LEADERS January, February, March 2020 Volume 43, Number 1

January, February, March 2020

Volume 43, Number 1

WOMEN LEADERS

BUILT NOT BORN 6 ALAN HASSENFELD 8 HUMANITY FIRST 10

FIORINA

KNOX

HARMON

ILLINOIS’ PRITZKER 92 JERRY REINSDORF 94 HOSPITALITY 114

GOKHALE

FOX-MARTIN

GILMARTIN

ALEXANDER

YU

POTAMKIN

BUILDER AND PHILANTHROPIST/ KALIKOW 12

“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”

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On the Cover

Printing: Calev Print Media – Solisco Printing – Printed in Canada

Carly Fiorina, Carly Fiorina Enterprises - 22 Katy Knox, Bank of America Private Bank - 26 Deborah Harmon, Artemis Real Estate Partners - 28 Aditi Javeri Gokhale, Northwestern Mutual - 32 MaryAnne Gilmartin, L&L MAG - 42 Tong Yu, Bank of China USA - 46 Adaire Fox-Martin, SAP - 48 Erika Alexander, Marriott International - 54 Andi Potamkin, Potamkin Companies - 82 Peter S. Kalikow, HJ Kalikow & Co. LLC - 12

2 LEADERS

Photo Credits: Cover- Kalikow, 12 - ©2015 Alejandro C Lopez; 12 NewYork-Presbyterian - ©4eyesphoto; 13 Hofstra - ©Hofstra University; Cover, 26 - ©David Kaptein; 39 - cityheadshots.com; 40, 41 - ©Lee S. Weissman; 42 - ©Elizabeth Lippman; 43 Innovation Center - ©2017 Max Touhey; 44 Stadium - ©E. Geno Frazier, Langley Avenue; 56 - ©Brian McConkey Photography; 59 - Photographer – John Russo; Hair – Frankie Payne; Makeup – Emily Moses, Styling – Justin Lynne; 60 - .jaydjackson.com; 61 - Oliver Rüther, www.oliver-ruether.de; 62 - Glen Allsop, glenallsop.com; 65 - ©Craig Ambrosio; 67 Yee - Jason Torres of N.Y. Vintage Cameraworks; Ltd.; 73 - ©2012 Derek Dudek; 78 - The Cleveland Clinic Center for Medical Art & Photography © 2011; 79 pool - ©James McEntee/Getty Images; 83 - Claudia Paul Photo; claudiapaul.com; 90 Castello di Pomino - © Guglielmo de’ Micheli; 94 - ©Chicago Bears 2018; 95 White Sox - ©2018 Ron Vesely/Chicago White Sox; 98 book cover - ©2019 AMTZ Chiloé Publishing, LLC; 101 author - ©Abby Hart Photo; 102 - SnowflakeNYC Inc; 104 - ©Severin Koller; 106 building - ©2014 Capehart Photography; 109 event - ©2019 The President and Fellows of Harvard College; 111 - ©Michael N. Meyer; 116 author - Pixelate Photography and Design; 117 - ©Stephen Beaudet; 118 author - Matteo Prandoni; Cipriani South Street - @hechlerphotographers.com; 119 Cipriani 42nd Street - Xu Marxuach; 121 meat locker - ©Daniel Krieger Photography; 122 Gaetano Pesce - ©James Prinz Photography; 123 Mr. Purple Bar; Campbell Bar - ©Noah Fecks; TWA - ©Three Marks, LLC 2017; 126 - ©NJohnston Photography; 128 Grand lobby; Jewel Suite - ©Bruce Buck 2013; 128 Lotte exterior; Gold Room - ©dragonflyimagepartners2017; 129 author - ©Bruno Bruchi Photo; restaurant - ©Maurice Naragon; 140 author - ©BFA NYC; 141 food - Photo by Arielle Simmons, courtesy of Charleston Wine + Food; event - Photo by Leigh-Ann Beverley, courtesy of Charleston Wine + Food; wine - Photo by Blake Shorter, courtesy of Charleston Wine + Food; author - ©Andrew Cebulka; 141 Philippe Chow - ©2019 Philippe Chow; Savanna Rooftop - ©2019 Savanna Rooftop, ©Merchants Hospitality

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

NEW YORK

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A NEW ERA IN LUXURY PROPERTIES AND FORWARD THINKING DEVELOPMENT www.witkoff.com

Contents INTERVIEWS Built Not Born B. Thomas Golisano, Founder and Chairman, Paychex, Inc.

6

Creating a Better World for Children Alan Hassenfeld, Founder, Hassenfeld Family Initiatives

8

Humanity First Andrew Yang

10

Builder and Philanthropist Peter S. Kalikow, President, HJ Kalikow & Co. LLC

12

A Fulfilling Journey Douglas R. Conant, Founder & CEO, ConantLeadership

16

PMI’s Purpose Jacek Olczak, Chief Operating Officer, Philip Morris International (PMI)

18

A Different Way to Win Jim Rooney

98

Brand, People, Global Footprint Philip A. White, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s International Realty

99

Multicultural Communications Jorge A. Plasencia, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Republica Havas

100

Innovation in Healthcare Joseph C. Sardano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sensus Healthcare, Inc.

101

4 LEADERS

Telling a Story Evan Stein, President, JD Carlisle Development

102

Building Relationships John Carrick, Co-Founder and Managing Principal, Integrated Capital Management

104

20

A One-Stop Source for Transportation R&D Brett Roubinek, President and Chief Executive Officer, Transportation Research Center, Inc. (TRC)

105

Celebrating 150 Years James Borynack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, FINDLAY Galleries

106

Building Broad Street Raymond Chalmé, Chief Executive Officer and Principal, Broad Street Development LLC (BSDRE)

108

The Lens of Magic Joshua Jay, Magician and Co-Founder, Vanishing Inc. Magic

109

New Beginnings Harley Lippman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Genesis10

110

Reputation Management and Mitigating Risk James F. Haggerty, President and CEO, PRCG | Haggerty LLC

114

ILLINOIS Moving Illinois in the Right Direction The Honorable JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois

92

Chicago’s Strengths Jerry M. Reinsdorf, Owner, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls

94

111

Mentalism Oz Pearlman

112

EDITORS’ CHOICE Gallaghers Steakhouse

121

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Built Not Born An Interview with B. Thomas Golisano, Founder and Chairman, Paychex, Inc.

B. Thomas Golisano

EDITORS’ NOTE Thomas Golisano is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader.

He is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Paychex, Inc., headquartered in Rochester, New York. With more than 12,000 employees and 100 office locations nationwide, Paychex is a leading national provider of payroll, human resource, and benefit outsourcing solutions for more than a half-million small and mediumsized businesses. Golisano served as Paychex’s President and Chief Executive Officer from 1971, when he founded the company, until 2004. In 1985, he launched his first philanthropic endeavor by establishing the Golisano Foundation, which awards grants to organizations providing opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities. His personal philanthropic contributions to hospitals, educational institutions and other organizations have totaled approximately $300 million. In recognition of his achievements and endeavors, Golisano has received numerous awards and holds honorary doctorate degrees from five different colleges and universities. He is a member of the board of directors of several private companies and institutions. Golisano graduated from Alfred State College with a degree in general business management. He was presented an honorary doctorate of humane letters at his alma mater’s commencement ceremony on May 17, 2009. His book, Built, Not Born: A Self-Made Billionaire’s No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs, publishes February 2020.

Will you discuss the Paychex story and the keys to the company’s success?

Initially, I always had a lot of interest in being in sales and selling to businesses rather than consumers. I became a salesperson, and then a sales manager, for a company called Electronic Accounting Systems (EAS), which was a local company doing payroll processing for companies of generally 50 employees and above. The atmosphere back in the early ’70s was that the larger the potential client, the more excitement for the processor and the harder 6 LEADERS

they would work to get that client. The marketplace was generally 50 employees and above.

I thought to myself that there were so many small businesses, so I went to the library and found out that 98 percent of businesses had fewer than 100 employees and realized it was a market that was being missed.

I came up with two or three concepts that I thought would be appropriate. The first was that payroll processors back then would have clients fill out very sophisticated computer input sheets that had to be picked up. The payroll was processed remotely and then delivered back to the client. I thought that instead of having the client learn how to fill out these input sheets, why not just have the client call in and verbalize over the telephone what they wanted to accomplish? For example, a typical 20-person payroll could be called in about two or three minutes on the telephone. You have no big pickup or delivery issues there. The customer doesn’t have to learn how to do anything except verbalize what they want to accomplish, talk to the professional on the other end, and then we would get the payroll back to the client. From an economic perspective and from a simplicity perspective, that worked a lot better.

Second, none of the payroll processors were doing payroll tax returns as part of the service offering. If you’re an employer in New York State, you have a minimum of 50 payroll tax returns and payments that must be made every year to the federal and state governments. The penalties for not accomplishing that in a timely manner are pretty severe, so why wouldn’t we help the client make these payments to the state and federal governments?

Third, we need to price it so they can afford it. The minimum charge back then for

doing a five-person payroll was $30 a pay period, which for a five-person payroll back in 1970 was quite expensive. We brought the pricing down considerably.

The key issue that made Paychex successful was that in payroll processing, the process is charged by the number of checks printed, or in other words, the number of employees. The higher the number of checks or the higher the number of employees, the lower the revenue per check, because as the number of employees goes up, the price per unit comes down.

Well, that raises the question, “Would you rather have 10, 10-person payrolls or one, 100-person payroll?” Well, for the 10, 10-person payrolls, the revenue is two and a half times the revenue of a one, 100 person payroll and I can assure you that the incremental overhead to prepare that payroll is not two and a half times greater. Consequently, our profit margins turned out to be much higher than traditional payroll processors.

Once I saw the opportunity, I went to the management of the company I was working for and told them that I thought our company, EAS at the time, should go into the small business market, and I was willing to lead the charge as an employee. The management of the company told me in no uncertain terms that they didn’t think it was a good idea since accountants wouldn’t like us doing payroll tax returns and that we never could make any real money at it. I decided to let them sit on it for about two months, and then went back with the same presentation, and they said the same thing to me that they weren’t interested in doing it. I left EAS and started a company which was originally called Paymaster, which is now Paychex, that went after the small business market.

My goal is to help entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs are so important to this country.

They’re the job creators.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

We learned some hard lessons during the first four years and I don’t think I personally received a paycheck in those first four years. My goal was to get 300 clients in Rochester, New York, and it took me about four years to be able to accomplish that. Fortunately, I had some friends and relatives that were willing to help us out with small loans. After about four years, the momentum was growing in the marketplace for us.

How critical was it to continue to innovate and evolve as Paychex grew?

Payroll processing is somewhat of a commodity today. There are more companies in the business today than there has ever been and more people today have their payroll processed by an outsider than ever before. It is critical to keep innovating and improving your product, and our direction for our human resource services area was exactly that. Every company needs to keep innovating and keep being creative, or else they are going to get left behind.

What was your focus for writing your new book, Built Not Born, and what did you want to convey through the book?

This book was not my original concept.

People convinced me that I should write a biography because of my experience owning the Buffalo Sabres, my experience running for governor three times in the state of New York, my philanthropy, and because of some of the other successful businesses that I was involved in. I spent a number of months writing with a ghostwriter and submitted it to a couple of publishers. I got a call back from one of them saying that while it was interesting, I should write a business book first. That sounded so easy for me because I’ve been living in that world for 50 years. I hung up the phone and decided to do a business book.

Now that I have done it, and some people have read it, I feel very gratified about it.

I keep hearing people say, “Boy, I wish I read this book 20 years ago”, or “Boy, this saved me from making some mistakes.” The book is going to be public nationally in February 2020, and we’re looking for positive results from it.

My goal is to help entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are so important to this country. They’re the job creators. They keep this economy going. So anything I can do to help them based on my experiences, I’m glad to do.

You ar e heavily involved in philanthropy. Is the approach to your philanthropic work the same as it was for business?

From a diagnostic perspective, I think I use the same skills in philanthropy that I used in business. It’s not easy giving away money, believe it or not. You can give it away, but if you want to be effective in giving it away, that’s a whole different story. We work very hard at discovery and thoroughly diagnose any organizations that we are considering giving money to. We want to make sure that the management can do the job, that they can fulfill the purpose, they do it economically, and so forth.

Is the entrepreneurial spirit and capability something that can be taught or is it something you are born with?

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

I don’t know that I was born with it, but there are certain circumstances that happened in my life that probably pushed me toward it. I’ll tell you one that’s very personal. When I was 16 years old, I was helping my father deliver macaroni products in the truck. My father was in his 60s, and doing this as a person that age was difficult. One day, he received a tongue lashing from his boss in front of me, and it was terrible.

It must have hurt him so bad to hear it, and then to have me sitting there listening as well.

I made a promise to myself that I was going to be my own boss and that I would never treat people that way.

Fortunately, things have worked out. I believe that if you’re a person with a desire to be an entrepreneur and you have some skill, it is possible.

Everybody should have the opportunity and possibility of promoting themselves in an entrepreneurial way, just like you would with any other skill. You’ve got to work at it. You’ve got to read it. You got to live it. You’ve got to think about it a lot, but it can be done. I probably had a head start over most people, because I had a very strong desire when I got out of college to be my own boss. It took me a few years to get there, but once I did, I made sure to do everything I could to be the best entrepreneur I could become.

•

LEADERS 7

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Creating a Better World for Children An Interview with Alan Hassenfeld, Founder, Hassenfeld Family Initiatives

EDITORS’ NOTE Alan Hassenfeld is also currently the Chairman of the Executive Committee of Hasbro, Inc., where he began his career in 1970. He was appointed Vice President of Marketing and Sales in 1978, became President of the company in 1984, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1989. He passed on the responsibilities of CEO in May 2003 in order to fully concentrate on his position as Chairman.

He is the former Chairman of the Right Now! Coalition and Admiral of Rhode Island Commodores. Hassenfeld has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is the recipient of Honorary Doctorates from Bryant University, Rhode Island College, Salve Regina University, Johnson & Wales University, Roger Williams University, and the Waterford Institute of Technology.

ORGANIZATION BRIEF Hassenfeld Family Initiatives is a philanthropy whose goals are to globalize safety and human rights within the area of children’s products, empower women in developing countries, and undertake initiatives to improve the economy, education, and business opportunities in Rhode Island.

When you look back at your career, did you always know that you wanted to be a part of Hasbro?

While my brother Steve always knew that he wanted to go into the business, I had played around with the concept of trying to be a great tennis player, but that didn’t happen so Wimbledon was out. At one point I had been offered a fellowship in creative writing at Penn.

My dilemma about joining the business was that I had watched many family businesses where father and son didn’t get along or two brothers didn’t get along. I was brought up where family was the most important thing to me and if I came into the business and I saw that it was separating the family in any way, I would walk away.

8 LEADERS

I was also brought up with a moral and ethical compass and was taught that if I ever saw the business heading in an unethical way, I would have to walk away. If I was to join the business, I wanted to create my own path. I was very fortunate because when I came into the business, Hasbro was not doing very much in the Far East as far as supply chain so I had the chance of setting up a logistics and supply chain in the Far East.

I also had the chance to create relationships with people throughout Europe and Asia and South America on licensing since we had very little business internationally at that time.

Even as Hasbro grew in size and scale, it never lost its family feel and culture. How critical was it to maintain that culture?

First of all, the tradition which was handed down from my grandfather and his brothers to my father and his brother and to Steve and I was understanding that our most important asset is our people. As much as we’re known for our toys, toys don’t come without great ideation and innovation and that comes from your people. We needed to make sure that we kept a culture where our people were honored, respected and given a chance to innovate.

I came into the company when we were probably doing $30 or $40 million and today, we’re doing $5 billion. When someone joins Hasbro today, they’re coming into a $5-billion company. They have no idea that my grandfather landed at Ellis Island at age 14, that he couldn’t scrape two nickels together, and that he and his brother sold rags. Part of the reason I agreed to do a book was that I wanted them to understand and appreciate that there were other people that set the table for them. The book was meant to tell for posterity the history of Hasbro up until today.

You commit your time and resources to philanthropy. Do the same skills and traits that you need to run a business translate to being effective in philanthropy?

I think it is easier for us since our success is because of children and families. We know that market and this is where we focus our philanthropy. We built Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Rhode Island because of the environment full of children that we knew from our business and we saw the needs. Our mission is to try and create a better world for children.

I think it was Danny Thomas that once said our greatest natural resource is our children. I think that when we become adults – not that I ever became one – but when we become adults, we sometimes forget what it was like to be a child. I constantly say not to forget about the time when you used to chase the wind flying a kite. It is important to remember as we bring up our own children what it was like for us to be a child.

Was part of the mission of the book to inform new people joining Hasbro about its history and how important is it to understand and respect that history in today’s challenging times?

We really don’t teach history the way we used to teach history when I was at school.

We don’t teach civics either. I wish we would also focus on geography because many of our kids don’t know anything outside of the United States and probably don’t even know things outside their own state. I think it’s critical that we honor the past and we understand it and we learn from it. Many of the things that we see happening today have happened in the past. I think that, more and more today, we’re living around the world in tribal societies.

But, at the same point in time, 90 percent of the American population worries about putting roofs over the heads of their families and having clothes for their children. They want good medical care and a good education system.

Did working on the book provide an opportunity for you to reflect on your life and appreciate what you have accomplished?

Absolutely. Could I have done what my grandfather did? I don’t know. Could I have done what my father did? I don’t know. When my dad died, we were about a $70-million company losing a fair bit of money, but nobody set a better table than my dad because of his humanity and the respect that people had for him. Even though we might have been in the mud, people were willing to give us a hand to get out of the mud because we were considered honorable people. As I reflect on the book, I told the story that I wanted to be told about Hasbro, where it came from, where it is, and where it’s going. The most important thing for me is that I want to continue to be a catalyst to visioning the future because today is the first day of the future and we create the future, we don’t walk into it.

•

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Humanity First An Interview with Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang on the campaign trail

EDITORS’ NOTE Andrew Yang (yang2020.com) is an author and entrepreneur who, in 2011, founded Venture for America, a non-profit that cr eated thousands of jobs in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other cities throughout the country. In his book, The War on Normal People, he explains the mounting crisis of the automation of labor and makes the case for the Freedom Dividend, a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 a month for every American, along with hundreds of other policies to put Humanity First. Yang was named a Presidential Ambassador of Entrepreneurship by the White House under the Obama administration and a Champion of Change for his work with Venture for America. He is running for President in 2020 to bring his vision for a trickle-up economy, investing in American families, to the White House.

What inter ested you in running for President and made you feel it was the right time to enter the race?

I’m a numbers guy, so when Trump won in 2016, I looked at the data, and what I saw was that the more industrial robots in a district, the stronger the move to Trump. The truth is that we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs, and we’re about to do the same to call center workers, retail, food service/prep, and truck-driving jobs. We’re in the middle of the greatest economic and technical change in our country’s history, and our leaders are asleep at the wheel. We need to implement big changes in order to put Humanity First.

I’m a parent and a patriot. I have two sons, one of whom has autism. I took a look at the country I was going to leave them, and it was not something I was willing to accept. That’s why I’m running for President in 2020.

What do you see as the state of the Democratic Party today and how critical is it for the party to connect with mainstream, independent voters?

Not a lot of other Democrats will say it, but Donald Trump is our president today because he got a lot of the problems right, but his solutions are garbage and nonsense. He wants to turn the clock back, when in reality we have to evolve and find a new way forward.

10 LEADERS

The Democratic Party needs to focus less on Donald Trump and more on addressing the problems that got him elected. Every minute we’re talking about him is a minute that would be better spent presenting solutions to the American people.

Will you provide an overview of your policies and the key priorities for your campaign?

The assumptions of the 20th Century are breaking down as technological change happens faster and faster. This is causing trust in institutions to break down as our systems work for fewer and fewer people. We need to find 21st Century solutions to these problems and reevaluate the way our country works so that we place human value over economic value.

The primary way I propose we do this is through a Freedom Dividend of $1,000/month for every American adult, no strings attached.

It’s been championed since the beginning of our country by Thomas Paine, and Martin Luther King, Jr. was championing it at the time of his assassination.

Additionally, we need to change the way we measure the economy to reflect our values and what we actually care about - things like childhood success metrics, freedom from substance abuse, health and life expectancy, and environmental sustainability.

With the current political environment and gridlock and partisanship in Washington D.C., how do you plan to change the culture and drive action?

A study called Hidden Tribes investigated the views of Americans and found that fewer than 15 percent fell into the ideological extremes. Most people fall into what the study calls the Exhausted Majority – a group that feels forgotten in the public debate and desires compromise.

In short, the partisan and ideological fighting doesn’t represent the views of a majority of Americans.

I’m not a politician, I’m an entrepreneur and problem-solver. I don’t have decades of time in Washington; I have decades of creating jobs in this country. When you’re running a business, you have to focus on actually solving the problems on the ground and need to listen to the facts.

I believe that I can break the gridlock in Washington D.C. in part because I can work

with just about anyone who wants to solve problems, and people sense that. My team will be pragmatic and ideologically diverse. I’m glad to say that Americans on every part of the political spectrum already support my campaign.

I’m one of only two Democratic candidates who 10+ percent of Trump voters say they would support. I’m building a coalition of disaffected Trump voters, independents, libertarians, and conservatives, as well as Democrats and progressives. What holds this group together is their desire to focus on building a country that we can be proud of. It’s not left, not right, but forward, and that’s the direction we need to take our country.

What do you see as the advantages of having a business background and business expertise in serving as President?

Founding and running Venture for America allowed me to connect with communities all across the U.S., helping me to see firsthand the true 21st century problems American cities are facing. Working with young people to help create jobs and start companies revealed to me the economic challenges occurring across our country – jobs are disappearing, Americans are working harder for less, and the success of our economy is measured in ways that do not take into account the quality of life of our people.

Electability is a key factor of many voting in the Democratic primary. What do you tell voters about your strength and advantages in defeating President Trump?

I’m the clear choice to beat Donald Trump in 2020 because I’m laser focused on the issues that got him elected in 2016. We need to build an economy that works for all Americans by making the biggest companies pay their fair share. This message is breaking through party lines, as we’re seeing disaffected Trump voters and libertarians join with Democrats and progressives in supporting the new way forward I’m proposing.

You seem to be truly enjoying the process of running for President and meeting Americans across the country. Are you really having that much fun?

Not only have I been having a ton of fun, I’ve learned a great deal from this process. Many of my views and policies have been shaped and informed by the Americans I’ve met on the trail, and I’ve only become more confident that the issues I’m focusing on are the issues Americans care about the most.

•

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Builder and Philanthropist An Interview with Peter S. Kalikow, President, HJ Kalikow & Co. LLC

Peter S. Kalikow

EDITORS’ NOTE Peter Kalikow is the former Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), former Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, past owner and publisher of the New York Post, and current Chairman of the Grand Central Partnership.

Kalikow began his career in real estate in 1967 and became President of HJ Kalikow & Co. in 1973. Following his father’s death in 1982, he assumed responsibility for the Kalikow holdings and is the third generation to preside over the family’s 92-year-old real estate company. Kalikow is an active participant in every major real estate association and serves as a Governor of the Real Estate Board of New York. In recognition of his leadership, he has received the Harry Helmsley Award, the Award for Excellence by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater

New York for the development of 101 Park Avenue, and the Golden Circle Award. Kalikow is involved in many philanthropic causes. He is a Vice Chair of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a member of its executive committee. Kalikow is a member of the board of trustees of Hofstra University and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law degree in 1986. He received Hofstra’s Alumni of the Year Award in 1988. An active student of the American Presidency, Kalikow endowed the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies and created the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. In 2015, he endowed the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy & International Affairs at Hofstra University. Kalikow is a founding board member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage and was presented with the Peace Medal, Israel’s highest civilian award for his many years in aiding the nation’s development, including his efforts related to Israel Bonds. He is a founding board member of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. In November 2008, Kalikow was honored with the Commendatore in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Government of Italy.

Peter Kalikow speaks at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital where he serves as a longtime Trustee and a Vice Chair of the Hospital 12 LEADERS

COMPANY BRIEF For more than 100 years, HJ Kalikow & Co. (hjkalikow.com) has been one of New York City’s leading real estate firms. Under Peter Kalikow’s leadership, the company has developed millions of square feet of commercial office space as well as constructed many prominent residential apartment houses in Manhattan.

Will you discuss your start in real estate?

I had the advantage of watching and learning from my grandfather, Joe Kalikow, who together with my dad and his two brothers, built thousands of apartment units in Brooklyn and Queens. It was in no way a formal tutorial, but I was able to learn the fundamentals of real estate development by watching their buildings go from the ground up. The most important thing I learned was showing up at job sites each and every day. It sounds simple, but showing up accomplished two things.

First, it showed the men working in the various trades that you were committed to finishing the job on time and on budget. Next, it gave me a better sense of what a difference a good relationship between a developer and trades means to a successful job.

I took these lessons and applied them to my first apartment building in Great Neck. It was a great success. Then, I turned my focus on Manhattan, and incorporated my knowledge of consumer preferences into development success. During that time, the 1970s, I had a good sense of what people my age wanted.

Their priority wasn’t so much the size of the apartment, but rather safety and security, so I provided reasonably-sized apartment units and 24-hour doorman security. The first apartment was a 24-story apartment building that rented in five weeks. Between 1970 and 1980, I built 10 apartment houses and they were all tremendous successes.

What has made 101 Park Avenue remain relevant and such a sought-after building?

First, its architecture really is timeless and has won a number of awards. The way the building sits on the lot allows for a great amount of light, air and views for the tenants within. Next, my company has always invested a great deal of money to constantly upgrade all of the building systems to ensure the utmost in efficiency for our tenants. In addition, the staff at 101 Park Avenue is first class all the way. Tenants rave about the professionalism and courtesy of the starters at VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and Internal Affairs, which Peter Kalikow established at Hofstra University

the elevator banks. The engineers work tirelessly to maintain the building systems in top-notch working order. Also, Club 101 and the parking garage are two tremendous building amenities.

The fact is that over 60 percent of the tenants at 101 Park Avenue are original to the building. That statement alone says it all.

Did you know when you built 101 Park Avenue that this part of New York City would become what it is today?

My grandmother came to the United States when she was very young. Whenever my grandfather would start to build a building, he would take her to the site and the first question she asked was, “Where’s the subway?” As wealthy as she was, she always took the subway.

And that has always been a guiding principle of my approach to building. I knew the importance of Grand Central Terminal as a major regional transit hub, and how the Grand Central business district would attract prospective tenants.

You serve as a Vice Chair of NewYorkPresbyterian and have been a part of that institution for many years. What makes NewYork-Presbyterian so special for you?

My father had two strokes and that is where he was treated. My mother had some issues and they took care of her. My children were born there. They treated my family so well. I knew that once I had the means, there was nothing better than getting involved with a hospital. So that is what I did, helping them with the Starr Building, then becoming a board member, then chairman of real estate, then executive committee member, and now a vice chair. NewYorkPresbyterian is consistently ranked as one of the highest in the nation over a wide number of specialties. But it is the focus on the patient first and foremost that makes it the tremendous success that it is. Our Chair, Jerry Speyer, the VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Board of Trustees, its President and CEO, Steve was too busy but my mother – God bless her, I Corwin, and the entire staff are totally commit- miss her still – said, “Harold, spend three hours ted to providing the best healthcare in a patient- with your son.” We went and I got to sit in this centric manner. amazing car.

I tell people that whatever I have given My father says to the guy, “How much is NewYork-Presbyterian in terms of time and this car?” He said, “$13,000.” He lied. It was money, I have gotten back ten times in terms actually $15,000. My father responds, “$13,000? of satisfaction. It is a terrific institution with It should be $3,000 because I have a Cadillac wonderful and caring people. which is $6,000 and it has four seats. This car Will you discuss your involvement and only has two seats.” support of Hofstra University?

It took me a long time to get my first Ferrari I was lucky to be accepted to Hofstra and but, thanks to my parents, I managed to work lucky to graduate. They gave me an education it out. I have to say, whenever I approach a and I learned a lot, even though I was a ter- Ferrari, I still get the rush I got when I saw that rible student back then. I was a student there first one at the car show. I’m going to Italy soon in 1964 when the presidential debates started to spec out my next Ferrari and I have to tell coming to colleges and I imagined back you, the passion never gets old. then what it would be like to have a presidenMany of your people have been with tial debate at Hofstra. you for decades. How important has it Decades later, I am so proud to have con- been to retain talent? tributed to the growth and success of the school.

Very important. A person came back to I was able to endow a School of Government, see me about three or four years ago and said, Public Policy and International Affairs for “I’ve been walking down the hallway for 20 students who want to pursue careers in gov- years and I notice all the same faces are here.” ernment or other areas that focus on public My people have known me a long time. I’m policy. Hofstra’s reputation in this area has 76 years old. I was the youngest person here enabled it to host three presidential debates. when I started this company and now I am Most schools would be thrilled to host one. the oldest. People are what makes a business.

For over seven years, you were the Great people make great buildings.

Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation D o y o u t h i n k a b o u t y o u r legacy Authority, one of the most important state and will it be more about your business agencies that is responsible for transporting success or your philanthropic work? millions of people daily in this region. What I tell you, I really hope it will be about both. do you think about what is happening today I continue to thoroughly enjoy business – it keeps with the MTA? me focused and engaged. And it is the business that T h o s e w e r e a v e r y e x c i t i n g seven has given me the good fortune to give back to the years, and I think we did a lot of good things philanthropic endeavors. during those years. It’s a very hard job, but very fulfilling as well. Looking back, I think one of the most significant things we did during my tenure was to begin to deal with those unsustainable labor costs that are being discussed today. Labor costs consume 60 percent of the operational expenses at the MTA and a good deal of that are costs related to healthcare and pensions. We began to tackle these costs, but clearly more needs to be done. At the end of the day, New York State taxpayers and the system’s fare payers deserve no less.

How did your interest in Ferraris develop?

I went to a car show when I was young and I saw this Ferrari. It was like nothing I had seen before.

I was mesmerized by it.

I went home by subway because we lived in Queens back then and, at dinner, I told my father that he had to come to the car show and Peter Kalikow reviewing plans with his architects for work at 101 Park Avenue see this car. He told me he

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LEADERS 13

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

A Fulfilling Journey An Interview with Douglas R. Conant, Founder & CEO, ConantLeadership

Douglas R. Conant

EDITORS’ NOTE Douglas R. Conant is an internationally-renowned business leader, New York Times bestselling author, keynote speaker, and social media influencer with over 40 years of leadership experience at world-class global companies. For the past 20 years of his leadership journey, he has honed his leadership craft at the most senior levels – first as President of the Nabisco Foods Company, then as CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and finally as Chairman of Avon Products. In 2011, he founded ConantLeadership (conantleadership.com), a mission-driven community of leaders and learners who are championing leadership that works in the 21st century.

What was your vision for creating ConantLeadership?

Nobody’s ever actually asked me that question. Although ConantLeadership wasn’t founded until 2011, I’ve been doing the work that sits at the heart of ConantLeadership for almost 35 years, because it was 35 years ago that I had the traumatic experience of being unexpectedly fired. I went into the office one day and my job had been eliminated. We had just had our second son, I had a big mortgage, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was devastated.

They sent me to an outplacement counselor and when I called, he answered, “Hello, this is Neil MacKenna. How can I help?” Every time Neil answered the phone, he would answer the same way. This was before caller ID and cellphones.

It could have been the plumber calling and he would have said, “Hello, this is Neil MacKenna, how can I help?” He was a gifted outplacement counselor and at that time in my life, I needed someone to mentor me through this transition.

Neil’s helping orientation inspired me to lead with that same spirit of “How can I help?” From that point on, my leadership journey became all about trying to help people and organizations prosper.

When I retired from Campbell Soup, I started ConantLeadership with that same desire to help people grow and prosper in the modern age. This grew into our current day mission, which is to champion leadership that works in the 21st century.

16 LEADERS

We designed it to be an altruistic mission where I don’t get paid any salary. We charge for certain things to cover the cost of operations, but any money we make is donated to organizations that are championing the kind of enlightened leadership that can move the world forward.

How do you define the target market for ConantLeadership?

Our resources and leadership development programming are for all leaders who aspire to improve, to get unstuck, and to maximize their impact. The notion here is that all leaders can do better, but they need to find a way to do it that sits in the middle of their busy lives. Most people want to shoot the lights out but can barely find the time to turn the lights on. Leaders want to do better but they’re overwhelmed.

I have many thoughtful friends who speak on this subject, but most are academics or thought leaders rather than seasoned leadership practitioners. They haven’t walked a mile in your shoes. I’ve walked a thousand miles in the shoes of the leaders that I talk to and that gives me unique understanding and knowledge of their situation, which a lot of people who are writing about leadership just don’t have. They have great ideas, but they haven’t actually been down the road.

Is leadership something that can be taught or are you born with the skills to be a leader?

I don’t buy this notion that leaders aren’t made, they’re born. I believe it’s the opposite.

I believe you can have talent that you’re born with, but then it’s about what you do with that talent that defines your legacy. Those with large amounts of talent – innate or developed – must commit to a continuous improvement approach in order to keep their skills relevant and remain effective.

What interested you in writing your new book, The Blueprint, and what is the message of the book?

The book is designed for all leaders who want to do better but are beset by a deluge of competing priorities and pressures. It is particularly helpful to aspiring leaders who don’t have the financial or time resources to do it on their own and need help. The book highlights 6 practical steps to lift your leadership to new heights, steps I codified from my decades of experience at every rung on the ladder, from entry level to the Fortune 500 C-Suite, CEO, and chairman ranks.

We have created small bite-size programs that you can iterate through very quickly and in a few weeks you can start changing. We have made it approachable through the eyes of somebody who’s spent 40 years in meetings and answering phone calls with demands on their time from every quarter of the world, from family, friends, and work.

What interested me in writing The Blueprint is the powerful idea that your life story is your leadership story. To lead most effectively, you can’t lead like somebody else; you have to learn to lead like only you can. To that end, I offer practical exercises and prompts for reflection to help readers unlock their unique leadership voice.

When you look at your career, were you able to enjoy the process and take moments to celebrate the wins?

It’s something I’m constantly working on.

I love what I do. I believe that leading organizations is all about the people and helping people thrive in chaos is what I try to do. I am here to help and I can’t think of a more fulfilling journey.

When I was a CEO people would say, “Look at all this money you’re making” and would focus on the pomp, not the substance. Well, I’m still devoted to leadership now and I’m not doing it for the money. I am incredibly committed to this journey.

Ten years ago, I was involved in a near fatal car accident and it was a difficult, dark time. At that point I’d been a CEO for about eight years at Campbell Soup, and I remained CEO for another two years where I played through my injuries.

After I started to recover from the accident, I went through a process of self-examination and realized how deeply I care about people. I decided that if I was ever able to get out of my bed and start functioning again, I was going to rededicate myself to following in Neil MacKenna’s footsteps and saying, “How can I help?” I resolved to do it in a real-world way that helps people succeed in the here-and-now.

The silver lining out of that cloud was this ability to recommit myself emotionally to helping. Every day I’m hearing from somebody who I helped – some of them are executive assistants, some of them are friends, many of them are former students or colleagues of mine. I derive a lot of joy from that.

I can’t think of a better way to pay forward all of my good fortune.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

PMI’s Purpose An Interview with Jacek Olczak, Chief Operating Officer, Philip Morris International (PMI)

Jacek Olczak

EDITORS’ NOTE Jacek Olczak became Chief Operating Officer in January 2018. He joined Philip Morris Polska in 1993 as Manager, Finance and Administration. After serving as Manager, Internal Controls, in 1995 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Olczak returned to Poland where he held various positions in finance, sales, and operations.

Between 2002 and 2006, he worked extensively across Central Europe and the Baltic States, and in 2004 was appointed Managing Director, Poland and Baltic States. In October 2006, he became Managing Director, Germany and Austria, and from April 2009 until July 2012, he served as President of PMI’s European Union Region. From August 2012 until his current appointment, he held the role of Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining PMI, he worked for BDO Binder in London and Warsaw. Olczak holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Lodz, Poland.

COMPANY BRIEF Philip Morris International (pmi.com) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke. With more than 77,000 employees across the globe, PMI is selling products made in their 46 worldwide production facilities to over 150 million consumers in more than 180 markets around the world.

Will you discuss the transformation taking place at PMI? PMI’s global business transformation is about delivering on our vision to create a smokefree future. For us, this means replacing cigarettes as quickly as possible with scientifically substantiated smoke-free products that are a much better alternative for all adults who would otherwise continue smoking.

Despite the best efforts of governments to curb smoking, the World Health Organization estimates that there will be as many smokers in 2025 – around 1.1 billion – as there are today.

Our position is that adult smokers who do not quit should have access to, and information 18 LEADERS

about, smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes. These smoke-free products contain nicotine and are not risk-free. However, science supports that these products have the potential to be a better choice than continued smoking.

The company has invested more than $6 billion over the past decade to develop and commercialize a portfolio of scientifically substantiated smoke-free products. The history of commercial progress is that the better product always replaces the previous one. Even in a company that throughout most of its history primarily commercialized cigarettes, radical change is wholly possible.

How critical was it to communicate this transformation internally and to engage PMI’s employees in the process?

I am a big believer that the best way to communicate with your own people is by simply talking to them. You obviously can send a memo. You can do a town hall. You can make yourself available through various means of internal communication or external communication, but nothing will replace a normal face to face conversation.

I personally spend a lot of time making myself available to anyone here regardless of the rank, function or position. We’re moving the company into truly unchartered waters and our people need and deserve to know our plans. Other companies have undergone massive transformation, but I haven’t heard about another company who is saying that it is better to get rid of the product that it sells today. We spend an enormous amount of time talking with our people. We are in this beautiful constellation at PMI today where our human internal values are being aligned with what the company wants to do. There is a lot of support for our mission which is very important in a transformation of this nature.

Is there an effective understanding about smoke-free products today and how important is it for PMI to continue to educate the market?

When I see negativism around PMI and our new mission, I always give the benefit of the doubt that the other party maybe didn’t have the time to look into the science or maybe they’re still judging us based on the past or maybe we have not done an effective job communicating with them.

It is our job to continue talking, presenting, meeting, and being transparent and listening to our audience. One by one, we will continue to share our view that harm reduction is the best approach for those who would

otherwise continue smoking. There is still a lot of confusion in the market.

How do you define PMI today?

PMI is a science and technology-minded company developing science-backed smokefree products for adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking. Today, this company has the consumer spelled with a capital C since the consumer is in the center. It is a science company because science is needed for our discussions with regulators, but even more importantly, science is needed to help consumers to make the right decision. Adult smokers deserve the right to be properly informed as to what the better choices are. I think that every dollar over the last decade that we have invested behind science, and this is billions of dollars, was the best investment we could have made because when we talk with our consumers, the science moves the discussion away from emotional and into a fact-based direction.

Are you able to take moments to reflect on PMI’s evolution and to appreciate what PMI has become?

I joined PMI 26 years ago. When you have been at a company for as long as I have and you realize that you are in a position to address the one big fundamental problem the company has – the product – and come up with a better alternative to cigarettes, that chance to transform the company becomes life-changing.

When I joined, I didn’t expect that I would stay here for a quarter of a century. I actually thought as a young person at the time, you get a good job, stay there for two or three years and then move to another job in another company. I fell in love with PMI. Many people ask me what the recipe is for a fast career. A fast career is not how quickly you advance in different positions, but how engaging and exciting is the work that you’re doing for the company.

Some people count the days or weeks until they retire, but not me. When that time comes, I will miss one of the best parts of my life. I am not a morning person, but I do wake up in the morning with satisfaction knowing that I’m coming to PMI. It’s not about the money or the perks. I am living a fulfilling life and there is a lot of energy and drive in the company to accomplish our smoke-free future vision. When I go on vacation, I enjoy my time with my family, but I miss the office.

•

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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NEW YORK

LONDON

WASHINGTON, DC

AT L A N TA

HONG KONG

TOKYO

MILAN

DUBAI

Contents Effective Leadership Carly Fiorina, Founder and Chairman, Carly Fiorina Enterprises, and Founder and Chairman, Unlocking Potential

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Elevating the Private Bank Katy Knox, President, Bank of America Private Bank

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Purpose Driven Deborah Harmon, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Artemis Real Estate Partners

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Delivering Financial Security Aditi Javeri Gokhale, Chief Commercial Officer and President, Investment Products and Services, Northwestern Mutual

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The Diageo Difference Claudia Schubert, President, US Spirits & Canada, Diageo

Personalized Health Karina Davidson, Ph.D., Professor, Senior Vice President of Research, and Head, Center for Personalized Health, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

Lori G. Cohen Co-Chair, Global Litigation Practice; Chair, Trial Practice Group; Chair, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Group, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Molecular Medicine Betty Diamond, M.D., Director, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

G. Michelle Ferreira San Francisco Office and Silicon Valley Office Co-Managing Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Improving Women’s Health Christine Metz, Ph.D., Director, Faculty Affairs, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

Shari L. Heyen Co-Chair, Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice (Firmwide) and Houston Office CoManaging Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

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Creating Long-Term Value MaryAnne Gilmartin, Chief Executive Officer, L&L MAG

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The Rise of MLS Anastasia Danias Schmidt, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Major League Soccer

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Continuous Improvement Julie Dillman, Senior Vice President, Chubb Group, Global Head of Operations, Chubb

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The Client Experience Frances D. O’Brien, Senior Vice President, Chubb Group, Division President, North America Personal Risk Services, Chubb

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Pursuing Excellence Erika Alexander, Chief Lodging and Services Officer, The Americas, Marriott International

34 Strong Start for Kids Carra Cote-Ackah, President, Vanguard Group Foundation and Executive Director of Community Stewardship, Vanguard

44 A Customer-Centered Global Bank Tong Yu, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Bank of China USA

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Hearing the Customer Adaire Fox-Martin, Member of the Executive Board, SAP

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Bioelectronic Medicine Sangeeta S. Chavan, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

Fiona Adams London Office Managing Shareholder; Co-Chair, Global Corporate Practice, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Making an Impact That Matters Stacy Janiak, Managing Partner - Chief Growth Officer, Deloitte

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Carlyle’s Culture Ruulke Bagijn, Head of Investment Solutions, The Carlyle Group

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Building Brands Stormy Simon

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Putting the Patient in the Center Judy Yee, M.D., FACR, University Chair of Radiology, Montefiore Health System and Professor of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

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Diverse and Dynamic Teams Jennifer Hayes, Partner, Bain & Company

A Digital-First Brand Nicole Vogrin, Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer, Western Union

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Applied Intelligence Dr. Athina Kanioura, Chief Analytics Officer and Global Lead, Accenture Applied Intelligence

A Customized Client-Centric Approach Karen Whitt, President, Real Estate Management Services US, Colliers International

A Customer-Centric Growth Strategy Lisa Marchese, Chief Operating Officer, Witkoff

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Improving Health Outcomes Mara M. Minguez, MD, MSc, Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Community Affairs, and Medical Director, Lang Youth Medical Program, NewYork-Presbyterian

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The Webster Way Harriet Munrett Wolfe, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Webster Bank and Webster Financial Corporation

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Public Policy Roslyn Brooks, Principal - Government, Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy, PwC US

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62 Helping People on Their Path to Better Health Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy, CVS Health and President, CVS Health Foundation

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Setting the Bar High Audrey Willmot, Vice President of Operations, Safe Harbor Marinas

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Building the Life Science Community in New York City Jenna Foger, Senior Vice President, Science and Technology, Alexandria Real Estate Equities/ Alexandria Venture Investments

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Translational Research Serpil Erzurum, M.D., Chair, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic

Tradition and Innovation Jamie Rose Fisher, Marketing Manager - Commercial Portfolio, Fisher Brothers

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The Owner Experience Mindy Drummond, Executive Vice President, Employee and Owner Experience, NetJets Inc.

