REI Executive Advisory Council Members
Gemma Burgess
Managing Director / Co-Leader, Global Real Estate Practice
Russell Reynolds Associates
Gemma co-leads the global real estate practice alongside Deb Barbanel. With 20 years of executive and non-executive search experience globally, Gemma primarily works with Private Equity, Investment Management, Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), Structured Finance, Hedge Fund and Investment Banking clients.
Stacey Cohen
CEO and Founder
Co-Communications
Stacey Ross Cohen, CEO and founder of Co-Communications, is a best-selling author (Brand Up series), TEDx speaker, and adjunct marketing professor at Fordham University, who earned her stripes on Madison Avenue and at major television networks. She excels at building brands, expertly positioning their narratives to succeed in fiercely competitive markets and has earned numerous accolades including recognition from Forbes Enterprise, City & State NY/Power100, PRSA Practitioner of the Year, and named Crain's New York Business' Notable Leader in Advertising, Marketing, and PR (2023) for her work in the field. Stacey holds a BS from Syracuse University, an MBA from Fordham University, and a Media, Entertainment, & Technology certificate from NYU Leonard Stern School of Business. An entrepreneur at heart, she started her first business when she was just 14.
Bhavin Thakker
Managing Director of the India Desk Americas
Savills
Bhavin Thakker is the Managing Director & Head of India Desk at the Americas, a part of the Global Occupier Services team; and is based in New York. Bhavin is the bridge for all the business in the India-United States corridor. Bhavin joined Savills in 2014 as a founding member of Savills India, where he held progressive leadership roles culminating in responsibility for Mumbai operations across all service lines and leading Cross Border Tenant Advisory nationally. Prior to Savills, he held senior positions at Cushman & Wakefield and Savills Investment Management. Bhavin brings 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, with deep expertise spanning tenant advisory, consulting, project management and facilities management; with a focus on the India-US segment. His cross-functional background enables him to deliver strategic, end-to-end real estate solutions tailored to each client's long-term objectives. Prior to relocating to New York, Bhavin was based in New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai in India.
Kathleen Gleason Donovan
Managing Director
Head of Mortgage Finance, Real Estate Finance
Kathleen Gleason Donovan is a Managing Director and Head of Mortgage Finance within the Real Estate Finance Group at UBS. In this role, Ms. Donovan is responsible for leading the residential warehouse lending business. Prior to this, Ms. Donovan was the Head of Underwriting in the commercial real estate business within Real Estate Finance Group responsible for approving all new loan originations as well as overseeing the pre-securitization transaction management process including loan underwriting and structuring.
Prior to joining UBS in 2011, Ms. Donovan was a senior member of the large loan origination teams at both Credit Suisse and Bank of America where she focused on origination and structuring of large loans for securitization, public to private transactions and balance sheet financing for institutional clients. From 2004 to 2006, Ms. Donovan served as Senior Vice President at Silverstein Properties where she was responsible for securing Liberty Bonds for the benefit of the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. From 1996 to 2004, Ms. Donovan worked at GMAC Commercial Mortgage where she was Director of European Operations in London and was responsible for the establishment and oversight of GMACCM’s lending platform in Europe. Additionally, she served as Co-Head of the Underwriting Group for GMACCM’s C-II lending operation during her time in New York. Ms. Donovan began her career having spent three years at Chemical and Chase Manhattan Bank, predecessors to JPMorgan Chase, holding positions in the Real Estate Finance division.
Ms. Donovan is a member of the executive advisory council at the Fordham Real Estate Institute. Ms. Donovan holds a BS from Fordham University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Patrick Davidson
Human Capital Strategy, Workplace Experience & Organizational Design
JPMorgan Chase
Michael’s career encompasses senior global leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America & Morgan Stanley and as a Senior Advisor with SAP Software Solutions and PepsiCo, leading workplace strategy, organizational transformation, enterprise business partnerships, HR and C-Suite engagement, talent planning, attraction and development. The core of Michael’s experience is anchored by the development of global talent and location strategies, curating thoughtful workplace and employee experiences, aligning talent, workforce demographics and delivering substantial yet responsible expense and capital reduction plans. Resilient forward-looking enterprise solutions, developing world-class teams, building trust, engagement anchored by core values and distilling simplicity from complexity are trademarks of Michael’s approach.
