Appreciating Real Estate The Ohio State Center for Real Estate

Dr. Gordon is the Global Strategist for LaSalle Investment Management (LaSalle). He is responsible for the macro strategy and micro research used to guide all investment decisions in 30 countries. He serves on the Management and Investment Committees of LaSalle and directs the investment strategy group, which analyzes capital markets, regional economies and property markets.

Jacques received the “Graaskamp Award” from the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) for his contributions to real estate research and education. He originated the Jones Lang LaSalle Transparency Index in 1999, which has become the world standard for understanding international real estate.

Jacques received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Masters degree from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He also teaches “International Real Estate” at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University.

Jacques serves on the Boards of the JLL Income Property Trust, The Homer Hoyt Institute, The Institute for Urban Research at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Metropolitan Planning Council (Chicago, non-profit). He is active in NAREIT, PREA, the Urban Land Institute, and he is an honorary fellow of the Real Estate Research Institute.

Aaron Block co-founded and serves as Managing Partner of MetaProp, the New York-based venture capital firm focused on the PropTech industry. Founded in 2015, MetaProp’s investment team has invested in 130+ technology companies across the real estate value chain. The firm manages multiple funds for both financial and strategic real estate investors that represent a pilot- and test-ready sandbox of 15+ billion square feet across every real estate asset type and global market. Aaron oversees day-to-day management of the firm and, during his tenure, has spearheaded the launch of many industry firsts including the MetaProp Accelerator at Columbia University, NYC Real Estate Tech Week, MIPIM PropTech NYC, the Global PropTech Confidence Index, and PropTech Place.

Giri Devanur is the Founder and CEO of reAlpha, a cutting-edge technology company with a plan to empower everyone to invest in the $1.2 trillion short-term rental market. Prior to founding reAlpha, he served as the President and CEO of Ameri100 Inc. and scaled Ameri from $0 to $50M in revenue and completed the IPO on Nasdaq in under 4 years. Giri was awarded the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017 and authored a book titled “Nothing to Nasdaq”. Giri has more than two decades of experience in the information technology industry. He successfully founded WinHire Inc. and Ivega Corporation. Ivega merged with TCG in 2004, creating a 1,000+ person focused differentiator in the IT consulting space. Giri has an M.S. in Technology Management from Columbia University and a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Mysore, India. He also attended Executive Education programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Law School.

Kyle Waldrep is the Founder and CEO of Dottid, a commercial real estate (CRE) SAAS technology platform that provides a single location for brokers, landlords, and tenants to share information, work seamlessly throughout the leasing process, and ultimately, close deals faster and with greater efficiency. Kyle founded Dottid soon after graduating from Southern Methodist University when he realized that the CRE leasing process was highly antiquated and mired in administrative tasks that could be easily solved with the right technology. In just three years, Kyle has built a team of world-class software developers, technologists, and industry experts, all determined to develop the most effective way for the commercial real estate industry to conduct business. Dottid, a venture-backed startup, has raised almost $11MM from some of the most prominent leaders and advisors with unmatched CRE experience. In many ways, this team symbolizes the shift from the traditional CRE transactional model to the future of where the industry is headed.

Sandy Doyle-Ahern is the President of EMH&T, one of Ohio’s largest professional engineering and survey firms. Sandy joined EMH&T in 1997, leading the company’s first Environmental Department. Over the course of her 20 years with EMH&T, she worked to grow the environmental division as well as her career, and became EMH&T’s
first female shareholder in 2006 and vice president in 2008. Sandy was named president of the company in 2012.

Today Sandy is responsible for overall company management and focuses on client relationships, business development, quality control, and employee engagement. She guides the activities of almost 350 professionals and technical personnel – including
civil engineers, surveyors, construction managers, environmental scientists, and land planners. Her external leadership focus has allowed the company to be a part of many remarkable projects. From
public infrastructure improvements and urban revitalization, to single- and multi-family developments, to design services for projects in healthcare, education, and energy, Sandy has guided EMH&T to leadership in both the public and private sectors in a diverse array of markets.

Sandy has always recognized that one of the fundamental elements of a community’s prosperity is reliable, modern infrastructure surrounding transportation and housing. Her work within EMH&T and her dedication to social and civic organizations to address poverty disparity and homelessness, racial inequality, and affordable housing, combined with her commitment to helping the leadership in Central Ohio address these issues, make her an integral member of the
Rise Together Steering Committee.

Sandy is a member of the Columbus Partnership and she is currently serving on the boards of YWCA Columbus, The Nature Conservancy Ohio, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Ohio, and Columbus Academy. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Miami University Institute for the Environment and Sustainability and the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio. Sandy recently hosted the first 2-part series on addressing the growing housing gap
in Central Ohio, bringing together stakeholders of single and multi-family residential developers to explore solutions.