79 A Unique Value Proposition Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Chief Executive Officer - Americas, JLL Hotels & Hospitality and Head of Global Hotel Desk, JLL

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Obstacles to Opportunity Andi Potamkin, Director of Business Development, Potamkin Companies

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A Commitment to Research Barbara Murphy, M.D., Murray M. Rosenberg Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

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Tenant Representation Janet Woods, Executive Vice President and Northeast Region Lead, Savills

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A Focus on Jewelry Michaela Kesselman, Assistant Manager and Jewelry Director, WEMPE Jewelers, New York

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Protecting the Future of Nature Ginette Hemley, Senior Vice President, Wildlife Conservation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

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The Power of Parity Kweilin Ellingrud, Senior Partner, Leader of the Life Insurance Practice in North America, McKinsey & Company

Operation Graduation Dr. Margaret M. McMenamin, President, Union County College

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Innovation in Tax Marna Ricker, Americas Vice Chair – Tax, EY

Cultivating Toscana Diversity Livia le Divelec, Brand Ambassador and Winemaker, Frescobaldi Toscana

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Effective Leadership An Interview with Carly Fiorina, Founder and Chairman, Carly Fiorina Enterprises, and Founder and Chairman, Unlocking Potential EDITORS’ NOTE Carly Fiorina Unlocking Potential (upleader started out as a secretary for a ship.org) provides community leadnine-person real estate business ers with the tools and resources to and eventually became the first strengthen their leadership and probwoman ever to lead a Fortune 50 lem-solving skills. Its curriculum is company when she was recruited built on Fiorina’s deep experience to lead Hewlett-Packard (HP) in developing leaders in every context and 1999. During her tenure at HP, is based on her philosophy that leaders the company r eceived numerare made, not born; that everyone can ous civic recognitions, including be a leader; and that the people closbeing named one of the 100 Best est to the problem are best positioned to Corporate Citizens by Business solve it. Its goal is to ensure that every Carly Fiorina Ethics magazine, one of the 100 member of the team, from executives to B e s t C o m p a n i e s f o r Wo r k i n g front-line employees, becomes a world Mothers by Working Mother Magazine, receiv- class problem-solver. ing a 100 percent rating by The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality What were the keys to your success in busiIndex, and being named one of the World’s ness and did you imagine in the early days Most Respected Companies by the Financial that you would have had the opportunities Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers. After leav- you were presented? ing HP, Fiorina focused her efforts on giving I didn’t imagine it, which is why I back. Prior to founding Unlocking Potential, always tell young people in particular, don’t she served as the Chairman of Good360, the map your life out. Part of life’s adventure is world’s largest product philanthropy organi- seeing what opportunities come your way zation, and as Chair man of Opportunity and focusing on doing the very best you International, a Christian-based organization can with the opportunity that’s right in front that lifts millions out of poverty around the of you. globe through microfinance. She also founded the One Woman Initiative in partnership with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to engage and empower women in Pakistan, Egypt, India and the Philippines through increased access to economic opportunity. Fiorina was appointed by President Bush and CIA Director Michael Hayden to serve as the Chairman of the External Advisory Board of the CIA after 9/11. In 2015, she launched her campaign for President of the United States. Fiorina is a bestselling author of Tough Choices, Rising to the Challenge and her latest book, Find Your Way. In February 2019, Fiorina and The Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America began an academic partnership where she will serve as Distinguished Clinical Professor in Leadership.

I’ve spent my career building effective

teams and solving

problems and it is

ORGANIZATION BRIEFS Carly Fiorina Enterprises (carlyfiorina.com) helps clients identify and develop new perspectives that will help solve critical problems in the areas of diversity and inclusion, leadership development, strategic planning, communication, managing stakeholders, developing project management skills, culture and values.

22 LEADERS

what brings me joy.

I think that was the most important revelation for me. When I got out of the secretarial pool and got an M.B.A. and landed in a huge corporation called AT&T, which at the time had 1 million employees, there was nothing about me that earmarked me for success. I didn’t have an expectation of moving through the ranks or getting a promotion; my desire was to do a good job.

I found out that to do a good job, in my mind, meant I had to solve the problems that were right in front of me, not let them fester, not ignore them or pretend they didn’t exist. It was about solving them, and the only way I could solve the problems that were right in front of me was to work with the people who were all around me.

That focus on problem solving, results, and collaboration in order to change things and make them better is what propelled me forward in the corporate world and also what has animated me and motivated me and given me joy in my life.

Do you feel that leadership can be taught or is it something that you are born with?

I think it’s definitely something you can learn. In fact, I think leaders are made, not born, and I think everyone is capable of leadership. Not everyone knows they’re capable of it and not everyone has the opportunity to develop it. I think part of the problem is the word itself. When people hear the word “leader” they tend to think about position and title, so we call people leaders because they’re in a big position. When I was starting out, I thought the leader was someone with the title, position and office, but a lot of times people with positions and titles are managers, not leaders. Many times they’re not changing anything for the better, and they’re actually taking advantage of the status quo, which is different than leadership.

I’ve learned through experience. I have met people who have been motivated to become leaders, sometimes by very difficult circumstances, sometimes by enormous challenge as well as enormous opportunity and sometimes because they’ve been lifted up by others.

Anyone is capable of leadership and leadership can be learned.

Was the creation of Carly Fiorina Enterprises a natural extension of your career and how do you define its mission?

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Often in the process of change, leaders focus all of their attention on the resisters, but this doesn’t work and eventually some of the resisters have to go. You don’t change something because the resisters change their minds. You change something because the skeptics get on board.

It has been a natural extension of my career. I’ve spent my career building effective teams and solving problems and it is what brings me joy. When I look at our communities, when I look at our companies, when I look at our nation, when I look at our world, what I see are a lot of problems, and I know we need more problem-solvers, which is to say we need more leaders.

During my career, having done this in many sectors and over many decades, the curriculum that we’ve developed gets to the essentials of leadership; what are the essential tools that you need to use to change something for the better and solve a problem?

What is Unlocking Potential?

Unlocking Potential is the nonprofit arm of Carly Fiorina Enterprises. In the Unlocking Potential Foundation, we are focusing our leadership training, team effectiveness, and problemsolving capacity on the social sector. We do so in some cases with corporate partners such as American Express and MassMutual among others.

When you look at the many challenges facing the world today, are you optimistic for the future?

I’m optimistic when I look in the right places.

Leadership isn’t coming out of Washington and

that’s been true for a long time. George Washington in 1789 said to the nation, “Beware the rise of political parties because politics will become all about winning and not about governing.”

I think one of the things we have to do to solve the problems in front of us is to recognize where problems aren’t getting solved. Problems are not getting solved in Washington. Every election is animated by the same set of problems every time. People differ as to the solutions, but we argue about the same things every time.

I am not optimistic looking at Washington D.C. I’m very optimistic when I go into communities across this country, whether it’s Boston or Salt Lake City or Washington D.C. or Dallas. When I go into communities and I see community leaders and company employees coming together and focusing on the challenges they have in common, I’m optimistic because problem-solvers are emerging.

It goes back to what I said earlier; we think that leaders are the people with position and title and will therefore solve the problems. I think we’ll make more progress when we realize that it is for all of us to solve. We all have problems right in front of us and we can make a difference if we tackle them together.

Carly Fiorina at the Unlocking Potential Springfield Leadership Lab sponsored by MassMutual VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

What were the keys that led to the transformation at HP under your leadership?

The first key was that we all had to agree on what the problems were. I did not come in as CEO and say “here is the problem.” What I did instead was interview scores of customers and employees and I let them do the talking. The thing about problems is that everyone knows what they are. The question is, do you agree on solving them, and to start to solve them you have to agree on what they are and then agree that you’re going to do something about it.

From that point forward, we began to work together to address the problems that HP was facing. It doesn’t mean we didn’t get resistance and pushback when we started down that path.

Were you able to drive change at HP with the people who were already at the company or did you need to bring in new talent?

I’ll answer that question in two ways. First, I purposely came to Hewlett-Packard alone. I didn’t bring anyone new with me and that was a deliberate decision because I wanted to signal to the organization my belief, based on experience, that we already had everything we needed in the organization to identify our problems and solve them.

The second answer I will give you is that in my experience, there are three kinds of people. There are people who get it immediately; I call them change warriors and they’re usually about 20 percent of the people. There are other people who will resist mightily to the end, not because they’re bad people, but because they benefited from the way it is; I call them resisters and they’re about 20 percent of the people.

Then, there is everybody else who are skeptical and want to wait to see what happens.

Successful change occurs when leaders mobilize the change warriors to convince the skeptics.

Often in the process of change, leaders focus all of their attention on the resisters, but this doesn’t work and eventually some of the resisters have to go. You don’t change something because the resisters change their minds. You change something because the skeptics get on board.

Have you been happy with the progress made around diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

Progress has been made. When I joined HP, I was the only woman CEO among the Fortune 50; now there are several more. On the other hand, there are more CEOs named LEADERS 23

It is clear that a business being a great corporate citizen, a purpose-driven organization, and making a positive impact in the communities in which they live and work is a necessity for the long haul.

James in the Fortune 500 than there are women and that’s a fact. Additionally, the percentage of board members who are women has been stubbornly stuck at less than 20 percent for decades.

So while there has been progress, we’re not making the progress you would think we would be. It’s also true that corporate America spends $8 billion a year on diversity and inclusion training and the money isn’t working. We’re not getting the results we should achieve and I think the reason for it is simple. It’s not that people are bad.

It’s not that people are saying they don’t want to have a diverse workforce or don’t want to include people. I think it is because businesses believe it is the right thing to do, but they don’t understand it is the necessary thing to do.

When businesses finally figure out that they need to do this for business success, they’ll do it, but they haven’t figured this out yet. I think the reason is because decision-making is easier when people are more alike, however it is more effective when people are more different. Diverse teams, and the data supports this, make better decisions over the long haul because they challenge each other. I may have a point of view, but you may have a point of view that adds to my understanding and perspective about an issue.

This isn’t a nice to do; the most diverse teams are the most effective teams over the long haul.

How critical is it for businesses to be purpose-driven?

The private sector does so much and yet if you look at the data, most young people don’t think capitalism is a good thing. When business earns a reputation for being blood thirsty and taking advantage of customers – the financial crisis, the opioid crisis, the Boeing jet issue, for example – whether that perception is fair or not, it harms businesses over time. It is clear that a business being a great corporate citizen, a purpose-driven organization, and making a positive impact in the communities in which they live and work is a necessity for the long haul.

It is also necessary because millennials demand it. I have a lot of millennials who work for me and we work with a lot of millennials in our clients’ organizations. Millennials realize they don’t have a lifetime employment and a rich pension at the end since things have changed. They’re looking for companies that challenge them intellectually and capture them emotionally, not just that puts money in their bank account. An organization that is purposedriven does that.

24 LEADERS

What interested you in writing books?

It’s interesting. If you would have asked me 20 years ago if I would have written three books, and I’m already on the fourth, my answer would have been, no. I’ve developed a passion for it and if you have ever listened to a speech of mine, you would know that I like to tell stories because I think people learn by listening to stories.

For me, writing books is about telling stories, not just my own story, but other peoples’ stories as well because I think that’s how we learn and get inspired and motivated.

Storytelling is a very impactful way to unlock someone’s potential, and if my books help to do that, it’s gratifying What led you to decide to run for public office?

I’m a pr oblem-solver and I saw so many problems where I thought a different approach would be useful. I think we have too many professional politicians. I’m not being disparaging of them as people, instead I’m reflecting on the fact that the system of politics is geared towards running and winning, running and winning, running and winning.

You have to have courage to forge ahead in life and you have to be brave to take risks, because without taking risks you won’t achieve very much.

That’s not the same as being geared towards serving citizens and solving their problems and I thought an outsider’s perspective would be useful. I thought someone who had a lot of experience with very complex problems in organizations might be useful. I knew the odds were long, very long, and I didn’t have false expectations about the outcome or how easy it would be, but I also have no regrets for having done it.

I learned a lot about the political process, which is partially why I say with such confidence that we should not be looking to Washington for solutions right now. We should be looking elsewhere because the system isn’t geared to produce solutions. Politics is a nasty business in many ways, but voters are not, citizens are not. For me, talking to voters and talking to citizens and being in communities was a wonderful process.

What advice do you offer young people about the keys to building a sustainable career?

I tell them several things. First, get a job, any job. It doesn’t have to be the perfect job.

Then, whatever job you get, do it really well, because when you do a really good job, someone will take notice and opportunity will knock.

When that happens, answer the call.

Second, I tell them to have courage and be brave. I think that’s particularly hard for young people because criticism is so omnipresent. Social media is such a pressure on young people to conform and to fulfill others’ expectations. My goodness, they spend so much time curating photos and making everything look the way they want it to look. You have to have courage to forge ahead in life and you have to be brave to take risks, because without taking risks you won’t achieve very much.

The final thing that I tell them is not to worry about ten years from now. Don’t even worry about five years from now. Worry about what’s right in front of you. How do I make an impact? How do I make a difference? How do I collaborate with others? How do I solve the problem that’s right in front of me? The more you do that, the more capable you are of doing it. The more capable you are of doing it, the more you’re going to want to do it and that’s how you get on a path, not just a path to progress and impact, but a path to joy because people get fulfillment from making a contribution and having an impact.

•

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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Elevating the Private Bank An Interview with Katy Knox, President, Bank of America Private Bank EDITORS’ NOTE Katy Knox is a What were your initial priorities member of Bank of America’s execuwhen you assumed the role to lead tive management team. She has more Bank of America Private Bank? than 25 years of leadership experiWe wanted to leverage the comence in financial services, and today pany’s brand to elevate the Private leads more than 4,300 professionals Bank. Therefore, one of my first big serving ultra-high-net-worth individinitiatives coming into this role was to uals, families and institutions. Prior retire the U.S. Trust brand and inteto her current role, she served as the grate it more closely with Bank of head of Business Banking at Bank of America. We were a legacy of many America. Previously, she led the comdifferent trust companies and private pany’s nationwide retail banking banks that came together over two Katy Knox and distribution business, responsicenturies, and we wanted to bring all ble for the financial centers, ATM of those legacies together under one network and digital banking platform. Knox has powerful brand. also held leadership roles overseeing business stratAnother priority was expanding into egy, commercial banking, global treasury man- new markets where the Private Bank didn’t agement and wealth management. Knox is a have a presence, as well as within existing leader within the company’s diversity networks and has served as vice chair of its Global Diversity and Inclusion Council. She was recognized as one of the Top 100 Diverse Executive & Emerging Leaders by Diverse MBA magazine. She is active in Bank of America’s Global Ambassador Program, which provides mentoring to women leaders worldwide, fostering economic empowerment, effective advocacy, more equitable opportunity, and measurable enhancements for women and their communities. Knox is involved in several charitable and civic organizations in Charlotte, New York City and Boston and serves on the board of trustees of the JFK Library Foundation. She earned her undergraduate degree in business administration from Elmira College and her M.B.A. from Boston College.

We redesigned our

training programs,

looking at paths to

career advancement and making sure

BUSINESS BRIEF Bank of America Private Bank (privatebank.bankofamerica.com) helps ultrahigh-net-worth individuals and families, business owners and institutions preserve and share wealth, build legacies, and plan for growth and success. The business meets clients’ complex financial needs through institutional-quality expertise, boutique-style private banking, highly specialized services, and the global resources of Bank of America, one of the world’s leading financial institutions. For over 200 years, the Private Bank has served clients through dedicated teams of experienced advisors who deliver a range of sophisticated and customized solutions for credit and banking, investment management, trust and estate planning, art services, wealth transfer and philanthropic solutions, alternative investments and specialty asset management.

26 LEADERS

we were providing our employees the opportunity to continue to learn and grow.

markets, making sure that we were present in at least 40 of the company’s top 50 markets across the country which cover more than 90 percent of the wealth in our segment. This continues to be a big part of our responsible growth agenda.

We also set out to strengthen partnerships with the other lines of business across the company, making sure that we had close partnerships with our consumer bank, small business, business banking, commercial banking, and investment banking businesses so that we can bring all of the company’s resources and capabilities to bear for our clients. These businesses provide a significant volume of referrals to the Private Bank.

In what other ways has the Private Bank business evolved in recent years?

We’ve been extremely focused on the client experience. We set out to execute what we call operational excellence, which involved looking at every activity and capability that touches a client to make sure that it’s designed in a way that it provides an exceptional experience. That is a journey that Brian Moynihan (Bank of America Chairman and CEO) put us on several years ago which became critically important to the Private Bank as we relaunched the brand and everything that it stood for.

Another business imperative for us was to invest in the future through the modernization of our technology, which had three major components. The first was to make sure that all of our client touch points, whether digital or via a mobile device, were updated, automated and integrated with the broader technology delivered across the company. The clients we serve in the Private Bank are some of the most sophisticated people in the world and they expect our team and technology to provide them with the best service and experience.

The second piece was looking at all of the tools that our internal employees use to make sure that we were making it easier for them to do their jobs. And the third had to do with major infrastructure and platform enhancements. We created a three to five year road map to modernize the business which we are now executing against.

In addition, we focused on the development of our people and making sure that Bank of America Private Bank, and Bank of America overall, is a great place to work. We redesigned VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

We set out to execute what we call operational excellence, which involved looking at every activity and capability that touches a client to make sure that it’s designed in a way that it provides an exceptional experience.

our training programs, looking at paths to career advancement and making sure we were providing our employees the opportunity to continue to learn and grow.

Our priorities and evolution over the last two years are likely to lead to record Private Bank growth in 2019 by several measures. For instance, as of the end of the third quarter, net new relationships were up 64 percent compared to the prior year.

When you are transforming a business around the priorities you mentioned, how critical is it to communicate internally with the team and to engage them in the process?

We first developed a two-year strategic plan along with a financial plan and measurement system to make sure that we were growing the business while also making meaningful investments in its future success. Once we had this in place, we created the story for the Private Bank so that everybody could hear the vision, understand where we were on the journey, where we were going, and how we were going to get there. Much of that was internal communications and being repetitive day in, day out, around a consistent and compelling vision.

It was important that everybody knew the vision and could talk to their teams about it. We started communicating first with all of our market leaders, and then brought it more broadly across the Private Bank. In doing so, we found pockets of legacy areas on which we needed to do more work, so we held face to face town halls as well as listening and feedback sessions.

How critical is it for the Private Bank to have a diverse and inclusive workforce?

At Bank of America, diversity and inclusion are part of the fiber of how we do business. Throughout my career I’ve been heavily involved in our company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives that Brian has led so beautifully over the years.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work in the company’s consumer bank and the global commercial bank, which gave me perspective on how to tap into a diverse population aligned to the communities that we were serving. We want to further diversify the Private Bank in a way that helps us better understand and engage with the communities we’re trying to serve from both a language and cultural standpoint. It is both a moral and a commercial imperative.

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There is a major focus today around gender parity and opportunities for women in business. Are you happy with the progress being made and are there strong opportunities for women to grow and lead in the industry?

We have made tremendous progress as a company over the 10 years that Brian has been CEO and Chair of the company’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council. Today, more than 50 percent of our global workforce are women, including more than 45 percent of our management team. I’m proud to work for an organization that has such a dedicated focus on investing in women. This work includes being a great place to work for our female employees, our focus on making the financial lives of our female clients better, and our focus on advancing the economic empowerment of women in communities around

We have a deep knowledge and access to resources to deliver philanthropic solutions, impact investing opportunities and other strategies that give them the power to make a difference in the world.

the world. We still have work to do, and we’ve set out to make sure we’re creating even more opportunities for women.

How important is it for Bank of America to be a purpose-driven brand and to be engaged in the communities it serves?

When I first joined the company, we were focused on corporate social responsibility, and then this transitioned to environmental, social and governance (ESG) in which we’re leading in many different ways. There’s a great deal of support for and engagement in what we’re doing in the global community through the company’s philanthropic and volunteer efforts, and we are deeply engaged in the local communities we serve. Everyone, and specifically younger professionals, wants to be part of a company that is innovative and meaningful in the way it does business.

At the Private Bank, we’re helping our clients understand how to invest in a meaningful way. Many wealthy people have significant passions and goals for making an impact. We have a deep knowledge and access to resources to deliver philanthropic solutions, impact investing opportunities and other strategies that give them the power to make a difference in the world.

What has made Bank of America a place where you have wanted to spend your career?

I actually had a dream of being a sports announcer, but the bank provided me a great opportunity coming out of college with a solid salary and terrific benefits. It was a decision that I made and never looked back. It feels like I have had multiple careers within the same company because of all the opportunities that I’ve had. It has been very important to me that I have always aligned culturally with the direction of the company and with its leadership.

Most importantly, the company gave me the opportunity to grow professionally, while also allowing me personally to follow so many passions. When I talk to our younger professionals, I tell them that you have a professional career at a company, but you also have the opportunity to grow personally, give back to the community, and follow your passions.

I do a lot of mentoring with women globally which has been so rewarding. My career at Bank of America has provided many different and great experiences, both professionally and personally.

•

LEADERS 27

Purpose Driven An Interview with Deborah Harmon, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Artemis Real Estate Partners EDITORS’ NOTE Deborah Harmon unique opportunities because of what is an industry leader and entreprewas going on in the financial markets. neur with more than 30 years of For me, it was “then” or never to start experience in real estate. Harmon, my own business. along with Penny Pritzker, coI made one crucial decision, founded Artemis Real Estate which was not going it alone. I had Partners in 2009. Prior to Artemis, extraordinary partners, including Harmon spent 17 years establishing Penny Pritzker, my co-founder; and leading the principal investing Artemis’ President, Alex Gilbert; and business at JE Robert Companies. She a senior leadership team with decades serves as Chairperson of the Pension of experience working together. From Real Estate Association Foundation, a blank sheet of paper, we set out to Deborah Harmon is a board member of the Pension build an organization that was both Real Estate Association, a key leader performance-driven and diverse. and former trustee of the Urban Land Institute, We wanted to raise a $300 million Artemis and a member of the Advisory Board of Jasper Fund I in 2010. Earlier in my career, I manRidge Charitable Fund and the Advisory Board aged two $400+ million funds with a similar of the BlackIvy Group. Harmon also serves on strategy. What was unique with Artemis is that the Board and Executive Committee for Women we bet on ourselves – we committed $50 milfor Women International and is a member of lion of GP capital and were prepared to be the Council on Foreign Relations. President the largest investor in our own fund. As Penny Barack Obama appointed Harmon to serve as a used to say, the only thing we were emerging Commissioner for the White House Fellows pro- at was being emerging. Still, it took two years gram and she previously served on the boards and 225 meetings to secure 11 brave limited of directors for Forest City Enterprises and Avis Group Holdings, the board of advisors for the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University, and on the boards of Sidwell Friends School, Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School, and of the National Children’s Research Center. Harmon earned a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

We wanted to

COMPANY BRIEF Artemis Real Estate Partners’ (artemisrep.com) mission is creating a successful and sustainable real estate investment management firm built on a foundation of performance, alignment of interest and transparency. Since 2011, Artemis has raised approximately $4.5 billion of committed equity capital in three primary business lines: roughly $2 billion in value-add discretionary commingled funds, $2 billion in vehicles focused on core/ core-plus investments with emerging managers, and $476 million in a healthcare specific coreplus fund. Artemis invests in real estate across all product types in the United States.

Will you discuss your vision for creating Artemis Real Estate Partners?

I co-founded Artemis 10 years ago in the depths of the Great Recession. There were 28 LEADERS

succeed as a

firm that not only outperformed, but that also did good.

partners who proved to be stakeholders in our success. Eventually, we raised $436 million. It was among the most challenging professional experiences of my career.

Our success over the last decade offers some proof of our vision. We work to find alignment with investors, to invest capital across the risk spectrum, to have a strong and intentional diversity strategy, and we try to back these principles up with experienced partners. Together, these are the cornerstones of a robust organization striving to deliver risk-adjusted outperformance.

What have been the keys to the strength of the firm’s returns?

I have always described Artemis’ culture as performance driven. Performance and discipline are essential to succeeding in real estate investment. We work to maximize our alignment with the interests of our investors and sustained performance.

One key to our performance was identifying the opportunity in providing capital across the risk spectrum. Before 2008, I watched people opportunistically invest themselves over the proverbial cliff. We wanted to do things differently and for Artemis to be the strategic capital provider of choice across the risk spectrum.

We knew this could benefit our stakeholders: providing capital to best-in-class, emerging and established joint venture operating partners, diversified across product type and geography, with the ability to invest up and down the capital stack with the intent to deliver the best riskadjusted returns.

Being a force multiplier for profit and purpose was vital to our team. We wanted to succeed as a firm that not only outperformed, but that also did good. We seek to widen the circle of opportunity through capital access and talent training programs for those typically underrepresented in the real estate industry. This helps us build a more diverse team and attract top talent to our organization.

This is the key to our performance: It’s the combination of our business strategy, our operating partners, our approach to talent and our mission. Our investors agree – Fund I outperformed its return target, and we had a 100 percent re-up rate for Fund II in 2014 from our institutional investors. In 2019, we broke a glass ceiling of sorts and raised more than $1 billion in our value-add Fund III. We have a nearly 95 percent re-up rate of the firm’s investors across nine vehicles.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Our success over the last decade offers some proof of our vision. We work to find alignment with investors, to invest capital across the risk spectrum, to have a strong and intentional diversity strategy, and we try to back these principles up with experienced partners. Together, these are the cornerstones of a robust organization striving to deliver risk-adjusted outperformance.

Will you discuss your focus on building a diverse workforce?

Anyone founding a company faces a unique set of challenges. For us, diversity was a core challenge. It took building Artemis for me to fully appreciate the barriers to entry and barriers to success diverse talent faces in the real estate industry. We set out early on to learn from other women-owned firms willing to share their lessons-learned. We found none.

Real estate investment is a $970 billion industry today, yet it remains among the least diverse fields in alternative investments. More than 950 real estate private equity firms operated over the last decade. Just 1.8 percent were women-owned. Only 2.2 percent were minority-owned. Women-owned firms had about 0.8 percent of assets under management, and minority firms have had 1.2 percent. The numbers are not much better for diverse talent in senior roles.

Building a diverse team is significantly harder than building a homogeneous one. It’s essential, though. It protects your company from group think. You are more likely to identify opportunities and risks for your business.

There’s academic research that hits on this. We also see the evidence for this in our firm’s performance, where we have built an intentional approach to diversity into our mission and the core of our company values.

We find people want to work in places where people with similar backgrounds and identities have achieved success. When you don’t find senior women or senior minority leaders in the industry, and you are a woman or a minority, you might opt out. If firms don’t address unconscious bias in hiring, promotions and talent development, the reality is that diverse talent will leave. We don’t want that – we take pride in our lack of turnover. This approach doesn’t mean ignoring or excluding groups that are historically well represented – it just requires an intentional approach. We want everyone to leverage the unique value different voices bring in concert with each other.

At Artemis, 50 percent of our team at every level is women and minorities. We believe in including a diverse array of perspectives. This approach is not just morally right – it can be strategically accretive. Our performance over the last decade suggests our approach to talent has a quantifiable impact for our investors and their portfolios.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

What was the purpose for creating the Artemis Emerging Manager Program?

This program is really a reflection of the challenges we faced as we fundraised for our first fund. We launched the Artemis Emerging Manager Program in 2011, after the Artemis Fund I received capital from only one investor with a formal emerging manager program.

Investors with emerging manager programs declined to invest in first-time funds. It was clear that other first-time firms and first-time funds would face similar challenges so we did something about it.

Partnering with New York Common, we provided joint venture capital to emerging managers, helping them build track records.

We faced down a persistent, unconscious bias in real estate investment, one that suggests if you invest in women or minorities, you’re taking a greater risk, and therefore you need to push them out on the risk spectrum to generate more attractive returns.

What would inevitably happen is the market would turn, emerging managers wouldn’t be able to meet this return target, and investors would back away.

We turned this model on its head. We built a program to incubate emerging operating partners by providing core-plus instead of opportunistic capital to invest in lower return, stabilized properties. We focused on a structure to promote the success of both our clients and our partners. We targeted a 12 percent gross return, expecting to invest 50 percent of the $800 million of capital with women- and minority-owned firms.

To date, we have invested 80 percent of the capital with women- and minority-owned firms. We have realized more than half of the investments, which are exceeding target returns. This success with a diverse group of operating partners generated real momentum. We have been able to develop a core and core-plus business taking less risk. That business predominately focuses on emerging managers, which our institutional clients have wanted. It has been equally successful and opened the door to a number of very talented firms now accessing institutional capital directly.

This has demonstrated the importance of providing capital across the risk spectrum and now several of our managers have direct relationships with institutional investors.

How critical is it for you that Artemis is a purpose-driven firm?

Being purpose driven is a core value, but more than that it is a fundamental part of our success. In my career, I’ve always favored environments that pair performance with a sense of mission. So, from day one at Artemis, we knew how important this was to us.

Pairing performance with mission makes me proud and I believe this is something the next generation of talent values deeply. We have a relatively low turnover rate at Artemis, and we don’t believe high turnover is inevitable.

Talent needs a reason to stay, and talent needs room to grow. Purpose is a significant part of that equation.

Talent is evenly dispersed, but not evenly developed. Our team is passionate about widening the circle of opportunity for those underrepresented in real estate. Seven years ago, we started the Artemis Summer Enrichment program to train and mentor talented undergraduates. The program evolved from four students to 26 participants every summer. Women and minorities make up about 80 percent of our 110+ participants.

This program provides one month of training, followed by extended internships at Artemis and partner firms. Roughly half of our program participants went on to advanced internships or jobs in real estate or finance. In the long run, we anticipate even more will come back to real estate as their careers develop. Programs like this can change the face of real estate.

Are you able to take moments to reflect and appreciate what you have built at Artemis?

We had our ten-year anniversary this year, and that’s a significant milestone for our firm.

Along the way, we’ve been intentional about celebrating and recognizing our milestones while always keeping focused on the next challenges and opportunities. Artemis leads by example at every level. There is no team we would rather have to power us forward, and I do think it’s important to reflect on how far we have come.

Our investment per for mance, team, and the culture we built at Artemis should deliver disciplined growth and attractive, risk-adjusted returns for our investors and their beneficiaries. In this sense, what makes me particularly proud is that our core values are vindicated by our successes.

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LEADERS 29

Celebrating

150 YEARS

1870 - 2020 R E P R E S E N T I N G F I N E A RT W O R L D W I D E

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Delivering Financial Security An Interview with Aditi Javeri Gokhale, Chief Commercial Officer and President, Investment Products and Services, Northwestern Mutual EDITORS’ NOTE Before assumwealth. It’s a unique approach that we ing her current role, Aditi Javeri bring to the industry and it has truly Gokhale served as Executive Vice driven our success for our clients.

President and Chief Marketing Even before I took this role, I’ve and Communications Officer for been a policyowner of Northwestern Northwester n Mutual. Prior to Mutual for a very long time. I have joining the company, Gokhale seen firsthand how Northwestern held senior leadership r oles at Mutual interacts with its clients Shutterstock, Nutrisystem, and through the value that my advisor American Express. She also sits brings in terms of making sure that on the board of the Northwestern I am able to manage my finances to Mutual Foundation, is a board best serve my family and our goals.

Aditi Javeri Gokhale member of Mobile Marketing Our advisors take a long-term perAssociation, and a member of both spective, including what you need The Wall Street Journal CMO Council and Fast for retirement, but also make sure that you’re Company Impact Council. Gokhale holds a B.S. living the life you want today. degree in management science and a minor in You initially joined Northwestern Mutual economics from MIT and an M.B.A. from MIT’s as chief marketing officer. Will you discuss Sloan School of Management. your approach to that role and how you view marketing as a business driver?

COMPANY BRIEF Northwester n Mutual I was extremely honored to be the first (northwesternmutual.com) has been help- chief marketing officer for a company that’s ing families and businesses achieve finan- been around for more than 160 years. My immecial security for more than 160 years. Through diate focus was evolving marketing from a supa distinctive, personalized planning approach, port function to a strategic growth driver to Northwestern Mutual combines the expertise of reach and engage more clients and drive busiits financial advisors with a digital experience to ness results. help its clients navigate their financial lives every I spent my early days in that role listenday. With $272.2 billion in assets, $28.5 billion in ing to all stakeholders, whether it was our clirevenues, and $1.8 trillion worth of life insurance ents, employees or advisors, and asked what protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers they thought was working well and where the financial security to more than 4.5 million people gaps were. Based on these discussions, we with life, disability income and long-term care rebranded what we call our customer promise. insurance, annuities, and brokerage and advi- We reframed it from being just a “tomorrow sory services. The company manages nearly $150 business” to also being a “today business.” billion of investments owned by its clients and held or managed through its wealth management and investment services businesses. Northwestern Mutual is recognized by Fortune® as one of the “World’s Most Admired” life insurance companies in 2019.

How do you define the Northwestern Mutual difference and what have been the keys to the company’s success?

There are a number of important reasons for our success as an industry leader. The one that stands out to me personally is the passion and drive that we have to serve our 4.5 million clients in a holistic way. It is one of the most important reasons why we have remained an industry leader year after year. We’re committed to helping people develop financial security, both by managing their risk and growing their 32 LEADERS

That led to the launch of the Spend Your Life Living campaign which turned out to be incredibly successful; our leads grew by 450 percent and the traffic to our website was up 66 percent in the first year. The most exciting part of the campaign was that we took a fresh look at what our prospects and our clients were asking of us, which is this unique way we bring financial security to the market – it’s insurance and investments, with the expert guidance of our advisors, and making sure that we’re hitting both our clients’ short-term and long-term goals.

Spend Your Life Living aims to reframe that customer promise; when the rest of the category is talking about the future and retirement, Northwestern Mutual is talking about the balance. It’s not just about tomorrow, but also about today.

Where is innovation taking place within Northwestern Mutual’s Investment Products and Services business?

Innovation is critical across all aspects of Northwestern Mutual’s business and perspectives from our employees and financial advisors are at the core of the process. We want to make sure we are building out a world-class experience for both our clients and our advisors – one that is seamless and frictionless.

In our Investment Products and Services business, we are tightly connected with our financial advisors as we make decisions on where and how to focus. Much of the innovation process happens in partnership with them – whether it’s looking at new capabilities they need or improving our client experience.

We want to make sure we are building out a worldclass experience for both our clients and our advisors – one that is seamless and frictionless.

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Northwestern Mutual makes a tangible difference for our clients. We empower our clients to make the right choices based on the lives they want rather than leaving life to chance.

Focusing on stakeholders is critical for all innovation – but for us, our advisors are connected in a deeper way than just giving feedback and helping us co-create. Similarly, our employees play a key role in driving both ideas and execution.

As a company, we also do a lot to generate new and fresh ideas. For example, in 2017 we launched Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, our $200-million venture capital fund focused on engaging startups whose technologies have the potential to transform our business. We recently announced that upwards of $20-million within that fund is dedicated to investing in female-founded startups.

We have also partnered with Foxconn, Johnson Controls, and Advocate Aurora Health to launch the Wisconn Valley Venture Fund, which is $100 million dollars, focused on financial services, healthcare, technology and manufacturing.

On the employee side, we recently announced a program called The Greenhouse, which is an opportunity for our employees to embrace their inner entrepreneur and come up with new ideas which may not be core for our business model. If we think the idea has merit, we will help them scale it and will provide the resources and funding for them to develop their product and a business plan.

Has the role of the advisor changed and what are the keys to being a successful advisor today?

The role of the advisor is becoming even more critical to people and cannot be replaced, especially as you think about AI, technology

and data. The way we’re building out our advisor experience from a digital perspective aims to make sure our advisors can focus on what they do best: providing meaningful advice to our clients to live their best life by choice.

Internally, we are calling this human plus digital. When paying a bill or filing a claim online, these are areas where you may not need an advisor to help you. However, when it comes to questions around how your financial plan looks for the next couple of years and how you are meeting your financial goals, you need an advisor. We want our advisors focused on addressing these critical questions from our clients so that they can get the best outcomes.

Northwester n Mutual has a very diverse set of clients. How critical is it for Northwestern Mutual to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

It is critical to our business to be diverse and inclusive. For me this is non-negotiable. As a woman and as a person of color, this is a personal issue to me, and I know it’s a personal issue for many leaders across our company. We cannot be the premier company to help Americans become more financially secure if we don’t reflect the diversity of our country.

At Northwestern Mutual, diversity and inclusion is what makes us successful.

For example, we have very strong employee resource groups which allow traditionally underrepresented team members to form communities and tackle important issues. We take those groups very seriously

Our mission is authentic to us and it truly drives our business and decision-making.

and we want to make sure that they are active and able to create change within the company.

People today want to work for purposedriven companies. How critical is being purpose-driven to attracting top talent?

The fact that we are a mutual company says a lot about who we are as a company.

Our shareholders are our policy owners. When we hire talent, the mission of the company is always what resonates with them the most – our focus on delivering financial security over decades. Northwestern Mutual makes a tangible difference for our clients. We empower our clients to make the right choices based on the lives they want rather than leaving life to chance. Our mission is authentic to us and it truly drives our business and decision-making.

We want to be sure that candidates know that they will be part of something bigger when they join Northwestern Mutual and we look for talent that wants to work in a mission-driven organization.

What is your approach to effective leadership?

To me, effective leadership starts with setting a bold vision that is both aspirational and rooted in the true impact of the work. The vision becomes the rallying point to build a high-performing team where people are passionate about driving results and empowered to act.

To unlock the true potential of a team, authenticity, inclusiveness, and transparency are essential. I want people on my team to be themselves at work which includes being open in sharing both ideas and feedback.

Beyond the day-to-day, as a working mom, it is important for me to be authentic so that other leaders and employees know that they don’t have to hide their own personal lives.

We spend most of our waking hours at work and being true to who I am has worked well for me.

Ultimately, the team has to work together and deliver on the vision in real, meaningful and tangible ways. Without clear results, the strategy, aspiration, and authenticity won’t be realized, both falling short of what could have been and disappointing the stakeholders who have a vested interest in your success. This is hard work, but seeing the vision become reality is the most exciting part about being a leader.

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LEADERS 33

The Diageo Difference An Interview with Claudia Schubert, President, US Spirits & Canada, Diageo EDITORS’ NOTE Claudia Schubert has spent 17 years with Diageo and assumed her current role in August 2018. She has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility since she began her career with the company as Vice President, Marketing and Innovation, in 2002. Prior to Diageo, she was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group for three years. Schubert has an undergraduate degree in business administration from Technische Universität Dresden and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

At Diageo we have a clear north star and a well-defined performance ambition which directs and unites us all. Around the globe we are all striving for the same goal – to be the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products company in the world. Since Diageo was formed, our purpose has been “Celebrating life, every day, everywhere” and that has consistently guided us. It keeps us focused on the consumer and on buildClaudia Schubert ing the best route to the consumer in partnership with our distributors.

In recent years we have significantly upweighted our investment in advanced analytics COMPANY BRIEF Diageo (diageo.com) is a and technology, all in service of better underglobal leader in spirit and beer brands which are standing our consumer and their preferences. manufactured and marketed in more than 180 This allows us to create the best marketing and countries. Diageo was created in 1997 through innovation programs. For example, in the past a merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan 12 months, we had four of the top 10 innovation which contributed to the company’s vast and products in our industry. In addition, we see sigrich array of premium alcohol brands. nificant opportunities to drive greater sales force effectiveness by bringing together consumer What have been the keys to Diageo’s suc- and in-store data and, through advanced and cess and how do you define the Diageo predictive analytics, develop insights that differdifference? entiate our performance from the competition.

CÎROC Summer Watermelon Spritz 34 LEADERS

Diageo partnered with HBO’s Game of Thrones on “White Walker” by Johnnie Walker

Our values and how we operate as a corporate citizen also make a true difference. We constantly challenge ourselves to simplify and stay nimble, and give ourselves the freedom to succeed, all while valuing each other. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion, our leading position on preventing and reducing alcohol misuse, our dedication to responsible marketing, and our focus on pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability practices all set us apart and serve to make us a better business.

Will you pr ovide an overview of Diageo’s spirits business in the U.S. and Canada?

Diageo North America is the leading premium drinks business and one of the best-performing CPGs across the United States and Canada.

We have more than 2600 people across North America proudly claiming ownership for shaping the future of our business and playing an essential role in the success of our brands – such as Bulleit, Don Julio, Captain Morgan and many other iconic brands. Our business in North America is divided into US Spirits, Diageo Canada and Diageo Beer Company USA, and the commitment our people make across the business has helped make North America Diageo’s largest market.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth for the business?

We operate in a very vibrant category and that creates many opportunities. We see more and more consumers enjoying cocktails.

Categories like tequila and North American whiskey have been accelerating as they capture the interest and taste preferences from consumers. Across all categories, we see continued premiumization trends. Diageo encourages consumers who choose to drink alcohol to simply drink better, not more, and our portfolio is well positioned to benefit from consumers choosing more premium products.

Innovation is key to delivering sustainable growth. Diageo is the leader in innovation in the U.S. and we are focused on the opportunity around recruiting new consumers to our brands and disrupting categories or entering white spaces. Recent successes embed consumer insight into our innovation approach, such as our partnership with HBO’s Game of Thrones on “White Walker” by Johnnie Walker and our Single Malt “Scotch Whisky Collection.” Limited time and seasonal offerings, like our Smirnoff Holiday Ornaments Pack, or CÎROC Summer Watermelon this past summer, are highly anticipated by consumers and bring excitement to our brands.

Another area of opportunity is experiences. Consumers today are looking for memorable experiences to enjoy with their friends, whether it be through a great serve in a restaurant or enabling the discovery of a new spirit at a tasting event, or celebrating at a festival. Across our portfolio, we can deliver brilliant experiences and are investing in bringing those to life in communities across North America.

How critical is it for Diageo to build a diverse and inclusive workforce in order to bring different perspectives and experiences to the table when making business decisions?

Inclusivity and diversity should be at the core of businesses, and not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because greater diversity drives better business performance. We strive to have a vibrant and diverse workforce at all levels of the business, and what that means to us is diversity of outlook, thinking style and experience. We often say that, if you only ever surround yourself with the same people, you will only ever get the same results.

From an employee perspective, inclusion allows us to better understand and serve the communities where we live and work, and it is central to our purpose. We have comprehensive trainings in areas like inclusion capability development and unconscious bias-awareness.

These are important elements to ensuring our employees recognize and value different individuals, perspectives, experiences and ways of thinking.

From a brand perspective, our brands are always finding ways big and small to celebrate diversity and inclusion everywhere, whether it’s Smirnoff celebrating acceptance and love in all its forms with their “Love Wins” message, or Johnnie Walker’s Jane Walker release, timed to celebrate Women’s History Month and the 2019 Women’s March.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

A mint julep made with Bulleit Bourbon

Are there strong opportunities for women to lead in the industry?

Ye s , t h e r e a r e g r e a t o p p o r t u n i ties for w o m e n t o l e a d i n o u r i n d u s t r y , a n d w e have taken many steps in the right direction. Globally, Diageo has a m b i t i o u s t a r g e t s f o r gender diver si ty , and North America’s contribution to this is something we are all very proud of. For example, our global board has achieved gender parity, and our executive team in North America is comprised of 50 percent

women. In addition to constantly striving for gender pay parity across our wider business, our pr ogr essive and equalizing policies, like our recently announced groundbreaking parental leave policy, are things I’m particularly proud of.

I also see more female leaders within many of our customers. It’s important as an industry that we reflect our consumer base, as this is critical to helping us deliver the right experiences, propositions, and taste profiles.

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LEADERS 35

Strong Start for Kids An Interview with Carra Cote-Ackah, President, Vanguard Group Foundation and Executive Director of Community Stewardship, Vanguard EDITORS’ NOTE Carra Cote-Ackah to social impact outcomes, they’re well leads Vanguards’ global philanaware of existing research that shows thropic and volunteer programs that that high-quality community programs strengthen communities and famican also drive employee engagement. lies. She also serves as Vice Chair We have year-round opportunities of The Surdna Foundation; Senior that make it easy for our crew to get Fellow at the Center for High Impact involved, including episodic serPhilanthropy; Executive Forum vice days, skills-based volunteering Member of Boston College Center for options, and a robust workplace giving Corporate Citizenship; and member campaign and matching gift program, of Young Presidents’ Organization among many others. Approximately (YPO). She holds a B.S., summa cum 80 percent of our employees particiCarra Cote-Ackah laude, from Vanderbilt University; pate in at least one of our programs, an M.A. from Duke University; and which is well above the corporate an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. average and a real testament to our missiondriven culture.

COMPANY BRIEF Vanguard (vanguard.com) Is it important that the areas that is one of the world’s largest investment man- Vanguard supports align with its business? agement companies. As of October 31, 2019, We act as stewards for our 30 million cliVanguard managed $5.9 trillion in global ents’ hopes and dreams through prudent and assets. The firm, headquartered in Valley Forge, aligned investment management. Using our Pennsylvania, offers 423 funds to its more than core expertise, we have developed and offer a 30 million investors worldwide. suite of free experiential financial literacy programs for classrooms and homes that will preHow do you define your role at Vanguard? pare the next generation of investors to have Within Community Stewardship, we the best chance at economic success. aim to make progress on intractable social In 2015, we took a hard look at where issues. That means we’re creative, collabora- we thought we could make the greatest diftive, and persistent across our portfolio of ference, knowing there was no shortage of programs. I lead a small, enterprise-focused deeply important topics on which we could team that designs global programs and effec- focus. In the end, the same investment phitively deploys our time, talent and resources losophy that we share with our clients helped to strengthen communities. We drive value shape our cornerstone philanthropic focus: by promoting community impact globally, investing early pays off. Now in its fourth empowering an engaged crew (what we call year, the Vanguard Strong Start for Kids our employees), and supporting Vanguard’s Program™, our signature charitable initiative, brand and reputation. gives young children living in poverty the How critical is C-Suite commitment to opportunity to grow, thrive, and learn with being successful in these efforts? a focus on improving kindergarten readiness.

Our leadership team considers Vanguard These early investments provide high-quality, a caretaker of our clients’ investments in the nurturing environments and have been shown broadest sense. We’re committed to develop- to have a meaningful and measurable impact ing products and services to serve our clients’ on lifelong outcomes, such as educational interest and give them the best chance for attainment and economic success. success, and also to investing in both the Since the Strong Start for Kids Program workplace and the communities in which our launch, Vanguard has committed more than crew live and work. Many of our leaders are $30 million in grants to agencies in Arizona, active in the community and serve on non- North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Examples of profit boards and committees. There’s also a our work include funding in-home visits dedicated group of senior leaders that over- by trained practitioners to improve parenting sees Vanguard’s global philanthropic programs and caregiver skills, expanding high-quality throughout the year. early learning programs, providing more than Our leadership team helps shape our 450,000 books to children from low-income approach to community investments. In addition families, and supporting key systems and 36 LEADERS

policies that promote improved child outcomes. This work is co-funded by crew and corporate contributions. We are investing in tomorrow by supporting the development of young children today.

How critical are metrics when doing this type of work?