As an Independent Senior Advisor for a range of organizations since 2022, Michael is focused on organizational design, elevating workforce effectiveness, global location strategy and enterprise line-of-business engagement. Delivering a workplace and employee experience that integrates thoughtful and innovative employee programs, human-centric services and financial rigor across all functional disciplines and geographies. Michael also provides informed and candid leadership coaching, learning pathways and development for teams. In 2026, Michael is concurrently enrolled at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for advanced skills and continuing executive education focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Strategy & Leadership, Designing & Building Products & Services, the Workforce, Generative AI, Roadmap Innovation, AI Adoption, Design, Security & Regulation. In 2026, Michael completed a Master of Science in Human Capital Strategy at Columbia University with a curriculum encompassing People Analytics, Digital HR & Workplace, Workforce Planning.
Peter Tzelios
Managing Member
Wythe Capital LLC
Peter M. Tzelios has extensive, cross-functional Commercial Real Estate investment and management experience having directed legal, debt, equity, asset management, and capital markets functions across a variety of projects, including new construction, redevelopment, condominium conversions, net lease, distressed asset rehabilitation. Peter has institutional managerial experience at the most senior levels as well as experience in founding, establishing and growing new companies and platforms. Peter is currently actively engaged in the management and operations of Wythe Capital LLC, an investment business which he co-founded in 2009 which invests in and manages commercial real estate assets primarily focused on medical office buildings. Peter is also currently a board member and Manager of a 1.1 million square foot Class A office building in Chicago. The Property was acquired by a syndicate of lenders that foreclosed on a $230 million mortgage loan. Ownership retained Peter as one of three members of an independent board to formulate and execute a business plan for the stabilization of the asset, the creation of value and an exit for the owners/banks at an optimal valuation based on ownership’s requirements.
Robert J. Morgenstern
Director
Real Estate Institute
School of Professional and Continuing Studies
Robert Morgenstern is the director of administration for the Fordham Real Estate Institute at Lincoln Center, a leading provider of real estate, construction, and hospitality degree and noncredit professional development programs. Prior to establishing the Fordham REI in 2016, Bob was an academic director for 24 years at the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate where he developed one of the leading professional development programs for local and international professionals. Directed the development of the Fordham REI M.S. in Real Estate (MSRE), M.S. in Real Estate Development (MSRED), M.S. in Construction Management (MSCM), M.S. in Hospitality (MSH), graduate-level Advanced Certificates in Real Estate Development, Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Management, Construction Management, Hotel Management, Hospitality Investment and Development, and the undergraduate major/minor in Real Estate. Instrumental in the creation of the Fordham Real Estate Institute Executive Advisory Council. Co-developed the M.S. in Construction Management (MSCM) for NYU. Developed Professional Certificates in Real Estate Finance, Development, Property Management, Construction Management and MEP Systems Design for both Fordham REI and NYU.
Marie Therese Luzine-Baker
Vice President Sales
WB Wood
Marie is a member of the Fordham family as an Interior Design graduate of Marymount College Tarrytown ’90. As Vice President of WB Wood Marie boasts over two decades of experience spearheading WB Wood’s premier projects in contract furniture. Her expertise spans nationally and across more than a dozen countries in EMEA and APAC, serving diverse sectors including finance & trading, fashion, law, public spaces, life sciences, and hospitality. Driven by a genuine passion for innovative designs and sustainable solutions, Marie excels in delivering projects on time and within budget. Her extensive knowledge of products, services, importing, and logistics ensures seamless execution. Marie aims for projects without punch lists, yet her adaptability shines when unforeseen circumstances arise, requiring a pivot, a plan B, and effective communication. A resident of NYC and a member of the NYAC, on her off hours, she can be found nose deep in the latest non-fiction thru book club, on a yoga mat, playing pickleball or relaxing Upstate with her family. CoreNet, IIDA, IFMA, AMFP member
John Philip Dorman, CCM
JPDorman Consulting, LLC
John Philip Dorman, CCM, is a hospitality executive and consultant with more than four decades of leadership experience in the private club, hotel, and culinary industries. In 2025, he retired after 28 years as General Manager of The University Club of New York, where he led one of the nation’s premier private clubs through a period of sustained membership strength, financial growth, and extensive restoration of its landmark clubhouse. During his tenure, the Club invested more than $150 million in capital improvements, moved from debt to a substantial capital surplus, and maintained consistently balanced annual budgets without extraordinary membership assessments. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Dorman began his career in his family’s longtime Coney Island confectionery business and went on to hold senior leadership positions with Loews Corporation, The Regency Hotel, RIHGA Royal Hotel, and Halcyon USA before joining The University Club in 1997.
