE to become an integral part of its NY Metro retail services team and help design national strategies for many well-known companies across the country. Siano helped develop the franchise and national strategies for both European Wax Center and OrangeTheory Fitness from their first locations. In 2010, Siano founded SABRE Real Estate Advisors, a cloud-based national advisory firm. He additionally founded hellojenny and the CRE Digital Army, an effort born out of the pandemic to leverage social media platforms for positive, meaningful impacts. With 20 years of industry experience, Siano is a nationally recognized thought-leader and content creator in the CRE and digital media spaces. He is frequently sought after by executives to help them scale their businesses across the U.S. and beyond.
Melissa Swader
When Melissa Swader gives marketing advice, people in commercial real estate listen. Swader is president of Ruby Red Media LLC, a media, marketing, design and PR firm that helps small businesses, real estate professionals, trade specialties, small business owners and non-profit organizations with their marketing and branding strategies. With 22 years of industry experience, Swader leverages a variety of social media platforms to promote commercial real estate news and highlight relevant topics in today’s business climate. She founded the Women in Commercial Real Estate Facebook group, which has grown to almost 450 members in one year. Swader also hosted a popular marketing call, EMPOWERING Women in Commercial Real Estate. She is the editor of an digital magazine publication called Elevate Magazine, which features commercial real estate highlights, and she produces a podcast called Real Talk, Real Business, Real People, which features commercial real estate professionals discussing industry topics. Every week, Swader creates and shares a two-minute vlog with marketing and branding tips geared toward commercial real estate professionals to help them elevate their branding strategies. She strongly believes in elevating professionals within the commercial real estate industry by connecting and referring them when she is able. She has received numerous recognitions and awards for her accomplishments, she serves as a mentor and she frequently contributes to articles and speaks on panels.
Kara Taylor
As EVP of marketing at ATTOM, an information and property data services organization, Kara Taylor helps lead the company alongside a team of passionate professionals. A true thought-leader, Taylor leverages more than two decades of experience in marketing and product strategy in her role at ATTOM, where she leads the firm’s marketing, creative and public relations teams. In her role, Taylor has contributed to the company's multiple acquisitions, which have resulted in ATTOM’s ability to scale into a leading provider of nationwide real estate data for residential and commercial properties. Taylor has been a driving force behind the company’s culture and philosophy, which are built around empowerment, diversity, accountability and open communications. Her focus on both internal and external expectations has helped the firm remain well-positioned while continuing its rapid growth. Taylor is one of two women on the company’s leadership team and she is a member of the Women in the Housing & Real Estate Ecosystem. She has additionally played a significant role in ATTOM’s partnership with Girls Inc. of Orange County to offer local high school girls an opportunity to explore career options. Taylor has also provided pro-bono marketing services for the current California State Assemblywoman in District 74 and for Planned Parenthood San Bernardino.
Candace Tuck
Recognizing that people move for a variety of reasons, Candace Tuck’s goal is to make the rental process as smooth and enjoyable as possible. As director of marketing at RPM Living, Tuck oversees a team of marketing managers and a portfolio of more than 14,000 units, including her own portfolio of more than 5,500 units. After winning the first pitch she led as director of marketing, Tuck was appointed as marketing lead for one of RPM Living’s biggest clients and she has helped secure seven deals for the client within the past year. She now oversees all lease-up properties for the client. Tuck also led a successful marketing campaign to build brand awareness for a new property in Texas. For the campaign, her team implemented strategies, such as partnering with local sports teams to promote the property through discounted rates and social media outreach, developed effective signage to lead prospects to the property, and implemented new digital campaigns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tuck also recognized the importance of imagery and interactive features to assist prospects who leased properties sight unseen. Along with recommending renderings to clients, Tuck now automatically includes it in budgets for new builds. She encourages the use of digital rendering fly-through videos, 3D floor plans, 3D walk-through tours and interactive site maps. Tuck is a part of both the Dallas Apartment Association and Texas Apartment Association. She makes an impact on the broader community by supporting non-profit organizations and volunteering.