Metrics are extremely important, but they are secondary to strategic clarity across our philanthropic programs. Before selecting nonprofit partners and the metrics by which our work will be evaluated, we first needed to define the issues on which we wanted to focus.

What are the specific outcomes and impacts that our charitable efforts hope to have within a community?

We selected particular strategies within early childhood that are evidence-informed or have demonstrated investment merit. We then use metrics to provide a more holistic view of the health of a family or a community, as well as in our ongoing diligence to help assess progress and drive action. Having a learning agenda helps us adjust our metrics to know what’s working and where we may need to foster more innovation.

How critical is it for Vanguard to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

Vanguard has prioritized initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s a business imperative. Research has proven that companies that value diversity of thought, experience, and background perform better.

We have a diversity and inclusion lens across so much of what we do, from onboarding and crew learning experiences to development opportunities with our Crew Resource Groups and job training programs that help ensure we are promoting the most qualified individuals.

We also have an equity and inclusion approach that influences the selection of our Strong Start for Kids projects. Kids and families in certain zip codes and of certain demographics are too often limited in their potential. We must do better to close these gaps so that children who start behind don’t stay behind.

Our global community-focused work is ever-evolving and responsive to the growing employee, client, and stakeholder demand for responsible, ethical corporate behavior. Having been at Vanguard for three years, I’m proud to contribute to our legacy of community impact and to lead within a purpose-driven company.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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Bioelectronic Medicine An Interview with Sangeeta S. Chavan, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research INSTITUTION BRIEF The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research (feinstein.northwell.edu) is the home of research at Northwell Health. Its more than 5,000 researchers and staff have made important discoveries in many medical fields, including cancer, sepsis, inflammation, autoimmune disorders, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and bioelectronic medicine. It has experts in molecular research and is driving groundbreaking efforts in cancer, clinical research and health outcomes and is the world’s scientific headquarters for bioelectronic medicine.

EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Sangeeta S. of fields including bioelectronic mediChavan is a professor at the Feinstein cine, sepsis, cancer, and autoimmune, Institutes for Medical Research and psychiatric and neurodegenerative also serves as Associate Professor of disorders. In addition to pre-clinical Molecular Medicine at the Donald research, Feinstein researchers are and Barbara Zucker School of also involved in more than 2,500 cliniMedicine at Hofstra/Northwell. cal studies. These studies result in Dr. Chavan received her Ph.D. in more than 1,300 peer-reviewed papers Immunology/Applied Biology from per year in high-profile journals, and the University of Mumbai. Her docmany patent applications. toral studies were focused on underMy research is focused on understanding the role of immune cells in standing the role of the nervous sysSangeeta S. Chavan cancer. Prior to joining the Feinstein tem in regulation of immune responses.

Institutes, Dr. Chavan completed Specifically, I am interested in mapping her postdoctoral fellowships at the University of neural circuits that control immune responses, Massachusetts Medical Center and Northwell with the hope of identifying novel molecular tarHealth, where she studied molecular and cel- gets and therapeutic strategies for the treatment lular basis of changes in the immune system in of inflammatory and metabolic diseases. response to pathophysiological challenges. Dr. How has technology impacted the way Chavan’s research is focused in the field of research is being conducted?

Bioelectronic Medicine, a new discipline that The field of biomedical science has clearly takes advantage of body’s neural network to treat evolved over the years. For example, advances diseases without the use of pharmaceuticals. She in molecular biology now allow us to underis interested in understanding the molecular and stand the changes in cells at a molecular level, functional basis of neural circuits that regulate whereas developments in microscopy let us various immune responses. Dr. Chavan leads a take a look at a single cell as well as interaction multidisciplinary team of investigators with between different cells. Scientific developments expertise in electrophysiology, molecular biology, allow us to listen to the signals transmitted in and cell biology, and carries out both clinical the nervous system, quantify these, and moduand pre-clinical studies with the focus on iden- late using different stimulation modalities. tifying novel therapeutic strategies for treatment These advances in technology has helped us of inflammatory conditions. Research carried out to study different organ systems in our body in by her group have paved the way for recent suc- silo or together. cessful clinical trials using electrical vagus nerve When I started my graduate studies, the stimulation as a therapeutic strategy for rheu- nervous system and the immune system were matoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel dis- considered to be two independent systems. ease. Dr. Chavan has published nearly 80 There was no direct evidence that the immune peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. She has system could be controlled by neural reflexes. been invited to speak at multiple national and The technological advances in the fields of neuinternational scientific meetings, and has orga- roscience and immunology has now enabled us nized and chaired scientific sessions. In addi- to study the interaction between these two tion to her research efforts, Dr. Chavan serves important physiological systems and help us to on the editorial boards of Molecular Medicine understand how these different organ systems and Bioelectronic Medicine, and as an ad-hoc interact and regulate each other at both cellular reviewer for a number of journals. and molecular levels.

How critical is it for you to be a part Will you provide an overview of the of a health system that places such a major Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research focus and commitment around research? and your main area of focus?

It is extremely important to have a supportFeinstein Institutes for Medical Research ive environment to be productive at your work is the research arm of Northwell Health, the place. Active research at the healthcare system is largest health system in New York with 70,000 important as it benefits researchers, as well as employees. Our 5,000 researchers and staff patients, by virtue of wider treatment options have made significant discoveries across a range and opportunity to be included in clinical trials.

38 LEADERS

Leadership at Northwell Health advocates this and supports research efforts both in labs and clinic. Feinstein researchers are encouraged to produce knowledge to cure disease. Due to this major focus and commitment to research, the environment at Feinstein is extremely collaborative, enabling open collaborations between clinicians and scientists, that have resulted in many clinical studies based on observations made in the lab.

You also teach at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Will you discuss your passion for teaching and mentoring next generation coming into the industry?

In addition to my research programs, I am actively involved as a mentor for both undergraduate and graduate students. We have three different graduate programs here at the Feinstein Institutes. Two of the programs are run by the Medical School; the first one is a combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree program that allows students to earn both the M.D. and the Ph.D. in areas pertinent to medicine.

The second is a Ph.D. program that offers highly qualified students an opportunity to pursue their graduate studies. The third program is funded by Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine and trains physicianscientists. These programs provide opportunities to conduct state-of-the-art research and are designed to develop outstanding scholars for careers in research. I have been involved in these programs as a mentor for many years now, and that has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my job. It has provided multiple opportunities to discuss scientific advances and challenges with these bright minds. I am excited to work with my students and expose them to different avenues of science and help them to meet their goals.

Is it hard to be patient when your research is working on issues that take a long-term focus and commitment?

It is hard because we know that it is going to take a long time to see our research benefit patients directly – but research is never about a quick answer. A successful research project requires commitment, perseverance and patience.

I am extremely patient when experiments are in progress, but as the project nears completion, I become impatient to know the results. It is very rewarding overall, but you have to be patient and committed towards your work.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Personalized Health An Interview with Karina Davidson, Ph.D., Professor, Senior Vice President of Research, and Head, Center for Personalized Health, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research EDITORS’ NOTE For more than 25 sole program of research and practice years, Dr. Davidson has served in is focused on right now. leadership roles with diverse stakeHow have you developed the holder teams focused on advancing Center for Personalized Health and scientific and educational missions how critical has it been to attract through the generation and utilizathe best talent? tion of research-based evidence. In It has taken a team to do this. addition to her roles with Feinstein We started with great statisticians.

Institutes for Medical Research, she Everything in statistics is based on traserves as Pr ofessor, Behavioral ditional statistics and averages taken Medicine, at the Donald and from other people. It really takes Barbara Zucker School of Medicine intellectual horsepower to think about Karina Davidson at Hofstra/Northwell. She previously how you’re going to base estimates served as the vice-dean for orgafrom the person you’re working with, nizational effectiveness and executive direc- not on other people. tor of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular We wanted to partner with patients and cliHealth at Columbia University and as the chief nicians to study how we were going to bring this academic officer for NewYork-Presbyterian into clinical practice. We did multiple surveys of Hospital. Dr. Davidson earned her Master of 500 patients across the nation who had chronic Applied Science degree in industrial/organiza- disease. We asked them what symptoms or contional psychology as well as her Ph.D. in clin- ditions they had for which they would be willing ical psychology from the University of Waterloo to try to find the treatment that works best for (Canada). them individually. We also did focus groups with a number of different primary care clinicians to Will you provide an overview of Feinstein understand their concerns and we worked with Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell economists to figure out the business case.

Health?

This type of research requires a longFeinstein Institutes is the home of term focus and long-term investment. How research at Northwell Health and is comprised important is it to have metrics to track of Institutes in oncology, health innova- impact and do you need to set short-term tions and outcomes, bioelectronic medicine, goals when you’re addressing these types behavioral science, and molecular medicine. of long-term issues?

Together, they form a unified force to make It is critical to have metrics and clear new discoveries to forge better health for our objectives, and funding – you can’t make patients. impactful research without those items. We What made you feel that Northwell proposed to the National Institutes of Health was the right place to pursue your research (NIH) a transformative R01, which is one of work? the NIH Director awards for transforming or One of the things that drew me to the disrupting an entire area. We set the short-term Feinstein Institutes was a passion to do some- goal in this grant of building the digital platthing disruptive and innovative in the research form for providing this kind of care and pickworld. I tried doing it when I was an intern ing three use cases, so that we could work out and had absolutely no traction, and again when the kinks and understand what worked well I was an assistant professor, as I was abso- and what didn’t, and learn from it. In the final lutely convinced it was the right thing to do for part of the grant, we’re comparing it in a trial every patient. I had the opportunity to speak to usual care, because in each case, if we roll to Northwell leadership about personalized this out, say in the area of lower back pain, or trials – which is running a trial for one single in the area of sleep management, or in the patient who has relapsing remitting symptoms, area of blood pressure management, or the conditions, diseases or behavioral problems, area of depression, we want to make sure that and finding the right treatment with the lowest we’re actually doing better than what you get dose and the best effect with the fewest side with current care. Armed with the results from effects – and Northwell was open to giving its this and other grants, we will be ready to offer patients access to my research. This is what my excellent, personalized, evidence-based care.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

How important was it for you to join an institution that has a medical school?

I think it’s critical to encourage the next generation of physicians to think about evolving patient care. Patient care should be convenient, should involve digital or virtual innovations, and should focus on a patients’ wellness, not just removing their disease.

I am impressed with the Zucker School of Medicine students I’ve interacted with.

I’m thankful to them because they are supporting our research by participating in it. We recently completed focus groups of students and will likely offer them a personalized trial focused on different stress management techniques so that they can figure out what works best for them while they’re studying. Their participation has the potential to help many people.

Did you know early on that you were attracted to the field of medicine?

It is actually a funny story. I trained as a clinical psychologist in Canada, and I was very close to where evidence-based medicine was born at McMaster University in the 1980s – I used to go there and listen to the lectures. They had personalized trials at the top of the evidence-based pyramid, but when you tried to do a personalized trial at that time, you were only really asking patients to write down their blood pressure every day, then come into the clinic and ask a nurse to take their blood pressure, and then ask the patient to write that down for the next four weeks. You were asking a pharmacist to hand compound the drugs and the placebo, and you were asking the physician to type that data into a computer, or worse, punch it onto cards, and then wait for overnight analysis to run to get an answer. Even though everybody tried really hard, multiple times, nobody could manage to figure out how to bring this into clinical care.

I believed that the epitome of evidencebased care was when you bring science and precision to the single patient, but at the time, there just was not the technology, devices, analytics or AI to make this a reality. We now have all of those things, specific and accurate sleep monitors, and actigraphs, and pain ratings obtained by text. It’s been a long journey to get here, but I think the time is right and I am excited about the future.

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LEADERS 39

Molecular Medicine An Interview with Betty Diamond, M.D., Director, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research E D I T O R S ’ N O T E D r. B e t t y How critical is it to have the supDiamond, currently the Director of port and commitment for research the Institute of Molecular Medicine work from the senior leadership of at Feinstein Institutes and Director Northwell Health? of the Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. proI think it’s critically important in grams of the Donald and Barbara many ways, especially for moral. We Zucker School of Medicine at all work better when we know that our Hofstra/Northwell, has headed the efforts are appreciated and honored. It’s rheumatology divisions at Albert also important because discretionary Einstein School of Medicine and at funding allows all of us to be nimble Columbia University Medical in pursuing new opportunities when Center. She also directed the Medical they come along. Normally, external Betty Diamond Scientist Training Pr ogram at grant support takes at least a year which Albert Einstein School of Medicine. doesn’t fall under the term “nimble.”

A former president of the American Association The ability to start working on a project of Immunology, Dr. Diamond has served on before getting external funding is tremendously the Boar d of Dir ectors of the American useful. First of all, it increases the chances that College of Rheumatology and the Scientific you’ll be successful with obtaining external Council of the National Institute of Arthritis and funding. It also means that you get to engage Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). She and initiate something when your enthusiasm is a fellow of the American Association for the is great. That’s wonderful and very important to Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a mem- me personally as well as to all of the researchber of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. ers here.

Diamond graduated with a B.A. from Harvard You have a strong commitment to University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical advancing opportunities for women in School. She performed a residency in internal science and medicine and initiated the medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Advancing Women in Science and Medicine Center and received postdoctoral training in (AWSM) at the Feinstein Institutes. Will you immunology at the Albert Einstein College of highlight this initiative?

Medicine.

This really came from an appreciation of the fact that for many decades now, the graduWill you discuss your role at Northwell ates of Ph.D. programs in biologic sciences have Health and your main areas of focus? been 50 percent women, but women’s ascent I was most recently head of the Center up the academic ladder hasn’t kept pace with f o r A u t o i m m u n e M u s c u l o s k e l e t a l a n d those numbers. There continues to be a funnelHematopoietic Diseases. My priority was build- ing out of women. ing a very strong, basic, translational and clinical There is the endless documentation of what research program. We did mechanistic studies in women are paid versus men and how long it laboratory models and with human cells and takes women to be promoted versus men. This we did clinical trials studying patients. This was is, quite frankly, frustrating and demoralizing. primarily relating to autoimmune disease, espeThe idea with AWSM was to get a group cially lupus, hematopoiesis and in spinal cord of women scientists together to help each other injury and inflammation. and advocate for each other. One of the probI am now director of the Institute of lems women have is advocating for themselves.

Molecular Medicine which has an expanded One of the things women are very good at is research portfolio. This is a larger administrative advocating for others. By making us all responrole with more oversight of allocating resources sible for each other, we speak to our strengths. and building infrastructure. The primary focus I went with this idea to Kevin Tracey (presiis always the excellence of the research and dent and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes), who making sure that we meet a very high standard immediately espoused it. We started holding of scientific productivity and integrity and that some meetings and the energy that this elicited we think about the application of our studies in people was palpable. The goal is to empower to human disease so that ultimately we trans- women and make women appreciate their own form clinical practice. competence and impact.

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It was amazing how this was just transformative in that way for women immediately.

Then Robin Ross, from our development office, learned of this effort and she took it to heart and got a number of the women involved to fundraise for women scientists. This continues to be an amazing organization here that has really changed the way the women feel about themselves and think about themselves.

It has created a community of women who are committed to the careers of the young women we mentor and to make sure that they expect only the best for themselves. There have now been so many studies that show that when people expect great things from you, you deliver more than when people expect very little of you.

This has really changed what people deliver.

You also commit your time to teaching at Hofstra/Northwell Medical School and to working with the next generation of industry leaders. Will you discuss this passion and the strength of the Medical School?

I am passionate about this. I have been involved in M.D.-Ph.D. programs and Ph.D. programs at every institution I’ve been at. When Northwell and Hofstra decided together to establish a new school of medicine, I was immediately excited by the possibility of starting an M.D.Ph.D. and Ph.D. program and lobbied very hard for it. I think it’s been a tremendous success.

The trouble with M.D.-Ph.D. programs and Ph.D. programs is they take so long that oftentimes people leave with less enthusiasm for the ecologic niche they were planning to inhabit than when they came in. That’s a terrible indictment of any educational program – that people like that area less when they leave than when they come.

Our goal was to speed up the process and to eliminate all of the kinds of work activities that decrease one’s enthusiasm for discovery science. I think we’ve been very successful.

Our Ph.D. students are generally getting out in four years instead of five to six years. Our M.D.Ph.D. students are getting out in seven years instead of eight to nine years.

I think they graduate with a tremendous enthusiasm for staying in research. There’s nothing more exciting than training the next generation of professionals in a discipline that you enjoy and think is tremendously important.

Training people to transform medical practice, to think of how to apply biologic insights to human disease and how to understand human disease, is tremendously exciting.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Improving Women’s Health An Interview with Christine Metz, Ph.D., Director, Faculty Affairs, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research EDITORS’ NOTE Christine Metz is mom and the offspring, and it is a really currently a professor at the Feinstein exciting experience because you have Institutes for Medical Research the opportunity to shape people’s entire and at the Donald and Barbara lifetimes through this type of research.

Zucker School of Medicine a t The other area of research on Hofstra/Northwell. In addition, women’s health that I co-lead, with Peter she is the Director of Research for the K. Gregersen, M.D., is called the ROSE Department of OB-GYN at North study, which stands for Research OutShore University Hospital (NSUH) and Smarts Endometriosis. We have been Long Island Jewish Medical Center focused on a women’s health problem (LIJMC). Dr. Metz graduated from known as endometriosis for the last six Cornell University with B.S. and M.S. years. Endometriosis is a condition that Christine Metz degrees and completed her Ph.D. affects six to ten percent of women of in Immunology/Pathology at New reproductive age and is most associated York University. She began her scientific career with chronic pelvic pain. About 70 percent of studying the role of macrophage migration inhibi- women that have endometriosis say they have tory factor (MIF) in numerous inflammatory condi- experienced chronic pelvic pain and approximately tions. In 2001, Dr. Metz established her laboratory 30 percent experience infertility. at the Northwell Health Research Institute (reEndometriosis occurs when endometrial tisnamed Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in sue that should be inside the uterus or the womb 2008). Recently she was recognized as one of the grows outside of the uterus. The most vexing probtop 100,000 scientists in the world (among 7 mil- lem for women with endometriosis is the delay in lion) based on her productivity and the impact of their diagnosis, which can be between seven to ten her work. years. This delay is truly unbelievable. Diagnosis requires surgery so many women put it off or don’t Will you discuss your role at Northwell Health want to do it because it’s invasive. We have set on and the focus of Feinstein Institutes for a path towards developing a non-invasive diagMedical Research? nostic to help these women.

Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research is the Another aspect of the disease is that many home for all research at Northwell Health. There women complain that the treatment is worse than are about five thousand researchers and staff here the disease itself. Therefore, we have focused quite who are the driving force and our mission is to a bit of research on trying to better understand the produce knowledge and cure disease. underlying mechanisms of this condition so that My research focus is on women’s health and we will be able to develop better therapeutics to improving the lives of women around the globe, help these women. For any women who think they and I am also focused on empowering other might have endometriosis and want to join the women and young trainees to succeed in science. study, please contact us at rose@northwell.edu or I have always been passionate about women’s 516-562-ENDO (3636). health and much of the research I do focuses on We won the 2018 Northwell Health Innovation maternal/fetal health, which is a subset in the clinic Award and received a half a million dollars to where women with high-risk pregnancies are cared develop this novel, non-invasive diagnostic. I think for by maternal/fetal medicine specialists. Our goal this really speaks to how important innovation is is studying various conditions of pregnancy such as at Northwell and doing innovative research is the pre-term births, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth most exciting of all. restriction, etc. to improve outcomes. In this area, a In regard to empowering other women and lot of progress has been made over the years and young trainees to focus on science and research, there is still a lot more progress to be made. It is I serve as a mentor to many young physicians as very exciting to do this at Northwell because I have well as budding scientists, young faculty members, the opportunity to collaborate with physicians. medical students at the Donald and Barbara Zucker I serve as director of the OB/GYN research School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, college program for the maternal/fetal medicine fellowship and high school students. I have mentored both and, in this capacity, I train the maternal/fetal medi- men and women, and it’s very exciting to be a role cine specialists in research. This research is com- model for future scientists – particularly women. plex as it involves two people or two entities, the I think the most important aspect is to provide VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

them with the ability to find their confidence and to empower them to think differently and to think carefully about disease processes and how disease affects individuals.

It’s fun to mentor young people because they bring a lot of questions and make us (the lab heads) think differently. They bring their novel experiences and their novel approaches to the bench and that’s fun. When working with women’s health, it’s particularly exciting to work with young women to get them excited about all of the things that can be done to improve women’s health on a national and a global level and having diversity in the people who are interested in science and pursuing science and medicine is a huge plus because everyone experiences things a little bit differently.

You mentioned the medical school at Northwell Health. How critical is it to have the medical school and to have the opportunity to teach the next generation of leaders?

It is super. Laura Warren, an M.D.-Ph.D. student involved in the ROSE study, will graduate this year from the program at the Zucker School of Medicine. She’s in the third class of the medical school. Laura worked on the endometriosis project and actually spearheaded quite a bit of it. She’s the first author on the manuscript that came out on our initial findings for developing the diagnostic for endometriosis.

It is wonderful to be interacting with people who have one foot in the clinic and one foot in the lab. They have a unique perspective and we have the chance to really mold them so that they do learn to think differently, gain some confidence and feel empowered to have a fulfilling career in medicine and research.

When doing this type of research, is it challenging to be patient and is it important to celebrate the incremental wins?

It is so important to celebrate the incremental wins and actually recognize the achievements even when they’re small since they contribute to the end goal. I think for every step forward that we make, people should be recognized.

It’s always a continuous road of getting closer and closer to reaching our goals – improving the health of humankind. We just keep pushing forward, recruiting women to join the study, recruiting clinicians to work with us, and continuing to write grants to get more money to pursue our goals of improving how medicine is practiced. You are right – we have to celebrate at each milestone and recognize the achievements that people have made in research.

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LEADERS 41

Creating Long-Term Value An Interview with MaryAnne Gilmartin, Chief Executive Officer, L&L MAG EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to founding L&L MAG, MaryAnne Gilmartin served as President & CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, where she oversaw a period of game-changing ground-up development and managed its multimillion square foot residential, commercial and retail portfolio. In her tenure at Forest City Ratner, she led the efforts to build Barclays Center, the state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue and MaryAnne Gilmartin the centerpiece of the $4.9 billion, 22-acre mixed-use Pacific Park Brooklyn development. Gilmartin oversaw the development of The New York Times Building, designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano; New York by Gehry, designed by awardwinning architect Frank Gehry; and the Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech, a brand new office building that is a first-of-its-kind space for tech innovation on Roosevelt Island, designed

by Weiss/Manfredi. She was appointed a member of the board of directors of the global investment banking firm Jefferies Group LLC in 2014.

Gilmartin started her career as a New York City Urban Fellow and worked at the Public Development Corporation. She is also a civic leader in New York, serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Vice Chair of New York Public Radio, member of the Executive Committee of The Real Estate Board of New York, and part of the Industry Advisory Board of the MS Real Estate Development Program at Columbia University.

Gilmartin graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Fordham University, where she also completed her Master’s Degree.

COMPANY BRIEF L&L MAG (llmag.com) is a real estate development company founded

by David Levinson, Robert Lapidus and MaryAnne Gilmartin. The company brings together purposeful, committed builders to develop beautiful projects that enhance the skyline and streetscapes of its communities while delivering value to partners and investors. It is a woman co-founded and managed company dedicated to inclusivity in the real estate industry.

Will you discuss your vision for creating L&L MAG and what made you feel the timing was right to pursue this opportunity?

42 LEADERS

During my 23 years at Forest City, I touched a lot of great opportunities and built tremendous buildings and places with Bruce Ratner (Former Chairman) and the team there, and it was a tall order for me to think about life after Forest City because it had been such a rewarding and enriching experience.

I became aware of the realities of a public company, particularly a REIT, in the modern day, post-economic downturn, and felt that there were not going to be the same value creation

The goal I had at the time that I decided to exit was to pursue something that allowed me to do what I loved best with the very best talent in the industry and create great financial results.

opportunities, projects, place making or positions that would appeal to me going forward.

It was with the recognition that I had a great run inside a public company, but that public markets were less patient than ever in regard to developmental returns and creating value, and that there was a disconnect in my view of the future because I didn’t think that I could create long-term value through ground up development at Forest City going forward.

Forest City was a great operating company.

I could run that operating business in New York and do it successfully, but I wanted to be a ground up developer first and foremost because at the core that’s who I am. The goal I had at the time that I decided to exit was to pursue something that allowed me to do what I loved best with the very best talent in the industry and create great financial results. I had been successful in assembling with Bruce some of the smartest people in the business at Forest City.

What I’m most proud of is that when I exited Forest City, it was in a very dignified way where the company was super supportive of my quest and my desire to take a team with me. I agreed to continue to work on some of the key issues that they needed to contend with in Brooklyn.

In effect, Forest City seeded my new company by contracting with me while I went out to create my next opportunity.

I wanted to build a company that can build scale and deliver great returns for investors. In creating a new company, I didn’t want to dial back my ambition or my lens; I wanted to dial it up, but I wanted to do it in the private markets. I began talking very discreetly to a small few who could provide that partnership support.

David Levinson and I go back a very long time and I proposed this idea of doing something new, creating a new platform and leveraging the great platform that he and Rob Lapidus already had at L&L. This began a year of discussions around what that would look like, and the reason I was attracted to them is that they think very big. They are super creative and are not interested in building commodity product. They’re interested in long-term value and if you look at what they’ve done in their collection of buildings around New York City, they’ve repositioned assets and they’ve been market makers in places like Flatiron, Lower Manhattan, and on the Far West Side with Terminal Warehouse.

They go to places where there is an upside VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

I wanted to build a company that can build scale and deliver great returns for investors. In creating a new company, I didn’t want to dial back my ambition or my lens; I wanted to dial it up, but I wanted to do it in the private markets.

and they create that upside for themselves and the neighboring properties and they do it like very few can.

They are more asset repositioning folks than they are ground up developers, so we decided that I would drive the ground up platform and I would own a substantial piece of the L&L MAG business and that’s what we’ve been after for the last two years.

Has the business pr ogr essed the way that you had envisioned?

Our relationships and our contacts are like two giant circles that overlap, but it turns out that I know people, places and things that are different from the people, places and things that the two of them bring to the partnership so that’s super rewarding.

We have had in some ways a giant coming out party together since we formed the organization, and that has been tremendous because a lot of the people that they do business with want to meet and know the likes of me and my team, and vice versa. Together, the impact of L&L MAG has been exponential.

We have put together in under two years a great opportunity on 28th Street across from FIT in West Chelsea a project where we’re building close to 500 units of multifamily housing, and that project is emblematic of the kinds of things that we can do and the way that we are super creative about the ground up business.

When you build multifamily in a place like Manhattan, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. The real problem is how do you find a site where you can buy the land or obtain the land rights at a number that allows you to build multifamily with a level of affordability that gets you the

tax benefits necessary to make the number work. Most land there is priced for condo development.

The way that we did that originally was that I had a relationship with the owner of the land, knew that the owner of the land would never, ever sell – it was a parking lot – and I was able to convince the owner that the transaction we had envisioned would allow them to retain long-term ownership.

They would end up with a beautiful building and we would do it in a ground lease without parting with the fee. Together, we would prosper together over 99 years.

MaryAnne Gilmartin in the Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech That is not an easy thing to pull off, so I’m proud because this first project and where a pro-development environment represents a departure from the norm and busi- exists. The great thing about being a private ness as usual. The part of the business I love is company is that we can be opportunistic. We when it’s complex and other people say, “Oh, want to be rational and strategic, and we are this is just too complicated.” This is where I see not confined to New York City. opportunity.

Will you discuss your success in buildWe are also working together on Terminal ing the team at L&L MAG and your focus on Warehouse on the Far West Side, which is a people and talent? tremendous repositioning of an old beautiful Part of my role as CEO is also being chief wood building into a modern landmark. The talent officer cultivating the great people that third project since forming the company is on will build the great buildings. In creating L&L the Long Island City waterfront right next to MAG, I didn’t want to just build great buildings. where Amazon was slated to locate. I am devel- I wanted to build a great company around great opment partners with a land owner there and people. we are going through a process of planning a I worked with the talent at Forest City for large-scale, district-wide development there. decades and knew what the team was capable Will the primary focus for L&L MAG be of and I tapped people around whom I could in the New York City market or are there build out an entire organization. It is so excitopportunities in other markets? ing and appealing for me to spend time around That’s a great question. We people whom had finished each other’s senalways prefer to make our money tences for years, the people that had skillsets, at home because exporting our drive and intention that would collectively allow energy, talent, and resources else- us to do great things. Leadership is important to where is not as efficient, so I think people and the L&L MAG team signed on to my we will always favor New York. mission and my campaign and together we are However, there are places like really excited.

Florida that are appealing because I am striving to build a company that looks there is room to grow, there is a a little more like the places we operate. This of pro-development environment course is a very simple statement but it’s actually and there’s a very favorable tax quite amazing that the people who are building environment. in this town still look a lot alike. I’ve been a little Places like Florida and other bit of an anomaly in the business in a way that cities are super-intriguing – such I wish I wasn’t, but I also believe that I have an as Philadelphia, Boston and D.C. – opportunity to attract people to L&L MAG that where people want to live and the look like and represent the city in which we MaryAnne Gilmartin in front of Barclays Center at the construction of 461 Dean Street, a residential building constructed with modular construction cost of living is still reasonable build. This is the ultimate value creator.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

LEADERS 43

The Rise of MLS An Interview with Anastasia Danias Schmidt, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Major League Soccer EDITOR’S NOTE Anastasia Danias I started at the NFL as a very junior Schmidt is is a key member of the lawyer and I was primarily focused league’s strategic and operational on litigation and intellectual property leadership. In addition to serving (IP). Over time, my reach and responas a core member of the labor barsibilities grew. My role expanded from gaining team, she oversees legal IP and litigation to focusing on matand business affairs, including corters that spanned all of the league’s porate governance, policy, litigabusiness – from media strategy and tion, expansion, player matters, business prioritization to the on the intellectual property and commerfield product. I was also able to work cial transactions. Prior to joining closely with senior league and club MLS, Danias Schmidt made hisexecutives on a wide variety of legal tory as the most senior woman ever Anastasia Danias Schmidt matters. in the National Football League’s The role at MLS was attractive (NFL) legal department, serving as SVP and because I am able to leverage my nearly 20 Deputy General Counsel and overseeing the years of experience in sports to help shape the league’s most high-profile litigation. She advised rise of one of the most exciting, competitive and on key legislative priorities, and counseled the successful leagues in the world. Having a leadCommissioner, ownership and senior manage- ership role that focuses on the league’s strategy ment on every aspect of the league’s business. and operation will allow me to dive into issues Danias Schmidt has been honored for her work in a much deeper way – all before the 2026 by being named to Sports Business Journal’s FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted by the 2012 Forty Under 40 class, recognized as the United States, Canada and Mexico, and will be 2014 Lawyer of the Year by the Hellenic Lawyers one of the most powerful sporting events in the Association of NY, included in the Legal 500’s GC history of North America.

Power List (2016-17) and receiving the Women’s Legal Award at the 2019 Women, Influence and Power ceremony. Danias Schmidt has also been featured in several publications, including Fortune, Modern Counsel, and Marie Claire. She has taught sports law as an Adjunct Professor at New York Law School and as a lecturer at Cardozo Law School and Fordham School of Law. Danias Schmidt graduated from Rutgers College and Fordham School of Law, and prior to joining the NFL she was an associate at the law firm Hughes Hubbard + Reed.

ORGANIZATION BRIEF Headquartered in New York City, MLS (mlssoccer.com) features 29 clubs throughout the United States and Canada, including future expansion teams in Austin, Miami, Nashville, St. Louis and Sacramento.

With players from more than 72 different countries, MLS is the most diverse sports league in the world and has become a league of choice for dynamic players in the prime of their careers.

The talented players, combined with a passionate, millennial-fueled supporter culture, provide an exhilarating live sports and entertainment experience for fans of all ages.

What excited you about the opportunity to join Major League Soccer?

44 LEADERS

MLS fans are different than other leagues – they are young, tech savvy, diverse and deeply engaged in the soccer community.

Will you highlight MLS’ growth and expansion?

MLS has expanded significantly more than any other major global sports league since 2005, adding 19 teams. As we approach our milestone 25th season in 2020, we will be welcoming Miami and Nashville to the league.

In 2021, Austin will join and then St. Louis and

LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium

Sacramento will be taking the pitch in 2022.

One incredible outgrowth of that expansion is the development of soccer-specific stadiums.

It’s been game-changing for the league and for our fans. MLS will have a minimum of 27 soccer stadiums in the next few years and the investment in these state-of-the-art facilities will be in excess of $3 billion.

MLS has a deeply engaged fan base.

What is it about the sport and the league that has built such a passionate and engaged fan base?

MLS fans are different than other leagues – they are young, tech savvy, diverse and deeply engaged in the soccer community. Our clubs and the league have done an incredible job of embracing that fan enthusiasm – not only seeding it, but then growing it at the local level and as part of our national initiatives as well.

Will you discuss MLS’ commitment to diversity and inclusion?

Our player population and our fan base is among the most diverse in North America.

MLS WORKS, the league’s community outreach initiative, has a platform called “Soccer for All” that is dedicated to providing an environment in which staff, players, partners and fans are treated with dignity and respect. Those values are at our core and are reflected in our front office as well. Commissioner Garber has built an inclusive corporate culture that prioritizes integrity, respect, diversity and teamwork and that has really made this a place that I love to be a part of.

MLS is among the most diverse workplaces where 40 percent of our staff are women. Our President and Chief Administrator Officer, JoAnn Neale, is a senior leader in this organization and I’m just thrilled that I can be a part of this culture and workforce.

How important is it for you to be a part of an organization that is purpose-driven and deeply engaged in the communities it serves?

It’s incredibly important. One of the many reasons that I love being in sports is how deeply we can connect with and support the communities where we live and play our games. The impact that MLS WORKS has and the ability for sports and leagues to support local communities and to support social justice causes is among one of the key reasons that I love being in this industry. We are able to support positive social change in a way that very few other industries can.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

WE MAY NOT SEE EYE-TO-EYE ON EVERYTHING BUT...

THE WORLD’S 1.1 BILLION* SMOKERS DESERVE BETTER. WOULDN’T YOU AGREE? *according to World Health Organization estimates

Science can help create a smoke-free future.

That’s why we share our research and welcome scrutiny.

Be curious, learn the facts, make up your own mind.

PMI.com/UnsmokeYourMind

A Customer-Centered Global Bank An Interview with Tong Yu, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Bank of China USA EDITORS’ NOTE Tong Yu joined Will you provide an overview the Bank of China in 1984. She of your role at Bank of China USA has been engaged in the IT field and your main areas of focus at the of banking for mor e than 30 bank? years. Since 2004, Yu has taken I have been working at Bank of various leadership positions for China (BOC) for more than 30 years, the Bank of China Group. She initially in the Head Office in Beijing, held the positions of Deputy where I became global head of IT and General Manager of S o f t w a r e COO of BOC’s Software Development D e v e l o p m e n t C e n t e r, D e p u t y Center, and more recently based in G e n e r a l M a n a g e r o f Bank of New York as Executive Vice President C h i n a N e w Yo r k B r a n c h a n d of BOC U.S.A. and General Manager Tong Yu General Manager of Bank of of BOC’s America Data Center.

C h i n a A m e r i c a D a t a C e n t e r.

During this time, I have overDuring this time, she led and implemented seen a significant technological shift not only the IT systems replacement and upgrade for at the bank, but also in the financial services the branches in the Americas, including the sector more broadly. One of my first tasks United States, Canada, Panama, Cayman, in Beijing was to spearhead the bank’s IT and Brazil. In 2008, she was promoted to agenda to integrate global IT systems and General Manager of the IT Department for centralize data management. This laid the Bank of China’s Head Office and played a groundwork for transforming BOC into a cuscritical role in successfully implementing tomer-centered global bank, with a new generaa worldwide IT systems centralization and tion of internet-enabled technologies, including transformation for Bank of China. Her con- mobile payments, cloud computing and social tributions led to her receiving the “Special media.

State Grant” by China’s State Council. In We continue to innovate and adapt to the April 2015, Yu transferred to Bank of China changing needs of our customers in an era of U.S.A. and assumed the position of Executive evolving mobile connectivity, while also meeting Vice President in charge of personal bank- the challenges that Internet finance presents ing, e-commerce business, data governance, to commercial banks. I also led a task force and information technology. She serves as to develop Bank of China’s strategic plans on Chair of the Bank’s IT Committee. She also smart banking and digitalization. Since I joined served until recently as a board adviser to BOC U.S.A, I have overseen our IT govIBM. Yu holds both a bachelor’s and a mas- er nance, small-medium enterprise (SME) ter’s degree in electrical and infor mation financing and personal banking business. In engineering. each, I have used cutting-edge technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to improve our COMPANY BRIEF As China’s most global- financial services offerings, drive business innoized and integrated bank, Bank of China vation and build an ecosystem for cross-border (boc.cn/en) has a well-established global ser- e-commerce payments and financing, as well vice network with institutions set up across as strengthen our compliance and risk managethe Chinese mainland as well as in almost ment functions.

60 countries and regions. It has established Will you talk about Bank of China’s an integrated service platform based on the presence in the U.S. market? pillars of its corporate banking, personal Bank of China is widely-known as a Global banking, financial markets and other com- Fortune 500 company, a Global Systemically mercial banking business, which covers invest- Important Bank (G-SIB) and an esteemed finanment banking, direct investment, securities, cial institution with more than a century of insurance, funds, aircraft leasing and other history. Our long-term outlook, institutional areas, thus providing its customers with a weight and global breadth provide our clients comprehensive range of financial services. with a stable and reliable financial partner. As Bank of China USA (bankofchina.com/us/en) the fourth largest bank in the world with $3.1 has branches in Manhattan, Chicago and trillion in assets and over 300,000 employees, Los Angeles. our clients know we are a partner that can be 46 LEADERS

relied on for the long haul and a safe harbor with the financial strength to meet future challenges. BOC became the first Chinese bank to establish operations in the U.S. market in 1936 and today we partner with leading U.S. companies to support their domestic and global business objectives.

BOC U.S.A. has total assets of over $50 billion, is ranked 22nd among foreign banks in the U.S. by assets, and 50th overall among banks in the U.S. We are the only foreign banking organization (FBO) that is regulated as a large bank and our New York Branch is the only Chinese RMB clearing bank in the U.S. designated by the People’s Bank of China. We are committed to being the leading RMB clearing, settlement and trading financial institution in America.

BOC U.S.A. offers a full spectrum of products and services to the local market, such as corporate banking, trade finance, global market services, U.S. dollar clearing and personal banking. As the go-to bank in the U.S. for clients doing cross-border business with China, our diversified client portfolio includes U.S.-based corporations, such as GE, VISA and CME Group (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), as well as many global Chinese companies.

Currently, BOC U.S.A. clears 15 percent of China-U.S. trade, in terms of volume, and our U.S. dollar clearing is ranked 14th. We’re the market leader in transactions between the world’s two largest economies, making us the obvious choice for doing business with China and the rest of Asia. Our global network and services empower clients to build robust partnerships and enter new markets.

Finally, we are a global bank with a local heart. Over the years, the bank has always given back to the communities in which it operates through volunteering, philanthropy and community reinvestment programs across the U.S. Our Corporate Social Responsibility engagement focuses on investing in long-term projects and initiatives that generate a positive societal or environmental impact. Over the past several years, we have contributed almost $2 billion to various communities by participating in community reinvestment efforts to reverse urban blight and by supporting local charities.

How important is it to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

I believe diversity and inclusiveness make a significant difference, especially for global institutions like Bank of China. Bank of China operates VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

The headquarters building of BOC U.S.A. in Manhattan

in almost 60 countries worldwide with over 550 branches and offices. Banks serve different markets and various client needs, therefore a bank that embraces and builds diverse teams with different genders, races, cultural backgrounds, values and work styles, knows the market better and is able to respond to clients faster.

A corporate culture that prioritizes diversity and inclusiveness attracts the best global talent. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring new perspectives, ideas, and talents that can greatly boost a firm’s competitive edge, all of which drive innovation. That’s why so many multinational tech companies, like Apple, Google, and IBM, have robust Diversity and Inclusion strategies in place. Over the past few years, BOC U.S.A. has doubled its recruiting efforts to bring in employees of different races, genders and cultural and religious backgrounds to benefit from a wider and deeper pool of perspectives and ideas.

This has allowed us to serve a broader community and tailor our professional services to each client’s business objectives domestically and across borders.

What interested you in a career in the banking industry?

Over the past century, advances in technology have accelerated to improve human society and transform our daily lives. Banks are also evolving rapidly, and we are proactive in our mission to leverage advanced technologies to create more value for our customers as we support their domestic and global business objectives.

Meanwhile, we continue to learn and innovate, translating these efforts into new products and marketable solutions. It was this evolution between technology and banking and the dynamic interaction between them that originally attracted me to the industry.

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As a veteran banking professional, I’ve noticed how the products that banks offer today have become more sophisticated and more heavily dependent upon cutting-edge technologies. Meanwhile, technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. I believe banks are well-placed to harness technology’s potential to create value for businesses and promote innovation. I have always embraced this challenge and find the work remarkably fulfilling.

Part of this passion that has grown over decades stems from witnessing how technology has transformed our daily lives, lifted billions out of poverty, and created a globalized society where people can trade and transact in a matter of seconds with only a few keystrokes.

It is our responsibility to facilitate these transactions with tailored solutions that can be executed efficiently and in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.

Apart from the technologies used in the banking sector, we are also glad to demonstrate how inclusive finance and technological advancement enable sustainable development. For instance, Call for Code, an event organized by IBM and the United Nations, recognized Bank of China recently as the Most Innovative Asian Bank. A commitment to social responsibility has always been part of our DNA. Are there strong opportunities for women to grow and lead in the Bank and in the industry?

Fortunately, we are living in an era where women are increasingly empowered. There are more and more opportunities out there for women to learn and to lead. Although statistics show that women remain underrepresented in leadership roles in government and corporations, I believe women can thrive in these positions. Women tend to be pragmatic in their

approach to solving complex issues and committed to reaching their goals. They work tirelessly to learn, grow and excel at their jobs, performing exceptionally and providing fresh ideas.

In the banking industry, there has been a significant improvement in recent years, although there is still some way to go before we reach gender parity. I am proud to say that here at Bank of China, women have the ability to excel and promote change in every part of our business. Take BOC U.S.A., for example, where there are more women managers and team leads than men in the IT department, an area which is typically male-dominated. As a woman you may have to work hard to balance your personal life and career, but if you can find this balance and you are ambitious, you’ll be better positioned for career growth and leadership roles. I always encourage my staff, male and female, to push forward, work hard and turn your dreams into reality.

What advice do you offer to young people interested in a career in banking?

Our future is digital. Innovation and social progress comes from technological advancement and with technology evolving at such an accelerated rate, young people interested in a banking career need to understand the marriage of finance and technology.

Being able to “think digitally” and creatively as systems evolve, risks intensify and client demands increase are both invaluable skills to help better understand and navigate the digitized world of banking and beyond.

Above all, continue to challenge yourself and never stop learning and refreshing your skills – they’re your best tools for adapting to this ever-changing world. Dream big, start small and act now.

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Hearing the Customer An Interview with Adaire Fox-Martin, Member of the Executive Board, SAP EDITORS’ NOTE Adaire Fox-Martin We listen to our customers. Ever is a member of the Executive since our five founders started SAP, cusBoard of SAP SE, leading Global tomers and their outcomes live at the Customer Operations (GCO) in 71 center of everything we do. Being a softcountries. She is responsible for ware company with decades of experiSAP’s business across the globe ence does not happen by accident. We with a resolute focus on the sucidentify opportunity and as part of 70 cess of over 437,000 customers and percent of the world’s transactions, we over 14,000 GCO employees worldhave a responsibility to be thoughtful and wide. Fox-Martin works closely with creative. Customers also want us to recdevelopment, support, industry goognize their individual and unique chalto-market and field execution leadlenges and experiences and we do. Our Adaire Fox-Martin ers to ensure that SAP’s customers every effort is in service to our customers’ benefit from an end-to-end, fricbuilding robust and complete solutions. tionless SAP experience. Before serving on the SAP is a purpose-driven company with Executive Board of SAP, she was President of a clear mission of “helping the world run SAP’s business in Asia Pacific Japan (APJ), better and improving people’s lives.” Will where she ran the company’s multifunctional you highlight how SAP is delivering on its sales and operations organizations. Fox-Martin mission? is a respected thought leader and a frequent We spend a great deal of time at SAP talkspeaker at seminars and conferences as well as ing about the experience and experience manbeing regularly featured and quoted in publica- agement. No matter if it is a simple transaction tions across multiple geographies as a passionate or major life event, how people feel at every advocate of social entrepreneurship and work- point in time must be considered. A great outplace inclusivity and fulfillment. She founded come can be eclipsed by a terrible experience.

SAP’s One Billion Lives Intrapreneurship Program This is certainly true for our customers, but also (1blives.com), an initiative to improve the lives of for our partners and for our team. one billion people around the world by creating We need to account for the entire interacsustainable, income-generating ventures with tion. That is at the heart of experience mansocial missions at the core of their businesses. agement. It is the proof of caring and caring She is a winner of the SAP Asia Pacific Japan matters.