Today, Dorman continues his work through J.P. Dorman Consulting, advising private clubs, hospitality organizations, and boards on leadership, governance, operations, capital planning, human resources, and long-term strategy. He has held numerous leadership positions within the Club Managers Association of America and several culinary and hospitality organizations and serves or has served on both nonprofit and corporate boards. His professional honors include the 2012 Excellence in Club Management Award and the prestigious 2025 Lifetime Excellence Award. Together with his late wife, Andrea, he established endowed scholarships at the Culinary Institute of America and through The Club Foundation to support the education and professional development of future hospitality leaders.
Tal Peri
Head of U.S. East Coast and Latin America
Union Investment Real Estate GmbH
Tal Peri is a senior real estate equity and debt investor with over 20 years of industry experience across markets and product types. Tal has closed more than $6.5 billion of real estate transactions. He serves as Head of U.S. East Coast and Latin America for Union Investment Real Estate in their New York office with the primary responsibility of overseeing equity investment activities in these regions. Union Investment is the largest open-ended real estate fund in Germany with a global real estate AUM of $55 billion and a US AUM of $6 billion.
Prior to this role, Tal was an Associate Director at WestLB, New York, where he was responsible for real estate acquisition and development finance transactions. He is an active council member of ULI's National Urban Development Mixed-Use Council (UDMUC - Blue Flight) & ULI's New York Mixed-Use Council (Green Flight), an active advisory board member at the GRI Club, Global Committee Member in the Multifamily & the Future Office & Workforce Chapter of GRI Club, and active in other real estate organizations. He speaks regularly on industry panels or podcasts of ULI, Commercial Observer, NAIOP, GRI, AFIRE, PERE, Markets Group, Altus, IMN, Opal, Inmobiliare, Connect Media, AREAA, RICS, DLA Global RE Summit, Mortgage Banker Associations, Carmo Companies, RELPI, GreenPearl, iGlobal and IVYFON. Deal track record includes multifamily, office, industrial, hotel, retail and mixed-use properties.
Matthew T. Downs
Managing Director
Chief Underwriter & Head of Screening and Production
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.
Matthew Downs is responsible for the execution of various Arbor Private Label and Syndication strategies. He utilizes his extensive banking relationships and structured credit and underwriting experience to maintain Arbor’s strategic partnerships and provide existing and prospective clients with alternative lending solutions with a primary focus on construction. Mr. Downs has more than two decades of experience in commercial real estate lending and corporate finance. Before joining Arbor in 2024, he was a senior managing director at Greystone, where he originated agency, bridge, and CMBS loans for clients nationwide. He has also held originations positions at Union Labor Life Insurance Company (ULLICO), M&T Bank and MonticelloAM, LLC. In these roles, Mr. Downs managed fixed and floating-rate senior first mortgages, mezzanine, and construction loans. He began his banking career in the corporate and commercial real estate finance department at Bank of Scotland. Mr. Downs received a Bachelor of Science in Business from Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Lenders Association.
Robert Sessa
Head of Real Estate
Employee Retirement System of Texas
KPG Funds
Mr. Sessa is a seasoned institutional investor with more than 25 years of experience deploying capital across global markets, with deep expertise in real estate, infrastructure, and multi-asset portfolio construction. He most recently served as Head of Real Assets at the Employees Retirement System of Texas retiring in 2025. He now sits on a few industry association and general partner advisory boards. Prior to joining ERS in 1999 as an equities analyst, Mr. Sessa spent five years at Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) in New York in the personal financial services and business assurance groups. Mr. Sessa then spent a year on the El Paso/Cd. Juarez border doing volunteer work with the homeless. Mr. Sessa received an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in business administration from Fordham University where he earned a swimming scholarship. He is a Charted Financial Analyst “CFA” charter holder and a former CPA.
David Rosen
Senior Vice President
GFI Development, LLC
David Rosen is a real estate development executive with more than 15 years of experience across acquisitions, finance, and development in hospitality, multifamily, luxury residential, and mixed-use real estate. He serves as Senior Vice President of Development at GFI Development Company, leading complex projects from acquisition through design, entitlement, construction, and delivery. His experience spans ground-up development, adaptive reuse, historic rehabilitation, and asset repositioning. He has completed more than $2 billion in real estate transactions.
