The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) announced several new personnel additions and promotions across the organization.
Sam Spokony was promoted to Chief Communications Officer. He was previously Vice President of Media and Content since joining REBNY in October 2020 and replaces former Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Beth Miller, who departed to join STV.
Spokony will now report to President James Whelan and will focus on leading REBNY’s organizational communications and messaging strategy; overseeing communications to REBNY members, the media and other stakeholders; and expanding the communications team with additional personnel over the coming months.
Prior to joining REBNY, he was a senior vice president at Marathon Strategies, an independent PR firm, and also previously worked as communications director for New York City Council Member Margaret Chin and as a staff reporter for The Villager. He is a graduate of SUNY Oneonta.
Maureen Lauster was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. She was previously Senior Vice President of Finance since joining REBNY in November 2020.
Prior to joining REBNY, Lauster was Director of Finance and Operations for the Risk Management team at Related Companies, and began her career at Ernst and Young in Chicago.
She graduated from Michigan State University with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting with a focus on accounting information systems.
Yvonne Riley-Tepie, Ed.D. was hired as Senior Vice President of Social Impact. She will oversee REBNY’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and will lead the strategic direction for REBNY’s philanthropic projects focusing specifically on social impact.
Riley-Tepie has spent the last 16 years at various leadership roles at TD Bank, where she most recently served as Vice President of the TD Charitable Foundation.
She has a bachelor’s degree from City University of New York in technology, hotel and restaurant management; a master’s degree from New York University in food services management; and a doctorate degree in instructional leadership.
Mckenna Warren was promoted to Senior Vice President of Member Services. She was previously Senior Vice President of Brokerage Services and has been with REBNY since September 2017.
Prior to REBNY, she worked as the educational and certification manager for ICSC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lycoming College.
Maya Kurien was hired as Vice President of Policy and Planning. She will report to Senior Vice President of Policy Basha Gerhards.
Kurien most recently served as Executive Director of Government Affairs for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and, before that, worked for the Office of the Mayor.
She has a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology and master’s degree in public policy from University of London.
Ryan Monell was promoted to Vice President of City Legislative Affairs. He was previously Director of City Legislative affairs since joining REBNY in January 2020.
He previously served as Chief of Staff for Gilbane’s New York Division and was Director of Policy and Communications for City Council Member Rafael Salamanca, Jr.
He is a graduate of Ohio State University and Columbia University.
Harrison Green was promoted to Vice President of State Legislative Affairs. He was previously Director of State Legislative affairs since joining REBNY in February 2020.
He previously served as Director of Community and Government Affairs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and as Special Assistant to State Senator Kevin Parker.
He has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and political science from Emory University and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University.
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Newmark has hired multifamily expert Gene Pride to serve as Executive Managing Director.
Pride will build the firm’s multifamily presence in the suburban New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut markets.
Pride began his multifamily investment career in 1998. Since 2014, he has been involved in selling over 19,000 apartment units valued in excess of $5.1 billion and worked on land sales marked for the development of over 2,700 apartments.
He joins Newmark from CBRE where he was Senior Vice President – Institutional Properties for the past four years.
Before that, he was a senior director with Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets G and a director with Marcus & Millichap. He began his real estate career at Telluride Properties after graduating Washington & Lee University.
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Convene announced a handful of promotions for its executive leadership team.
Promoted from her recent role as Global Chief Operating and Chief People Officer, Amy Pooser will now serve as President and Global Chief Operating Officer.
Pooser will oversee the entire operation of the growing hospitality company, managing more than 260 people and leading multiple departments.
Lizzie Suiter has moved into the role of Head of Corporate Strategy.
Patrick Conroy has also been retained as the new Head of Technology.
Conroy comes to Convene with more than 20 years of experience building and managing proprietary systems at high-growth start-ups. Previously, Conroy was the Head of Engineering at Fern Health.
He will oversee all of Convene’s internal technology systems and processes.
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Monday Properties announced that Jennifer Burns is joining the executive leadership team as Executive Vice President of Asset Management and Operations.
Over the last decade, Burns has been an essential component of the firm’s strategic growth, ambitious market expansions, and successful portfolio management. After starting at the firm as Senior Property Manager in 2011, she advanced to Senior Vice President of Property Management and Operations. Additionally, she played a critical role in performing due diligence for several of the firm’s most recent acquisitions.
In her new role, Burns will have oversight of Asset Management, Information Technology, and Marketing. She will continue to lead all operations for the office portfolio and supporting divisions
Prior to joining Monday Properties, Burns was a Property Manager at CBRE.
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Eastern Union has named TJ Liebes senior underwriter.
Liebes will be responsible for underwriting, analyzing and processing commercial real estate loan opportunities.
He has underwritten and closed nearly $100 million in transactions over the past several years for his prior employer, Woodlake Properties where he served as vice president of acquisitions with the company, which owns and operates a portfolio of more than 5,000 units of multi-family properties.
He began his career at Eastern Union after earning a finance degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
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JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group Senior Managing Director Kevin Davis has been named to Cornell’s Center for Real Estate and Finance (CREF) advisory board.
Since joining JLL in 2013, Davis has been involved in over $20 billion of financings.
He holds a B.A. with Honors in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
CREF’s advisory board is composed of senior-level leaders in the industry and among other initiatives, provides mentoring, internship and employment opportunities to enhance the educational experience of graduate and undergraduate students within The Hotel School at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business.