(APJ) Distinguished Leader Award. In 2017 and Will you discuss your role leading 2018, she was named to Fortune magazine’s Global Customer Operations (GCO) for SAP Top 50 Most Power ful Women International and your key areas of focus? list. Fox-Martin is a graduate of Ireland’s prestigious Trinity College.

COMPANY BRIEF As the market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (sap.com) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, and desktop to mobile device, SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition.

SAP applications and services enable more than 437,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. SAP is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and NYSE.

My job gives me a truly global view and grants a rich and wide context for me personally. That context – seeing how challenges are approached in different markets and economic environments – enables me to be much more helpful and creative with my sales team and our customers.

The market and the customer will never stop changing. That fact stays perpetually front of mind. We have spent more than 45 years staying on our toes and anticipating for our customers. As the rate of change and the pace of business quickens, specific and macro awareness provides distinct advantages. Hedging and guessing are vestiges of another time. We provide the very best solutions. Since 2010, our revenue, profit, number of employees, and number of customers has more than doubled. While it took SAP 40 years to reach 20 million users, we are currently adding nearly 15 million new users every year.

What are the keys to SAP’s strength in supporting its customers around the world and having its customers benefit from an end-to-end, frictionless SAP experience?

Customers don’t come to SAP to buy tech.

They come to buy outcomes and value. If the customer engagement is not sound, if there is any complexity or any confusion, it is unacceptable. Today, SAP maintains a very diverse portfolio of solutions.

Making strategic acquisitions also means we acquired existing policies and protocols.

With any kind of sustained growth, you need

Customers don’t come to SAP to buy tech.

They come to buy outcomes and value.

SAP is consistently recognized for its industry leadership. What makes SAP so special and how do you define the SAP advantage?

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No matter if it is a simple transaction or major life event, how people feel at every point in time must be considered. A great outcome can be eclipsed by a terrible experience. This is certainly true for our customers, but also for our partners and for our team.

to be conscious of how the evolving face of the company presents to the world and, of course, to the customers.

The outcome is a major determination of value, but so is the path that leads to the outcome. For example, there can be no one moment or point of demarcation when the sales piece ends, and the services and implementation begin.

The entire experience must be one fluid motion and the “sale” is not complete until our customer derives meaningful business value.

SAP places a major focus on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. How critical is it for SAP to have diverse thoughts and experiences at the table when making business decisions?

Very. SAP is committed to diversity and inclusion as a strategic component of our ability to innovate, understand our customers, and maximize employee engagement and retention.

Diversity of experience, backgrounds and thought is the bedrock of all innovation. To that

The One Billion Lives Intrapreneurship Program gives employees the permission, time-off, funding and mentorship to create sustainable businesses that have social impact at their core.

An amazing aim with amazing engagement.

We can now listen digitally and get instantly smarter about the customers’ needs and use our worldwide reach to drive the desired outcome.

How is SAP helping customers realize greater business value through technology within their own unique environments?

First and foremost, the DNA of the entire company is gathered around customer success.

We think about that specifically in the form of two simple questions: why and how. WHY would this customer move from where they are today to SAP and HOW do I get from where I am today, from my unique starting point, to where I need to be?

The customer needs value. SAP has a unique strength to define value through the data that the customers already possess. With SAP systems and our industry expertise, we have the ability to deliver innovation in end-to-end business processes. Experience Management drives that value even further.

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end, SAP leads our industry in the practice of hiring without bias. We apply technology to eliminate bias in the hiring process.

Aside from the ethical need to include and represent all strata of our society in our organization equally, D&I is great for business. This is clear if you look at McKinsey’s reporting that companies with gender diverse management teams generate 40 percent higher operating margins.

You founded SAP’s One Billion Lives initiative. What was your vision for this effort and how has it progressed?

The One Billion Lives Intrapreneurship Program gives employees the permission, timeoff, funding and mentorship to create sustainable businesses that have social impact at their core.

An amazing aim with amazing engagement.

It started in Asia, when I was President of SAP’s business for the region. SAP’s purpose

is to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Our work with social enterprises inside and outside SAP is the physical embodiment of that purpose.

I believe that doing well while doing good will remain an option only a little longer. It is quickly becoming a requirement because customers have started to demand it.

Consumer activism is drastically shifting buying patterns. In 2018, sustainable product sales reached more than $128 billion and is expected to reach $150 billion in 2021.

Nielsen found that 90 percent of millennials are willing to pay more for eco-friendly and sustainable products.

Moreover, industry top talent demands that their employers support socially impactful endeavors and want to apply their skills to more than just the top and bottom lines of the company’s balance sheet.

In addition, investors are starting to measure it. According to BlackRock, within the next five years, all investors will measure a company’s impact on society, governance, and the environment to determine its worth. Today, investment that takes into account environmental and social issues already represents one in every four dollars invested in the U.S. and has risen to nearly $23 trillion globally.

One Billion Lives has better protected over 23 million people from natural disasters, improved the results of cancer treatments for over 60 percent of the cancer population in India and now are gearing to eliminate child labor in cobalt mines, giving these kids the right to a normal childhood while providing viable alternatives for their families to make a living.

What advice do you offer to young people beginning their careers that are interested in being a part of the industry?

Stay curious. Read. Investigate things. Invest in continuous learning. I spent the early part of my career as a teacher, but I have remained a lifelong student. It makes life, and maybe me, a little more interesting.

Don’t be afraid to make a bet on yourself.

If someone gives you a chance, take it. Chances are, from their vantage point, they see something in you that you may not see in yourself.

Whenever you feel hesitant to speak up or dive in, remember that you are not acting for your ego, but for your ideas and the impact they could have.

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LEADERS 49

Fiona Adams

Lori G. Cohen

London Office Managing Shareholder; Co-Chair, Global Corporate Practice, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Co-Chair, Global Litigation Practice; Chair, Trial Practice Group; Chair, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Group, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

FIRM BRIEF Greenberg Traurig, LLP (gtlaw.com) has approximately 2100 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100.

Fiona Adams is the managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s London office and the Co-Chair of its Global Corporate Practice. She represents corporate clients, focusing her practice on mergers and acquisitions, and other transactional matters.

Her work spans a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, financial institutions, media, and retail. Adams has broad experience working on large, complex cross-border transactions.

Adams continues to be highly recommended by both of the leading independent guides to the legal industry. According to Chambers & Partners 2019, Fiona Adams “deploys a ‘user friendly, comFiona Adams mercial and down-to-earth’ demeanor.” The Legal 500 2020 edition advises “Fiona Adams is an outstanding M&A lawyer with great customer service.”

It is well understood that to see true change in terms of tackling gender diversity issues, there is a need to have more women participating at the highest levels. Adams, co-founder of the Greenberg Traurig London office, embodies that principle.

As a corporate lawyer, a traditionally male-dominated environment, Adams has always been aware of the type of issues that women may face when pursuing a career in law. When Adams co-founded the Greenberg Traurig London office in 2009, she was clear that the office should take full advantage of its “start-up” identity to do things differently, including challenging the status quo of traditional law firm models.

This included recognizing that a workplace that embraces diversity and is inclusive creates a productive and positive environment for its employees. It strengthens the firm’s culture, contributes to the firm’s financial health, and better serves firm clients. Greenberg Traurig is a uniquely empowering and diverse firm where individuals are respected and have the opportunity to contribute, develop leadership skills, and grow their business. Adams and many others in the London office are actively involved in Greenberg Traurig’s firmwide Women’s Initiative, which reflects these principles and supports the inclusion and advancement of women in the legal profession through unique programming and resources designed to benefit the firm’s attorneys, clients, and future lawyers.

In 2019, Greenberg Traurig was recognized as having the highest percentage of female partners (shareholders) of any U.S. firm active in the U.K., and the only firm with a partnership proportion of more than 40 percent.

In her capacity as managing shareholder, Adams ensures that the London office is fully involved in Greenberg Traurig’s broader gender, diversity, and inclusion initiatives. She is leading a mental well-being and mindfulness initiative within the office. This has been a priority area for development in 2019 and ranges from soft-end initiatives such as introducing yoga classes within the office, to arranging for various lawyers and business staff (Adams included) to be trained as mental health first aiders.

As a woman in a leadership role with a high profile, she understands her potential to act as a role model. Despite a busy workload comprising management and fee earning responsibilities, Adams is visible, accessible, and engaged within the office.

Recently Adams was shortlisted for the 2019 Chambers and Partners Gender Diversity Lawyer of the Year - Europe-wide Award, recognizing her commitment to diversity.

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Recognized for her extraordinary trial record of 57 defense verdicts, Lori G. Cohen is Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Global Litigation Practice, leading a group of over 600 attorneys nationally and internationally. Cohen is chair of the Trial Practice Group, her “brain child,” which she created at Greenberg Traurig. She is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Cohen is chair of the Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Group, a nationally-renowned practice that she built upon joining Greenberg Traurig. Under Cohen’s leadership, this group has risen through the Lori G. Cohen ranks and has grown to include over 100 attorneys in more than 30 offices in the U.S. and globally; in 2018, the group was named The American Lawyer’s “Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year.”

Referred to as a “trial wizard,” Cohen is often called upon to “parachute in” at the last minute before trial, especially in challenging cases and dangerous jurisdictions. She has served as national, regional, and trial counsel for numerous medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, handling all types of litigation, including class actions, multidistrict litigation, and trials nationally. Cohen and her team routinely take complex cases to trial and win, including some of the most complex mass torts in history.

Honored in 2019 with Emory Law School’s Eléonore Raoul Trailblazer Award, Cohen uses her success as an inspiring, supportive foundation to build the careers of attorneys around her, including many women and diverse attorneys. She creates opportunities for junior attorneys, promotes dedicated team members of all backgrounds, and helps forge the next generation of legal leaders. Cohen provides attorneys at every level with meaningful trial experience on active trial teams and mentors them about the importance of developing their own brand, honing their skills, and finding their own path.

Cohen was recently named 2019 “Product Liability Attorney of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation, which also selected her as a “National Litigation Star” (2019), “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” (2018-2019), and “Top 10 Women Litigator” (2018-2019). In 2018, Cohen was recognized as “Product Liability Attorney of the Year” by LMG Life Sciences and inducted into the Life Sciences Hall of Fame. She has been selected by Law360 as a 2018 “Life Sciences MVP,” 2016 “Trial MVP,” 2015 “Trial Ace,” and 2012 “Top Female Trial Attorney.”

Cohen has been profiled twice in “Winning Litigators,” a special report recognizing the top U.S. litigators in The National Law Journal, which also named her one of “The 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America” and declared two of her defense trial victories “Top Defense Wins.” Cohen is one of two attorneys in The Legal 500 “Hall of Fame” for product liability litigation involving pharmaceutical and medical devices, and she is one of a very small group of attorneys selected nationally for inclusion in the 2010-2019 editions of Chambers USA Guide’s National Pharmaceutical Industry Products Liability Table.

Cohen’s impressive recognitions are outdone only by her passion for diversity, inclusion, mentorship, and a 360-degree, visionary commitment to client service.

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G. Michelle Ferreira

Shari L. Heyen

San Francisco Office and Silicon Valley Office Co-Managing Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Co-Chair, Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice and Houston Office Co-Managing Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

FIRM BRIEF Greenberg Traurig, LLP (gtlaw.com) has approximately 2100 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100.

Inspiring and supporting two offices of 56 attorneys and 38 business staff, Michelle Ferreira has distinguished herself as a “woman worth watching” through her leadership, professional achievements, community involvement, and commitment to diversity in the legal profession.

As Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Ferreira focuses on delivering success for her clients, giving back to the Bay Area community, and inspiring others at Greenberg Traurig and beyond to do the same.

G. Michelle Ferreira Ferreira counsels individuals, partnerships, estates and corporations in tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state and local tax agencies, including the California Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, the Employment Development Department and county assessment appeals boards.

Ferreira has 18 reported decisions in the U.S. Tax Court on issues such as unreported income, family limited partnerships, civil and criminal tax fraud, penalty assessments, statutes of limitation assertions, valuation disputes, controversies involving valuation discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability, tax shelters, hobby losses, complex real estate transactions, tax structured transactions, and unsubstantiated business expenses.

A former senior trial attorney with the Office of the Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service, Ferreira has said that she joined Greenberg Traurig in 2004 in part because of its commitment to diversity and inclusion: “I saw an opportunity to grow into a shareholder, and a leader. I am female and a Latina and I wanted a firm that was led by others who were similar.”

Throughout her Greenberg Traurig career, she has developed a reputation as a mentor and leader, including to younger female attorneys. She is involved, for instance, in the firm’s award-winning Women’s Initiative, which focuses on fostering the success of women attorneys.

Her commitment to the advancement of women and diverse attorneys reaches beyond the firm as well. She is an active Board Member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Justice & Diversity Center, and speaks and writes frequently on the topic of diversity in law.

She has been named among “The Most Influential Women in the Bay Area,” by San Francisco Business Times, and the “World’s Leading Women in Business Law” by Euromoney, and was recently selected by Profiles in Diversity Journal among its 2019 “Women Worth Watching.”

Along with her career success, she is also proud of her family life and is the mother of a 21-year-old son. Her experience as such encourages women who value both their professional and family life, demonstrating it is possible to succeed in both.

Ferreira’s view on diversity in the legal profession includes having law firms show a commitment to diversity in the workplace by expanding relationships with like-minded organizations and clients, as well as by offering flexible work-life career paths, and working with diverse attorneys to help design and advance careers. Additionally, Ferreira notes that having women and other minority attorneys in positions of leadership shows to junior, diverse lawyers the firm’s commitment to diversity for staff, lawyers, firm vendors, and clients.

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Shari L. Heyen has been practicing law with a focus on high profile, complex restructuring and financial workout matters for approximately 30 years. Heyen has developed a niche in the energy industry and has played key roles in the restructurings and resolution of post-confirmation matters for multibillion-dollar issues.

Heyen is a strong advocate of diversity and although the restructuring and bankruptcy practice is a male-dominated industry, Heyen has not let that stop her from excelling in the field. At Greenberg Traurig, Heyen is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and the firm’s Diversity & Shari L. Heyen Inclusion Initiative. She has managed attorneys in the firm’s restructuring practice for approximately 13 years. In August 2017, she was named Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Houston Office (comprising of nearly 100 employees), where she is known for her strong leadership and as a role model for Greenberg Traurig’ s collaborative culture. In August 2018, Heyen was named Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Restructuring and Bankruptcy practice – an internationally recognized practice with approximately 60 attorneys.

Since 2015, she managed the firm’s Texas corporate reorganization practice, which primarily focuses on complex restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings in the energy industry.

She has consistently demonstrated professional competency resulting in repeated engagements in high-profile complex restructuring cases, both nationally and internationally. In one example of her leadership skills, she successfully managed a team of over 55 attorneys across the U.S. in connection with a multibillion-dollar complex oil and gas restructuring for a publicly-traded company. In another, she was part of an allfemale pitch team that successfully won the engagement as committee counsel for the largest skilled nursing facility case in Texas – a first in most Texas markets.

In 2019, Heyen and her team won the Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Award for the “Chapter 11 Restructuring of the Year – Middle Markets,” as well as the “Turnaround of the Year,” and “U.S.A. Restructuring Law Firm of the Year” awards. The Turnaround Atlas awards recognize excellence within the worldwide restructuring and turnaround communities. Winning these awards equates to achieving the highest “Gold Standard of Performance” seal of endorsement in the local, regional and global markets, validating the team expertise and talents, as well as the organization’s competitive brand leadership position, according to the sponsoring Global M&A Network. Also in 2019, she received the Global M&A Award for Top USA Women Dealmakers.

Heyen is known as a thought leader in her industry. In addition to the honors she has received in her specific practice area, Heyen has been consistently named in a number of lists of top-notch attorneys as rated by their peers, including Super Lawyers (2004-2018) and The Best Lawyers in America (2010-2019).

With an eye on the future of the legal profession, Heyen is also involved in mentoring young associates and students throughout her career both inside and outside of Greenberg Traurig. Often, she is approached for advice by young associates on how to successfully navigate their legal careers. Heyen actively mentors rising stars at Greenberg Traurig.

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Continuous Improvement An Interview with Julie Dillman, Senior Vice President, Chubb Group, Global Head of Operations, Chubb EDITORS’ NOTE Julie Dillman is collaboration tools or organizing responsible for information techourselves around multi-disciplinary nology, service delivery, operational agile teams to deliver new products. effectiveness, real estate and facilities, This is really around bringing tools business continuity, purchasing and and technology to our employees to workflow management. In addition, help them operate more efficiently she is accountable for operationalizand faster. As an enterprise, Chubb is ing the company’s digitization stratechanging the way technology opergies. Dillman is a member of Chubb’s ates as we embrace these new ways Executive Committee. She has spent of working together. As the busia significant portion of her career ness experiences the effectiveness focused on the strategic application of of agile delivery and how APIs can Julie Dillman technology in core business operations allow us to seamlessly integrate our and building digital capabilities for new product features, it actually global enterprises. Prior to joining Chubb, Dillman opens minds and changes the realm of what’s was with Travelers Insurance where, as a member possible. of the management committee, she led global operOn the customer front and on the techations and the corporate-wide digital and analyt- nology front at large, Chubb is making sigics strategy. Dillman received a B.A. degree from nificant investments. With these technology the University of Wisconsin. investments, we consistently focus on improving the speed to market of our new products, COMPANY BRIEF Chubb (chubb.com) is the digitally enabling our customers and ensuring world’s largest publicly-traded P&C insur- that our processes are straight through and ance company and one of the largest com- effective. mercial insurers in the U.S. With operations We’re really disciplined in our investin 54 countries and territories, Chubb pro- ments which are very closely partnered with vides commercial and personal property and our business strategies. Investments range casualty insurance, personal accident and from digital capabilities like our API gatesupplemental health insurance, r einsur- ways, which allow that integration into other ance and life insurance to a diverse group ecosystems, to large initiatives around replatof clients. forming key legacy systems that need more flexibility to deliver products and services to Will you provide an overview of your role our customers. at Chubb?

How is technology impacting the workAs a member of the Chubb Executive force of the future?

Committee, I have accountability for all of our The automation and capabilities that global operating functions and technology. technology brings changes the nature of This ranges from our strategy around work- work that our employees are doing. We are place and real estate to where we’re going focused on making sure that our employees with our technology to how we deliver ser- have the skills necessary to succeed in this vice and the customer experience to the end transition. user.

One key way that we will work differStrategically, I am accountable for our ently is in multi-disciplinary teams with fewer automation strategies that enable our employee silos of functions and P&Ls and more crossand customer experience, as well as the strate- functional teams working together. gies that enable our operating effectiveness.

When we think about our operating enviChubb has made major investments ronment, we’re moving more from managers in information technology. How critical is of people to managers of processes, where technology to Chubb’s business? processes are owned end to end and people It begins with our employees – thinking are managed within those processes. about how and where we work. It’s about At the forefront of our strategies is change enabling our workforce to have a greater management related to how our people and ability to collaborate virtually through the our workforce will work in the future and the tools we provide them, such as web-based skills that will be needed.

52 LEADERS

How important is culture for Chubb and how do you define the Chubb culture?

Culture is what defines us. It lives in our people and is modeled and passed through a multi-generational workforce. We view ourselves as craftspeople who take pride in superior underwriting, superior service and superior execution. We have great passion and energy for continuous improvement and are disciplined risk takers.

We are truly a collaborative culture with minimal bureaucracy. Consensus and collaboration are two different things. We are not a consensus-driven culture; we are a decisive, focused, disciplined execution culture. We collaborate to ensure that the best outcome possible is delivered for the company and our shareholders.

How important was it when you joined Chubb to be a part of a company that values diversity and inclusion?

Particularly as a female executive leader, I view this as an important and fundamental requirement to being at Chubb. We hire the best and brightest and want them to feel equipped and comfortable to thrive and contribute regardless of race, gender, color, creed or sexual orientation. We’re committed to creating opportunities for all through an inclusive and equitable environment.

One of the things I find compelling about the organization is that it’s incredibly inclusive for those that come in and demonstrate value and commitment to the business objectives.

At Chubb, leadership accountability for improving advancement of women and people of color is a focus. I view my seat at the Executive Committee as demonstrating that this is a key part of our organizational charter.

We have affinity groups and mentoring through business roundtables and regional inclusion councils. One of my favorite programs at Chubb is called Chubb Start. This program is aimed at women who are early in their careers and supports the development of skills and capabilities necessary for them to sustain successful careers at Chubb.

Women leaders are especially vulnerable as they reach mid-career. This program is something I’m especially fond of and support as it provides women the opportunity to see themselves as future executives for the company.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

The Client Experience An Interview with Frances D. O’Brien, Senior Vice President, Chubb Group, Division President, North America Personal Risk Services, Chubb EDITORS’ NOTE Fran O’Brien has We innovate in a number of executive operating responsibilareas. One is the products that we ity for the personal lines property offer. Everybody thinks about their and casualty insurance busihomeowner’s insurance as covering ness that serves successful families break-ins, fires and other things that and individuals in the U.S. and can go wrong in the home. But we Canada. Prior to ACE’s acquisilook for ways to do more, so we think tion of Chubb in January 2016, about how we can help clients predict O’Brien was Senior Vice President and prevent those things from hapand Chief Risk Officer of Chubb, pening in the first place. with global responsibility and overWe wrap our products with a sight for identifying, measuring, suite of services. For example, we Frances D. O’Brien moni t o r i n g a n d m i n i m i z i n g offer our customers a home scan seroperational, financial and strategic vice where we use thermographic risks across the organization. She joined Chubb cameras to look inside the walls of their house. as an actuarial trainee in 1980 and served in a We look for hot spots which would indicate if number of positions of increasing responsibility there is an electrical problem, or for cold spots in actuarial, product development and under- which would detect water behind the walls. We writing, including Chubb Personal Insurance are able to help clients address those situations (CPI) Chief Underwriting Officer, CPI Chief prior to them becoming a very big event that Underwriting Officer for International Business, could result in large repairs that force them out and CPI Worldwide Underwriting Manager. of their house.

She holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from Villanova University.

What are the key areas of focus for Personal Risk Services?

More than 40 years ago, Chubb became the first company to specialize in personal insurance for successful families and individuals. We continue to look at our target market clients and find ways to develop innovative products and services to make sure that they’re protected from both the everyday risks of owning a home and automobile and going about their daily lives as well as the unique risks that come with achieving considerable success in their lives and professions.

How critical is innovation for Chubb and where is innovation taking place in Personal Risk Services?

We know that our clients’ experience outside of the insurance industry frames their expectation of how they want to deal with us.

Our clients are very concerned, especially these days, because they’re much more aware of the risks they may be facing from severe weather events, distracted drivers texting and using social media, and the need to protect their data and their privacy.

We have clients who are very aware of these and other risks, and they are looking for a company that can provide products and services to help them manage those risks.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

We like to say, “you’re more than a claim to us, you’re a client.”

We also think about things that occur around potential claims. We have a wildfire defense service which, in the event of an approaching wildfire, actually sends professional wildfire firefighters to our client’s house to take mitigation steps to try to protect the home from burning down.

Another service, called property manager, helps clients who have second homes in the path of a hurricane. After the hurricane passes, we go to their home and see if they’ve had any damage so that they don’t have to worry about trying to get there themselves. Typically, we’re able to deploy resources to get there in advance of the client.

Have you introduced new products and services for emerging risks?

Yes, we stay on top of new risks. For example, we’ve just introduced a new cyber product that covers things from ransomware to cyberbullying. We also recently announced a new service if your insured car is totaled. We’re the first company that will wipe your private information from the car’s navigation system so that wherever that car goes for salvage, no one can get your home address, your contacts and other things you might have programmed into the vehicle, such as gate and garage door opener codes.

We are always thinking about our clients and the exceptional service we provide to them. We like to say, “you’re more than a claim to us, you’re a client.” We work to stay ahead of evolving risks and come up with either a product or a solution to help them navigate that risk.

We are also investing heavily in digital technology so that we can communicate more efficiently with our clients. Our clients are very interested in getting text alerts from us. They’re very interested in chatting with us, not only around the general service issues such as a bill payment, but also about the things they need to do in the event of an imminent hurricane, a winter storm or other exposures that they may have.

I think about innovation based on the client experience, around service and staying ahead of the changing risk environment in which we live.

How critical is collaboration as part of the Chubb culture?

The great thing about the Chubb culture is that it not only allows employees to navigate their careers across different lines of business, but also provides an opportunity to move geographically around the world and to move between business units in order to develop your career.

Chubb is a highly collaborative organization with everybody focused on its overall success.

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Pursuing Excellence An Interview with Erika Alexander, Chief Lodging and Services Officer, The Americas, Marriott International EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to her current of these, like me, came up through the position leading operations across the ranks of the hotel business, working for a United States, Canada, the Caribbean company that has given us the opportuand Latin America for Marriott nity to be our best and to advance. What International, Erika Alexander was sets Marriott apart is our secret ingrediArea Vice President, Americas - Eastern ent – our team of hardworking, everyday Region, where she was responsible for people from every walk of life with inspi28 Marriott, JW Marriott, Marriott rational stories.

Conference Center and Renaissance I grew up in a town that didn’t even hotels that were managed by Marriott have a hotel. The very idea that 30 years and located in Georgia, Tennessee, later, I would be in the role I am, in a comLouisiana and the Carolinas. She has pany like Marriott, is pretty extraordinary.

Erika Alexander held a variety of positions in sales There is a saying at Marriott, “If you take and operations and as general mancare of the associates, they will take care ager and regional vice president for both select of the customers who will continue to return.” Our and extended stay brands and full-service hotels. core values make us who we are: putting people Alexander spent several years at Marriott corpo- first, pursuing excellence, embracing change, acting rate headquarters as a brand director for Residence with integrity and serving our world. This sort of Inn by Marriott. During that time, she helped launch humble, hardworking philosophy at the root of our TownePlace Suites by Marriott and subsequently held company is appealing to me. the position of brand vice president. Alexander and her teams have earned many awards in the areas of sales, finance and leadership excellence, including Marriott International’s Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazer Award. She was an International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellow and is a member of the 2011 class of Leadership Atlanta. Alexander is active in the community and has served on several boards including Leadership Atlanta, Atlanta Children’s Shelter, International Women’s Forum of Georgia, The Ron Clark Academy and the executive committee for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Alexander graduated with a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from George Mason University.

Marriott has one of the most diverse workforces in the United States.

COMPANY BRIEF Marriott International, Inc. (marriott.com) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 7,200 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 134 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts around the world. The company now offers one travel and loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy™.

How do you define what makes Marriott special and what have been the keys to Marriott’s success?

I believe my tenure with Marriott is an excellent example of what makes the company special. This year marks my 30th anniversary. With the size and scale of our footprint, as you walk the halls at headquarters and in the hotels, you come across so many different people from different backgrounds. Many 54 LEADERS

Will you discuss Marriott’s commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workforce?

As an African American woman working for Marriott, the first thing I think of when asked about diversity and inclusion is “winning.” Marriott has one of the most diverse workforces in the United States with 65 percent minorities and 54 percent women and we are deeply committed to each and every one of them. I cannot imagine a 30-year career with a company that didn’t follow through on a promise.

To tackle the hardest problems as a global company, you need to have the best and the brightest talent, and a group of talented leaders is not complete without associates of various backgrounds, cultures, genders and ethnicities.

The St. Regis Aspen Resort, a Marriott International property

It is also critical for young leaders to see diversity in positions of importance and authority. As examples, our Chief Financial Officer is a woman, our Chief General Counsel is a woman, and our Chief Commercial Officer is a woman.

What advice do you offer young people interested in a career in the hospitality industry?

First, I would like to share that in the hospitality business, we get to have fun. Not only do we have fun, but we get to create joyous moments and precious memories for our guests every single day. It’s extremely rewarding.

My journey into the industry began when I went to the University of Virginia for my undergraduate degree and then got a job in a Philadelphia hotel. I was supposed to go home for the holidays one year and called my mother to say, “Mom, you’re going to have to excuse me, but I can’t come home as there are people who have called off from work and I need to be here.

If you want to see me, you’re going to have to come to Philly.” Like any great mom, she jumped in her car and came. She spent the overnight shifts with me, washing linen and folding clothes.

My mother was literally aghast, not that she was doing that kind of work, but that this was what I was doing willingly as a hotel leader – having never shown similar interest at home..

What I learned over the course of the first five or ten years of my career is that the journey in any business starts with being responsible, leading a team, developing talent and proving to your leaders and to yourself that you have goals and will meet and exceed them. Developing a deep knowledge of the business from the inside out will place you in a good position for a solid career in this business.

In hospitality, people are at the heart of our business, and in real life, real people have real problems. You need to be flexible and adjust, and if you do, you will find great joy in working with people from those with M.B.A.s and Ph.D.s, to the moms and dads who are hustling in every small town and big city around the country that are doing the hard work of getting their kids on the school bus, then driving to a hotel and then running a restaurant, cleaning rooms, or taking care of the grounds. All are exceptionally important jobs.

Great leaders care as much about the people working in their business as about the business itself. Marriott operates exactly that way. It doesn’t matter whether your passion is finance, sales, or running a restaurant, there is a home in the hotel business for you.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

PUNTINo BY KIM

Style does not require an occasion.

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Making an Impact That Matters An Interview with Stacy Janiak, Managing Partner - Chief Growth Officer, Deloitte EDITORS’ NOTE For more than 25 How important are metrics in years, Stacy Janiak has worked sidethis type of role and is it challengby-side with clients in significant leading to track impact? ership roles at the executive, business, Metrics are critical and, quite simindustry, and local market level. She ply, you need them to do your job. At is currently a member of Deloitte’s the most basic level, two metrics that are U.S. Executive Committee and Global critical for me to understand are what Board of Directors. Previously, she services and solutions we are delivering served as chief client officer and was a in what combination and where, and member of the U.S. Board of Directors. how satisfied are our clients with the She also served as the Assurance and quality and experience we are deliverAccounting Advisory Services national ing. What’s challenging and critical for Stacy Janiak managing partner, managing partner success is picking the right metrics for the Chicago office, and U.S. Retail to track and creating consistency to Sector leader. Janiak was recognized in 2018 as a measure impact over time. Then, probably most Woman with Impact by the Women’s Business importantly, making sure you act on what the data Development Council. She is a graduate and trustee is telling you. of DePaul University and a board member of Boys What do you see as the impact of tech& Girls Club of Chicago, Executives’ Club of Chicago nology and the use of AI and analytics and big and New Profit. Janiak earned her B.S. in com- data on the workforce of the future? merce and accounting from DePaul University.

Technology is definitely shaping the workforce of the future. I started at Deloitte in the audit ORGANIZATION BRIEF Deloitte (deloitte.com) practice in 1992. I think I got my first computer provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax in 1993, so there were a lot of things I was doing and advisory services to many of the world’s back then that I don’t have to do anymore, and most admired brands, including nearly 90 per- that young people today will never have to do. cent of the Fortune 500®, and more than 5,000 private and middle-market companies.

It works across the industry sectors that drive and shape today’s marketplace, delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society.

A strong commitment to diversity and

How do you define the role of a Chief Growth Officer?

In the simplest terms, I like to think of my role as being the master chef of Deloitte. We have incredible assets across our Deloitte businesses, a rich set of ingredients to draw from, and my role is to work in collaboration with our leaders to put them together in creative ways to maximize impact for our clients.

If you think about the businesses we have within Deloitte – consulting, risk and financial advisory, tax, and audit and assurance – each has amazing capabilities. Those capabilities many times must come together in different ways to solve our clients’ most pressing issues and deliver the critical insights and perspectives they need to succeed and grow in a fast-moving, complex business environment.

56 LEADERS

inclusion is part of our Deloitte DNA.

Technology has been an incredible enabler – it has simply changed the nature of the work, the ability to be more productive, and the capacity to bring more value. It certainly has eliminated some jobs, but as we’re seeing, it’s underscored the need for other jobs – jobs that require human intuition, emotion and analysis.

The workforce of the future isn’t about human or machine, but human and machine.

As leaders, it’s critical we find the right balance to maximize impact, not only for our workforce, but also for our organizations and our clients, so that we continue to fuel business growth.

Will you discuss Deloitte’s commitment to diversity and inclusion?

A strong commitment to diversity and inclusion is part of our Deloitte DNA. We continue to push ourselves and our strategy has evolved over time. We are an organization of firsts. We were the first professional services organization to establish a Women’s Initiative, the first of the Big Four to elect a woman CEO, a woman chairman and a woman CEO of a consulting organization of its size. We were also the first professional services organization to establish a Diversity Initiative, and the first of the Big Four to elect a minority CEO and a minority chairman.

Inclusion is the right thing to do from an individual perspective, but it’s also a business priority.

It’s an inherent part of our culture, our leadership, and our approach to serving clients. We’ve embedded it throughout every milestone, so from the moment our people walk in the door through each development opportunity, they can deepen their knowledge and understanding of our inclusive culture and their role in advancing it. Our inclusive culture looks to empower all our people to connect, belong, and grow, and everyone has a role to play.

Many millennials coming into the workforce are looking for purpose-driven brands and companies that have a bigger focus than just the bottom line. Will you discuss the focus on purpose at Deloitte?

We have done a lot of research on highlyeffective teams across industries and the common theme among all of them was purpose. At Deloitte, our professionals across the globe understand that our purpose is to make an impact that matters.

We were very conscious in selecting those words because it’s about making an impact that matters with our clients. It’s about making an impact that matters with our people. It’s about making an impact that matters with the communities in which we live and work.

We continually push on how best to foster a culture of purpose so that our people know that we are using our knowledge, our skills, and our experiences to make a difference.

Purpose is always top-of-mind at Deloitte as we continue to define and refine what it means for us to be a social enterprise and how we do well by doing good.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

The WEMPE-CUT®

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Carlyle’s Culture An Interview with Ruulke Bagijn, Head of Investment Solutions, The Carlyle Group EDITORS’ NOTE Ruulke Bagijn is How do you describe the Carlyle also Co-Head of AlpInvest Partners’ difference?

Primary Fund Investments team and It’s multiple things. One difa member of the AlpInvest Investment ference is scale. Carlyle is one of the Committee. She is a member of the biggest players in the industry. This the Carlyle Diversity & Inclusion gives us an enormous information Council and Carlyle’s Management advantage that we use to our benefit Committee. Bagijn joined AlpInvest every day. In addition, we’re global, from AXA Investment Managers – which helps us have a good perspecReal Assets, where she was the Global tive on what is happening and such Head of Real Assets Private Equity a wide lens supports our investment and a member of its Management selection. Scale is something which is Ruulke Bagijn Board. Prior to AXA Investment incredibly important today.

Managers, she was Co-Chief Another thing that differentiates Investment Officer of Investment Management Carlyle is its leadership. The firm went through and Chief Investment Officer of Private Markets at a successful transition whereby the leadership PGGM. She previously held senior roles at ABN was transferred from the founders of the firm to AMRO. Bagijn received an M.Sc. in economics our new co-CEOs. Through this transition, cerfrom Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a CFA tain things didn’t change, which is a continued charterholder. emphasis on working as a team, building longterm relationships, and a collegial spirit which FIRM BRIEF The Carlyle Group (carlyle.com) is a all add to the Carlyle difference. global investment firm with deep industry experWill you discuss your role at Carlyle tise that deploys private capital across four busi- and main areas of focus? ness segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real I lead one of the four business segAssets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. ments of The Carlyle Group, I n v e s t m e n t With $222 billion of assets under management Solutions. Investment Solutions is for those as of October 31, 2019, Carlyle’s purpose is to clients that like to work with a partner to build invest wisely and create value on behalf of inves- their private equity and real estate exposure. We tors, portfolio companies and the communities can support clients building their entire globally in which it lives and invests. The Carlyle Group diversified exposure or complement their existemploys more than 1,775 people in 33 offices ing capabilities to build exposures to certain across six continents. regions or market segments.

There are two things that we are very much focused on today – technology and diversity, and both give us a competitive edge.

We have two companies within Investment Solutions, AlpInvest and Metropolitan.

AlpInvest helps build private equity exposure and Metropolitan helps build real estate exposure.

How is technology impacting the business?

We are working to make technology a competitive edge. There are two things that we are very much focused on today – technology and diversity, and both give us a competitive edge. In technology, the Investment Solutions business has made a Series A investment in a software company, Chronograph, that allows us to capture data straight out of the GP reporting and captures data of over 20,000 underlying companies that we have in our portfolios.

So just imagine, with one press of the button, we have immediate access to financial and operational performance data of the underlying portfolio companies, fund level data and client portfolio data. This helps our investment analysis and we can offer a more detailed portfolio view to our clients.

Will you elaborate on Carlyle’s commitment to diversity and your personal interest in this area as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Council?

I am passionate about it and this is something that is important to me. The Carlyle Diversity and Inclusion Council was created in 2013 which I think is telling because at that time not many companies had such a council. This has been a priority for the firm for a long time and we are making progress. Today, Carlyle has more than $220 billion of AUM and approximately half of that is managed by senior women at The Carlyle Group. Sandra Horbach co-heads our U.S. Buyout business, Linda Pace leads our Loan and Structured Credit business, and I lead our Investment Solutions business.

Did you know early on that private equity was an industry that you were attracted to?

I entered the industry through investment banking, through M&A, but there is a common set of things that I really like about that job and this job which is all about professionalism and setting high standards for what you deliver.

What I like about these jobs is that they offer you a global perspective and a broad sector perspective. I find my job fascinating every day.

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58 LEADERS

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Building Brands An Interview with Stormy Simon EDITORS’ NOTE Stormy Simon is Will you discuss your career path? the former President of Overstock.

I took an unnatural path since I com who coined their most famous was a teenage mom at the age of 17 slogan, “Discover the Secret of the and I was divorced by 21. I came from Big O,” which made the company a family where college was never spoa household name. As a single ken of, it was about getting out of high mom coming off welfare, she joined school and getting a job.

Overstock.com in 2001 as a temp Being a mother at an early age employee when the company’s reveand having a blue-collar upbringing nue was less than $20 million and was not easy. I think the easiest part employees numbered under 100. By of my journey was actually when I the end of her tenure as President, walked into Overstock for my job Stormy Simon the company had grown to interview. The timing for Overstock 1,600 employees and $2 billion in was just right. The world was ready revenue, while also increasing the female seats for an evolution of shopping and it was easier at the executive table by 33 percent. After step- since we were one of the first. Amazon, eBay, ping down as President of Overstock, she took and Overstock were pioneers because there all of her experience and her passion about was nobody really in the space and that gave medicinal benefits and scientific value in mar- us some leeway. ijuana and became a huge advocate for user What were the keys to your success at rights. Her core focus is developing the under- Overstock? standing of the medicinal and healing benefits Since I didn’t go to college and didn’t have through research, science and medical technol- a formal education, I doubted myself. Over ogy. Simon is currently consulting for budding time, I realized that my ideas were as good as e-commerce and cannabis companies, as well as anyone else’s and I gained confidence and, forserving on the Advisory Board for CannaKids, a tunately, many of my ideas worked. Once you parent-friendly cannabis oil company that helps can get that confidence it allows you to take cancer patients and those with a variety of dis- another step up the wrung and to try to do eases. She is a Director on the Board of leading something bigger. marijuana magazine High Times. Simon dediTiming was so crucial to my being able cates time to local non-profit boards, includ- to raise my hand in a developing industry and ing the Columbus Community Center, which being able to have ideas heard and executed provides jobs to adults with mental disabili- and followed through. I never once had it in my ties, Utah’s YWCA, the Boys & Girls Club, and mind to become president of Overstock or to be Jon Huntsman’s Gubernatorial Committee of on the board of directors. The only goal I ever Economic Development. had with Overstock was to win. As you climb the corporate ladder and you start becoming responsible for people’s jobs and their well-being, you start driving from a different place. Raising your hand to take on that level of responsibility in the first place is a pretty brave thing to do when you’re taking on the livelihood of 2,000 families. I never had it in my mind to do this but by the time it happened, I was well prepared for it and I took that responsibility seriously.

Where did your interest in the emerging cannabis industry develop?

I have been a fan of cannabis for years and have always enjoyed the plant. I saw cannabis as one of those things with a special asterisk because it’s also a medicine. I started learning about plant medicine and the suppression of the plant. Cannabis opened my mind, not by

The only goal I ever had with Overstock was to win.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

The research around cannabis has been suppressed for decades and I think the benefits of this plant are going to astound the world.

smoking it or eating it, but by participating in the industry and learning about it which resulted in a much bigger advocacy role than I would have imagined.

The research around cannabis has been suppressed for decades and I think the benefits of this plant are going to astound the world.

There’s so much we don’t know, and every time we find something out, it’s beneficial to our bodies and can be applied in a controlled manner.

What are your views on the discussion today around gender equality and creating more opportunities for women at senior levels in business and on boards?

I think there is progress being made. Over the years, there may have been certain things that were said to you as a woman by a boss who might have said something slightly sexual or inappropriate. It was part of our culture and is going to take some time to change. No woman of my age made it through any type of career anywhere without encountering this, and I would bet on that. I am not blaming anybody; I just think it is part of our evolution.

When you reflect on your career, do you take moments to appreciate what you have accomplished?

I celebrate the people and the team, but there is no time to stop and relax. I love to learn I am curious about life.

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Building the Life Science Community in New York City An Interview with Jenna Foger, Senior Vice President, Science and Technology, Alexandria Real Estate Equities/Alexandria Venture Investments EDITORS’ NOTE Jenna Foger provides exposure to the initial strategic plans for a strategic industry insights and scienstartup based on the technology platform tific expertise to support Alexandria’s developed in our lab. real estate operations, venture investWhile I didn’t know much about ments, thought leadership and business the business of biotech yet, I knew that I development initiatives. In her role, she wanted to leverage my education and acaco-manages the company’s Science & demic interests to move the needle in bioTechnology team and leads its New medical innovation and positively impact York City-focused tenant underwriting, human health. venture investment and other ecosysThis led me on a quest to gain more tem-building activities. Prior to this role, business experience and use my foundaFoger was an Associate at Windham tional science knowledge to make an Jenna Foger Venture Partners where she assisted in impact in the biotech industry. As such, my expanding the healthcare venture fund Rockefeller lab supported me in getting my with a particular focus on medical technology, diag- Master’s in Biotechnology at Columbia, shortly after nostics, and digital health investments. Before joining which I transitioned out of academia and into associWindham, Foger worked as a Senior Consultant at ate roles in healthcare consulting and venture capital.

Navigant Consulting (formerly Easton Associates), a Nearly six years ago, I met Joel Marcus New York City-based healthcare consulting firm that (Executive Chairman & Founder of Alexandria) by specializes in new product evaluation and strategic happenstance outside of a networking event that was planning for companies across the pharmaceutical, being hosted at Alexandria’s Mission Bay campus in biotechnology and medical device industries. Foger San Francisco. That one meeting fomented the trajecearned her Master’s in Biotechnology from Columbia tory of my professional life. What most compelled me University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa summa to follow-up with Joel was related to his commentary cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a on Alexandria’s focus on cultivating the life science B.A. degree in cognitive science with concentrations in ecosystem in New York City. As a born and bred neuroscience and psychology.

New Yorker who had spent my career up until that point traveling between New Jersey, Boston and San COMPANY BRIEF Alexandria Real Estate Equities Francisco to meet with clients, the opportunity to help (are.com) is an urban office REIT uniquely build something truly unique in the heart of Manhattan focused on collaborative life science, technology and was something I wanted to be a part of. Timing is agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster loca- everything and as luck would have it, Alexandria was tions. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this actively looking to fill an NYC-focused role on the niche and has since established a significant market Science & Technology team. The rest is history. presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, Will you discuss your role and key areas of San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, focus?

Maryland and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a As a senior vice president on Alexandria’s scilong-standing and proven track record of developing ence and technology team, in addition to my role in Class A properties clustered in dynamic and collabor- co-managing our extraordinary team across the counative campus environments that enhance its tenants’ try and other corporate responsibilities, my main focus ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class in New York City spans three key activities. talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity On the real estate side, I underwrite each of our and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital tenants and maintain strong touchpoints with them to to transformative life science, technology and agtech monitor and support their success at the Alexandria companies through its venture capital arm.

Center. This entails understanding the quality of their science, R&D programs, management teams, the viaWhat excited you about the opportunity to join bility of their business plans and their overall financial Alexandria and made you feel it was the right fit? health. We also bring in a diverse mix of companies, I received an undergraduate degree in cogni- some homegrown and others seeking to relocate tive neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania to NYC, each at various stages of development and focusing on the mind-brain connection and then went therapeutic areas to create a well-balanced ecosystem. on to Rockefeller University to expand my laboOn the venture side, I oversee our New Yorkratory experience and fine-tune my future academic based investment portfolio and related activities. As and career goals. While I was there, I gained unique the most active early-stage life science investor in 60 LEADERS

New York City with over a couple dozen investments locally, I spend quite a bit of time sourcing and evaluating opportunities, identifying new syndicate partners and convening the local life science venture community through efforts such as our Seed Capital Platform.

Lastly, I spend a significant amount of my time engaging with and bringing together key stakeholder groups – academics, entrepreneurs, founders, investors and others – in strategic programs and thought leadership activities to help drive the NYC life science community forward. We are critically focused on investing in people, teams and interactions that will enhance and grow this community in pursuit of biomedical innovation.

What was the vision in creating Alexandria LaunchLabs?

Alexandria LaunchLabs is the premier startup platform for early-stage life science companies that offers turnkey infrastructure, access to capital through our Seed Capital Platform and companybuilding resources, all set within a collaborative campus community.