Previously, David worked in acquisitions and development at Gemini Real Estate Advisors, where he developed and financed hotels, and at Horwath HTL, providing advisory services to hotels and resorts across North America. He holds a Master of Science in Real Estate from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Queen’s University. He has also taught real estate development as an Adjunct Professor at NYU Schack’s Institute of Real Estate.
Michael H. Krupa
Adjunct Professor of International Real Estate
Fordham REI
Michael H. Krupa is President of MHK Advisors, LLC, a real estate ownership and advisory firm, and previously served as President of Gemdale USA Corporation, a unit of Gemdale Corporation, one of Asia's largest and leading real estate companies where he brought a wealth of real estate investment, development, business development and operations experience to the company. Prior to joining Gemdale, Krupa served as managing director at The Milestone Group where he also served on Milestone's Investment Committee. Prior to Milestone, he was an executive director in two divisions within UBS, including the UBS Investment Bank Real Estate, Lodging & Leisure Group, as part of the group’s Real Estate Private Equity Fundraising team, and at UBS Global Asset Management Real Estate, one of the largest global real estate fund managers. Krupa was instrumental in the creation and growth and later served on the Board of Directors of Mitsubishi Corp.-UBS Realty Inc. (‘MCUBSR’), the externally advised asset manager to two Tokyo Stock Exchange listed J-REITs, Japan Retail Fund as well as Industrial and Infrastructure Fund. MCUBSR was sold to KKR for $2 billion in 2022. Prior to UBS, Krupa served in various real estate investment banking capacities at Salomon Smith Barney and one of its predecessors, Salomon Brothers, Inc., as well as at Kidder, Peabody and Company.
Krupa teaches global real estate investment at the Fordham Real Estate Institute at Lincoln Center and in London. He has taught at other universities including NYU and CUNY. He received his B.S. from Northeastern University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He is a CPA and is the author of numerous articles for leading real estate trade publications including, "Wall Street's Perspectives on the Self-Storage Industry", "Wall Street's Infatuation with the Assisted Living Industry", "Multifamily REIT M&A: When Will the Wave Begin" and "Marina Industry Consolidation: When Will the Wave Begin" and has spoken at numerous leading real estate industry conferences on such topics as global real estate capital flows, REITs around the world, the Self-Storage Industry and the Senior Housing Industry. He serves as a member of the Fordham Executive Council and the Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board, and was a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Multi-Housing Council, AFIRE, the China Institute and First Workings.
Lisa Flicker
Senior Managing Partner and Head of Real Estate
Jackson Lucas
Lisa Flicker is a connector of people, vision, and opportunity. As Senior Managing Partner and Head of Real Estate at Jackson Lucas, she leads executive search and leadership advisory for many of the most respected organizations across real estate, private equity, and finance. With over 25 years of experience and a reputation for trusted partnership, Lisa brings more than expertise; she brings empathy, insight, and perspective. Her clients value her not only for her results but for her candor and her ability to see the human story behind every business decision. Her philosophy is simple: the right leaders don’t just drive performance; they elevate culture. That belief fuels her work, her mentorship of emerging talent through JL Access, and her commitment to helping organizations build diverse, future-ready teams. Known for her warmth, intellect, and unmistakable intuition, Lisa is redefining what leadership in executive search looks like: strategic, soulful, and deeply human.
Jennifer Stewart
Director – Head of Global Real Estate, Americas
IBM
Jennifer Stewart is a seasoned Global Real Estate Executive with over 25 years of experience leading strategic real estate portfolios across the financial and technology sectors. At IBM, she oversees a 22+ million square-foot portfolio across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America, directing all corporate real estate activities including transactions, operations, facilities, and workplace experience. Previously, Stewart held senior leadership roles at BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Bear Stearns, managing global portfolios and delivering transformative real estate solutions. She is a trained architect and holds a Master’s in Real Estate Finance from NYU. An active industry leader, Stewart serves on multiple boards and is a member of AIA, CoreNet Global, ULI, CREW NY, and WX. She is a LEED Green Associate and was recognized as one of Bisnow’s “New York Power Women” in commercial real estate.