Almost immediately upon joining Alexandria, I became deeply involved in the early strategic plans for LaunchLabs as an opportunity to support local entrepreneurs, nurture companies spinning out from NYC’s leading academic medical centers, and create a growth pipeline of promising companies that would contribute to the foundation of the local ecosystem.

As we developed the road map for LaunchLabs, the project became an entrepreneurial endeavor in its own right –not only to address a key unmet need in NYC, but ultimately to create a new proprietary startup platform for Alexandria.

With an incredible team effort, we opened our first site at the Alexandria Center for Life Science – NYC campus in June 2017 and have since expanded the platform to numerous sites across the country, with our second New York location set to open next summer in partnership with Columbia University.

How critical is it for Alexandria to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

I don’t think that I could have gotten to where I am in my career if Alexandria did not support gender diversity, promote the success of its female leaders and value family life. I have never felt anything other than strongly supported and encouraged by my colleagues across all levels of the organization.

Alexandria values and recognizes people across the board who are motivated, passionate, creative and hardworking with the opportunity to set new bars and to grow within the company.

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Applied Intelligence An Interview with Dr. Athina Kanioura, Chief Analytics Officer and Global Lead, Accenture Applied Intelligence EDITORS’ NOTE An accomplished to maximize the value of these innovator and data scientist, Dr. technologies.

Athina Kanioura was a foundAre analytics, data science ing member of Accenture’s analytand AI interrelated? ics business where she ran sales They are interrelated and they and customer analytics globally have to go together. There is no and drove the company’s offering way to succeed in driving transdevelopment ar ound customer formation without having all of r elationship management and these components. As our business personalization. As Accenture’s has scaled, we’ve seen the level Global Data Science Lead, she grew of maturity for clients has also Accenture’s data science team to increased significantly – they have Athina Kanioura more than 3,000 strong. During adopted the thinking, the organizaher 14 years at Accenture, she’s tion, the talent and the technology held a variety of roles and built up a portfolio to drive the transformation powered by anaof specialties. Kanioura holds a B.S. in mar- lytics and AI. itime economics and a B.S. in applied ecoWill you highlight Accenture’s focus nomics from the University of Piraeus (Greece), and commitment around responsible AI? and an M.A. in Economics and Finance and This is one of the key ways we help a Ph.D. in Macroeconomics and Econometrics clients address and think through the uninfrom the University of Sheffield (U.K.). tended consequences that may come from implementing AI in their organizations and COMPANY BRIEF Accenture (accenture.com) with their customers. By considering at the is a leading global professional services com- outset how these models are constructed, pany providing a broad range of services what data goes into training them, how and and solutions in strategy, consulting, digi- where they’ll be deployed, and with which tal, technology and operations. Combining audiences, we help clients take a thoughtexperience and specialized skills acr oss ful approach to AI governance that incormore than 40 industries and all business porates transparency, explanability and bias functions, underpinned by the world’s larg- mitigation which are essential components est delivery network, Accenture works at the for engendering trust. intersection of business and technology to How critical has it been to attract help clients improve their performance and the right talent for Applied Intelligence create sustainable value for their stakehold- and what backgrounds and skill sets are ers. With 492,000 people serving clients in you looking for? more than 120 countries, Accenture drives I think I am the testament that we innovation to improve the way the world are attracting different talent. I don’t think works and lives.

Accenture would have ever thought that they would have an academic running a Will you discuss the creation of Accenture’s business, and I have focused on maximizing analytics business and how the analytics the benefit we get from having people with business has evolved? both business and academic backgrounds I came to Accenture from academia. collaborating and working through client When I joined the organization, analytics was problems. predominantly used across industry, more Part of our strategy has been to crefor microeconomic problems and solving ate a network with all the leading universifinancial problems, but not much in consult- ties around the world. We have Accenture ing. It was important internally and exter- employees who spend part of their time lecnally to think through how analytics could turing in academia and continuing to work solve commercial problems, such as prob- on research that helps inform the innovalems in supply chain, front office, market- tions we bring to clients. ing, HR and finance. As our analytics practice In addition, we also fund students to advanced, it was a natural evolution to layer work on more applied problems, rather on machine learning and applied intelligence than theoretical problems. This helps ease VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

them into the consulting workforce and motivates them to understand what consulting has to offer.

We have also established research programs, not just with universities, but also with clients, so many prospective candidates can see real business applications by using the latest technology and analysis and know-how of what they have started as a business case with a client.

Accenture is known as a people business and for its deep client relationships.

With all of the focus in the industry on technology, do you worry that the personal relationship and the human side of this business may get lost?

I’m very passionate about our people.

Our clients come to us because they want to embark on a transformation program.

They want to transfor m their business model because they want to go into new markets or because they are getting disrupted by competitors. There is always an underlying issue that drives the change, and Accenture has the technology muscle to be able to tackle those concerns from a technology perspective, but also the business know-how to be able to drive the adoption and the change from within the enterprise in a way that doesn’t disrupt the core of the operations of a company. This broad perspective, skillset and ability to deliver is why clients trust us to help them on their transformation journeys.

Do you miss being in academia?

I do, which is why I keep my ties with academia. I still teach whenever I have time during the summer. I am a guest lecturer at several universities, and I do a lot of research work with many of my ex-academic colleagues.

I am a big believer that people follow people more than they follow companies, so if my team felt that I wasn’t up to date and that I didn’t give it 100 percent in this job, they wouldn’t stay at Accenture and they wouldn’t stay in Applied Intelligence. I’m also very proud when I learn through my people. This culture at Applied Intelligence of sharing and being transparent creates a continuous learning process that encourages an equal community of innovation without having to worry about the hierarchy of the business.

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A Customer-Centric Growth Strategy An Interview with Lisa Marchese, Chief Operating Officer, Witkoff EDITORS’ NOTE Lisa Marchese My title is COO, but my role sits joined Witkoff as Chief Operating adjacent to the skills usually teed up Officer in December 2017. Prior by a COO. Almost all of my focus is to her appointment at Witkoff, she on the development and execution served as Chief Marketing Officer of Witkoff’s customer-centric growth at The Venetian and The Palazzo, strategy. I am actively involved in directing the marketing and sales building the Witkoff brand, enhancing strategies for both resorts as well the performance of individual assets, as the Sands Expo Center. Earlier, and driving business-line expanMar chese held the position of sion, with an especially acute focus on Chief Marketing Officer for The Drew Las Vegas.

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas after How do you define the Witkoff Lisa Marchese having served as Vice President difference and what makes the Brand Management and Growth firm so special? for Caesars Entertainment. She also served as The team and the caliber of the projects an Associate Partner at Prophet and led the and thinking at Witkoff really make the difinteractive team at Siegel+Gale. Marchese ference. I have never met a more tenured, attended Roanoke College, where she received committed team in every area of business a B.A. with honors in international relations from finance to design. Netflix used to with a minor in economics. say that its culture will not “tolerate brilliant jerks.” I think that concept translates FIRM BRIEF Witkoff (witkoff.com) is a ver- to Witkoff – smart people doing smart work tically-integrated real estate development with a sense of commitment and good will. and operating company with in-house teams On the project front, the opportunity to focused on acquisitions, development, design, work on a project with the scale and scope construction, financing, sales and market- of Drew Las Vegas is a once-in-a-lifetime ing, and asset and property management. As chance. We ar e building a brand fr om of 2019, Witkoff owns a portfolio of almost scratch, challenging industry mores, and 50 properties across the United States and creating one of the first new resort products internationally. in Las Vegas in over 10 years.

Will you provide an overview of the You have been a leader in the hospital- Witkoff portfolio and current developments? ity industry working with a number of The Residences at the West Hollywood leading hotel brands. What excited you EDITION is the first major piece of architecabout the opportunity to join Witkof f ture you see when coming from Beverly and made you feel that it was the right Hills to West Hollywood – you can think of fit? it as a gateway to Sunset Boulevard. While Witkoff presented a unique mix of seem- the high-rise form of the building and luxury ingly contradictory but, in reality, comple- condominium amenities may be new to Los mentary attributes on a number of fronts. The Angeles, the experience of the EDITION and organization has a 30-year track record yet The Residences – the look, the feel, and the is taking a fresh and inspiring look at cus- ways people interact in the spaces – will be tomer centricity, insights, data, and process. quintessentially Californian.

It has massive projects but an attuned sense The Park Santa Monica is a new neighof the importance of every detail in design borhood concept we’re creating in the heart and development. The team is high on pro- of Downtown Santa Monica. It will combine ductivity and accomplishment, yet low on the best of Southern California beach culego. Finally, Witkoff embraces the concept of ture – sun, sand, and relaxation – with refined brand and its ability to curate a compelling and sophisticated living. experience in any vertical, deliver a meanDrew Las Vegas will be a new resort and ingful price premium, and create competitive casino on the northern end of the Strip. With advantage. the Drew, we’re seeking to usher in the next Will you provide an overview of your generation of the Las Vegas resort experience. role at Witkoff and your key areas of focus?

The resort will weave together indoor and 62 LEADERS

Drew Las Vegas

outdoor experiences to create an authentic sense of its place in the Mojave Desert. At the same time, it’ll reach beyond the desert, drawing on worldwide cultural influences to create unique, inspiring experiences. The Drew will offer three separate hotel experiences – The Reserve by Drew, Marriott International’s EDITION, and JW Marriott – and will also comprise over 550,000 square feet of convention space.

Will you highlight Witkof f’s customer-centric culture?

We spend a great deal of time internally focused on creating a new typology for building places and businesses. We believe the ever-changing landscape of customer expectations and culture presents endless possibilities. By focusing on end-users, we see ways to reinvent how and where people connect.

We evaluate opportunities individually and deeply value the partners who help us pursue them.

Do you feel that there are strong opportunities for women to grow and lead in the real estate industry?

Absolutely, it’s an interesting vertical and really not that different from hospitality. There are many women who have been very successful. If we can take that success and push, pull, debate, reinvent, and challenge, there are only more and better things to come. Fresh thinking, cognitive diversity, and a degree of entrepreneurialism are all invaluable in the real estate space, and honestly, the appetite and need are real.

What advice do you offer young people interested in building a career in real estate?

Real estate is fascinating. It combines so many different areas of expertise – it’s dynamic, volatile, exciting. I would suggest someone pick their area of expertise, whether it be construction or design or marketing, and use that as the lever to open the door, then build additional expertise in other areas along the way. Speaking for myself, I will be a lifelong learner and I value a role that is imbued with both ambiguity and opportunity which, in my experience, is easily found in this field.

My advice is to get comfortable with being over your skis, challenge the status quo, and imagine how things can be done better and differently with that end-customer in mind.

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THE BEST ADULT AND PEDIATRIC HEART TRANSPLANT SURVIVAL RATES IN NEW YORK. AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE NATION. Our heart failure program is among the nation’s largest, with one of the longest running heart transplant programs in the country. When we developed the first transvenous cardiac pacemaker in the world and performed the first coronary bypass operation, it was only the beginning. Our dedication to the advancement of heart care has never stopped, and never will.

Discover how we’re doing more at doingmoremontefiore.org/heart

Helping People on Their Path to Better Health An Interview with Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy, CVS Health and President, CVS Health Foundation EDITORS’ NOTE Eileen Howard Will you discuss your area of focus Boone also serves as an officer of at CVS Health? the Aetna Foundation, CVS Health I am responsible for the strategic Employee Relief Fund and CVS positioning of the company’s social Health Charity Classic. Previously, responsibility platform, as well as how she served as Senior Vice President it interacts within the business. People of Corporate Communications and often ask what CSR really does from Community Relations for CVS an impact perspective. Its real focus Health, leading an enterprise team is on trying to understand the stakeresponsible for media relations, holders that are important to the busiinter nal communications, corness and finding authentic ways to porate events and community advance our purpose.

Eileen Howard Boone engagement. Active in the commuOur purpose is very critical to nity, Howard Boone serves on sevwhat we are, who we are and what eral nonprofit boards of directors, including the we do, as well as to how we make decisions.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the NACDS Our purpose of helping people on their path to Foundation. Through her work and expertise, she better health has been the guiding principle for has earned many professional service accolades, our responsibility platform. including the CECP’s Charles H. Moore Award, which recognizes perseverance in pursuing societal advancement, and the National Child Labor Committee’s Lewis Hine Award for service to children and youth. Howard Boone is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and earned her M.B.A. from Fordham University.

Our purpose of

COMPANY BRIEF CVS Health (cvshealth.com) is a premier health innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Whether in one of its pharmacies or through its health services and plans, CVS Health is pioneering a new approach to total health by making quality care more affordable, accessible, simple and seamless. CVS Health is community-based and locally focused, engaging consumers with the care they need when and where they need it. The company has approximately 9,900 retail locations, approximately 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 102 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year and expanding specialty pharmacy services.

CVS Health also serves an estimated 38 million people through traditional, voluntary and consumerdirected health insurance products and related services, including rapidly expanding Medicare Advantage offerings and a leading standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.

CVS Health Foundation is a private foundation created by CVS Health that sits at the center of CVS Health’s corporate philanthropy program. Funds from the CVS Health Foundation provide support for its nonprofit partners, pharmacy schools and the company’s colleagues.

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helping people on

their path to better health has been the guiding principle for our responsibility platform.

We have three key focus areas as part of our CSR Strategy. The first is on Building Healthier Communities. This is really designed to incorporate all the things that we do from a healthcare perspective. We incorporate a lot of what we do in philanthropic giving. This really defines who we are as a company.

The second is leading and inspiring growth which relates to all the key things that a large company like ours should be thinking about and standing for.

The third is protecting our planet. Thinking about the impact of our environment in our physical operations and in our products and our services is a critical element to my work.

There’s not a leader in the company that I don’t interact with on a regular basis to proactively understand who we are, what we’re all about and how we connect our work to our purpose.

With the size and scale of CVS Health, how critical are internal communications in order to build employee engagement for these efforts?

Internal communications is critical to being effective in this role, and also to be effective in the communities in which we live and work.

One reason is that we want to instill pride and we do this as a company by showing our colleagues what we’re doing in their local communities. We have over 300,000 colleagues across the country so harnessing their passion and showing them the collective impact we can have when we come together is a tremendous employee engagement opportunity.

Another reason is that it helps engage our employees in what we stand for as a company.

Public engagement and volunteerism is very important and we have to make sure our colleagues across the country know this and feel a part of our efforts.

How critical is it for you in this role to have engagement and passion from the C-Suite and management team at CVS Health?

I consider myself a very lucky CSR practitioner at CVS Health because I have a highlyengaged executive team. Our leadership team has a high level of commitment to advancing our work both in the area of being socially responsible and in supporting the communities we serve.

How critical is it to be a purpose-driven company in order to attract and retain top talent?

My team works very closely with the talent acquisition team because we know that CSR is one of the biggest talent recruitment and retention drivers. We don’t lack for young people wanting to work at our company because of the courageous decisions that we’ve made, whether it’s in regards to eliminating tobacco products or the chemicals of consumer concern in our beauty and personal care products. We’ve made some very important purpose-driven decisions and I suspect that is why talented people want to work in an organization like CVS Health.

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The Power of Parity An Interview with Kweilin Ellingrud, Senior Partner, Leader of the Life Insurance Practice in North America, McKinsey & Company EDITORS’ NOTE Kweilin Ellingrud It is quite seamless and one of has broad experience designing the things that clients benefit from is and implementing global perforour cross-functional teams and that we mance transformations by redepull in as many experts as we need to signing operating models and solve the problem in the right way for increasing operational efficiency the client. and effectiveness. She improves cusYou are committed to issues tomer journeys by applying digiaround gender and creating gental, analytics, and process-redesign der parity. Have you been happy principles. In addition to her client with the progress being made in work, Ellingrud is a member of the this regard?

McKinsey Global Institute Council, No. We are making progress, but Kweilin Ellingrud which provides expert input for far too slowly. We need to rapidly MGI’s research on global economic, accelerate if we are to achieve parity business, and technology trends. She also insti- any time in my three daughters’ lifetimes. We gated and co-led McKinsey’s Power of Parity have been accelerating our pace of progress work on gender equality and improving the lives internally at McKinsey. We have made huge of women around the world. Ellingrud serves on strides on the recruiting side in our efforts to the board of directors for the Greater Twin Cities achieve 50-50 gender parity at intake, and then United Way and the YWCA of Minneapolis. She moving to retention and promotions with more has been named as one of Minnesota’s top ten and more women at the manager level, to junior corporate women by the magazine Twin Cities partner, to partner, to senior partner.

Business and as a 2015 Woman in Business by The progress has been really exciting and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. there are many initiatives internally that we’ve Ellingrud holds a B.A. in economics and political been driving under the broader umbrella of science and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. All In, which is focused on gender diversity as well as racial, sexual orientation, and broader FIRM BRIEF McKinsey & Company (mckinsey.com) diversity. is a global management consulting firm comWill you discuss the Power of Parity mitted to helping institutions in the private, initiative at McKinsey and has this effort public and social sectors achieve lasting suc- evolved the way you had hoped? cess. With consultants in more than 133 cities It has actually surpassed my expectations. in 66 countries across industries and functions, Power of Parity started as an idea about six years it brings vast expertise to clients anywhere in ago. I was at my kitchen table watching a video the world. McKinsey works closely with teams at of Emma Watson address the UN on the topic all levels of an organization to shape winning of HeForShe, which was the global campaign to strategies, mobilize for change, build capabili- involve men and boys in gender equality, and ties and drive successful execution.

I was really inspired and decided I wanted to help UN Women with their strategy. I placed a Will you provide an overview of McKinsey’s few calls and literally within a couple of days I life insurance practice and how the practice was in New York facilitating the growth strategy is integrated within McKinsey’s other prac- for HeForShe. tice areas?

About a year or so into it, I felt like we had The life insurance practice at McKinsey made a lot of great allies that cared about genis part of the overall insurance practice, along der equality, but that we had not yet made the with our property and casualty insurance prac- economic case for why men – male politicians, tice (for home and auto insurance). Life insur- male CEOs – should care about equality, not ance is also deeply integrated with our wealth because it’s the right thing to do, but because it and asset management practice, as many of the is also the smart thing to do economically. same companies have retirement and insurance I asked McKinsey’s managing direcbusinesses. More broadly, all of our industry tor at the time, Dominic Barton, to invest a practices are deeply integrated with our func- McKinsey team to look at the data and the size tions, so that would be operations, digital, ana- of the economic opportunity of gender equallytics, strategy, etc. ity around the world, country by country, and VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

to link that to societal gaps. We found an economic opportunity of $12 trillion if women were to participate more equally to men in the workplace. We also found that this $12 trillion is deeply linked to making progress in societal equality.

That was the work that we did in the original global Power of Parity about five years ago. At that time, we released it at UN General Assembly Week, and from there we have done country deep dives. We did a country deep dive in the United States, U.K., Canada, India, as well as a broad scan across Asia, and are now focused on Africa.

In the U.S. deep dive, for example, we go state-by-state and city-by-city for the top 50 cities and say, “Here is how much economic opportunity the state of New York has. Here is how much economic opportunity the city of New York has.” This way we can say to a senator or a member of congress or a mayor: “Here’s what’s at stake, and by the way, here is the breakdown of how many women have attained a high school degree, a college degree, and a postgraduate degree who are not currently in the workplace who would actually want those jobs.” Given the historically low rate of unemployment, we need to be using all sources of talent to grow faster.

You have a strong passion and focus around women in STEM. What needs be done to drive more interest and involvement from women in STEM? This is such a crucial topic because STEM is shaping the future of work and the future of our society. Today, only about 20 percent of computer science majors are women. It used to be about 40 percent, so we have had negative progress in computer science. In other sciences such as biology, chemistry and pre-med, for example, we have actually made quite a bit of positive progress.

My hope is that we start to accelerate and attract more women into computer science, and what we find attracts women is when you talk about the ability to change the world for the better at scale. When women interpret computer science as, “Oh, that’s what gamers do,” or “That’s what boys in hoodies in garages do at a startup,” they are less attracted to the field.

However, when they think about the potential to impact the world at scale and to create solutions that make life better, they are quite excited about the field.

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Innovation in Tax An Interview with Marna Ricker, Americas Vice Chair – Tax, EY EDITORS’ NOTE An EY veteran of different jobs during my time at EY. more than 25 years, Marna Ricker The dynamic landscape inside the oversees overall tax strategy, offerorganization has kept me engaged and ings and all client services for the invigorated which has made for a very 17,000-person EY Americas Tax fulfilling career. practice. Prior to her current role, Will you highlight EY’s focus Ricker held various client serving on innovation within the tax and leadership roles in the organipractice? zation, including most recently We have at least three areas of as the EY US Central Tax Leader. innovation to highlight. We have Ricker’s experience includes assistdeveloped the America’s Innovation ing multinational companies in Council. This is a forum for tax proMarna Ricker global business transfor mation fessionals to bring forward ideas from efforts as well as tax compliance the field and scale them throughout and reporting. She remains active in client ser- the process. vice alongside her fellow partners in the market.

We also have what’s called the Foundry.

Ricker has a keen interest in driving the future The EY Foundry is a group of technology entreof tax through innovation and the exploration preneurs that we brought into the firm. They’re and application of technology. She earned a J.D. out there looking at ways to disrupt our trafrom the University of Cincinnati College of Law ditional businesses and finding new or related and a B.S. from The Ohio State University.

FIRM BRIEF The global EY organization (ey.com) is a leader in assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory services. In the Americas – EY’s largest area – member firms employ more than 75,000 people across 32 countries and generate $16.7 billion in revenues. Globally, EY member firms employ more than 280,000 people and generate $36.4 billion in revenue.

Will you discuss your current role and what has made EY a place where you have wanted to spend your career?

I lead the Americas Tax practice with 17,000 exceptional tax professionals serving clients in the U.S., Central and South America, Canada and Israel. Our firm’s ambition is to create long-term value for our people and our clients as the world’s most trusted, distinctive professional services organization. My job is to engage and inspire all 17,000 professionals to deliver first-class client service and create digitally-enabled solutions that address our clients’ most complex business challenges.

When it comes to my 25-year tenure with EY, I never could have imagined the possibilities that I’ve experienced at the firm. I initially chose EY because of the warmth of the people with whom I interviewed and its breadth and scale. I believed EY would give me the opportunity to learn and grow and that is exactly what happened. I have had the opportunity to serve so many clients globally and to do many 66 LEADERS

We were early to focus on purpose at EY asking ourselves and others, “What is a better working world and how does that translate in the lives of our EY family, our clients, our stakeholders and the market?” Our people believe in this mission and work every day to achieve this goal.

ways to transform them into digital businesses.

For instance, one business we are proud of is EY TaxChat, our on-demand mobile tax preparation service that connects individual filers with EY tax professionals.

Third, the EY Advanced Technology Lab is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The lab is focused on solving complex tax issues through the application of advanced technologies (i.e., advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain) in collaboration with MIT and our clients. Innovation is in everything we do and we’re constantly disrupting ourselves and our services to be better and to be in a continuous improvement mindset.

EY has a major commitment to diversity and inclusion. Will you discuss this focus at the firm?

This is a deep part of our culture and is a non-negotiable at EY. We have a long history around diversity and inclusion. We are also very focused on creating an even stronger culture of belonging. It’s a for all concept. It’s one that harnesses our unique differences and allows you and I to bring those differences to work every day and to be valued for exactly who we are. That is the culture that we are focused on always strengthening and protecting. Those differences allow us to bring unique perspectives and better outcomes to our work.

EY is a purpose-driven firm with a stated mission of Building a Better Working World. What does this mean for the firm and how is it ingrained in EY’s culture?

We were early to focus on purpose at EY asking ourselves and others, “What is a better working world and how does that translate in the lives of our EY family, our clients, our stakeholders and the market?” Our people believe in this mission and work every day to achieve this goal.

We have been encouraging and guiding our people in finding their own purpose and how they express that to inspire their teams and realize their higher calling and ambitions on a personal and professional level. I am a tax accountant at heart. I like the numbers. When I was considering what I wanted to do in college and then later in law school, I was attracted to tax because at its origin are societal benefits.

Tax has a prominent place in our country, states, and communities to do good. It is a privilege to serve corporations and individuals in that responsibility.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Putting the Patient in the Center An Interview with Judy Yee, M.D., FACR, University Chair of Radiology, Montefiore Health System and Professor of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Judy Yee Will you highlight your role and your attended the Bronx High School of key areas of focus at Montefiore?

Science and then Barnard College.

I have been chair of radiology at She received her medical degree Montefiore for two years, and I arrived from Albert Einstein College of with a vision of innovation in multiple Medicine and interned at Mount areas. This correlates with the key valSinai Medical Center. Dr. Yee then ues of Montefiore Health System. In r etur ned to Einstein and comthe area of patient clinical experience pleted her residency in Radiology. and clinical care, we have developed a She completed an abdominal imagpatient-centered radiology department ing fellowship at the University of where we have examined all aspects California, San Francisco (UCSF) of the patient experience from making Judy Yee Medical Center and was recruited an appointment for an imaging test, to to stay on as faculty. During her making sure we are using the best test tenure at UCSF, Dr. Yee became Professor of for a particular clinical issue, to making sure the Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and Vice images are being read correctly and in a timely Chair of Radiology. She also served as the Chief manner. Finally, we are making sure there is of Radiology at the San Francisco VA Medical appropriate follow-up care.

Center. Dr. Yee is the editor and primary author of Virtual Colonoscopy, which is a leading textbook on the topic. She holds a patent on Enhanced Virtual Colonoscopy. She served on the Board of the Society of Abdominal Radiology (SAR) and was the President of SAR from 2015-2016.

She currently serves as Chair of the American College of Radiology Colon Cancer Committee and Chair of the RSNA Gastrointestinal Refresher Course Program and is Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the New York State Radiological Society. Dr. Yee is a well-respected educator, having taught and mentored numerous trainees in abdominal imaging. Dr. Yee was awarded Honorary Fellow of the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology in 2019, the sole recipient from the United States to receive this honor.

INSTITUTION BRIEF Montefiore Medicine (montefiore.org) is the umbrella organization overseeing both Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Montefiore Health System includes 10 hospitals including White Plains Hospital and Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, employs 45,000 people, and cares for 3.5 million people throughout four New York counties: The Bronx, Westchester, Rockland and Orange. In addition, Montefiore recently ranked among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationally and regionally by U.S. News & World Report. For more than 100 years, Montefiore has been nationally recognized for innovating new treatments, procedures and approaches to patient care, producing stellar outcomes and raising the bar for health systems around the country and around the world.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Overview of segments of the colon using CT Colonography (Virtual Colonoscopy)

We strive to put the patient at the center of what we do so they have the best possible experience. We work with a director of patient experience who coaches our front-line staff – the clerk, the technologists, the nurses – on the best way to interact with patients. We conduct empathy training because we are aware that our patients are often vulnerable and scared. They are here

because there is typically a clinical issue and they may not be feeling well, so we need to make sure our staff are as supportive as possible. On the research side, I am an abdominal radiologist and my area of expertise is imaging and screening for colorectal cancer using a novel test that I helped to develop called CT colonography or virtual colonoscopy. We just opened a brand-new 3D imaging lab which will house not only the ability to perform 3D imaging and 3D printing, but virtual reality imaging and simulation training. The lab combines state of the art technology for clinical care and research, and will also be a great teaching tool for our medical students, residents and fellows.

We are also looking at how we can expand some of our cancer screening programs and how we can use the data we accumulate from our unique patient population in the Bronx to see how it may be similar or different from other patient cohorts.

Quality and safety are areas we are heavily focused on. For example, we are working hard on ways to reduce the amount of time it takes for a patient who walks into our Emergency Department to get neuro-interventional radiology treatment.

We’re also looking at ways we can reduce pediatric MRI sedation time and wait times as well.

Finally, faculty development and growth is one of my priorities. I am focused on making sure our faculty members go through the academic system with appropriate professional guidance and development. They need the tools to be able to go out on the national and international stage to promote the great work they’re doing at Montefiore and Einstein.

Montefiore is an institution that serves a diverse population. How important is it that this diversity is mirrored in Montefiore’s workforce?

It is extremely important. I went to the Bronx High School of Science. I was a medical student at Einstein and a resident at Einstein, so I have deep roots in the Bronx and the Montefiore and Einstein system. I came back because I wanted to work with a staff that mirrors our patient population. As a result, our patients can relate to our staff. I am inspired by the amazing staff we have and I learn from them every single day as they learn from each other and they learn from me and they learn from our patients. I think it’s a perfect mixture of talent that in the long run improves everyone’s health and well-being.

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LEADERS 67

Diverse and Dynamic Teams An Interview with Jennifer Hayes, Partner, Bain & Company EDITORS’ NOTE Jennifer Hayes How do you focus your efforts is a partner based in Bain & at Bain?

Company’s Atlanta office. She is I focus my efforts at Bain today an expert in the firm’s Retail and in three areas. My main focus is as Strategy practices. Since joining a retail partner. I work with differBain, she has been involved in ent retail clients on a broad range of growth and transformational stratissues. Retail is clearly an excitegy work across a variety of indusing industry to be in right now with try segments including retail, auto, lots of change, and it’s a passion for consumer products and hospitalme. Another passion for me is servity. She has extensive experience ing as chair of our Global Women’s in large-scale, multi-year retail Leadership Council, which focuses on Jennifer Hayes transfor mations, with a focus all of our programs around the world on omnichannel retailing, catethat ensure we set up our women to gory strategy, customer journey redesign, store thrive. This includes making sure that we have operations, digital transformation, sustainabil- the right voice in the marketplace and that ity and innovation. Hayes was recognized by we’re doing research to create the right platConsulting Magazine as one of its 2017 Women form for change for our clients as well as within Leaders in Consulting for her client service Bain. I also serve on our Global Compensation capabilities. She currently serves as the Chair and Promotion Committee. of Bain’s Global Women’s Leadership Council and is an acting member on Bain’s Global Compensation and Promotion Committee.

Prior to joining Bain in 2001, she was an associate at the First Reserve Corporation, a private equity fund. Hayes is a graduate of Wellesley College, where she earned a B.A. in Economics and English. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business, where she received the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence and was a member of the Raven Society.

The Global Women’s Leadership Council

FIRM BRIEF Founded in 1973, Bain & Company (bain.com) is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious changemakers define the future. Across 58 offices in 37 countries, it works alongside clients as one team with a shared ambition – to achieve extraordinary results that outperform their competition and redefine industries. It complements tailored, integrated expertise with a curated ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster and more enduring outcomes to clients.

aims to ensure women

How do you define the Bain difference?

I think it has to do with our culture and mission, which is about having diverse and dynamic teams that bring a unique perspective to clients. We have a unique collaborative approach, which speaks for itself when you look at the fact that we have in the neighborhood of 85 percent repeat clients.

Will you highlight the Global Women’s Leadership Council?

The Global Women’s Leadership Council aims to ensure women are thriving at Bain.

We have been at this for a decade because, at our core, we are a human capital business and attracting and retaining women is critical to the success of our business model. We realized

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are thriving at Bain.

about five years ago that women were oftentimes talking to other women about their most important professional and personal challenges.

As much as that was helpful and empowering, it excluded men from the conversation, including those in leadership positions. We knew that to set a best practice for our industry, we needed the men at Bain to be deeply involved in our gender parity efforts and to be a part of the ongoing dialogue about these issues.

How is technology impacting the way Bain delivers its services and how will it impact the workforce of the future?

Technology has had a big impact on how we operate and the speed with which we drive solutions for our clients. Everything has a digital component in it. One of the biggest changes is the ability for data to solve problems. It changes the speed with which you can answer questions. It changes client willingness to try things faster.

Technology is impacting the workforce for the future and the types of jobs that are going to be in demand are changing. For almost every retail client we work with, one of the biggest resource challenges today is recruiting and retaining product designers and engineers.

These fields will continue to become more important as we are harnessing data and using AI and machine learning which creates the need to bring all these new disciplines into companies, including Bain.

How critical is corporate responsibility at Bain and will you highlight Bain’s commitment to pro bono work?

We have a commitment to invest a billion dollars in pro bono consulting by 2025. We’re about a quarter of the way there, and we focus on working with innovative organizations that address some of the world’s most pressing issues. Our focus areas are education, economic development and the environment. Every office at Bain is involved in pro bono work. For our staff, being able to work on a pro bono case provides a nice change of pace and offers the opportunity to make a difference while working on different issues.

In addition, we have been certified a hundred percent carbon neutral for a very long time. We have robust green programs within all of our offices to make sure that we’re doing our part to support the environment, focusing on both sustainability and environmental responsibility.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

TIMELESS

101 PARK AVENUE HJ KALIKOW & CO., LLC OWNER / BUILDER REAL ESTATE BOARD OF NEW YORK

OUR 10TH DECADE OF EXCELLENCE

A Digital-First Brand An Interview with Nicole Vogrin, Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer, Western Union EDITORS’ NOTE Nicole Vogrin Like many other industries and spearheads Western Union’s corcompanies, Western Union has underporate affairs, brand and commugone a digital transformation; we started nications strategy with a focus on that journey more than seven years ago elevating and protecting the comby strongly investing and building out a pany’s reputation. In this role, she digital-first platform. Today, more than actively shapes Western Union’s envi70 percent of our digital transactions ronmental, social and governance start on the mobile phone.

(ESG) commitment while strategically At every stage in our transforaligning it to the company’s global mation, we have kept our customer’s advocacy efforts for migrants, refuneeds at heart and becoming a diggees and displaced people around the ital-first brand was part of that. Our Nicole Vogrin world. Vogrin joined Western Union customers are global with diverse in 2009 and has held roles in Europe financial needs, so depending on where and the United States. Most recently, she served as a customer is in the ecosystem and their finanChief of Staff to Western Union’s CEO. Previously, cial maturity, we really try to be with the cusshe held finance, accounting and marketing posi- tomer where they need us. tions in the healthcare and electronics industries If they need a digital brand and a digital in Europe. Vogrin was born in Vienna, Austria product, we have the capability to move money and holds a master’s degree in business admin- around the world digitally through WU.com and istration and economics fr om the Vienna our mobile apps in more than 70 countries.

University of Economics and Business in Austria.

In other cases, consumers choose to send or receive cash and can do so at their preferred COMPANY BRIEF Western Union (western local retail location as part of our vast network union.com) is a global leader in cross-bor- that we have built over many years. To put it der, cross-currency money movement and pay- into perspective, the scale of our incredible retail ments. Its omnichannel platform connects the network is huge with more than 500,000 locadigital and physical worlds, making it possi- tions worldwide – that’s more than Starbucks, ble for consumers and businesses to send and Walmart and McDonalds locations combined. receive money and make payments globally with Last year, Western Union announced the speed, ease and reliability. Western Union moves decision to open its platform to partners that money for better, connecting family, friends and want to serve their customers with cross-border businesses to enable financial inclusion and money transfer or payment services. Western support economic growth.

Union is the brand behind the scenes that powers this global money movement.

How has Western Union’s brand evolved How critical was it to engage Western and how do you define its business today?

Union’s employees in the company’s transWestern Union is a truly global company and formation agenda and to make sure that we do business in more than 200 countries and ter- employees were a part of the process? ritories. Our story began 169 years ago and today, Our employees are critical to the compaWestern Union is very well-known with consum- ny’s success and we are committed to bringing ers and we have extremely high brand awareness. them along as we move through our transforOn average, it’s about 90 percent awareness for mation. One way we do this is through a conthe global brand so this is not something that we tinuous dialogue. A critical component of what built yesterday – it takes decades to build this level we try to share and explain to our employees of brand awareness and recognition. is that true transformation is continuous and When many think of the Western Union ongoing, so change is here to stay and we will brand today, our core business and retail-based have to adapt to be comfortable with change. products in consumer to consumer money trans- Our customers demand change from us as fer probably come to mind first. What many of they evolve, as technology evolves, and as the our audiences don’t know as well is what else world is getting more and more connected. We we offer in our portfolio of services with the have to evolve in the products and services evolution of our business from a primarily retail that we develop so that we meet the needs of to a digital-first brand, which is very important. customers and partners.

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When you look at migration that’s taking place today and the high number of displaced people around the world, has this added to the complexity of Western Union’s business?

Due to the nature of our global business, we are often one of the first companies to observe if increased numbers of people are crossing borders to pursue opportunities or to flee conflicts. It’s estimated that by 2025 about 300 million people will live outside their country of birth. Some will leave to pursue a better opportunity for themselves, and ultimately their families and loved ones; others leave because they have to, possibly to flee threats in their home countries. Migration is very fundamental to our business model, in particular, the consumer money transfer business.

Western Union has a unique vantage point and insight into drivers that impact global migration.

Understanding this as a company, we stand up for our customers and advocate for migration policies that are reasonable and humane.

Western Union serves a very diverse population around the world. How important is it that the workforce at Western Union mirrors the diversity of its customers?

Our leaders foster and support a diverse school of thought. When you allow people to come together from different cultures and backgrounds, from an ethnic perspective as well as gender diversity, you get very different results.

As a truly global company, we have to bring a global and diverse perspective to the table in order to serve our customers who are truly global.

We strive to have diverse candidates for all roles we are filling at Western Union. Hiring is a key area for this because it creates a pipeline of talent that is able to take on future leadership roles and ensure that diversity of thought is something we are progressing on continuously, but it’s a journey and takes time. Western Union has also created dedicated programs that look at gender diversity and support women in their development.

On the company’s operating committee, nine of the eleven executives have diverse backgrounds. They have either been born or lived and worked abroad in countries other than the United States. Our board of directors are very engaged in diversity efforts at Western Union. On the board, we have three women and three directors who have diverse ethnic backgrounds. We are fortunate to have a supportive board that helps us nurture a culture that embraces diversity.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

A Customized Client-Centric Approach An Interview with Karen Whitt, President, Real Estate Management Services US, Colliers International EDITORS’ NOTE Karen Whitt develWe serve a variety of clients and ops complete real estate solutions they’re investing for different reasons. that address clients’ business needs Each particular asset that we manage by connecting Colliers’ retail, indusfor them has its own strategy to create trial, office, multifamily brokerage, value and its own life cycle in terms of investment sales, and property manwhat they’re going to do with that asset agement groups in ways that create and how long are they going to hold it. memorable experiences. She oversees How critical is collaboration as property management operations in a part of Colliers’ culture? the United States. Whitt is active in We build teams that are collaborathe commercial real estate commutive in order to drive results for our clinity through multiple organizations ents. We have supportive environments Karen Whitt including IREM, CREW, and BOMA. where we have each other’s backs and She helps prepare college students for we have the client’s backs in terms of careers in commercial real estate and works with how we work with them to create value. the Industry Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s We work across service lines and across Program in Real Estate, of which she is a found- geographies for clients. Some clients like to ing member. She is actively engaged with Lucky have relationships with us that are geographic in Dog Animal Rescue in Washington, D.C., which nature and others are looking to have relationhas placed more than 7,000 animals in new ships across product type. homes since 2009 and Shelter to Shutters, an There is no one size fits all for our clients. We organization that transitions individuals and take a customized client-centric approach in how families out of homelessness to economic self-suf- we work with them and we’re able to grow the ficiency by educating and engaging the real business because of that approach. estate industry to provide employment and housing opportunities. In 2018, Whitt received the Tom Richardson Award, the most prestigious honor that Colliers bestows recognizing personal character, integrity and extraordinary service. Whitt holds a B.A. degree in English from Villanova University.

We work across

COMPANY BRIEF Colliers Inter national (colliers.com) is a leading global commercial real estate services and investment management company. With operations in 68 countries, its 17,000+ people work collaboratively representing top corporations on their occupancy strategies and maximizing values for real estate owners and investors. In 2018, corporate revenues were $3.3 billion with more than $26 billion of assets under management.

Will you provide an overview of your role at Colliers and your key areas of focus?

I oversee our real estate management services business for the U.S. which includes 585 million square feet of primarily office, industrial and retail products that we service on behalf of our clients. We have about 2,500 clients and we’re managing just under 5,000 assets.

How broad is Colliers’ client base?

The clients are institutional clients, private ownership as well as high-net worth individuals.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

service lines and across geographies for clients.

How do you define what makes Colliers different from its competitors?

What sets Colliers apart is not what we do, but how we do it. When we think about accelerating success for Colliers, we’re also thinking about how we accelerate success for our clients.

We put ourselves in the client’s chair when we’re thinking about their assets. We ask what

we would do in order to create value if we owned that asset ourselves. We are taking personal responsibility to make sure that we’re doing what’s right for our clients.

Colliers has a diverse set of clients. How critical is it that this level of diversity is mirrored within Colliers’ workforce?

I am the executive sponsor for North America for Colliers’ diversity and inclusion program. I also serve on the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network global board of directors and am the liaison for the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force as well.

It is clear that having a diverse and inclusive culture leads to better results. I think that it is essential to have an inclusive culture in which people can be authentically themselves so that we can do our best for clients, for our communities and for each other.

One of the elements of Colliers’ North American diversity and inclusion program is a women’s mentorship program.

In addition, we look at diversity in terms of new people coming into the industry. I am also involved with Virginia Tech on a degree program for undergraduate students and have had a couple of mentees in that program. I am currently working with a mentee who I will work with for four years. She is a sophomore now.

How critical is it for Colliers to be a purpose-driven company and engaged in its communities?

It’s very important. Colliers has a foundation, but it also encourages everyone in the workforce to participate locally so that we can build our communities.

We have a volunteer day each year. It’s something that’s important because we are part of the community and we need to help build it.

What advice do you offer young people interested in building a career in the real estate industry?

It is important to be curious and willing to explore different opportunities. It is important not to be afraid to try something and fail. That is what I would call experience, but when you fail you need to make sure that you adapt quickly.

I encourage young people to explore other places. They don’t have all the knowledge that they need to understand the industry. It opens your eyes to see and experience different parts of the business. I also tell people to be curious and don’t make decisions too early about what you want to do for the rest of your life.

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LEADERS 71

Improving Health Outcomes An Interview with Mara M. Minguez, MD, MSc, Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Community Affairs, and Medical Director, Lang Youth Medical Program, NewYork-Presbyterian EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Mara Minguez school-based health centers located is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of within busy New York City public high Pediatrics and Public Health at schools. As an administrator, I work to C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y Va g e l o s develop and strengthen existing relationCollege of Physicians and Surgeons ships with NewYork-Presbyterian’s comand the Columbia University munities by working with elected officials, Mailman School of Public Health community-based organizations and comand is board-certified in Pediatrics munity health partners and physicians. and Adolescent Medicine. She is I am incredibly engaged in the convera clinical preceptor at NewYorksation between our hospital and the Presbyterian’s School-Based Health community stakeholders. I also have the Centers, located in busy high privilege to be the medical provider of our Mara M. Minguez schools in Northern Manhattan Lang Youth Medical Program which aims and the Bronx, where she is responto increase minority representation in the sible for the clinical care of adolescents as well medical field. It is amazing to be involved in the as the teaching of medical students, pediatric learning experience of our future medical providers. residents and adolescent medicine fellows. She How critical is it to focus on populahas been involved in research evaluations that tion health when addressing the challenges have demonstrated the impact of school-based in healthcare? health centers on reproductive health and preIt is critical. We realize that with healthcare ventive care services in adolescents in New York delivery, in order to improve outcomes, we have to City and has conducted a comprehensive eval- look outside of our four walls because that’s where uation of school-based health centers in the our patients spend most of their time. We must Dominican Republic. She currently serves as use comprehensive strategies to improve access, faculty for the Foundations of Clinical Medicine decrease cost and, most importantly, improve course at Columbia University Vagelos College healthcare outcomes. The best healthcare practice of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Minguez is includes a care plan that takes into account the a graduate of Tulane University School of social needs that affect their patient’s health and Medicine and did her pediatric residency at well-being, also known as social determinants of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University health. Understanding where our patients live, Irving Medical Center. what they eat, their education levels and behaviors are crucial to improving overall outcomes.

INSTITUTION BRIEF NewYork-Presbyterian (nyp.org) For example, we can evaluate the environis one of the nation’s most comprehensive, inte- ment of the patient with asthma in order to undergrated academic healthcare systems, encompass- stand why they continue to be rehospitalized. ing 10 hospital campuses across the Greater New Being out in the community is one of the most York area, more than 200 primary and specialty effective ways to do this, otherwise we are not care clinics and medical groups, and an array of going to move the needle on population health. telemedicine services. A leader in medical educaWill you pr ovide an overview of tion, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is the only aca- t h e L a n g Yo u t h M e d i c a l P r o g r a m a t demic medical center in the nation affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian? two world-class medical schools, Weill Cornell The Lang Youth Medical Program is a six-year, Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College hospital-based, medical enrichment program in the of Physicians and Surgeons. This collaboration Washington Heights community for youth who means patients have access to the country’s leading are interested in a career in the health sciences. physicians, the full range of medical specialties, lat- Our mission is to foster their interest in medicine est innovations in care, and research that is devel- and provide them with the resources they need to oping cures and saving lives. achieve their goals.

The vision of the program is to increase the Will you discuss your role and area of focus representation of minorities in healthcare. We want within NewYork-Presbyterian? to motivate youth in our surrounding community I have the privilege to balance between being to come back and work with us to provide care for a medical provider, administrator and educator. In the community, and for our hospital workforce to my role as a medical provider, I see patients at our reflect the population we serve.

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The Lang Youth Medical Program enables young people to be able to understand healthcare, understand the body systems, and understand community and global health work. We also provide students with a lot of support in the process of applying to college.

During the program, we provide opportunities within the hospital to intern or have other experiences that help students to understand healthcare delivery in all its different aspects. This provides a broad perspective of all the different disciplines within the health careers.

We target underserved populations and usually take only 14 to 16 youth from the community, specifically from District Six. They stay with us throughout the six years. We find that it is imperative to have them throughout that time to really see an impact and it has worked very well.

We also work closely with the families and provide them with a number of different workshops and resources. I’m very proud of this program because it’s unique in that it is housed in the hospital. The hospital is immersed in the education of the community which helps lift up its residents.

NewYork-Presbyterian serves a diverse population. How important is it that this level of diversity is mirrored within the workforce at NewYork-Presbyterian?

Diversity is not only a privilege, but a crucial need for our success. We bring together different backgrounds, perspectives and talents to achieve a common goal. A diverse workforce benefits the entire institution and the patients we serve. There is a vast amount of literature that describes how institutions that prioritize diversity and inclusion lead to increased productivity, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and profitability.

How valuable is it for you to be a part of an institution that fosters opportunities for women to grow and lead?

I am proud to be one of those women who has been given the opportunity to show our strengths, our skills and our abilities. Being recognized for my hard work and skill set has been crucial in my journey and a strong motivator to mentor all those who follow in our path. I cannot speak highly enough of our leaders and their perseverance in supporting women leaders.

It is evident as you sit in a meeting and look around the room to see how much they have really fostered an inclusive environment for women leaders. As a community, the perspectives that women bring to the table are essential and I would like to believe that our general advancement as a nation has a lot to do with the changing landscape in the faces who lead us.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

The Webster Way An Interview with Harriet Munrett Wolfe, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Webster Bank and Webster Financial Corporation EDITORS’ NOTE Harriet Munrett W i l l y o u d i s c u s s We b s t e r Wolfe joined Webster in March Bank’s ESG efforts?

1997 as Senior Vice President and We started looking at ESG a Counsel, was appointed Secretary number of years ago, and we realin June 1997 and General ized the growing significance among Counsel in September 1999. In our customers, investors, employJanuary 2003, she was appointed ees, and other stakeholders. It was Executive Vice President. Prior to important to demonstrate our efforts this, she was in private practice. on being a good corporate citizen From November 1990 to January and our leadership with respect to 1996, she was Vice Pr esident sustainability, diversity, ethical govand Senior Counsel of Shawmut ernance, and in meeting our cusHarriet Munrett Wolfe Bank in Hartford, Connecticut. tomers’ needs.

She serves as a board member of We had been doing these activthe University of Connecticut Foundation ities in our normal course of business, but and as a member of the foundation’s audit we weren’t really capturing the information. committee, and was formerly a member of To d a y w e h a v e a n E S G c o m m i t t e e the foundation’s executive committee and charged with bringing together the informachair of the real estate committee. She has tion for the Bank. In 2018, we published our a bachelor’s degree from the University of first ESG Report, and we issued our second Connecticut and a J.D. fr om Pepperdine annual ESG Report in early spring of this University School of Law. year.

Webster Bank has a deep culture and C O M PA N Y B R I E F We b s t e r B a n k , N . A . set of values. How critical is this to the (public.webster online.com) is a leading success of the company? regional bank in the Northeast with more For many years, we have been guided than $29 billion in assets and 157 bank- by what we call “The Webster Way.” It is very ing centers fr om gr eater New York City important to us – it is the bond that really to Boston. It offers a full range of finan- ties us all together. We take personal responcial services, deliver ed by almost 3,400 sibility for meeting our customers’ needs. We employees. The company was founded in respect the dignity of every individual. We 1935 and is headquartered in Waterbury, earn trust through ethical behavior. We give Connecticut. of ourselves in the communities we serve, and we work together to achieve outstanding Will you highlight your role and key results. This is our guiding mantra and it’s areas of focus at Webster? on the back of every Webster business card.

I am an executive vice president, genAre there strong opportunities for eral counsel and corporate secretary for our women to lead in the industry? publicly-traded holding company, Webster I think there are a lot of opportunities Financial Corporation, and our main subsid- for women in banking. There are so many iary, Webster Bank. different areas for growth and development, As general counsel, I serve as the chief be it lending or treasury or accounting or, in legal officer for the company. I oversee all my case, legal. legal affairs for Webster and when I’m wearI look to our board of directors as an ing my corporate secretary hat, I serve in a example. Half of our independent directors corporate governance role. are women and that is, I think, somewhat I have been with Webster for 22 years as unusual. We’re very proud of the makeup of chief legal officer. In my role, I have always our board and the expertise that they bring. been involved with the other members of We also have many women at the execuexecutive management and I am a member tive and senior management levels in the of Webster’s executive management group. company.

I deal with all the different lines of busiRecently, we brought the female direcnesses and the overall strategic plans for tors to Webster to share their personal stothe company. ries and insights with over 200 women and VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

men at the company. It was an inspiring and informative program.

W h a t h a s m a d e We b s t e r a p l a c e where you have wanted to spend over 20 years of your career?

I am not a person who has worked for a lot of companies in my career; Webster is actually my third. Webster offered me a great opportunity as the company’s first chief legal officer. I was the legal department when I joined in 1997. I was allowed the opportunity to build out a legal department that I thought would serve Webster well in terms of our growth and the complexities of our business.

I a m v e r y p r o u d t o b e a We b s t e r employee and I would say that what’s important to me are the people, the values that they hold, and being a part of a company with high integrity.

How has the r ole of the general counsel evolved and is it more complex today?

I would tell you that as time has gone by, we have more and more laws and regulations so there’s certainly more complexity with respect to the regulatory environment in which we operate.

If you look at the customers, their needs have grown in complexity, too. When I started in banking right out of law school, everything was about checks. Today, so much of the business has changed in terms of things being done digitally, with image capturing and online banking services which afford customers the ability to bank in a more real-time basis.

What advice do you give to young people beginning their careers?

I always advise young people to look for a career that excites you and where you have a passion. You should discover what you want to be doing with your career and do the research to find out the various opportunities and avenues that are possible.

I also tell young people to look for mentors. I think most people are more than willing to spend a few minutes of their time to discuss a career path with a young person and to offer them some guidance. The Bank has a mentoring program as part of our rotational program which has been very successful for young professionals starting their careers at Webster.

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Public Policy An Interview with Roslyn Brooks, Principal - Government, Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy, PwC US EDITORS’ NOTE Based in When it comes to policy issues Washington, D.C., Roz Brooks is and engaging with government at the responsible for ensuring PwC US federal and state level, we recognize has a voice in important debates at that you have a bigger megaphone if the nexus of business and governyou’re talking to members of Congress ment and helping the firm successfrom a larger employee base and with fully execute its business strategy. a recognition that it is a consolidated Br ooks serves on PwC’s Global position, so we do work closely Regulatory & Policy Board, where with the other firms from a policy she collaborates with her internaperspective. tional counterparts to set direction Will you highlight PwC’s comof the global network’s strategy on mitment to diversity and inclusion?

Roslyn Brooks engagement with regulators worldI started with the firm in the wide. She also serves on the Board Detroit practice, and I can honestly tell of Directors of GlobalWIN, a nonprofit organi- you that I have seen the spectrum in terms of zation that helps women lead in the global inno- our commitment to diversity and inclusion and vation economy. Brooks holds a B.A. in English the way this has evolved. and Psychology from Stanford University, a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor, and an L.L.M. in Taxation from Wayne State University in Detroit.

FIRM BRIEF The purpose at PwC (pwc.com) is to build trust in society and solve important problems. It is a network of separate firms in over 140 territories with more than 250,000 people – 50,000 in the U.S. – who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services.

Will you discuss your role at the firm and your key areas of focus?

I lead PwC’s government, regulatory affairs, and public policy efforts in the U.S., which deals with interactions on behalf of the firm with government officials at the state, local and federal levels, as well as the regulatory agencies as they impact us in a number of ways.

I think in the last 10-plus years, government affairs has gained in prominence for many of the firms because of the realization of the impact that government actions can have, not only on the bottom line, but also on how we are going to grow as a firm in the future.

Are you solely focused on addressing the needs of PwC or do you also collaborate with other leading firms in the industry to work together to address industry issues?

I think that every industry has a certain amount of cooperation in terms of what’s best for the industry, whether it be insurance, financial services, banks, etc., and then you have your own parochial interests.

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When you look at PwC today, I give a ton of credit to Tim (Ryan, PwC Chair US), for his leadership on diversity and inclusion and making it a priority for the partnership, and making it a priority within the firm.

What do you tell young people about the innovation taking place in professional services and how dynamic the industry is today?

I don’t believe the industry is as well understood as we would like it to be, and I think that is a major endeavor that we are undertaking. I know that our r ecruitment team is focused on raising that awareness which has been really tremendous.

I think in the last 10-plus years, government affairs has gained in prominence for many of the firms because of the realization of the impact that government actions can have, not only on the bottom line, but also on how we are going to grow as a firm in the future.

When I first started, I remember a group of us wanting to reach out to a partner or two who were also African-American and get together as a group and talk. Their advice to us at that time, in the mid-’90s, was that they did not know if it was a good idea because we would not want to be seen as separatists.

If you then fast forward five years, programs existed, whether it was diversity circles, minority circles or women’s circles, where you actually recognized that it wasn’t exclusive for people to get together in the workplace and talk about issues that were impacting them and how they felt about the firm and ways to navigate the firm, and that there were differences that we should embrace and not look at as a reason to exclude one another.

We are starting to tell the story about how we are transforming ourselves and are tech enabled, that we are innovative, and that this innovation runs through all of our service lines.

People are starting to get it. PwC is also recruiting from different places than in the past and attracting different skills, such as technology backgrounds.

I think early on there were people who questioned whether we would ever be a place that would be of interest to people with tech backgrounds, but the recognition is growing about the broad opportunities in the industry around technology, data and AI. The fact that we are hiring people with computer science backgrounds is really exciting.

I hope that the word starts to spread much more.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Tradition and Innovation An Interview with Jamie Rose Fisher, Marketing Manager - Commercial Portfolio, Fisher Brothers EDITORS’ NOTE Jamie Rose Fisher started working at Fisher Brothers more than four years ago after graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her starting role in the company was in the Development & Acquisition department, focusing on new residential developments. Fisher has also been involved in the philanthropic efforts at Fisher Brothers working on raising funds and awareness for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Quality and service are two main components of Fisher Brothers that have always been a priority for our new development and for our commercial portfolio. Fisher Brothers was founded on excellence over 100 years ago, and we’ve stayed true to this notion. I think tradition and innovation are also two key pillars that make this company so special.

We’re deeply rooted in tradition, and yet there are things we do that are at the cutting edge of modern times.

Jamie Rose Fisher Fisher Brothers are building owners FIRM BRIEF Fisher Brothers that care about creating spaces that sur(fisherbrothers.com) was founded in 1915 by pass the typical office space. The main objective Martin Fisher, who was joined by brothers Larry is to enhance tenant experiences, providing welland Zachary Fisher. Over the next several decades, designed spaces and services. In addition, there’s Fisher Brothers built residential properties in a strong spirit of humanitarianism, both internally Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Riverdale, Mount and externally, in the company.

Vernon, and then in Manhattan. Fisher Brothers Will you highlight your area of focus and began putting up commercial buildings in the mid- how your role has evolved? ’50s. It rewrote its business plan in the mid-’70s, I started out on our two new developments adopting a new strategy that called for selling off at the time. They were House39, which is a rental its residential properties while continuing to develop building in Murray Hill, and 111 Murray Street, and manage commercial real estate investments, which is a luxurious condo building in Tribeca. and diversifying its investment portfolio into non- On both of these projects, I was able to have the real estate sectors. With the decision to capitalize on learning experience from the ground up, quite the firm’s capabilities as a builder and manager, literally. I found myself at our construction sites, the partnership formed Plaza Construction in 1986 learning the business from the very beginning of which was led by Steven Fisher, as well as Sandhurst the development. My family, the Fisher Brothers Associates in 1992 to provide on-site management partners (Steven Fisher, Ken Fisher, and Winston for other building owners. Fisher Brothers, led by Fisher), my cousin Crystal Fisher, and my colpartners Ken, Winston, Steven and Arnold Fisher, leagues helped me learn and grow into an instruhas emerged as a highly-diversified financial invest- mental player on the team. The marketing aspect ment force. Assets currently under management of my role came naturally. exceed $6 billion, with a substantial portion straIt is very exciting to work on the commertegically invested in a broad spectrum of financial cial portfolios because we have so many capital markets and ventures, including opportunistic over- improvements going on, which coincides with our night investments in treasuries and repos, as well as marketing efforts. My role continues to evolve and building refinancing and construction loans. grow, and I’m so grateful for all the learning experiences I’ve had to date.

Did you always know that you wanted to join Is New York the sweet spot for Fisher the family business?

Brothers and is the firm focused on growth in I always assumed I would end up working other markets? for Fisher Brothers, but my passion for real estate I think New York has always been our sweet evolved over time. I didn’t necessarily know it was spot, and I don’t think that will ever end, especially my true calling until I saw how meaningful the because we have four main commercial buildwork can be and how I could further build on the ings in prime locations in New York that we’re still legacy that my family has built. It is admirable, and working on. Some of these buildings were built in I’m proud to be part of it. The passion in my fam- the 1960s, and we’re still making them as relevant, ily’s business is contagious and I am devoted in high-tech and modernized as possible. It is imporgrowing its legacy for another 100 years. tant to make capital improvements to our comHow do you define what has made Fisher mercial buildings to make them more modern and Brothers an industry leader? relevant for today’s market.

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111 Murray Street in Tribeca

We have also expanded outside of New York and are constantly looking for opportunities elsewhere. We have a rental building in D.C. and also have commercial space there. We are also developing a project called AREA15. The brainchild of Fisher Brothers partner Winston Fisher, AREA15 is an experiential retail and entertainment complex opening in Las Vegas early next year.

Will you discuss Fisher Brothers’ continuous investment in its buildings?

I touched on how what makes us so special is tradition and innovation. We are staying relevant with the times as tenant needs are changing.

We’re adapting to those changes and that comes with capital improvements which we are dedicated to doing so that our tenants continue to be happy for a very long time.

We are working on capital improvements to 299 Park Avenue, which is our office headquarters.

We have a solid team and plan in place. There will be a new lobby with an interactive LED screen that will have rotating content for an enhanced experience which is cutting-edge and technological.

At 1345 Avenue of the Americas, we’re launching a new amenity space which is scheduled to open in the spring and designed by the Rockwell Group. The amenities consist of conference space, meeting rooms, tenant lounge areas, a highly-curated tenant food experience, a fitness studio as well as a wellness experience. This will provide world-class, optimal-quality amenity spaces that enhance all aspects of the tenants’ work experience. We are making these changes to help our tenants grow, communicate more efficiently, and have the ability to thrive in an environment different than the average office space.

How important is it for you to be a part of a family that is so committed to giving back?

I would probably say that is the most important aspect to me and also makes me most proud of the legacy that my family has left behind. Fisher House Foundation is simply incredible. We just opened two in the Bronx, which is very special because we’ve never had one in New York. It is inspiring to see the impact that this has for the families it supports. We understand the strength it takes to serve this country and are strongly passionate about serving them in return. By providing resources to help them regain their strength, we do our job in supporting these amazing people. My uncle, Ken Fisher, is hugely committed to this cause and takes great pride in it. My commitment to this is only growing, and I hope to become even more deeply involved in it than I am now.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

The Owner Experience An Interview with Mindy Drummond, Executive Vice President, Employee and Owner Experience, NetJets Inc. EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to her role at NetJets, Mindy Drummond led various HR teams for Omnicare, a CVS Health Company, and also served as Vice President of Talent at Luxottica Retail. She held a variety of human resources roles at L Brands and Motorola and was named a “2016 Top 15 Women in Business in Ohio” by the National Diversity Council. Drummond received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Bowling Green State University.

of just getting it done, and getting it done safely and exceptionally for our customers. Ultimately, that is what we all are working toward.

How important is collaboration within the NetJets culture?

It’s imperative. We have more than 3,000 crew members who are on the road each and every day. The flight center is the hub of the operations, and where we get flights scheduled, managed and then safely into the air. The collaboration Mindy Drummond among those flight center groups ultimately leads to communication and colCOMPANY BRIEF NetJets (netjets.com), a laboration with our crew members which is critical.

Berkshire Hathaway company, is the worldwide That collaboration is part of who we are on a dayleader in private aviation with the largest and most to-day basis. You could not do this job well without diverse private jet fleet in the world. NetJets provides collaboration, curiosity and communication. shared (fractional) aircraft ownership, a lease program and card services which allows individuals and companies to fly privately on a business jet at a fraction of the cost of whole-aircraft ownership and guarantees availability 365 days a year with just 4-10 hours notice. The NetJets programs worldwide offer the largest and most diversified fleet (more than 750 aircraft) in private aviation, which includes a variety of aircraft types across four cabin classes.

NetJets has been serving owners for more than fifty years, with headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

Will you highlight NetJets’ focus on the employee and owner experience?

We have a vision and mission that we live by, which is our 20/20 Flight Plan. Part of that plan is how we bring together employees and deliver an exceptional experience for them so that we can ultimately deliver an exceptional experience for our Owners. Even if you may not be in Owner Services or another group that’s directly involved with the Owner, everyone at NetJets still has an impact on our Owners and the experience that they receive.

What do you attribute to the strength and industry leadership of NetJets?

It’s interesting. I actually left NetJets for another opportunity and returned because of the people.

What we do is not simple. It’s a very complex business, and our people not only have a passion for service but are problem-solvers. There’s a lot of camaraderie and collaboration that just naturally happens here. When we look for talent, we know that if the passion, curiosity and heart are there, we can train the rest. When I returned to the NetJets culture, I realized how much I missed that attitude VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Will you elaborate on NetJets’ focus on the owner experience?

We spend a lot of time focusing on the owner experience and ensuring that we are delivering an experience that our owners deserve. We are constantly evaluating it based on the relationships that we’ve built and cultivated here within the flight center. Owner Services specifically focuses on delivering service through quality reservation management while developing and maintaining those relationships. We also look to serve the customized needs of our owners, which is critical. We look, from our owners’ point of view, at what’s on the plane for them. We spend a lot of time concentrating on the five senses of the aircraft and

NetJets meteorologist (above); NetJets plane ready for takeoff (left); NetJets control center (below)

extend that from the moment you are greeted to the time that you are actually on the plane to the time you reach your destination. This helps us craft the amenities that are on our aircraft and we pay attention to Owner feedback and constantly utilize it to improve the experience.

Just looking at the experience through our lens doesn’t necessarily make it what they want. We want to make sure that we’re hearing from them and understanding what they need in order to ensure that their experience is nothing less than exceptional.

How important is it for NetJets to build a diverse workforce?

We focus on diversity of experience and diversity of thought, but also on ensuring that the people we’re bringing in truly have the great talent that I described to lead us into those competencies. We bring a lot of different experiences into the company. We have employees who come from aviation as well as from hospitality, and when we mix those two, they are able to provide what our Owners want. It actually allows us to combine understanding the Owner with the ability to serve them through not only our aviation expertise, but also the hospitality experience that we want to deliver. When we talk about diversity, it’s really about inclusion and typically around making sure that we understand that we are collaborative and curious with one another in order to deliver an exceptional experience.

What do you tell young people about the opportunities that the industry offers?

The private aviation industry is so great because of its complexity and how it differs from general aviation. Within this space, we have clearly focused on our internship programs and have been looking at other opportunities as well. Most recently, we have focused on how we bring aviation to future talent, addressing this industry with them early on in their discovery of possible career paths. We can show them what this industry is since many people don’t necessarily know what we do. Once they have the opportunity to get an inside look, they find it intriguing and exciting.

NetJets was just recognized as a top 100 internship program in the U.S. because we worked with universities to provide experiences that truly show the uniqueness of what we do. A career path here can span across multiple different functions and skill sets. We also have many pilots who come in and share their experiences with our interns as well. This is a very special place.

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Translational Research An Interview with Serpil Erzurum, M.D., Chair, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Serpil Erzurum How do you define the Cleveland was appointed in 2016 as Chair Clinic difference? of Lerner Research Institute, home Cleveland Clinic has been a fabuto all basic, translational and lous place to work since I joined in clinical r esear ch at Cleveland 1993. From the very first day that I came Clinic. A renowned scientist and to Cleveland Clinic to interview, I knew clinician, she has published more it was a very special place. It’s the peothan 200 peer-reviewed articles ple and the culture we have that has and has been principal investigareally revolved around teamwork from tor on more than 20 federal grants the very founding of Cleveland Clinic, as with more than $60 million in well as our focus on patients first. That’s research funding, including sevwhat drives our mission to care for the Serpil Erzurum eral large, multi-investigator propatient of today and tomorrow. gram project grants and network Will you provide an overview of trials. She was elected in 2017 to the National Lerner Research Institute and the key areas of Academy of Medicine, one of the highest focus for the Institute? honors in health and medicine. A memCleveland Clinic always had in its misber of Cleveland Clinic’s staff since 1993, sion investigating the problems of our patients Dr. Erzurum is a professor at Cleveland Clinic and research was part of its tripartite mission.

Lerner College of Medicine and staff physi- Lerner Research Institute serves a large part of cian in the Respiratory Institute. She holds the the mission statement in translational research Alfred Lerner Memorial Chair in Innovative for Cleveland Clinic. The Institute is housed in Biomedical Research. Dr. Erzurum received 500,000 square feet of space with about 1,500 her medical education at Northeastern Ohio people conducting research. We have four disUniversities College of Medicine. ease areas that we do a particularly good job of doing research within – we call them our INSTITUTION BRIEF Based in Cleveland, “impact areas.”

Ohio, Cleveland Clinic (my.clevelandclinic.org) One is heart and vascular research. From is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medi- the very origins, heart research here at Cleveland cal center that integrates clinical and hospi- Clinic was at the top of cutting-edge research. tal care with research and education. It was Another impact area is focused on brain and founded in 1921 by four renowned physi- eye diseases. The Neurological and Eye Institutes cians with a vision of providing outstand- partner with the Research Institute in these areas ing patient care based upon the principles of of research. cooperation, compassion and innovation.

Cancer research is another very important Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medi- impact area at Cleveland Clinic and across cal breakthroughs, including coronary artery the city of Cleveland. We all work together in the bypass surgery and the first face transplant in Comprehensive Cancer Center research programs the United States. U.S. News & World Report funded by the National Cancer Institute. consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one Our fourth impact area focuses on inflammaof the nation’s best hospitals in its annual tion. Inflammation is a global term that encom“America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Cleveland passes diseases like asthma, inflammatory bowel Clinic has approximately 66,000 caregiv- disease, and arthritis. These are common diseases ers including more than 4,200 full-time sala- that share a common theme of the organs and ried physicians and researchers and 16,000 tissues being inflamed and disease pathology nurses who represent 120 medical specialties occurring. and subspecialties.

Is there close collaboration within these Lerner Research Institute (lerner.ccf.org) four impact areas? is one of the largest research institutes in the There’s a great deal of crossover among nation with nearly $300 million in research these research impact areas. I work in two funding annually and 1,500 researchers and impact areas, but I crossover to a third. Many support personnel. Lerner Research Institute of us participate in all four impact areas. had great commercialization success last year Even if a researcher is focused on a certain with 52 patents awarded. area, collaborations with another impact area 78 LEADERS

researcher allows them both to consider new approaches and opens the way to innovation.

It is the collaborative process by these teams to which we look for our research to accelerate. The endgame for all of us is to work together to rapidly advance research discoveries in the lab to the benefit of our patients at the Clinic.

You have focused around pulmonary research and respiratory medicine. Will you highlight the advances taking place in this area?

Pulmonary medicine has greatly advanced over the last several decades. I’ve been very fortunate to have excellent training and mentorship in disease research, and talented colleagues and teams, that allowed me to contribute to some of the discoveries. In the early 1990s, when I started studying pulmonary hypertension, high blood pressure in the lungs, the lifespan for an individual newly diagnosed was estimated at two years.

There were no effective medications available to treat it.

Now, we have three different drug classes that we can use to treat pulmonary hypertension which have markedly increased life expectancy and improved the quality of life for these patients.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases that can affect people. Twenty million Americans are impacted by asthma and about two million of those Americans have severe asthma which means that their lives are disrupted by the disease, often with emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

Over the past 15 years, we have carefully detailed the inflammatory cascade from which asthma stems, and now our patients benefit from biologics where specific inflammatory pathways are blocked and improvement in asthma control is achieved. This age of biologics has been translated to patient care over the last three to four years. It is very satisfying to see the tremendous progress in lung disease research for our patients.

How critical is it for the Lerner Research Institute to have a diverse workforce?

Diversity at the Research Institute is a priority. We have researchers from all over the world.

We have diverse disciplines of study, diverse ways we do research and diverse people. Our teams are multidisciplinary. We aim for diversity in our thinking because we’re then able to come up with better solutions. The diversity of thinking and culture at the Research Institute has been critical for the successes we’ve been able to achieve.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Setting the Bar High An Interview with Audrey Willmot, Vice President of Operations, Safe Harbor Marinas

The pool at Safe Harbor Harbortown marina in Fort Pierce, Florida

EDITORS’ NOTE Audrey Willmot served as the General Manager at Safe Harbor Harbortown in Fort Pierce, Florida, a 344-slip marina located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and most recently as the Regional Business Manager for the east coast of Florida. Willmot joined the marina in 2005 and has devoted the past 15 years to developing it into a premier full-service facility. She is a native Floridian and received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of South Florida.

Furthermore, I think what really sets Safe Harbor apart is our emphasis on serving each of our four key stakeholders: our members, employees, shareholders, and the environment.

We realize that it takes a focus on all four of these stakeholders to succeed and, without any one of them, the others will not survive. As an example, I was serving as the General Manager at Harbortown when Safe Harbor acquired the marina. Having worked Audrey Willmot for a small-business owner over the previous ten years, I didn’t know what to expect with a large company taking ownership. I assumed there would be plenty COMPANY BRIEF Safe Harbor Marinas of changes and new policies and procedures, (shmarinas.com) is the largest owner and oper- but I didn’t expect the genuine compassion that ator of marinas in the world. Safe Harbor prides Safe Harbor fosters and encourages among its itself on maintaining the highest standards of employees. quality and customer service across its portfolio of inland and coastal properties. The company has decades of industry experience and a proven history in acquisitions, management, and partnership strategies.

Our scale allows us

What attracted you to the marina industry?

I received my B.A. in history from the University of South Florida, and my intention was to become an attorney. However, life has a funny way of surprising us sometimes, and after meeting my husband and starting a family, we decided to move back to where I grew up in Fort Pierce. At the time, my mother was working for a citrus company that was located across the street from what used to be known as Harbortown Marina. One day, she happened to notice a job posting while she was on her way to the marina to have lunch. When I heard about the opportunity, I decided to interview for the job, and I started the very next day.

I began by working in accounting, but my role grew and I eventually landed in operations.

I quickly realized that the marina was where I wanted to be and I fell in love with the industry.

How has Safe Harbor Harbortown’s integration into the Safe Harbor Marinas network progressed, and how do you define the Safe Harbor difference?

Safe Harbor is truly setting the bar in the marina industry. Our scale allows us to offer our members best-in-class benefits and amenities that privately-owned marinas and smaller portfolios are simply unable to offer.

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

to offer our members best-in-class benefits and amenities that privately-owned marinas and smaller portfolios are simply unable to offer.

I experienced this compassion personally when, less than a year after I joined the Safe Harbor team, my son began having medical issues that resulted in our family needing to travel to Denver for a lengthy clinical trial.

During that time, I received such a tremendous

amount of encouragement and support from every level in the company. Safe Harbor did everything possible to accommodate my situation and allow me to take the necessary time away with my family. Throughout that experience, everyone treated me like I had worked for the company for 20 years. At that point, I knew I had found something very special with Safe Harbor.

Safe Harbor provides a network for its members with a broad range of services and offerings. How has this focus evolved at Safe Harbor Harbortown?

Safe Harbor Harbortown is a unique property inside the Fort Pierce Inlet. Being located in one of the oldest cities in Florida, it is critical to business that we maintain the marina’s heritage and local charm while also investing in ongoing improvements and upgrades for our members such as the new resort pool that was completed earlier this year.

As we continue to build the Safe Harbor network, it is essential that we provide our members with an experience that keeps the individuality of each location while consistently representing our shared values. We want our members to feel like they are at home no matter where they visit. This philosophy is especially important for our Florida-based members who cruise back and forth to the Northeast.

What do you tell young women about the opportunities that exist to grow and lead in the industry?

I think the opportunities are limitless. The growth of women in the industry is something that I’ve been able to observe firsthand throughout my career. I remember going to one of my first conferences in the marine industry and it was clear that I was outnumbered. Fast forward almost 15 years, and there is a very different picture being painted. I’m proud to say that Safe Harbor is leading the way in eliminating the perception that the marine industry is maledominated. If a female has a true desire to get up and operate a forklift, Safe Harbor will give her that opportunity.

I also believe women can bring many beneficial qualities to our business. I think women are outstanding transformational leaders. It is in our nature to encourage, inspire, and motivate people to grow, and when we empower other women to focus on their strengths, it lays a foundation for them to define their own role and path toward success.

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A Unique Value Proposition An Interview with Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Chief Executive Officer - Americas, JLL Hotels & Hospitality and Head of Global Hotel Desk, JLL EDITORS’ NOTE Gilda Per ezWill you provide an overview of Alvarado is responsible for investJLL Hotels & Hospitality? ment sales, debt and equity We wer e the first gr oup to placement, strategic advisory and establish ourselves as a global sector asset management across the hotel specialist within JLL. We have approxisector. Additionally, she leads the mately 360 hotel-focused professiongroup’s Global Hotel Desk, a speals in all regions of the world. We are cialized team of cross-border investin the Americas, Europe, Middle East, ment sales professionals based in Africa, Asia Pacific, Australia and New the Middle East, Asia Pacific, the Zealand. Within the different regions, Americas and Europe. Previously, we have three distinct functions. One she served as a Managing Director, is investment sales, one is financing, Gilda Perez-Alvarado focused on full-service investment which includes debt and equity placesales globally. Perez-Alvarado is on the ment, and the third is our strategic Global Advisory Board of Qiddiya, a PIF-funded advisory and asset management platform. giga project in Saudi Arabia, is a member of Specialty areas of this platform include asset AHLA’s Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory management, operator selection, property tax, Committee (IREFAC) and is the proud recipi- development, feasibility and valuation, publicent of the Jack A. Shaffer Financial Advisor of private-partnerships, and tourism and destinathe Year award. Prior to re-joining the JLL team tion consulting. in New York in 2010, she was based in Madrid and served as Head of Hotel Debt Advisory for Spain and Portugal. Earlier in her career, she was based in London and was responsible for the execution of luxury hotel transactions in the United Kingdom and Benelux. Perez-Alvarado began her tenure at JLL in the firm’s New York and Miami offices, where she advised in single asset and portfolio hotel transactions, financings, advisory assignments and asset management projects in the U.S., Caribbean and North Atlantic. Prior to joining JLL, Perez-Alvarado worked for the Hospitality and Leisure advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Miami, where her area of expertise was valuations and market and feasibility studies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Perez-Alvarado received a B.S. degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, New York and an M.B.A. from Instituto de Empresa (IE Business School) in Madrid, Spain.

The strengths of our platform are that COMPANY BRIEF JLL (jll.com) is a leading we’re a fully-integrated global practice and professional services firm that specializes in real we offer services for hotel investors throughestate and investment management. Its vision is out the lifecycle of their investment. If someto reimagine the world of real estate, creating one is exploring a hotel acquisition, we can rewarding opportunities and amazing spaces help them with the underwriting. If they where people can achieve their ambitions. In acquire the asset, we can help them finance doing so, it strives to build a better tomorrow for the asset, optimize asset management, renits clients, its people and its communities. JLL is o v a t e t h e h o t e l o r s e l e c t a n o p e r a t o r. a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue Toward the end of the cycle, if they decide of $16.3 billion, operations in over 80 countries to appoint an advisor to sell it, we can run and a global workforce of more than 93,000 as this process from start to finish. That is our of September 30, 2019. unique value proposition.

Asset management is a big area of growth for us.

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Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth for JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality business?

We are very bullish on several of our service lines. Asset management is a big area of growth for us. Our local knowledge and global reach allow us to advise our owners on global best practices, help on benchmarking performance at the local, regional and global level, dive deep into operational details, and translate it all to the value of the investment. We are also uniquely positioned to provide global portfolio asset management services for those clients with properties across multiple geographic regions.

Another area is financing. The financing markets are robust, and our team can assist a buyer with securing acquisition financing, as well as providing owners refinancing options if they opt to hold their asset in lieu of a sale.

We are also extremely excited about the combination of JLL and HFF. There are a lot of benefits and synergies between our groups, and we’re starting to see the fruits of our labor come together in terms of working on more complicated, structured transactions.

You came out of one of the great hotel schools in Cornell. Did you know that your interest was in real estate or did you think about becoming a hotelier?

I grew up in hotels. My maternal grandmother owned and operated a hotel, and my mother was a manager of one of the biggest hotels in Costa Rica, so hotels are in my blood.

I must confess that I originally went to Cornell to become a biochemist. I decided within a week that I actually wanted to pursue hospitality, which is what I loved and what I knew.

When I went to the hotel school, I was seeking the most numbers-oriented career that I could have within the hotel industry, and that was the area of real estate finance. You could say my career path found me or I found it by accident, but it wasn’t the plan.

You have achieved much in your career.

Do you take moments to celebrate the wins or are you always thinking about what’s next?

I’m a big celebrator. Remember, I’m from Costa Rica – I think it’s the happiest country in the world, and we are always celebrating. Life sometimes throws you a curveball, and what gets you through those difficult times are the good moments that you had in the past, so you absolutely must celebrate. Life happens and you’ve got to enjoy every single second of it.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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Obstacles to Opportunity An Interview with Andi Potamkin, Director of Business Development, Potamkin Companies

Potamkin’s East Harlem development is a state-of-the-art, environmentally-conscious fleet maintenance facility that integrates seamlessly into the neighborhood and minimizes impact on the community.

EDITORS’ NOTE Andi Potamkin is areas, success often comes down to Director of Business Development at efficiency and sensitivity. We have the Potamkin Companies. She speto be conscious of the environmencializes in developing automotive tal impact as well as the needs of fleet facilities for tenants such as urban infrastructure. City services the City of New York, Time Warner like sanitation, police, fire protecCable and affiliates of the MTA. tion and environmental protection all Potamkin’s role builds upon her have maintenance and storage needs diverse background and experifor their vehicles. These services ence in design, planning and pubneed proximity to the community lic presentation. She serves as a they serve, but that is often taken for Board Member for the Potamkin granted. At Potamkin Development, Andi Potamkin Foundation which, among other we look for ways to meet those needs philanthr opic efforts, sponsors in a manner that integrates seamlessly the Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick’s, into the neighborhood and minimizes impact Alzheimer’s, and Related Diseases. She is also a on the community. We ask the right questions.

Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art We find the best way to make use of limited in Miami and the Museum of Arts & Design in space, developing creative solutions to 21st Manhattan, as well as an active supporter of the century problems.

Columbia University Department of Psychiatry research programs.

COMPANY BRIEF Potamkin Companies was founded by Victor Potamkin in 1954.

Originally the Potamkin Automotive Group, the family-owned business has greatly expanded nationwide.

The Potamkin name has a long history in New York. Will you highlight its history and how the company has evolved?

My grandfather, Victor, was a legendary entrepreneur and a quintessential New Yorker.

His style and innovation made him one of the biggest names in the automotive industry. After college, my father and uncle joined the company and they grew the Potamkin Automotive Group into the largest privately-held automotive company in the nation. They began purchasing and developing real estate. We have continued to grow, incorporating new divisions within the Potamkin Companies. We have an entire division dedicated to development. This is my specialty – developing solutions for large automotive fleets. There aren’t many women in the automotive development industry today.

Will you pr ovide an overview of Potamkin Development’s work in East Harlem with the City of New York?

We are developing a full city block into a state-of-the-art, environmentally conscious fleet maintenance facility. The block is split and designed for three different city services. With industrial development in highly-populated 82 LEADERS

We had this beautifully developed automotive facility and we had to think of other ways we could use it.

When things don’t go according to plan – and often they don’t – necessity becomes the mother of invention.

What was Potamkin’s history with this property?

We purchased the property in 1998 and built a grouping of automotive dealerships. We had dealerships for General Motors, Chevrolet, Saturn, Cadillac and Hummer franchises. When the 2008 recession hit the automotive industry hard, GM filed for bankruptcy and a number of franchises were cancelled. We had this beautifully developed automotive facility and we had to think of other ways we could use it. When things don’t go according to plan – and often they don’t – necessity becomes the mother of invention.

What were the keys to being able to overcome the challenges that Potamkin faced at this site?

Small ships turn faster than large ones, so we were able to adjust course, which is important. As a private and family-owned organization, the Potamkin Companies are adaptable.

We threw ourselves into negotiations with major corporations and presentations to different divisions of the City. We worked with Community Boards and City Planning Commissions. I was regularly at City Hall. It was an exciting challenge.

Our development in Harlem is a state-ofthe-art maintenance center which serves vehicle needs in an efficient manner. We’ve made a small amount of space act like a large amount of space. We are currently finalizing the design of a custom automotive stacker system for an affiliate of the MTA. The stackers are engineered to hold extremely heavy vehicles which have the ability to lift people in wheelchairs.

How important is it for Potamkin to be engaged in the communities where it operates?

As a developer, you have a large impact on the growth of the neighborhood. It is a responsibility. People are strongly affected by their surroundings, so it’s important to engage with the community. Shapes of buildings, materials that are used, how citizens move throughout the area, all should be considered in the planning process. We respect the environment of the neighborhood. We also sponsor multiple projects where we build developments. Uptown Grand Central is a non-profit dedicated to the revitalization of the 125th Street Metro North corridor. We give out hundreds of turkeys every Thanksgiving. We recently sponsored a public art program. It’s important that we have a direct connection to the area.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

A Commitment to Research An Interview with Barbara Murphy, M.D., Murray M. Rosenberg Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Barbara National Institutes of Health funding Murphy’s area of interest is transby the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical plant immunology, focusing on the Research. The Icahn Institute for Data use of high-throughput genomic Science and Genomic Technology technologies as a means to under(datascience.icahn.mssm.edu) operstand the immune mechanisms that ates one of the largest supercomputing lead to graft injury and loss, with centers in academic research and one the aim of identifying gene expresof the largest facilities for advanced sion profiles and genetic variants genomic technology development. In that may be used to predict those at 2014, the Institute was named by Fast greatest risk. Among her many honCompany as the 5th most innovative ors, Dr. Murphy was awarded the big data organization in the world.

Barbara Murphy Young Investigator Award in Basic Science by the American Society Will you discuss your role and key of Transplantation in 2003. In 2011, she was areas of focus at Mount Sinai Health System? named Nephrologist of the Year by the American I am responsible for the clinical, research Kidney Fund. She received the distinguished and education programs for the Department of Jacobi Medallion in 2014. She also received an Medicine, which includes pulmonary and critihonorary degr ee fr om University College, cal care, GI, nephrology, hepatology, hospital Dublin, Ireland. In 2016, Dr. Murphy was hon- medicine, allergy and immunology, infectious ored by The Annual Irish America Healthcare diseases, rheumatology, endocrine, and pri& Life Science 50. In 2018, she was honored as mary care across the entire system with a total a “Notable Woman in Healthcare” by Crain’s of 1,200 faculty.

New York and received an Honorary Doctorate from Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Ireland. Dr. Murphy belongs to a number of professional societies including the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Nephrology. Among her numerous achievements, she has held many leadership roles at a national level, including being President of the American Society of Transplantation and most recently being elected as a Council member for the American Society of Nephrology. Dr. Murphy earned her M.B. B.A.O. B.Ch. from The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and went on to do an internship at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. She completed a residency rotation followed by a fellowship in Clinical Nephrology, both at Beaumont Hospital. Dr. Murphy completed her postdoctoral training with a fellowship in Nephrology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. As part of this she trained in transplant immunology at the Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Transplantation, Renal Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

We have outstanding basic, translational and clinical research, all of which is focused on changing the face of clinical care which will have an impact on our patients’ lives.

INSTITUTION BRIEF Mount Sinai Health System (mountsinai.org) encompasses the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and eight hospitals and receives roughly 4 million patient visits annually. The Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences is ranked 5th nationally for VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

I work with all of our hospitals in the network, but predominantly Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, Mount Sinai West, and The Mount Sinai Hospital. We have within that six residencies including the newly-added

residency for the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx. We also have a very large research program and are ranked number 13 in the country for NIH dollars.

Will you highlight Mount Sinai Health System’s commitment to research?

Mount Sinai has an incredible commitment to research. It’s pivotal to everything that we do. I think what sets us apart is the translational nature of what we do and the ability to rapidly translate our findings, because we are a joint medical school/hospital system reporting into one leadership with an alignment of goals.

Many giants of clinical medicine were here; Crohn’s, among multiple other diseases, was named after someone at Mount Sinai. Our tradition is to do translatable research that will have clinical impact. We have outstanding basic, translational and clinical research, all of which is focused on changing the face of clinical care which will have an impact on our patients’ lives.

Mount Sinai places a major focus on diversity and has a number of women leading within the health system. How critical is it for you to be a part of an institution that supports women and provides opportunities for women to grow and lead?

It’s incredibly important. The change really started occurring when Dr. Dennis Charney became Dean. An initiative like this has to come from the top. He has been very supportive and focused on ensuring that we have a diverse faculty, and you can see over the years of his tenure that the leadership at Mount Sinai has changed significantly.

Are we where we should be? No, I would say we are not, but I think we are well along the way, and I think we’re a lot further along than most institutions. We have five female clinical chairs, and females are leads within the basic sciences and over academic institutes. We also have multiple female deans and deans from diverse backgrounds.

The other thing that’s very important is that from the perspective of developing an innovative culture, a culture of change, you need a diverse representation because having voices from different backgrounds bring different perspectives, and that’s not only from the perspective of gender and culture and ethnicity, but also from the perspective of different academic backgrounds. Diversity overall brings change for the better.

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Tenant Representation An Interview with Janet Woods, Executive Vice President and Northeast Region Lead, Savills EDITORS’ NOTE Backed by more Savills is heavily focused on than 25 years of commercial real innovation. If companies aren’t innoestate experience, Janet Woods provating, then they’re going to be left vides management of the fir m’s behind. This is why we’ve invested operations in Boston, Philadelphia, in client technology solutions such as New York, New Jersey and all future Knowledge Cubed, which integrates offices in the region. Prior to joinportfolio, business, market and occuing the firm in 2019, she spent more pancy data with advanced analytics than three years as a regional directhat become actionable insights. The tor and regional managing director software uses artificial intelligence to at Stan Johnson Company. She was extract and visualize information from also the national group leader of the leases, contracts and other documents, Janet Woods corporate finance team. Woods spent which allows our clients to stay ahead more than a year with Cushman & of existing and emerging opportunities Wakefield as an executive managing director and optimize their real estate. providing brokerage services throughout the triAlso, in the U.S., we recently launched state area. Previously, she spent six years with JLL Workthere – our online property listing platas executive vice president and seven years as a form and advisory service that enables any busiprincipal for The Staubach Company. Woods is ness or individual to find flexible, co-working a graduate of Fordham University. and serviced office space around the world.

COMPANY BRIEF Established in 1855, Savills (savills.us) is one of the leading real estate advisors in the world. Savills helps organizations find the right solutions that ensure employee success.

With services in tenant representation, workforce and incentives strategy, workplace strategy and occupant experience, project management, and capital markets, Savills has elevated the potential of workplaces around the corner, and around the world, for 160 years and counting.

Will you discuss your role at Savills and how you define the Savills difference?

As the region lead for the Northeast, I work to deploy best practices, support interdisciplinary collaboration between the offices and among service lines, recruit brokers and teams, open new locations and identify acquisition opportunities that will complement the firm’s existing capabilities.

Savills is one of the largest real estate firms in the world. We have a strong legacy of exceptional advisory and tenant representation in North America, which gives us a unique and thorough understanding of how to deliver the most value for our clients. Our management structure and nimble approach also gives us the ability to assemble the best possible advisory team across disciplines and geographies to solve each specific real estate challenge anywhere in the world.

Will you discuss Savills’ commitment to innovation?

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We look at how to stay in front of changing occupancy standards and market conditions, and adapt clients’ strategies to their evolving business drivers, risk tolerances, and financial and operational objectives.

How has the role of the broker evolved?

The commercial real estate industry is changing. We understand that the decisions our clients make can impact the long-term health of their companies. Our brokers are no longer

just focused on identifying space. They need to come up with a holistic solution that addresses the organization’s needs throughout the real estate cycle. We look at how to stay in front of changing occupancy standards and market conditions, and adapt clients’ strategies to their evolving business drivers, risk tolerances, and financial and operational objectives.

How critical is it to have a diverse workforce to address the needs of Savills’ clients?

This couldn’t be a more important topic to me. In order to develop the most creative and considered services and solutions for our clients, it is critical that we bring unique cultures, characteristics, thoughts and experiences to the proverbial table. This industry has been lagging a bit in terms of a more diverse workforce – an area where Savills has made some notable advancements. As our region and our clients have become more diverse, Savills is making a more explicit effort to recruit, retain and promote more diverse talent, in addition to ensuring that we foster an equitable and inclusive environment throughout the firm.