Martin Gilligan
Senior Relationship Manager
Capital One Bank
Martin Gilligan is a Senior Relationship Manager at Capital One Bank. Martin works in the Commercial Real Estate Banking group providing secured and unsecured debt as well as structured finance solutions to both private and institutional sponsors. Martin has worked in commercial real estate for over 25 years with previous employers including DLJ, Credit Suisse and AIG. Martin is a graduate of Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business.
Pelle Hamburger
Co-Founder
NevelHaus
Pelle Hamburger, Esq. is a New York–based real estate attorney and hospitality professional with extensive experience advising on complex real estate transactions, acquisitions, development, leasing, construction, zoning, and land use matters. He founded NevelHaus, a multidisciplinary home development platform focused on sustainable modular housing in the Hudson Valley. Pelle has served as Associate Director and Real Estate Counsel at Wonder Group, as Assistant General Counsel at Agency Within, and as Acquisitions & Development Counsel at Friedland Properties, overseeing acquisitions and development across residential, mixed-use and hospitality asset classes. Pelle has also served as a real estate and legal consultant for leading real estate funds, hospitality groups, and REITs including Hyatt, Rosewood, Duke Energy, Suntex and GoBrands. Pelle holds a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.S. in Hospitality Business Administration from Boston University. He is admitted to the New York Bar and is also a licensed real estate broker.
Benjamin Stacks
Executive Vice President
Commercial Real Estate Line of Business Executive
BankUnited
Benjamin Stacks is executive vice president and commercial real estate line of business executive for the bank’s footprint, which includes regions from New York to Texas, the Southeastern US, including Florida. Possessing a broad understanding of all aspects of the real estate and banking industries, Stacks is a valuable part of BankUnited’s executive team. A 30+ year veteran of New York commercial real estate banking, Stacks joined BankUnited in 2018 from Capital One Bank in New York, where he served as northeast market manager. In addition to his nine years there, he held various positions at HSBC Bank and M&T Bank. He serves on a number of industry and not-for-profit boards, including the Real Estate Lenders Association as Vice-Chairman; Breaking Ground – the largest supportive housing provider in New York; and is a former Chairman of the Young Mortgage Bankers Association. Ben has also served as a Guest Lecturer at NYU’s School of Real Estate as well as Syracuse University’s JanMester Program. Ben is a resident of Rye, N.Y., where he is a city councilman. He earned his MBA from American University, Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.
Julian Brahimy
Co-President
Fordham REI Student Association
I have been working at IBEC for the past 10 years, during which time we built a large number of affordable housing on one end of the spectrum and also developed and constructed luxury contemporary townhomes on the other end of the spectrum. It was a real challenge to make these projects financially feasible during a booming economy amid rising land and construction costs. Presently, managing and preserving these units of affordable housing is the next challenge. I attended Fordham’s Master in Real Estate program between 2023 to 2025 during which time I was heavily involved in student leadership positions and bridged what I learned academically with my practical field experience.
Andrew Fisher
President and Founder
AMF Electrical Contracting Corp.
Andrew Fisher is President and Founder of AMF Electrical Contracting Corp., a Brooklyn-based, IBEW Local #3 signatory electrical contractor and New York State certified MBE serving the region’s most demanding infrastructure and construction markets. Under his leadership, AMF fields roughly 22 electricians on projects across New York City’s transportation, aviation, and public-works landscape, including work with NYC DOT, the MTA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and contractors at JFK International Airport.
Mr. Fisher also leads Manor Electric Supply Corp., a 75-year-old New York-based electrical distributor. Bringing Manor under the AMF umbrella created a vertically integrated platform that pairs field execution with material supply — an approach that gives his teams greater control over procurement, lead times, and cost certainty on complex projects.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Mr. Fisher holds both a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from New York Institute of Technology. That engineering foundation shapes how he approaches construction: as a technical discipline first, and a business second.
He serves on the board of the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC) and is an active participant in the New York Electrical Contractors Association and related industry organizations. He is a graduate of the Ascend NY 2026 Regional Program and has completed NYPA PowerUp 2030 and the NYCEDC Pathway to Waterfront Development. He is a frequent advocate for building pathways into the trades for the next generation of contractors. Mr. Fisher is married and the father of four. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and an avid runner and golfer. His faith remains the foundation of both his leadership and his commitment to the communities his companies serve.