In 2020, we will have the first class of our new junior onboarding program. Understanding that finances are among the biggest inhibitors of adding diverse talent, the positions within the program will be salary positions. The commitment is that this class will not be less than 50 percent diverse. We’ve also formed an internal group, Building Inclusion and Diversity, to cultivate strong culture, attract and grow talent, and advance underrepresented populations internally and externally. Additionally, our CEO and our president for North America signed the CEO Action diversity pledge. Started

by PwC, this is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace.

What advice do you offer young people interested in building a career in the real estate industry?

I would say don’t be afraid to reach out to some of the industry leaders. They’re more accessible than you might believe them to be.

We all know how hard it was to get to where we are and there is a lot to learn from where we’ve been. We can help someone create a pathway to success probably quicker than they can do on their own. You should not be afraid to lean on those of us that have, to some extent, made it in the industry.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

A Focus on Jewelry An Interview with Michaela Kesselman, Assistant Manager and Jewelry Director, WEMPE Jewelers, New York EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to joining WEMPE in 2000, Michaela Kesselman’s work experience included being one of Cartier’s premier jewelry sales specialists in Munich, Germany. She is a graduate Gemologist and Diamond Grader from the renowned Gemological Institute in Idar-Oberstein, Germany.

the exclusive jewelry sponsor of the New York Botanical Garden’s Winter Wonderland Ball.

Will you provide an overview of the range of WEMPE’s jewelry offering and the jewelry designers that WEMPE features?

Our jewelry selection covers earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces and our price point starts just under $1,000 and has no limit in the high COMPANY BRIEF Since 1878, jewelry collection. We also offer men’s Michaela Kesselman WEMPE (wempe.com) has curated cufflinks and besides our BY KIM colexquisite timepieces and jewelry. lection, we also feature jewelry by With 35 stores in seven countries and aboard the Chopard, Wellendorff, Messika, JB Star, Takat cruise ships MS Europa and MS Europa II, and and Serafino Consoli. headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, WEMPE is a leader in the luxury retail arena. WEMPE’s flagship store is located on the iconic corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in New York City, offering featured boutiques for Rolex and Patek Philippe, along with an unrivalled selection of the most prestigious watch brands and fine jewelry, including the brand’s own.

WEMPE is known for its leadership in the watch category. Is the strength of WEMPE in regard to its jewelry offerings well-understood?

WEMPE has built its stellar reputation mainly with its timepieces and impeccable customer service. With our major expansion in the Fall of 2016, we were able to devote the necessary space and create a more luxurious environment for our jewelry customers which had an immediate and significant impact.

The new store stretches over half-acity block allowing us to dedicate the two large entrance display windows exclusively to jewelry. Our advertising and PR is increasingly focusing on jewelry and we just became WEMPE places a major focus around customer service and has its own in-house customer service operation. How critical has this been for WEMPE’s jewelry business?

Customer service has always been our main focus and offering peace of mind is a major part of the WEMPE philosophy. Our jewelers are absolute reliable and efficient. We provide first class service not only during the selection process, but for years after. Our clients know that we are there for them, whether they come in for a new purchase or to create something 86 LEADERS

A WEMPE-CUT diamond ring (left) and pieces from the Sensual Cocoon BY KIM collection

bespoke or to just get their diamond settings tightened, steam cleaned or polished while enjoying an espresso or glass of champagne.

The BY KIM line is designed to outlast short-lived trends and stay relevant over time. Will you highlight the BY KIM designs?

Kim-Eva Wempe works closely with our creative director, Catherine Plouchard, to develop new lines every year and all creations are personally approved by Kim-Eva Wempe before being introduced into the collection. The designs are innovative, yet classic and timeless, and the technical mastery is unparalleled. The goal is to create jewelry symbolizing elegance and strength.

What has made WEMPE so special for you as you approach your 20th year with the company?

I started in 2000 which was an exciting year.

This is when Kim-Eva Wempe first decided to produce her own jewelry and created our own brand, the BY KIM line. I have been fortunate to be given the opportunity to build, shape and curate the jewelry collection for the New York flagship store, frequently visiting our century-old, yet state-of-the art atelier in Germany and attending international jewelry shows, spotting trends and building close relationships. In 2020, we are going to celebrate the 20th anniversary with some unique highlights for this special anniversary. The BY KIM line is entirely manufactured in Germany and exclusively available at WEMPE stores and soon online at wempe.com.

What ar e your key priorities for WEMPE’s jewelry business as you look to the future?

We are focusing on the bridal and high jewelry lines which is very important to us. We want to start our relationship when our clients make one of the most important decisions in their lives – getting engaged. A relaxed consultation educating the client of all available options is often the basis for a lifelong client relationship. WEMPE has even developed its very own exclusive diamond cut, the WEMPECUT™, introduced in 2015. The round stone features 137 facets, 80 more than a traditional brilliant-cut diamond, reflecting light with absolute perfection and unparalleled brilliance.

Being part of a family-owned company with uncompromising values and direct lines of communication has and continues to be an inspiring journey for me.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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Protecting the Future of Nature An Interview with Ginette Hemley, Senior Vice President, Wildlife Conservation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

African Elephant in the Maasai Mara National Reserve captured by WWF-U.K. Ambassador and photographer Conor McDonnell while visiting Kenya with the Our Planet team and WWF Kenya in October 2018.

EDITORS’ NOTE Ginette Hemley There was a massive problem oversees WWF’s programs to secure with poaching and over-hunting so a future in the wild for the world’s that was the initial focus of the organimost endangered and iconic spezation. Our first international campaign cies. An authority on endangered was to save the black rhino, whose species and conservation polnumbers were plummeting. Ninetyicy, Hemley has developed and five percent of black rhinos were lost launched global recovery strategies in Africa in 20 years. While we initially for critically endangered species focused on individual species, as the and has engaged key constituencies science evolved to help us understand in unique partnerships to secure how nature was interconnected, we long-term solutions, from local realized we had to consider whole Ginette Hemley community groups to national polecosystems if we were going to save icy makers to multinational companature. We had to go bigger. We had nies. She previously served as WWF’s Senior Vice to work at a scale that mattered and we also had President for Strategy & Science, as Managing to integrate our goals with development goals Vice President for Conservation, and as Director because it was often the case that the people of TRAFFIC. A wildlife ecologist with over 30 living closest to nature in some of these faryears of international conservation experi- flung places were facing high-levels of poverty, ence, Hemley received a B.S. in biology from but also happened to be the most important the College of William & Mary, studied history stewards of nature and wildlife. We now focus and philosophy at Oxford University, and is an on an integrated approach to conservation, ELIAS Fellow with the Massachusetts Institute of looking at how people and nature interact and Technology. the importance of ensuring that both people and nature thrive.

ORGANIZATION BRIEF For nearly 60 years, What are the biggest threats to wildlife WWF (worldwildlife.org) has been protecting the today? future of nature. The world’s leading conservaWildlife faces two big threats today. The tion organization, WWF works in 100 coun- most immediate one is the illegal wildlife trade, tries and is supported by more than one million and the other one is habitat loss. The illegal members in the United States and close to five wildlife trade has exploded as a threat in the million globally. WWF’s unique way of working last decade and is largely driven by growing combines global reach with a foundation in sci- demand, as you would expect, but is also facilience, involves action at every level from local tated by organized criminal networks. In places to global, and ensures the delivery of innova- like Asia, where the middle class in China and tive solutions that meet the needs of both people Southeast Asian countries has grown, products and nature. that were once not so affordable have become widely affordable, such as ivory which comes Will you highlight the history and heri- from elephants. tage of WWF and how the organization has This has led to a poaching crisis in Africa. evolved?

For example, until four or five years ago, as WWF was founded in 1961 as an organi- much as 10 percent of Africa’s elephants were zation dedicated initially to saving endangered lost each year to poaching for the illegal ivory species at a time when wild species and wild trade. It is under better control now, in part places were coming into the public eye as some- because we have engaged with some of the thing we needed to protect. Our evolution as an largest e-commerce companies in the world organization in many ways tracked the growth whose platforms have become major marketof the modern environmental movement. Many places for illegal wildlife products. As with conservation groups sprung up around that time everything, wildlife products have increasand we chose to focus internationally because ingly gone online. we saw that the rate of environmental change in A few years ago, we began working with Africa, Asia and Latin America was really accel- the biggest companies in the e-commerce secerating, particularly on the wildlife front, and tor, including Google and eBay and Microsoft, few organizations were addressing it. and the e-commerce giants in China, Alibaba 88 LEADERS

and Taobao, who have come together to commit to reducing the illegal online wildlife trade by 80 percent by the end of 2020. This has been a critical effort to get after one of the most important outlets for wildlife trafficking today.

Another area where technology is helping to accelerate conservation is with onthe-ground anti-poaching efforts. We have a great partnership with the company FLIR, one of the leading makers of sophisticated thermal imaging infrared cameras that detect heat over relatively long ranges. This provides park rangers the ability to detect intruders coming into conservation areas that may be intending to poach. By setting up enhanced surveillance systems with this equipment around the perimeter of parks or wildlife reserves, rangers are better able to quickly detect and take action against potential poachers.

We are involved in an effort right now to scale up the use of those cameras in Kenya to help secure the rhino population across the country over the next few years and we are very excited about bringing the new technologies with FLIR and other partners into our conservation work.

To address the huge challenge of habitat loss, we work on several levels. Globally, we tackle the major forces behind it, such as agricultural and infrastructure development, by promoting better policies and practices within government institutions and companies. On the ground the formula for saving endangered species is really quite simple in principle. We need to secure critical habitat. We need to ensure that wildlife has enough to eat and is protected from poaching. And importantly, we need to ensure that the people living closest to wildlife have a stake in conservation.

To do this, we help governments around the world strengthen their systems of protected areas, like the wonderful national parks we have in the United States, including ensuring that local communities benefit from those protected areas through ecotourism, park employment or other economic opportunities. We have wonderful examples of where the formula is working – we are today seeing the recovery of endangered tigers in India and Nepal, and of elephants and rhinos in Namibia – with benefits to communities growing. That is a formula for success.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Operation Graduation An Interview with Dr. Margaret M. McMenamin, President, Union County College EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Mar gar et The college regarded itself as one of McMenamin was appointed to her the best community colleges in the current position in July 2010. She country. However, since our graduabegan teaching as an instructor at tion rates didn’t show that, I knew we Lehigh Carbon Community College had to make massive changes. in Pennsylvania in 1984. She rose Will you highlight the steps to full professor, Dean of Faculty, you took to change the course for and Vice President of Academic and Union County College?

Student Affairs at Lehigh Carbon.

I started by refocusing the entire In 2005, Dr. McMenamin was institution on our mission of educating named Executive Vice President of students. I figured that was common Educational Services at Brookdale ground that everybody – administrators Community College in New Jersey. Margaret M. McMenamin and faculty – could agree on.

From November 2009 to April 2010, We implemented a program called she served as Acting President of Brookdale. Dr. Operation Graduation. It was a whole new McMenamin is a Commissioner and Chair of approach to student advising. It was data driven. the Middle States Commission on Higher I didn’t want to hear anecdotes about how Education. She has served as an adjunct professor one student’s life was changed. We needed an at Rowan University and is currently a member of approach that we could take to scale, one based the American Association of Community Colleges’ on research, best practices, and data. I wanted Presidents’ Academy Executive Committee, the to focus on the numbers. The numbers don’t lie.

International Commission for the Hispanic Instead of a sink or swim approach, we Association of Colleges and Universities, and engaged in what’s called “intrusive interventhe National Junior College Athletic Association tion.” We paid attention to our students in a way Executive Committee. Dr. McMenamin attended that was unprecedented. We were proactive Temple University and graduated cum laude. She and didn’t wait for a student to ask for help. We earned a masters from the University of Scranton tracked our students. When they missed class or and a doctorate in educational leadership from struggled with a test, our advising team contacted Lehigh University. the student and got them the help they needed.

We said to our students, “you didn’t go to class.

INSTITUTION BRIEF Union County College What’s going on? You had trouble on your test, (ucc.edu) is an open-access public comprehen- let’s get you some tutoring.” If necessary, we sive community college. The college operates cam- walked them to the tutoring center. puses in Cranford, Elizabeth, Plainfield, and The result? Graduation rates nearly doubled.

Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Union County College For the first time in over 20 years, we were in enrolls almost 20,000 credit and non-credit students. double digits. We were cautiously optimistic, but Union County College educates many undergradu- not convinced that it was real. Over the next year ate allied healthcare professionals in New Jersey. we expanded Operation Graduation and saw another dramatic jump in graduation rates. At What excited you about leading Union that point we knew we had something special.

County College and what were your prioriWhat was happening with Operation ties for the College?

Graduation was revolutionary. There was one I was excited about leading the oldest two- problem, however. When we peeled the onion, year college in New Jersey and helping our stu- we discovered something troubling. The graduadents achieve their dreams. But when I arrived in tion rates for most of our students went up, with July 2010, I realized that the college was under- the exception of our black male students. Their performing in important metrics that mattered, rates essentially did not move. We had a signifinot only to students and their families, but also, cant achievement gap. frankly, to the country. I’m talking about graduNothing we were doing – none of our interation rates and promoting economic mobility for vention strategies – had an impact on our black our students. men. Some would have accepted the outcome My priority became improving our student and moved on. At Union County College, we success outcomes. We had to set the institution call that “the soft bigotry of lowered expectaon a new course – a student-centered course. tions.” We reevaluated what we were doing VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Union County College students are transforming their futures and their community as they target graduation.

and why it wasn’t working with these students.

We discovered that while many of our students were close to graduation and needed just a little help, most of our black male students had not earned enough credits to be close to graduation.

Evidently, we had allowed them to meander around the curriculum without direction. It was outrageous, and we knew we had to find a solution. That’s when Project Achievement was born.

We engaged the community. I went to African American leaders on our board and said, “Here are the numbers. This is eventually going to be on the front page of the Star Ledger. Is this something that you want to help us do anything about or should we just say this is the best these young men can do?”

They shared my outrage and generously said, “What can we do to help? How can we help you?” They connected us to other successful African American leaders in the community, including the Omega men. These professionals met with our Project Achievement students.

Whether it was a state police major telling them how to handle themselves when they get pulled over, or a Fortune 500 company executive talking about how he moved up – it resonated with our students. You could see the spark in our students’ eyes – something clicked.

We restructured our interventions to address the unique challenges faced by these students.

We reassigned advisors to work exclusively helping them. We paid attention to them in an exceptional way and it worked.

Our graduation rates for black males doubled in the first year of Project Achievement and has now quadrupled.

What is the ultimate goal and how do you define success?

Our ultimate goal is economic mobility for our students. If anybody tells you any different, it’s baloney. It’s great to memorize the prologue to The Canterbury Tales, and to master quadratic equations, but for college students today, it’s about economic mobility and access to the American dream. We have our sights set on achieving a 50 percent graduation rate and eliminating the achievement gap.

Success? I believe we have succeeded when everyone who is willing to work for it has an opportunity to go to college and achieve their dreams. College changed my life and I want to do that for our students. This is their best shot – their big opportunity. Success is getting our students across the finish line.

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Cultivating Toscana Diversity An Interview with Livia le Divelec, Brand Ambassador and Winemaker, Frescobaldi Toscana

The Piero Sartogo designed wine cellar at Tenuta Ammiraglia in Magliano, Toscana (left); the aging room at Castello Pomino in Pomino, Tuscany (above)

Livia le Divelec with a bottle of Alìe wine

EDITORS’ NOTE Livia le Divelec has been a winemaker for Frescobaldi Toscana since September 2014 and its Brand Ambassador since January 2017. Previously, she was the wine department coordinator at Florence University of the Arts.

She holds a degree in viticulture and enology from the University of Florence.

COMPANY BRIEF The Frescobaldi family has a 700-year-old history of making wine in Tuscany.

Frescobaldi Toscana’s (en.frescobaldi.com) vision is to be the reference producer of Tuscan fine wines and exclusively dedicated to exalt the diversity of its terroirs. Frescobaldi produces wine at its seven estates in Tuscany – Tenuta Perano, Castello Nipozzano, Tenuta CastelGiocondo, Tenuta Castiglioni, Castello Pomino, Tenuta Ammiraglia, and Rèmole – and distributes it to discerning customers worldwide.

Will you highlight the history and heritage of Frescobaldi Toscana and how the business has evolved?

The Frescobaldi family has a long history in Tuscany. In the medieval era, they started in the very center part of Tuscany, in the Appalachian currently called Chianti Montespertoli. They first started wine production at Tenuta Castiglioni 700 years ago. Later on, they spread to the Northern part of Tuscany and then also to Montalcino.

They then moved toward the sea with Tenuta Ammiraglia, where we are producing the Alìe wine. Finally, last October, we entered the Chianti Classico area, which is very important.

We are involved in important work in Tuscany and one of our focuses is to build value 90 LEADERS

at every single estate. Each estate has its own team of experts and its own cellar where we process grapes. This is part of a long tradition but, of course, we are becoming even more contemporary year after year. While it’s important to remain loyal to tradition, we also have to look beyond our current horizons. Alìe is an example of this philosophy.

Does Frescobaldi Toscana distribute its wines globally or is it customized based on the brand?

We have a general focus, but also try to personalize it for the culture that exists in each country where we may face different types of approaches to wine. With seven estates in Tuscany, our production is substantial. We have many wines within our portfolio, although they of course do not all have the same importance, but we still try to export from each estate to markets all over the world.

Is technology impacting the wine-making process or is it still about handcraftsmanship?

We are focused on technology. The secret of our production is that we can really mesh our traditional methods and our technology knowledge. For our historical wines, we perhaps concentrate more on tradition, but there are other wines for which we have to understand the latest technology and apply it to our production.

We pay close attention to the vineyards 365 days a year and there is a lot of technical knowledge being applied there that is making the difference in terms of taste. For example, producing a red wine is probably easier than producing a white wine or a rosé wine where more attention must be paid to the details. With red wine, we use the skins which have natural antioxidants. When we are producing a rosé or a white wine, you are immediately separating out the skins.

Therefore, technology is important in the production process, however the human factor remains equally as important. As winemakers, we have to evaluate which techniques to use or not to

use for a particular sort of terroir because, in the end, it is the wine that will be telling the story and sharing the culture of that specific piece of land.

Given all of the variations in regard to climate and the terroir, are you able to accurately predict how a new release will turn out or are you still surprised at the end of the process?

We have to be able to read the harvest in advance because we get totally different climatic conditions every single year. What makes the difference is checking your vineyards and your single vines day after day. We actually run in between the wires checking our grapes and our production. If we work this way, we can produce quality grapes and quality wine can be extracted and processed in the cellar.

Will you discuss Frescobaldi’s commitment to the environment and sustainability and how important this is to the company?

For us, it’s a state of mind. It’s an ethic of production. In the last year, for example, we were introducing ancient techniques, but in a more modern way such as the sowing of essences in the soil. That way we can better control the natural fertility of the soil and porosity. All of these were really ancient agricultural techniques that we reintroduced into our philosophy and our mentality. We are working to control nature in the most natural way possible.

Was wine making something that you knew at a young age you wanted to do?

My father was a wine producer and I am the youngest in my family and I was the only one who decided to follow in the agricultural aspects.

I fell in love with this when I was a child because I was curious about what was happening. Every winter the leaves fall off, but what is happening in the tree? What about the leaf? Why in springtime, when the temperatures are rising up, does life start again? I was very curious about it.

What makes Frescobaldi such a special company for you?

They are in love with what they do and they transmit this to everyone around them. This motivates you to do your best. Since it’s an important brand and really well-known worldwide, I have the chance to meet different people in the wine business and better understand the culture of wine all over the world, which is really interesting.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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ILLINOIS

Moving Illinois in the Right Direction The Hon. JB Pritzker

An Interview with The Honorable JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois

E D I T O R S ’ N O T E G o v e r n o r J B Pritzker was sworn in as the 43rd governor of the State of Illinois on January 14, 2019. During his first session, the governor passed a balanced budget with a bipartisan majority, making historic investments in education and human services, while restoring fiscal stability to Illinois. The governor also won bipartisan passage for legalization of adult-use recreational cannabis and for Rebuild Illinois, the largest investment in state history to upgrade roads, bridges, rail, broadband, and universities in every corner of the state. The governor enacted policies to support job creation, raised the minimum wage to a living wage, made college mor e affordable for nearly 10,000 additional students, and advanced equal pay for women. A national leader in early childhood education for over 20 years and having organized President Obama’s White House Summit on Early Childhood Education, Governor Pritzker this year made childcare and preschool more affordable in Illinois for tens of thousands more families.

He also partnered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Share our Strength to fight child poverty by expanding school breakfast programs in low income school districts across the state. Before becoming governor, Pritzker founded 1871, the non-profit

small business incubator in Chicago that has helped entr ep r e n e u r s c r e a t e mor e than 11,000 jobs a n d mor e than 1,000 new companies. As governor, he has expanded support for new business incubators and cut taxes for hundr eds of thousands of small businesses while incentivizing job cr eation and innovation. He also extended r esear ch and development tax credits to help manufacturing workers and businesses thrive, and he worked with the business community to create apprenticeship tax cr edits to pr omote job In Springfield, Governor Pritzker signs legislation raising the minimum wage training. The descendant to $15 an hour with hundreds of workers on February 19, 2019.

All in all, 1.4 million Illinoisans will get a raise. of r efugees, Gover nor Pritzker believes the state and the nation should welcome and protect which it can at times, but it requires nurturing. its immigrant families and that we must fight We have been challenged from a social service against the wave of intolerance that has risen perspective in Illinois because we went more in recent years. Before becoming governor, than two years without a budget from 2015 he led the creation of the Illinois Holocaust through 2017. As a result, many of our social Museum and Education service agencies that deliver the basic services Center. As governor, he that the state pays for were independent orgahas built the most diverse nizations and closed shop. The result is that the cabinet and governor’s services that those delivered were just gone for office in Illinois history. many families, and particularly for those most in need of the support that state government When you took office, a can offer. priority for your adminWhen I came into office, I was facing not istration was to bring only a structural deficit of more than $2 billion fiscal r esponsibility annually, but also a bill backlog of approxiand a balanced budget mately $15 billion which was all as a result of to Illinois. Will you dis- the two-year budget impasse. On top of that, cuss your efforts in this we had a social service sector that was holregard? lowed out and so the challenge was daunting.

There are three things However, my belief is that if you provide the that it takes to balance right support for families, provide great educathe budget – managing tion, and nurture the job creation environment, your expenses, managing that those three things together put more peoyour revenues, and grow- ple to work and help grow the economy. ing jobs in the economy.

What efforts are being made to improve I have found that people Illinois’ education system? often ignore the last one In regard to education, everything about Governor Pritzker signs a bipartisan balanced budget that begins to pay down debts from the prior administration, makes historic investments in education and secures innovative tax credits and think that job growth the education system I would describe as kind for apprenticeships, film production, and research and development. just happens by itself, of an escalator that all of our children get onto.

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You want them to be able to ride that escalator all the way through college, if possible, and maybe through graduate school. However, we have to keep that escalator working so it can continue to lift them up along the way. We’ve got to start them at the bottom at the very earliest moments, so we need to begin at birth and look at what happens between birth and when they show up at kindergarten.

I wrote a short book with the Bridgespan organization called Achieving Kindergarten Readiness. It is about much of what I have worked on around early childhood, which focuses on all of the pieces of what should happen for a child between birth and age five. This includes supporting parents because parents are the first and best teachers a child has.

This includes providing home visitation to support parents and children at the youngest ages. We need to support childcare which is a huge expense for many families. We want to make sure that parents have the ability to either get a break from their children or be able to go to work if they want to. We need to support them with childcare assistance, which I provided for in my budget. We expanded childcare assistance and eligibility for more than 10,000 additional children in Illinois.

We need to focus on preschool, which is a hugely important element of education that has often been overlooked but is now getting real attention. I think it gets the most attention out of all these early childhood areas because preschool looks the most like kindergarten so it’s the easiest thing for policymakers to understand.

In all of those age zero to five areas, I have tried to move Illinois in the right direction. I happen to think that if you start children off well, and all the evidence supports this, if you nurture their brain development, most of which is occurring in those earliest years before they even show up at school, then they show up for kindergarten ready. If they show up for

kindergarten ready, it is the best way for a child to launch into the formal institutional education system and it also is the best way to save taxpayers money in the education system.

If kids show up for kindergarten ready, they’re also much more likely to graduate from high school, to go to college, and to get a job.

Will you discuss your initiatives around job creation and providing the skills needed for the jobs of the future?

I don’t know whether it shows up in my bio the way that it should, Governor Pritzker greets preschool students in Chicago on March 22, 2019.

The FY20 state budget included the biggest investment ever in Illinois but my career has for into early childhood programs and facilities. the most part been in the technology sector. I recognize how important it is that we pre- isn’t delivering infrastructure funding, but we pare our young people for a career in high- just can’t wait. We now have the dollars in our technology industries that require a high-level capital bill to match a federal program if it gets of skills. This is why I have shifted our passed. In the meantime, we have to upgrade workforce development dollars in the state our roads and bridges, our rail infrastructure, to the fastest growing industries, so that jobs mass transit, and waterways. We just have too will be available in the future for those who much to do in our state to let it continue to are currently learning the skills necessary to crumble. do those jobs. I founded what is considered How valuable is your business experithe world’s best technology business incuba- ence and expertise in your role as governor? tor here in Chicago called 1871. I recognize I would first say that you can’t run govhow important it is to prepare people for the ernment like a business. However, many of jobs of the future and to grow those jobs. We the skills that one learns running businesses want Illinois to be a hub for innovation and are useful in government. For example, the the place for the jobs that will come with the ability to negotiate and to understand what evolution of our world economy. the other side of a negotiation wants and How critical has infrastructure invest- needs. Another thing you learn in business ment been for your administration? is that talent matters. The quality of the talIllinois is the supply chain hub of the ent that you bring into your business is often nation. We have the best determinative of whether your business will transportation infrastruc- be successful. I have really taken that to heart ture with almost every in the hiring for my administration. major railroad intersecting Your administration has made great here in Illinois. We have a strides in addressing the needs of Illinois massive highway system since you assumed office. Are you able to which supports logistic enjoy the process and celebrate the wins? opportunities. Our transYes, briefly. I think that’s the right way portation logistics and dis- to say it. I’m proud of what we have achieved tribution industry is a fast and I do stop and smell the roses briefly, but growing one which is why we still have so much to do. We have so it is very important for us much to accomplish ahead of us. We have to invest in transportation to keep this ship turning in the right direcinfrastructure. That is why, tion and then moving it forward in the right after more than 10 years direction. without an infrastructure I would tell your readers, who are business investment bill in Illinois, leaders, that Illinois is open for business. We we passed the largest have the best, most talented, dedicated workinfrastructure investment force in the nation. We have an advantageous program in state history, corporate tax system. We have a businessa $45 billion capital pro- friendly environment that is only improving, gram. The federal govern- and we are stabilizing our state’s fiscal situation In front of the I-80 bridge in Joliet that will be completely rebuilt by 2025, Governor Pritzker ment is not functioning so that we’ll be able to attract even more busicelebrates the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital plan, the largest infrastructure investment in Illinois history which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. the way that it should and nesses and jobs to the state going forward.

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LEADERS 93

ILLINOIS

Chicago’s Strengths An Interview with Jerry M. Reinsdorf, Owner, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls

(left to right) George McCaskey of the Chicago Bears, Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, Tom Ricketts of the Chicago Cubs, Michael Reinsdorf of the Chicago Bulls and Rocky Wirtz of the Chicago Blackhawks, stand together as part of the Chicago Sports Alliance, a collaboration of Chicago’s five championship sports teams to seek innovative solutions to gun violence in the city.

EDITORS’ NOTE Jerry Reinsdorf is a CPA and a lawyer. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. As the Owner and Chairman of the Chicago Bulls since 1985, he has turned the franchise into a successful business that won six NBA Championships in the 1990s. Since the early 1990s, he has been considered one of the most influential basketball owners. As a baseball owner since 1981, the Chicago White Sox won a World Series in 2005.

In April of 2016, Reinsdorf was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

What do you see as the strengths of Illinois from a business standpoint?

The strengths of Illinois are a central geographic location in this nation, easy transportation access, a great and vibrant city in Chicago, an established productive statewide business community, a diverse skilled workforce, worldclass hospitals, medical centers and academic institutions that are second to none. And I probably should say something about our professional sports franchises and fan-focused facilities. We have five teams in the four major sports leagues.

What do you tell young people about pursuing a career and living in Chicago and the type of lifestyle that the city offers?

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Everyone who lives in Chicago will tell you with great pride that our city is among the greatest in the world, and I truly believe that as well, especially in the summer. Chicago is such a livable city for its very diverse citizens, with easy access to mass transportation, biking options, an amazing urban lakefront setting, and so much more. People don’t have to work in the city and then commute out to their homes at night. Neighborhood after neighborhood of this city thrives at night, with fantastic restaurants, art museums, music and theatre, sports and more.

I have been fortunate to watch this city constantly reinvent itself over the decades as areas of Chicago boom overnight. For example, the West Loop area near the United Center is now filled with around 20 Michelin-starred restaurants, accessible housing and offices for major companies like Google and McDonalds. Based on the young people I see about the city each day, the average age of Chicago is only growing younger and younger and the city more and more vibrant.

The future is certainly very bright.

You commit a great deal of your time and resources to philanthropy. What makes philanthropy so important to you and how do you decide which areas to support?

Cities, communities and fan bases give so much to their sports teams. In the snow and

rain, loyal fans will brave the elements to give their heart and support for their teams. It only makes sense that we return the support with the incredible platform we hold. The philanthropic arm of the White Sox – Chicago White Sox Charities – began with the simple purpose to help support the fight against pediatric cancer, and has grown into a vibrant organization, uniting our fans, clubhouse and front office to help make Chicago a better place to live, work and play. White Sox Charities and Chicago Bulls Charities contribute millions of dollars annually to support efforts impacting children and families in crisis, youth health and wellness, youth education as well as our founding pillar of pediatric cancer and treatment. In addition, both teams provide other charitable organizations with thousands of autographed items and tickets which they are able to turn into hundreds of thousands of dollars via auction sales.

I truly believe that as professional sports organizations, we have a responsibility to do all within our means to better our home here in Chicago.

It might mean a simple visit to the hospital to help lift the spirit of a patient and family, or a collaboration with our fellow sports franchises to seek and support evidence-based solutions to gun violence as we’ve seen through our involvement in the Chicago Sports Alliance in which all five major teams have partnered.

What are the keys to effective philanthropy and are the skills needed to be successful in business the same skills needed for effective philanthropy?

As an organization, you have to understand your limitations. There is so much need in our world today, and we cannot be all things to everyone all the time. We have an obligation to our fans, who entrust their support and loyalty, to be responsible stewards of their generous support. Focus is a critical element to an efficient and effective philanthropic organization.

You have to understand where your contributions can make the most impact and adhere to the strategies that help achieve that impact. I apply the same philosophy to all areas of the organization – hire great people and trust them to do their jobs. I feel strongly that this mindset applies both to business and philanthropic organizations. Through the vision and leadership of our community relations and charitable teams, we are able to tout an impressive stat – more than 96 cents of every dollar donated to White Sox Charities and Chicago Bulls Charities is given VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

For the past seven years, the Bulls have worked with Youth Guidance and its Becoming a Man (BAM) program. Since 2015, the Bulls have hosted four basketball tournaments at the Advocate Center each season for BAM participants and Chicago Police officers.

For each tournament, 40 BAM youth take the court to play basketball alongside 10 CPD officers and participate in impactful community discussions to encourage mutual respect, understanding and trust between the two groups.

back to the community. It’s the faith and generosity of our fans and partners that enable us to give back to the Chicagoland community, and it is certainly not something we will ever take for granted.

With the popularity that the Bulls and White Sox have in Chicago, how important is it for the teams to be engaged in the community?

Sports is woven into the fabric and identity of Chicago. The Bulls and White Sox are lucky enough to be a part of this great city. As I stated earlier, we absolutely have a responsibility to give back to the Chicagoland community for all they have given to us. Gratitude and good karma aside, it’s just plain and simple good business.

Consumers expect and rally behind brands and products that have shown they are committed to making a positive impact on the larger community. The same can be applied to sustaining a productive employee base, who often are seeking ways to give back. Sports teams can write checks and provide in-kind contributions to support worthy causes, but in the end, we must remember that we are all people. Regardless of the jersey you wear, we share the same challenges, celebrate victories, mourn the losses and experience the same emotions. We share the same human experience together.

With the many challenges that the country faces and the deep divisions within the country, do you see sports as a unifier and a way to bring people together?

Among the many positive influences amateur and professional sports has in this country, I absolutely see the power of games to unify us. When fans stand together to cheer VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

for a great play, for their favorite players or their favorite team, no one cares whether they are Republicans or Democrats. You are simply fans sharing a love for a team with other like-minded fans. It’s about community. It’s about celebrating together. It’s about sharing an emotional connection that can get passed down through generations.

When hiring talent, whether it be management, coaches or players, is character and personality as important as talent and experience?

Ultimately, I strongly believe it is always about the team. Whether you are talking about management, coaches or players, it is about finding people who are committed to subjugating their own egos and goals at times in favor of the success of the team. The very best cases are when your most talented and experienced individuals share this same commitment to the success of the whole – I immediately think of Hall of Fame athletes like Michael Jordan in basketball or Harold Baines in baseball. They understood what it takes to win, and winning only happens when talented individuals coalesce about a single objective and are willing to do anything, to give anything – even if it means sacrificing their own interests – so that the team wins. When that happens, it is magical, whether in sports or business.

With all that you have accomplished, do you think about slowing down?

Ha! When you are enjoying what you do as much as I do, you are not working a job. When I was a child sleeping on a cot in the hallway of my family’s Brooklyn apartment, I could never have imagined competing for the chance to win NBA championships and World Series titles for a living. I could hardly imagine owning a car. Now, I get the thrill of coming to a ballpark or basketball arena each day for “work.” My work truly does keep me young. In the sports world, you never know on any given day what might come across your desk, over your phone or on the latest social media platform.

It is challenging, exciting and ever-changing. My mother always used to tell me that it’s OK to grow old, but never grow up. I certainly try to live by that well-tried maxim each and every day.

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White Sox players and coaches high-five Alex Estrada as he rounds the bases during the “Home Run for Life” experience on Childhood Cancer Awareness Day at the ballpark. The team surprised the seven-year-old battling a rare form of cancer, called neuroblastoma, with an unforgettable day at the ballpark.

LEADERS 95

"We are the most respected framing company for good reasons" - Eli Wilner

Eli Wilner & Co. created the 12 ft x 21ft replica frame (above) for Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware, which dominates the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing.

For over 40 years I have been creating frames for the world’s finest art collections.

I understand that one of the most important commodities you have is your time and the last thing you want to do is waste it.

That is why the level of service and skill that would be extraordinary for most is standard at Eli Wilner. I understand that you want your art framed beautifully, created with extraordinary skill, delivered on time and installed professionally. The first time!

The number of times that I have been called in to repair others’ work is shocking. Who has the time to do things twice?

When asked what separates us from other firms I offer the following: • I personally oversee each frame choice as it relates to scale, period correctness and aesthetics.

• We are obsessed with providing perfection for each framing project.

• We employ the finest carvers, gilders and finishers in the world.

• We include a Lifetime Quality Guarantee.

• We have been the framers for the Metropolitan Museum, the Smithsonian, the White House, Sotheby's and Christie's since 1983.

• We are the recommended frame restorers by Chubb and AXA art insurance companies.

• We offer incredible white glove service that is flawless and unmatched by any profession.

• We respect your desire for confidentiality and go to great lengths to insure your privacy. Historically we have used pseudonyms for our clients.

• There are no extra charges: Included are preliminary drawings, mockups, travel time, fitting, a photographic record of the work process, crating and shipping.

• We provide a guaranteed delivery date (often impossible for anyone else to meet) or the entire project is free.

I look forward to speaking with you about your next project.

I promise not to waste your time!

1525 York Avenue, New York, NY 10028 212-744-6521 | www.eliwilner.com | info@eliwilner.com Antique Frames, Antique Frame Restoration, Antique Frame Replication

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

A Different Way to Win An Interview with Jim Rooney

Jim Rooney

EDITORS’ NOTE Jim Rooney, one of Dan and Patricia Rooney’s nine children, worked alongside his father for decades. Dan was one of the most-influential sports executives of his generation, the man who transformed the Pittsburgh Steelers into one of the National Football League’s great dynasties. Some of his most important achievements, however, took place off the field as he sought to bring about equity in the league’s hiring practices and peace in his ancestral Ireland. As a business leader, philanthropist, diplomat and the author of the Rooney Rule, Dan was known for his values, quiet strength, effectiveness, and willingness to talk to and hear from those who disagreed with him. Jim’s personal and professional view of his father’s career comes from having assisted his father with relationships at the State Department and the White House during Dan’s time as Ambassador to Ireland, and also being involved in the football enterprise and support of the Rooney Rule. In addition to being an author, Rooney is co-partner of Rooney Consulting, which assists organizations with enhancing culture, building strong teams and growing businesses. He also founded FirstLink Research and Analytics, a world leader in building business analysis for technology transition. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation of Pittsburgh, The American Ireland Funds and Gilmour Academy. Rooney holds an Organizational Consulting certificate from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Political Science and Communications from Boston College.

You recently published a new book, A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story From The Super Bowl to The Rooney Rule.

What interested you in writing the book?

I wanted to tell my father’s story. He had a lot of influence and he wasn’t afraid of his influence. He felt that accountability to others or the mission – not self-gratification – was the reason one would use that influence. That is the basis of how I relay his story. I lay the 98 LEADERS

book out into four main story lines: rebuilding the culture of the Steelers, his influence on the NFL, peace in Ireland and the Rooney Rule, which is his life’s work.

It’s a career playbook to inspire the next generation of leaders and centers around my father’s business values: consensus-building; diversity and inclusion; listening and respect; rigor; and focusing on the long game.

In regard to the Steelers, what were the keys to your father’s ability to transform the franchise and create success?

My father had an internal drive to always get things right, to always be organized, and to always have a plan. He went to business school and studied economics and finance.

He understood innovation. For example, the Steelers coach that he hired in the 1970s, Chuck Noll, was one of the most innovative guys in football. My father understood you always had to have the balance of stability and continuity, but that you can’t become stale. He was always trying to balance innovation with continuity.

Did your father focus as much on the type of character a Steelers player had as he did the talent?

Football is a team game and you need guys that can play on a team. We, like every team does, have run into that challenge where you fall in love with someone’s 40-yard dash time.

You fall in love with their tape. You find someone that’s so good on the field and then they can become a real challenge off the field. Those things in the long run, I think, are harder to clean up. I think they take more time.

The hard part is that intuitive notion of what that line is. These guys are young guys.

They have big egos. You want big personalities. You don’t want shrinking violets. The challenge is knowing who’s going to cross that line to a point where they’re detrimental to the locker room versus who has a strong personality. You’re always going to have to manage big personalities.

Your father was committed to philanthropy and supporting those in need.

Where did this passion develop?

I think this is somehow a part of everyone’s story. We all have some immigrant story. My father was born in the Depression.

He tells a story of looking out his window when he was eight years old, seeing my grandmother feeding neighbors who had come to the back door. She brought them

soup and bread. He saw that suffering and it certainly had an impact on him. I think he just felt an obligation to do it from a personal level. The Steelers had so many players that gave back to the community and supported worthy causes. Franco Harris is one of the most decent human beings I’ve ever met. Mel Blount spent his whole life helping youth with the Mel Blount Youth Home.

I think when you bring good people in, it’s not about instilling your values on them. It’s about creating the opportunities and as an organization allowing it to happen.

The book focuses on the Rooney Rule.

Will you elaborate on the Rooney Rule and the impact it has made?

Tony Dungy talks about the spirit of the Rooney Rule. What he means by that is that he saw my father with this total commitment to try to create fairness. From 1968 to 1976, the Steelers drafted more players from historically black colleges and universities than any other team. These players that were being excluded because of the schools they went to were contributing at an increased level.

My father was really the leader who brought that about. We brought in one of the first AfricanAmerican scouts, a man named Bill Nunn, and Bill was the scout that went to those schools.

The impact of the Rooney Rule is clear.

There were seven minority hires in the NFL between 1920 and 2003. Since then, with coaches and general managers, you have 30 hires. You have a 40 percent increase at the assistant coach level and those jobs don’t even require a Rooney Rule interview, but that’s what Tony Dungy was talking about when he referred to the spirit of the rule. The Rooney Rule now has extended into other industries, including tech and finance.

What was it like growing up in the Rooney family?

We are Irish. We had more than our share of fist fights. But in the end, we all knew we had each other’s back which is what I think was most important. I am very grateful. It was a special experience.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Brand, People, Global Footprint An Interview with Philip A. White, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s International Realty

Philip A. White, Jr.

EDITORS’ NOTE Philip White, a 39-year global real estate veteran, oversees Sotheby’s International Realty brand’s affiliate networks and company-owned brokerages. Under his leadership, the brand announced that its affiliated brokers and sales professionals achieved a record $112 billion in global sales volume in 2018, the highest annual sales volume performance in the history of the brand. In early 2019, White became President and Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc., taking on the responsibility of managing the brand’s company-owned brokerage business, in addition to his role as president and chief executive officer of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Since his appointment as CEO, he has cultivated the growth of the brand into 71 countries with nearly 1,000 offices and more than 23,000 sales associates.

COMPANY BRIEF Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC (sothebysrealty.com) was founded in 1976 as a real estate service for discerning clients of Sotheby’s auction house. Today, the company’s global footprint spans nearly 1,000 offices located in 71 countries and territories worldwide, including 44 company-owned brokerage offices in key metropolitan and resort markets.

In February 2004, Realogy, its parent company, entered into a long-term strategic alliance with Sotheby’s, the operator of the auction house. The agreement provided for the licensing of the Sotheby’s International Realty name and the development of a franchise system. The franchise system is comprised of an affiliate network where each office is independently owned and operated. Sotheby’s International Realty supports its affiliates and agents with a host of operational, marketing, recruiting, educational and business development resources. Affiliates and agents also benefit from an association with the venerable Sotheby’s auction house, established in 1744.

What have been the keys to the Sotheby’s International Realty brand’s success and industry leadership?

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The success of the Sotheby’s International Realty brand can be attributed to a number of key factors – a rich history, the best people in the industry, a global footprint and innovative technology. The brand’s history with the Sotheby’s auction house instills trust in the quality and legacy of the brand among both clients and agents.

We work with some of the best real estate professionals and sales associates in the business and we are the number-one brand represented in this year’s “The Thousand” rankings of top agents in America for exceptional sales achievements.

Another key difference is our global footprint.

The brand maintains a strong presence in 71 countries and territories around the globe, which isn’t something many real estate companies can claim.

We are a leader in innovation and continue to seek out exclusive opportunities where we are first to launch new initiatives. Whether it’s marketing or technology, we lead the industry.

The brand maintains a strong presence in 71 countries and territories around the globe.

Will you discuss the Sotheby’s International Realty brand’s commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workforce?

As a global brand, we are incredibly focused on diversity and inclusion. We participate in several trade associations which highlight the network’s robust diversity. For example, we maintain a brand presence at AREAA, which is the Asian Real Estate Association of America, and I have co-chaired one of their big events in the past. We have a great relationship with NAHREP, which is the National

Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.

We also have a member of our team who is on their board. This year, we sponsored the event for the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP), which was held in Palm Springs.

How critical is it for Sotheby’s International Realty to be engaged in the communities it serves?

We have a strong sense of social responsibility. We work with an organization called New Story, a non-profit which aims to transform dangerous living environments into communities of safe, sustainable homes. About a year and a half ago, our network raised more than a million dollars to build homes in El Salvador and Mexico.

This work resonates with us and we want to take some of the benefits that we’ve accrued at Sotheby’s International Realty and help people find shelter and a safe home to raise their families.

What are the characteristics that make a successful real estate broker and can you tell right away if someone is going to be successful in that role?

That’s a good question. I’d like to say I know immediately. I think their background helps me determine their likelihood of success. To be a good broker, it’s advantageous to come into the business with what we call a healthy sphere of influence. It helps to have a network and to get involved with the community you are serving. If you don’t already have a good network, you have to be very good at prospecting for business which takes a lot of discipline to continuously be on the phone connecting with people.

A successful real estate broker needs to be empathetic as well. They have to understand the emotional issues that people deal with in buying or selling a house because there are emotions involved. It is not just a calculated investment transaction like selling an office building, which is based on the numbers. It is more involved than that.

What do you enjoy most about the real estate industry?

I love the real estate business and I get my energy from real estate agents. I want to see them succeed. I think that’s helped me in my career because it’s not so much about me as it is about them. I’m proud to be surrounded by these inspired individuals that come up with creative solutions every day on behalf of the brand.

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INTERVIEW

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Interview

Multicultural Communications An Interview with Jorge A. Plasencia, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Republica Havas

Jorge A. Plasencia

EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to Republica Havas, Jorge Plasencia served as vice president and operating manager of Univision Radio, a network of 72 radio stations across the U.S. Earlier, he held the role of vice president of marketing, corporate communications, and public affairs. Before Univision, he was vice president of entertainment conglomerate Estefan Enterprises. In addition to leading marketing and communications, he was on the management team of several major artists including Gloria Estefan and Shakira. Plasencia was also the first director of Hispanic marketing for the Florida Marlins, and during his tenure the team won its first World Series Championship. A former board chair of UnidosUS, at age 17 he co-founded Amigos For Kids, a non-profit that advocates for child abuse prevention and assists underprivileged children and families in South Florida. Plasencia was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the advisory board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ OCB. He has been the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce CEO of the Year Award, HPRA Pioneer of the Year Award, and March of Dimes Humanitarian of the Year Award, among others.

COMPANY BRIEF Republica Havas (republica havas.com) is one of America’s most prominent creative, communications, and media agencies providing services to clients from an array of industries in the U.S. and around the world.

The agency provides integrated marketing services including strategy, creative, media planning and buying, analytics and consumer science, public relations, social, and experiential to numerous blue-chip clients including Walmart, Toyota, and Nielsen to name a few.

Founded in 2006 and based in Miami, Florida, Republica Havas is the lead U.S. multicultural agency partner of Paris-based Havas Group.

Havas is a division of Vivendi, a global content, media, and communications group with assets that include Universal Music Group, Canal+, Gameloft, and Dailymotion, among others.

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Will you discuss your vision for creating the company?

In 2006, I was an executive at Univision, working on the radio side of the business. At that time, Univision was the largest Hispanic media company in the country. I was doing well there when they announced that the company was going to be sold to a private equity firm that still owns it today.

Since I was a little boy, I always knew I was hard wired to be an entrepreneur. I was the kid with a lemonade stand outside of my house.

I remember thinking at that time that I needed to either invest in staying at Univision with the new ownership or venture and go on my own.

Our goal has always been to build enduring relationships between brands and people across a spectrum of cultures, traditions and languages.

My business partner, Luis Casamayor, and I were good friends and had been talking about doing something together. He had a creative shop called Cosmyk which was doing great work, but like me, he was also ready to make a change. At the time, the U.S. was undergoing a seismic multicultural and digital shift that most agencies weren’t addressing. With this in mind, we set out to build a new kind of agency that would speak to the ever-evolving consumer in the U.S. As the saying goes, opposites attract, and this couldn’t be truer for Luis and me. With our complementary backgrounds, we set out to build something special.

During this time, multiculturalism was starting to take off. In 1999, Ricky Martin performed on the Grammy Awards, which was a pinnacle moment in Latin culture in America, and then there was Shakira and Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. We felt it was time to create an agency that would not only address multicultural marketing, but would also just be a great mainstream agency. It didn’t matter if you were U.S.-born, Hispanic, African American, or Asian American. Our goal has always been to build enduring relationships between brands and people across a spectrum of cultures, traditions and languages.

What excited you about the opportunity to join Republica with Havas?

When Havas approached us, we weren’t looking to do a deal at the time, but Havas made sense because it’s such an entrepreneurial company. It’s very nimble. It’s not only big in the U.S., but also in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. We felt that with Havas, we would be able to take what we built and add firepower to it, and that’s what we’re doing.

What is the target market for Republica Havas?

If you look at our client roster, about half of our revenue is general market, and the other half is multicultural. For a number of clients, we do multicultural work targeting various segments, such as Hispanic, African American, and/or Asian American marketing. Our client portfolio really runs the gamut, including global agency of record assignments. We work with some of the largest, most well-known brands in the world, and we also work with entrepreneurial companies.

Do you take moments to reflect and appreciate what you have built?

I recently turned 45 years old, and it has been 13 years since we started the company.

I live with an attitude of gratitude. I wake up every morning, and I’m grateful for what we’ve been able to accomplish alongside our team.

I’m always grateful for where I’m at, but I am also looking at the future since there is still so much great work to be done.

My brother and I were both born in the United States, but my parents were exiles from Cuba. They raised us to be grateful to this country and to be humble about everything in life. I never want to lose that humility, yet always remind myself to take a break, to give back, and to appreciate what we’ve accomplished.

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INTERVIEW

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Innovation in Healthcare An Interview with Joseph C. Sardano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sensus Healthcare, Inc.

Joseph C. Sardano

EDITORS’ NOTE A recognized leader in the healthcare industry, Joe Sardano has spent more than 30 years in marketing and management.

He has a successful history of introducing and commercializing new technologies and services in many areas, including electronic brachytherapy, PET and PET/CT, SPECT, MRI, lithotripsy and digital radiography. Sardano has held leadership and management roles at CTI Molecular Imaging, GE Medical Systems, Siemens Medical Systems, Elscint Inc. and Toshiba America Medical Systems, among others.

COMPANY BRIEF Sensus Healthcare, Inc. (sensushealthcare.com) is a medical device company specializing in highly effective, noninvasive, minimally-invasive, and cost-effective treatments for both oncological and non-oncological conditions. With its portfolio of innovative medical device products, Sensus provides revolutionary treatment options to enhance the quality of life of patients around the world.

Will you discuss the vision for creating Sensus Healthcare and the mission for the company?

Sensus started to evolve in 2008 when all of us decided to do something for ourselves after years of putting millions of dollars in everybody else’s pocket by bringing many products to market.

Our expertise was bringing new technologies to market, and we were very successful in doing that. We started looking at various areas of oncology and cardiology as they were the two significant growth areas in healthcare. We fell upon skin cancer.

In the healthcare business, generally speaking, the last thing you want to do is surgery. It’s usually not the first treatment option. The rules are different in skin cancer, however. Surgery is the first option. For 50+ years doctors, and surgeons especially, have protected the market for surgery and have not brought in, and adapted to, any new technology. Our view, when we founded the VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

company, is that there was an opportunity to do something unique and different in the skin cancer space.

Orthovoltage, which is a type of radiation therapy, was started by dermatologists back in 1906 – the technology was used to treat everything that we’re treating today, including acne, psoriasis and eczema. While the technology seemed good in those days, we know a lot more now then was known back then. The technology caused many more problems and had lots of side effects. When we looked at this skin cancer market, we knew there was an opportunity in front of us, something to discover.

We went to Mohs surgeons first. We wanted to learn what their objections were and determine their objectives. They told us that the patient population was getting older and living longer. They were coming to the surgeons with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and heart conditions, so they were on beta blockers and blood thinners. The patients who are diabetic have a higher incidence of infections. The patients who are on beta blockers will bleed more and not heal.

We looked very closely at the market opportunity for Sensus and knew that you just can’t do surgery on everybody. We developed an alternative to surgery, which is our Superficial Radiation Therapy (SRT) technology. We market SRT specifically to the surgeon. Of the 14,000 dermatologists in this country, less than a thousand Mohs surgeons are qualified to perform that surgery. Six million patients per year are diagnosed with skin cancer and it’s growing at an annual rate of six percent. Most skin cancer patients are over the age of 65 and they are generally at Medicare/Medicaid ages.

Is Sensus creating additional products to bring to market?

Everything that we do focuses on cost effectiveness for the healthcare system and better outcomes for patients. The latest product we developed, which we think will be a gamechanger in the treatment of various cancers, received FDA clearance in February. The product is called Sculptura. Sculptura is a unique device and it is self-contained. It has all the latest technology that nobody else has. It’s called Sculptura for a specific reason – we can actually sculpt the beam so that it takes on the shape of the tumor that you’re attacking, or the space that the tumor has voided that comes out after surgery. It is very soft radiation, only impacting

cancer cells, with no impact on healthy cells. It allows the good cells to revive. It is providing direct contact and precise targeting while the patient is under anesthesia. We roll the machine in, plug it into the wall while the patient, for instance for breast cancer, is under anesthesia. We do the procedure – it takes maybe an extra five minutes – and then they go home. The patient doesn’t have to have six-to-ten weeks of radiation therapy. If you speak to any woman who’s had breast cancer and ask her what the toughest part of the cancer treatment was, they will always tell you it was the radiation. We eliminate that need for the six to ten weeks of additional radiation which causes them to lose their hair, impacts other organs, gets them tired, and makes them weak.

You have built a career bringing products to market. Is it hard to be patient when you look at the time and resources needed to introduce new products and to educate the market as you are doing at Sensus?

This is a very good question and, quite frankly, you can’t allow those frustrations to slow you down. You have to move forward and you gain something every day. It starts with the people. If you hire the right people, you need to get the heck out of their way and let them do their thing. We have great people who started with us that had no background in the industry. We could have spent a lot more money on people that had experience, but we wanted the people to have our experience.

We hired the right people, and now I think they’re the best in the industry. We have to expect challenges. Being innovative is key and is one of the things that you need to do successfully in an entrepreneurial world. You sometimes need to make decisions quickly. There is a saying that you should never confuse success with activities. Results are what counts. We’re always driving for results. Every day we have to accomplish something.

Our success is the success of our doctors who have used our equipment. It’s because of them that we’re successful. They’re the ones who took the risk of buying a new, expensive device instead of just protecting the past and the old ways of doing things. They are using it to the patients’ benefit. That’s the kind of doctor that I want to go to. That’s the kind of doctor I want my family to go to. That’s the kind of doctor I want my friends to go to. Those are the doctors that we have.

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Telling a Story An Interview with Evan Stein, President, JD Carlisle Development

EDITORS’ NOTE Evan Stein is the President of JD Carlisle Development and their in-house construction company, MD Carlisle Construction. The company manages over 600,000 square feet of commercial space and more than 2,000 residential units. Stein has successfully led the team through significant development projects, including Morton Square, Gramercy Green, The Cielo and The Beatrice. Over 50 years ago, MD Carlisle was founded

by Stein’s grandfather and hero, Harry Feldman. After graduating from college in the early 1990s, Stein started out in the family business where he computerized the company’s accounting systems. Hoping to gain more experience in the construction field, he stepped into the role of assistant superintendent. His daily work on the construction site taught him the ropes of real estate development and helped prepare him for his future at JD Carlisle.

COMPANY BRIEF JD Carlisle LLC has earned a reputation for being a thoughtful and decisive real estate developer, a combination that has resulted in properties of distinction. The company was founded by Harry Feldman in the late 1940s as Carlisle Construction Company.

In 1972, Feldman established MD Carlisle Construction Corp., later partnering with Jules Demchick who has served as Chairman since 1998. The company assembles first-class teams that understand the requirements of contemporary, luxury properties that evoke a strong sense of place. They have designed and developed selfcontained communities for more than 5,000 homes in ten locations as well as commercial facilities. Since the inception of these companies, they have generated over $10 billion worth of properties in the United States.

Will you highlight the history and heritage of JD Carlisle Development and how the firm has evolved?

JD Carlisle is probably the second or third iteration in this organization, which started back in the 1940s. My grandfather came out of the Navy and he was an engineer in the war and he came into New York and he worked for my great grandfather in a plumbing company.

One thing led to another and they went from a plumbing company to a carpentry company and on and on to where they eventually became 102 LEADERS

Madison House residence living area (above); Evan Stein next to a model of Madison House (below)

a general contractor in Manhattan. They were doing all kinds of projects throughout the city and then started taking their shot in general development. While the company really started in the 1940s, JD Carlisle was formed in the mid1980s as a partnership between my partner Jules Demchick and the Carlisle Group. We’ve been around ever since.

Is JD Carlisle primarily focused on the New York City market?

In the current environment we’ve been looking broader, but we’ve also been very successful in focusing in the New York City market. I think anyone would tell you that being a real estate developer in New York City is being in the major leagues and going anywhere else really isn’t the most appealing. We certainly know the skill sets translate, but what we do is so refined and so detail-oriented that doing it in other marketplaces is a little bit more of a challenge. Here we know everybody, have a long history and can develop successfully because we know what to do. I think that our philosophy is that every site is its own thing and tells its own story.

Understanding what those stories could be in other marketplaces would take a little bit of time for us to figure out.

Will you highlight Madison House and how the building is positioned in the market?

We didn’t set out for it to be a 10-cornered building; we set out to come up with the most unique layouts we could come up with. We knew we were coming into a market that was on the challenging side. Our philosophy is that for each apartment, there were going to be 10 potential buyers and we looked at what

we could do to be unique and to stand out. We wanted to do something that our competition couldn’t. We evaluated the height and the structure of the building.

Once we started figuring out the structural elements, the real concrete, steel and nuts and bolts types of things, we then started to figure out how to lay it out.

As we started this process, we decided we really wanted to do something here where every apartment stands on its own. It’s not a matter of just fitting it into the building, it’s a matter of the building wrapping around the apartments and that’s how we got to our unique layout.

It was a challenge for our architect and I give full credit to Handel Architects who worked with us to make it all feel as if it’s a symmetrical elegant building. However, there is not really symmetry to the structure whatsoever, it was designed from the inside out so the experience for our end purchaser is more unique.

How critical is it for a building like Madison House to offer a broad range of amenities?

This goes back to the story of the building you’re trying to sell. Madison House lent itself very well to certain types of amenities with, for lack of a better term, more of a country club feel. We didn’t want to just have a swimming pool, we wanted to have an Olympic-size swimming pool. We didn’t want to have a private dining room, we wanted to have a private dining room that you could really use. If you’re going to have an amenity in a building, it is important that it be done right. It can’t just be a check-offthe-box kind of thing.

Certainly in this marketplace, it helps to differentiate yourself in a building with certain amenities that people are going to use, but we were never a big fan of having things just for the sake of having them. It’s important for any development to offer something other than just a living space with residents. In our philosophy, you’re not just going up to your apartment, you’re walking into your neighborhood.

Hopefully, people want to live in the neighborhood that is the most well-rounded. They want to move into a neighborhood that is the most diverse and they want to live in a neighborhood that feels comfortable and is consistent with what they have in their apartments. That is what we set out to do in this building and I think we achieved it.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Potamkin Development specializes in modern and creative real estate solutions for large-scale automotive needs within major cities nationwide.

POTA M K I N D E V E L O P M E N T Potamkin Development is guided by the power of partnership — taking pride in the relationships formed within the communities in which we serve.

New York 706 11th Avenue New York, NY 10019

Miami 5800 NW 171 Street Hialeah, FL 33015

INTERVIEW

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Interview

Building Relationships An Interview with John Carrick, Co-Founder and Managing Principal, Integrated Capital Management

John Carrick

EDITORS’ NOTE John Carrick has extensive experience as a real estate attorney, investment banker and principal which is reflected in the execution of more than $75 billion in real estate transactions during his career. Prior to forming Integrated Capital Management, Carrick was Senior Managing Director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF), where he advised clients with respect to both equity and debt capital formation on a project, portfolio or entity basis. He also held executive positions at Anderson Global Corporate Finance, Savills Studley and Cohen Financial. Previously, he was part of the investment banking practice at Nomura Asset Capital where he focused on debt underwriting, origination, securitization and asset management.

He started his professional career as a structured finance attorney in the private sector and as counsel for the Resolution Trust Corporation. Carrick received a B.A. from Bucknell University and a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America. After practicing law for five years, he continued his education at UC Berkeley and earned an M.B.A. at the Haas Graduate School of Business where he was awarded the prestigious Marshall Bennett Real Estate Fellowship.

FIRM BRIEF Integrated Capital Management (integratedcm.com) is a Los Angeles-based investment management firm. Founded by real estate finance veterans John Carrick and Robert Lindner, Integrated is privileged to invest the commercial real estate allocation of Disney and several other family offices around the country, as well as multiple registered investment advisors (RIAs) and foreign capital sources. Principal investments are capitalized through the firm’s various discretionary private equity offerings and are generally styled to help accomplished owners, operators, and developers of commercial properties scale their platforms and assets under management on a national basis by offering strategic co-investment capital. In addition, Integrated is able to access institutional LP equity, senior debt or structured investment through its affiliated investment banking platform, Integrated Realty Advisors.

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What was your vision for creating Integrated Capital Management and how has the firm evolved?

Integrated is really the natural outgrowth of our team serving the real estate community as investment bankers for more than 30 years.

People often use the term differently, but when I say “investment banking,” I mean we helped accomplished owners, operators and developers of commercial real estate in all asset classes to capitalize, whether it be on a project basis, portfolio basis, or even at the entity level.

Over time, we found the advisory business to be a great farm league for off-market principal investment opportunities. The team would spend four to six months getting to know a project, a market and a sponsor. We would raise the capital successfully, and our efforts would crescendo with a closing. The sponsor, who already had significant money at risk, would often then be required to contribute additional equity at closing.

Given the high-touch boutique style of our practice, our clients tend to become friends so at the closing, I would ask, “How are you going to come up with that additional money? Do you mind if we come alongside you and invest in the deal?” Generally, as friends, they would allow us to do so.

Robert Lindner, our co-founder, and I started to co-invest more regularly with our clients and, over time, we enrolled other private wealth relationships in these co-GP style investment opportunities. The Disney family and other family offices with whom we enjoy deep, long-standing relationships, would invest with us alongside the sponsor, and we all did very well on a discrete project-byproject basis. Nearly three years ago, these same relationships encouraged us to form Integrated and migrate to a fund format so that they would be able to participate in every investment opportunity and benefit from the resultant diversification. Integrated’s debut fund subsequently closed on an oversubscribed basis and has served as the catalyst of our growth ever since.

How do you define the sweet spot for the size of deals for Integrated?

As you might imagine, few things have gone as expected over the past couple of years. The first deal that opened our eyes to the possibilities took place more than ten years ago. It was a $50-million multifamily

development deal, and we raised $30 million of debt which meant 60-percent leverage.

Of the $20 million of remaining equity, we raised $18 million from an institutional equity source which left $2 million for the sponsor to contribute.

Unfortunately, the sponsor experienced a liquidity crunch at the most critical moment, so the Disney family, myself and my partners invested $1.3 million of the $2 million, and we did exceptionally well in that transaction.

Given our experience, we assumed a $2 million co-investment would be representative of most deals when we formed our debut co-GP fund at Integrated. We also didn’t think it prudent to have more than 15 deals in any one fund from an asset management perspective. So, $2 million times 15 investments is $30 million, which is what we set out to raise.

We were lucky to be oversubscribed in the fund, and what has surprised us is the number of larger transactions in which Integrated can participate due to the greater equity required from the sponsor. While we are certainly still investing in $50-million projects, we are also either investing in or have an active pipeline of deals from $175 million to over $450 million in total project costs. As a result, we’ve added to our assets under management through a multitude of sidecar offerings. Currently, Integrated manages just under $50 million in a variety of co-GP investments ranging between $1 million and $13 million, and we expect to launch a larger fund in early 2020.

How do you define the Integrated difference?

I think it comes down to our relationships.

Integrated’s goal is that with each $50 million of equity we raise, we want to find two, three or maybe four exceptional sponsors and really help turbocharge them to scale their business.

We underwrite at the sponsorship level as much as we underwrite at the project level.

We’re doing both, but sponsorship is equally important given the programmatic nature of our relationships.

Integrated would not be where it is today without the support of our investors as well, and there is no higher mandate than preservation of the trust placed in us. This is not just business, it is personal, and our commitment is evidenced in everything we do.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

INTERVIEW

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Interview

A One-Stop Source for Transportation R&D An Interview with Brett Roubinek, President and Chief Executive Officer, Transportation Research Center, Inc. (TRC)

Brett Roubinek

EDITORS’ NOTE Brett Roubinek came to TRC in March 2016, bringing more than 25 years of experience in growing businesses and fostering innovation across the automotive ecosystem, including on-track proficiency as a professional racecar driver and instructor. Initially responsible for overseeing TRC research efforts and day-to-day operations, he was named President and CEO in July 2017. Prior to joining TRC, Roubinek served as Senior Director of Strategy and Consultancy for a global motorsports marketing agency; Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; Vice President of Marketing and Chief Operating Officer of iRacing.com; and Managing Director of the Skip Barber Racing School, among other industry roles.

ORGANIZATION BRIEF Transportation Research Center Inc. (trcpg.com) in East Liberty, Ohio, is North America’s most comprehensive independent automotive test center and proving ground, providing a full range of research opportunities for the world’s innovators in automotive and mobility technologies. TRC features hardworking industry experts, a well-developed infrastructure with an extensive variety of road surfaces, on-site development of leading-edge and emerging technologies, 30-plus years of engineering expertise and industry knowledge, a long-time partnership with a major research university, strong global connections and an eye constantly focused on the client’s needs. Its secure location operates 24/7 and has approximately 4,500 acres of road courses, wooded trails, a 7.5-mile high-speed oval test track, a 50-acre vehicle dynamics area, and the right mix of testing areas and facilities to make the Transportation Research Center the best place to test and validate nearly any vehicle imaginable, any time of year.

What excited you about joining TRC? Back in the spring of 2016, before I joined TRC, I was already following the great work they were doing there. What excited me then is the same thing that excites me now and gets me out of bed in the morning, which is that TRC is a dynamic space that affects people’s lives now and that is going to affect them even more in the future, and that will create VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

opportunities for greater safety for everyone. That’s the key driver for me – safety.

An ancillary benefit that may be a close second to safety is our impact on the way we transport ourselves and our goods, and the opportunity that is being created for those who don’t have mobility options.

Will you discuss your priorities for TRC? My initial goal was to bring home initiatives that had been put into play, the biggest of which we named the SMARTCenter, our connected and automated vehicle campus. We broke ground there in July 2018, with the ribbon cutting in July of this year. We are now actively testing in that facility and this is coupled with the comprehensive services that we offer through our advanced mobility group, research that is going to drive TRC into the future and advance our objectives.

SMARTCenter intersection is a 6 lane, 1.2 mile signalized intersection that is part of the new 540-acre SMARTCenter.

A second priority was providing for growth opportunities across the business. We have four business pillars, the first of which is road performance evaluation which incorporates dynamic and durability testing. The second is lab performance evaluation which is focused on the areas of safety related to impact labs as well as emissions testing and related technologies as we move into the electrified future. A third is our people division where we contract our folks out to groups like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the vehicle research test center. Advanced mobility is the fourth business pillar.

Part of that growth strategy is looking at advanced mobility and what gets coupled and built around those technologies in the area of applied research. This is where we start to touch on human/machine interface and biomechanics, because the vehicles of tomorrow are looking at varied cabin configurations and seating positions.

All of this requires research.

Will you highlight the new 540-acre SMARTCenter complex to test automated driving systems?

The SMARTCenter was originally conceived at TRC in a working relationship between TRC and NHTSA around what sort of a campus would be needed to test the technologies that were coming down the road. A white paper was issued in 2013 that was co-authored by one of our TRC employees and we spent five years prior to my arrival and after I arrived working with our stakeholders to make sure that the facility offered the flexibility as well as the technologies to create all of the scenarios that were going to need to be studied and tested as we move towards advanced mobility. Phase one of the project is what we opened in July, and there’s a high-speed intersection which has a proprietary signalization system. It has DSRC, short range communication systems. It has 5G coverage across the campus. That high-speed intersection is configurable to create the opportunity for study of everything that the manufacturers and the tech companies are running into while they’re doing their “realworld” testing on public roads.

The urban network of roadways that we put in place also provides the opportunity to study a more congested area like a cityscape. For studies that can’t be conducted in those two more restrictive areas, we have a vehicle dynamics area which is 22 acres of pavement that we can set up as an example of the five-way intersections that we’ve run into in Ohio’s rural environments.

What are the advantages of TRC being headquartered in Ohio?

The collaborative environment here in Ohio is key to driving all of these efforts toward success and I haven’t seen another collaborative ecosystem like we have here in Ohio. Sitting outside of Columbus and on the US Route 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, we see all of the efforts that have gone on in Columbus over the last couple of years related to smart cities. The 33 Smart Mobility Corridor that is being opened up leads to our doorstep, as do the efforts being made on the Ohio Turnpike to study connected environments and how they can benefit vehicles and their occupants. State initiatives like DriveOhio that was originally set up by Governor Kasich and has recently been reinforced

by Governor DeWine, are all fantastic for advancing what the nation and the world needs.

The support we receive on the private side from all of our stakeholders and others involved in advancing these efforts is also rare. It is unusual to find so many involved in working together on efforts like this.

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Celebrating 150 Years An Interview with James Borynack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, FINDLAY Galleries

James Borynack

EDITORS’ NOTE Eighteen years before acquiring Findlay Galleries International, Inc., in 1998, James Borynack purchased Findlay Galleries in New York, having already been its Director and Senior Vice President. His relationship with the company began in 1972, when he was hired as a salesman after having served as a partner at De Noyer, a boutique specializing in European high-fashion imports. He has also been associated with various government-related positions, including Cultural Attaché and Ambassador for Republicans Abroad International. In addition, he served as North American President of the auction house Phillips Son & Neale. He is an alumnus of New York’s Parsons New School for Design.

What have been the keys to Findlay Galleries’ longevity and its ability to stay relevant?

The key has been hard and smart work, followed by unparalleled service to all clients. In addition, having the ability to understand what art was right for us to represent throughout the different art movements over the past 150 years and having the insight to select the artists that would renew our leadership in both period and contemporary art has been critical. It is all about the art and who backs it up. The integrity of our business is dealing with the quality of art we represent. When we acquired the David Findlay Jr. Gallery four years ago, we reunited an iconic American family in art, The Findlay Galleries, established in 1870.

David had established himself as a renowned mid-century abstractionist art dealer, which now brought abstract authority to the renewed Findlay Galleries roster.

COMPANY BRIEF As art dealers serving individuals, institutions and corporate collectors, FINDLAY Galleries International, Inc. (findlay galleries.com), was founded in 1870 in Kansas City, Missouri. With galleries in New York and affiliates in London and Paris in addition to its flagship premises in Palm Beach, Florida, FINDLAY Galleries specializes in impressionism, European Modernism, l’École de Rouen, l’École de Paris, and 20th Century American Art. The gallery currently represents more than 40 contemporary artists worldwide creating more than 50 exhibitions annually within their gallery network.

Findlay Galleries will be celebrating its 150th anniversary. Will you highlight the history and heritage of Findlay Galleries?

We had several discussions about just how we should highlight our historic achievement. Should we create a media blitz? Should we wrap the buildings in New York and Palm Beach? Should we rent strategic billboards throughout major U.S. cities like art fairs do?

We have a few surprises in store for 2020.

Publishing a book to celebrate the anniversary was a no-brainer. We hired an established author, who is currently co-authoring our 250-page table-top book with vintage Findlay history and images. The book launch will take place in February.

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Entrance to Findlay Galleries in Palm Beach

Will you provide an overview of Findlay Galleries’ business today?

Our business today is steady and is growing on a consistent basis. Our major sales continue in master works from 19th and 20th century Impressionists and modern masters.

Our volume grows with our well-known roster of color-field contemporaries along with a few bright and very talented emerging artists in a very affordable category.

How do you define the strengths of Findlay Galleries and what differentiates the brand?

The strength of this company has always been its ability to renew itself on an as needed basis. That comes with awareness and judgement calls regarding the depth of artistic movements and trends. Having a contemporary management team mixed with a seasoned sales team can rocket up great initiatives that keep pace with the development of “now” tactics while advancing our long-term strategic programs for the future.

Our websites are renewing daily, and our electronic catalogue hits grow regularly. However, our print media budgets continue to grow as does our clients’ desire to see the image and turn the page when in hand. As a worldwide brand, we are unique. We are one of a few established representational and abstractionist galleries providing full retail services and offering both renowned living and period artists to our roster of over 12,000 active clients globally.

Where do you see the greatest growth opportunities for Findlay Galleries?

Regarding art, we have been noticing a serious growing interest in traditional artists and period paintings of the 20th century. There is a specific generational lean away from conceptual art or works of art that do not offer rewarding aesthetic experiences. We are receiving more requests from museums and institutions for loans from our Post-Impressionist collection and figurative works from the 1960s. Considering growth opportunities, we are focusing on the U.S. We recently bowed out of a joint venture with a substantial Chinese partner to expand our galleries to main hubs in the PRC and the Pacific Rim. That’s still an unknown territory for our 150-yearold reputation. We had a gallery in Tokyo in the mid-1970s and we were the first U.S. gallery to represent contemporary Chinese art from 197986 which was way ahead of the pack.

How do you focus your efforts leading Findlay Galleries?

I am most fortunate to have an exceedingly collaborative team. I continue to oversee our contemporary artists group along with most of our art purchases for inventory. Having joined Wally Findlay Galleries 48 years ago, I have an insider understanding of its unique history. I focus through the good counsel of my COO, and life-partner of 20 years, my wise and talented Gallery Directors from Palm Beach and New York, my daughter, currently President of the Findlay Institute, and a very astute and informed circle of art consultants throughout our galleries. I am also enlightened by our coterie of gallery affiliations worldwide.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

VIKING - LIMITED EDITION

AVAILABLE AT MONTEGRAPPA BOUTIQUES, ONLINE AND AUTHORISED DEALERS WORLDWIDE

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Building Broad Street An Interview with Raymond Chalmé, Chief Executive Officer and Principal, Broad Street Development LLC (BSDRE)

Raymond Chalmé

EDITORS’ NOTE With over 20 years of real estate experience in the New York City market, Raymond Chalmé currently directs acquisitions for BSDRE. He was a principal of JEMB Realty Corp. from 1992 to 2004. Chalmé attended New York University.

COMPANY BRIEF Broad Street Development (bsdre.com) is a privately-held, New Yorkbased real estate developer, investor and operator founded in 2004 by Raymond Chalmé and Daniel Blanco, each bringing over 20 years of institutional real estate experience in acquisitions, finance, development, management, sales and leasing. The company has made acquisitions in excess of $1.5 billion since it was founded and has relationships with key real estate institutions including Crow Holdings, JP Morgan Chase, AIG, Cigna and Invesco.

Will you highlight the history of Broad Street Development and how the company has evolved?

I started in the business in the early nineties when nobody really wanted to be in real estate.

I used to work at a company called JEMB, and I was there from 1992 to 2004. It was a family operation, and was New York City-based, but in the early ’90s, it was coming out of the Resolution Trust, and you had the stock market crash that was delayed in real estate till the ’90s, and it was like being in Harvard Business School learning the real estate business from the bottom up. I wore many hats.

It was in commercial office buildings for the most part at that time, and I was the fire safety director, the cleaning supervisor, the property manager, the leasing agent, you name it. That’s how I cut my teeth. I got an amazing education from New York City.

During that period, I was working with Daniel Blanco, whom I hired to do a renovation of a building downtown at 75 Broad Street. We came together and started working well together on our building at 75 Broad Street which was a tremendous success. Dan and I had different backgrounds and, in 2004, decided to start Broad Street Development.

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Our portfolio is diverse, but the main message is that it is New York City-based. I really love this city, and it’s still all about location, location, location for us. I want to be able to touch and feel our product and deal with professionals on a faceto-face basis, which is an old-school mentality, but it’s worked well for us.

What are the current developments that you’re working on?

We’re currently focused on 40 Bleecker, a new 12-story ground-up luxury residential condominium development in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, as well as 370 Lexington, which is a historic Art Deco commercial building near Grand Central.

40 Bleecker was designed by Rawlings Architects, with interiors by designer Ryan Korban, who is well-known in the fashion community.

Penthouse of 40 Bleecker

We wanted to create a timeless building that seamlessly blended into the neighborhood’s surroundings and historical, landmarked architecture, but yet is still modern. Rawlings did that perfectly.

We work with them on many projects of ours including 215 Sullivan Street and 370 Lexington. The exterior is made up of brick and metal with punched glass window openings, and it curves at the corner of Bleecker and Mulberry Streets to maximize views.

We chose Ryan to design the interiors of the 61 homes and amenities because we wanted a one-of-a-kind product. He’s designed celebrities’ homes and flagship stores for big name brands.

This is his first large-scale residential development. We’re incredibly excited because we’ve just unveiled the model residences within the building and they also double as his only showroom for his new furniture line in New York.

The building is in a prime location that will hold its value no matter the state of the market because of the quality of the design, the amenities which includes a pool and private parking, both rare for the area, as

370 Lexington

well as the neighborhood’s offerings for retail, dining, transportation, etc. The residents at 40 Bleecker will also have access to in-home IV drips courtesy of Clean Market, a wellness destination that is opening as the anchor tenant in the building’s base.

We bought back 370 Lexington late last year after selling the property in 2008. Since re-purchasing, we’ve done over 30 deals and signed more than 65,000 square feet of space. It’s appealing to small-to-midsize tenants because of the quality of design we offer and new amenities. We’ve put in millions of dollars to upgrade the lobby and entrance, restored the beautiful marble floors, modernized the restrooms, and created an amenity deck on the fourth floor that will open this Spring.

It’s like a co-working building with Class-A amenities, but we service tenants directly. This has resonated well. We’re an experienced provider and our in-house leasing team caters directly to them, like a resident concierge would so to speak.

Is brand awareness a focus for Broad Street Development or is it more about branding the specific buildings?

I think it’s about branding our projects, but there is an element in our name that becomes important quite often. I want our buildings to stand on their own, but the branding of Broad Street has become more prevalent for us lately.

We have built a reputation over the past 16 years.

Do you take time to reflect and appreciate what Broad Street Development has become and the success of the company?

I enjoy every day and for me, it’s not work. I incorporate it into my life. I’ve had personal trials and tribulations throughout my personal life that have shaped me. My dad passed away 14 years ago, and he was a very happy-go-lucky person, always smiling and someone you would want to spend time with. Whether he had money or didn’t have money, you would never know. I learned a lot from my father.

Dan and I have an amazing relationship. We are like brothers. I have two wonderful brothers, and they call him the older brother. It helps to have a partner that you have that kind of relationship with and trust and respect so much. Dan is our COO and I am the CEO. We want to deal with good people as partners, as lenders, as vendors, and not look at just making money. I want to enjoy my relationship with people and deal with positive-energy people. We definitely reflect, but we are also always looking to the future. We try to identify things that we can spend time on and be very conscious of and reflect as we do them.

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The Lens of Magic An Interview with Joshua Jay, Magician and Co-Founder, Vanishing Inc. Magic

Joshua Jay

EDITORS’ NOTE Joshua Jay (vanishingincmagic.com) is an internationally recognized magician and author. He is the bestselling author of MAGIC: The Complete Course and several other titles. Jay has performed and lectured in over 100 countries and helped design illusions for Game of Thrones. He has headlined at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Jay fooled Penn & Teller on their hit show, Fool Us. Jay consulted with the U.S. Postal Service on the magic postage stamp series released in the summer of 2018. He is currently starring in his own immersive, off-Broadway magic show called Six Impossible Things, which is now in its fourth sold-out extension.

How did you become a magician?

My dad was a dentist, but he would do magic between seeing patients and just to practice for enjoyment. He would use magic to calm his patients down. He showed me a trick, and it was truly, to get touchy-feely, like the stars aligned. I think magic found me. I really feel like magic just made sense to me. When I see magic, I understand it intuitively. I love watching it, I love trying to figure it out, I love it when I can’t figure it out, I love working on new material, I love performing it, I love talking shop about it – it’s the great passion of my life.

Will you discuss your process in creating magic?

First, when you have a passion like I do, the passion has to be the lens through which you see the world. Magic is how I see everything. When I see an interesting light fixture on that wall over there, I’m wondering if I could I get a borrowed ring inside that light bulb. When I see an interesting piece of art that looks 3D but is 2D, I’m wondering if I could do a trick where I pull an element out of the artwork. Everywhere I go, every interaction, it’s through the lens of magic.

Second, I am a top-down creator. I start with the dream. I want to borrow a credit card and make it appear in a frozen block of ice. It’s a trick from my show that had never been done before.

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science of freezing things and what chemicals freeze at what temperatures. We’ve got to look at sleight-of-hand and if a credit card can be bent. Can it be palmed? Can it be secretly moved from one place to another? We’ve got to look at the comic elements of making somebody’s credit card disappear as well as the security elements. All those things take many months and hundreds of shows, but now one of the standouts of my show is putting a borrowed credit card into a frozen block of ice.

Can magic be taught or is it something you are born with?

That’s a great question. I don’t know the answer to that. I teach other magicians. I hold clinics for other magicians, and sometimes I think this is so great, I’ve got an 80-year-old man and a 16-year-old kid and they’re all learning together, and what binds us all is magic.

What is interesting is how magic is the great equalizer. For many years, up until he died, Ace Greenberg would have me and a few other magicians come to his house for jam sessions. It was such a beautiful thing to look around the table and have Ace Greenberg, one of the most successful and influential businessmen in the world, sitting across from a guy who drove a taxi who was one of the great sleight-of-hand artists in New York, and me, who had just graduated from university and was new to the city, all as equals, jamming. It was beautiful because each one of us was probably 30 years apart and economically, we were a million miles apart, but intellectually, and our passion, was totally aligned.

What interested you in doing the offBroadway show?

When I do shows, I come out afterwards, meet people, take pictures, and often have tricks in my pocket to do close-up things for people as a way to just say thanks. My observation was that so much of the time, people would say, we really enjoyed your show, but what you just did close-up, that’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. My analysis was that proximity plays a huge role in the enjoyment of magic. Being a part of the trick, being a foot away instead of a balcony away, had a lot to do with people’s enjoyment. So here I am as my career gets better and better, I’m playing bigger and bigger theaters, and I’m getting further and further away from the audience.

I wondered if there may be a scenario in which

I did the opposite of what anybody else would do and go down to 20 people per show and give everybody the experience of helping a magician and seeing magic right up close.

I went to escape room spaces and I worked with some people in that space on how to rethink the magic experience. We wanted to see how intimate we could make a magic show, how far we could push the story-telling elements, to where there are no microphones, no special lighting – it is truly intimate. The press has embraced it and the show sold out months in advance. We don’t let people come back to see the show a second time since I wanted to embrace the element of surprise.

Joshua Jay teaching magic at a seminar

Do you still enjoy doing the big shows in big theatres?

What I enjoy now is anything that takes me outside my normal routine. I have a stage show that I have honed over 10 years. Yes, if I get the call, and the situation’s right, and the contract is right and the money is right, I’ll go do that show on a Vegas stage like I have a million times before.

I’ll go to the Magic Castle, I’ll go to Australia, Japan – I’ve been to 117 countries doing that show. It can be done in all languages. But that’s a day at the office for me. It might be an escape for a couple in Kansas City, but for me, it’s just another day at the office. But when I get a call, like at Harvard, and they want me to speak to students on my creative process, that’s fun.

When I get a chance to talk to somebody like you, that’s fun. It’s different. When I get a chance to do my show off-Broadway that is a totally different show than anybody’s ever attempted, that’s a challenge, and that’s the kind of stuff that moves me now.

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New Beginnings An Interview with Harley Lippman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Genesis10

Harley Lippman

EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to starting Genesis10, Harley Lippman was the founder and sole owner of Triad Data Inc., an information technology consulting firm. He sold Triad Data in 1998 just before founding Genesis10. He is a board member of the Yale School of Management Board of Advisors and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs. Lippman has been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year™ in the consulting category. He earned his master’s degree in international affairs at Columbia University and earned his bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York, Stony Brook. Lippman studied in Poland on a Fulbright Program.

COMPANY BRIEF Genesis10 (genesis10.com) is a professional technology services firm that provides staffing, workforce optimization, and domestic outsourcing solutions. The company was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to providing on-site and onshore talent and talent services to help clients do more with less, de-risk their talent and delivery model and take cost out. Genesis10 has more than 150 clients ranging from mid-cap to Fortune 100 companies.

Will you discuss your vision for creating Genesis10?

To understand the vision, you first need to know the history. I founded a company called Triad Data that I merged with a larger company and it turned out that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Essentially, I had sold Triad Data for stock, but then the stock crashed and I lost everything. It was a very difficult time, but I started over with the vision of creating a onestop-shop for companies to call upon when they need IT people/services. I asked 12 of my former employees to join me and 10 of them agreed.

The company name was developed as the word Genesis signifies a new beginning and 10 people placed their trust in me to start Genesis10.

Now, 20 years later, eight of the original 10 are still with me, and we are considered a leading IT staffing and consulting company.

Over the past two decades, we have steadily expanded the company in line with my original vision – we now have 2,000 employees and provide advice and talent to leading companies. Even with all the advances in artificial intelligence and technology, you still need excellent people. As the sole founder and owner, I have kept Genesis10 privately held, and I remain very involved in the day-to-day operations.

Will you highlight Genesis10’s service offerings?

We offer traditional headhunting, temporary staffing and consulting services. We shore up resourcing gaps, whether it is an individual, a team or a full-time executive position. To help our clients improve their cost structures, we also

provide domestic outsourcing services. Instead of the work being done at the client site, the work is performed in an operated and managed Genesis10 location which we refer to as a Delivery Center.

We also have a program called Dev10, where we train college graduates in technology languages and skills to be hired by our clients.

What do you see as the keys to effective leadership?

I always personally interview people who join Genesis10. I think it makes a difference to our culture and I believe it is integral to the company’s success. When I started the company, my people took significant pay cuts because they trusted me, so I make sure that I invest back in staff.

I believe that helps retain people, and we have extremely low turnover rates – some have been with me since the very beginning. I believe that leadership is about nurturing your people, building the best team, and creating a culture of trust.

You have experienced ups and downs during your career. Do you take moments to reflect and appreciate what you have achieved?

I am a positive person and to me, the glass is always half full. I believe that you need that approach in order to look at the challenges that will inevitably come your way and see them as opportunities. I am grateful for where I am, but there’s no concept of an endpoint where I think “that’s enough, I’ve made it, and now I’m done.” I am very proud of where Genesis10 is, but I am always focused on identifying new mountains to climb.

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Over the past two decades, we have steadily expanded the company in line with my original vision – we now have 2,000 employees and provide advice and talent to leading companies.

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Interview

Reputation Management and Mitigating Risk An Interview with James F. Haggerty, President and CEO, PRCG | Haggerty LLC

James F. Haggerty

EDITORS’ NOTE Called “a powerhouse” of PR and communications in Chambers & Partners’ international legal directory, James F. Haggerty is President and CEO of PRCG | Haggerty LLC, an internationally known public relations firm, and PRCG | Sports, a sports marketing and public relations brand. An attorney, author and consultant with more than 25 years of experience representing corporations, nonprofits, celebrities, athletes and high-net worth individuals, Haggerty is frequently called upon as a trusted advisor in sensitive reputation management issues. In the area of crisis communications and litigation communications, he is considered among the foremost experts worldwide, and is the founder and CEO of CrisisResponsePro, Inc., a crisis communications software firm. His first book, In the Court of Public Opinion, recently released in an updated third edition by ABA Publishing, has been called “the perfect handbook for this age” by Financial Times, while PR trade publication Holmes Report said that Haggerty “literally wrote the book on litigation public relations.” His most recent book, Chief Crisis Officer: Structure and Leadership for Effective Communications Response, has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Entrepreneur magazines, among others. A revised paperback edition of Chief Crisis Officer, with a new introduction, has just been released.

In 2017, Haggerty was named as one of “50 Gamechangers” of public relations by PR News.

FIRM BRIEF PRCG | Haggerty, LLC (prcg.com) is a boutique public relations consultancy with an international reputation for meeting sophisticated communications challenges worldwide. With offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, the firm has affiliations worldwide and is also a member of the Crisis Protection Network, a global network of affiliated firms equipped to offer comprehensive communications services specially tailored to the needs of each individual client. In 2019, the firm launched PRCG | Sports, a practice dedicated to representing sports owners, brands, media companies and individual athletes.

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Will you discuss PRCG | Haggerty’s work in managing high-level, sensitive reputation issues?

We have been at this for more than 20 years, working with companies and nonprofits, as well as high-profile and high-net worth individuals, many of whom are brands unto themselves. One of the foundations of our success lies in the senior attention we bring to our clients’ issues and needs. I tend to be obsessive by nature and, likewise, everyone at our firm develops a laser-like focus on the communication issues our clients face. Whether in crisis and litigation communications, general reputational work and proactive publicity, or sports public relations and other specialties, clients appreciate the fact that their success is as important to us as it is to them. They know we aren’t just selling them cookie-cutter PR programs; we’re trusted advisors who take what we do very seriously.

Will you highlight your books?

New editions of both of my books just hit the market at the same time, both published by ABA Books, the publishing arm of the American Bar Association. The first is a totally revised Third Edition of my 2003 book In The Court of Public Opinion: Winning Strategies for Litigation Communications, which is considered the premier book on the management of perceptions during litigation. I also wrote, in 2017, a book called Chief Crisis Officer: Structure and Leadership for Effective Communications Response, which deals more generally with crisis communications planning and execution. In Chief Crisis Officer, I argue that, in this age of instantaneous communications, everyone needs a plan in place and a team ready to respond immediately when the inevitable crisis hits.

The hardcover version of the book did so well that we just released a paperback edition with a new preface highlighting how the big-name crises of the past two years – Boeing, Equifax, United Airlines and the NFL – prove our central premise.

You discuss in the books the importance of clients building a balance in the “Credibility Bank” as a reputational risk management technique. How does this work?

In a crisis, the first thing media, customers, regulators and other stakeholders do is Google you to see what kind of person or organization this is.

If your Google search results produce a string of negatives – lawsuits, other crises, product issues or scandals – the impressions they form are going to negatively affect the way they view you and your actions every step of the way going forward. In that situation, your balance in the “Credibility Bank” is low. Conversely, if you’ve been steadily filling

the Google pipeline with positives – about your products or services, the way you treat employees, the good works you do in philanthropy or in your community – then when a crisis hits, stakeholders are going to be far more understanding. You’ve inoculated against negatives and your balance in the “Credibility Bank” is high.

Why is crisis planning so important?

Remember the old AAMCO auto repair commercials: “You can pay me now… or pay me later!”

Crisis communications planning is a risk management technique. If you’ve invested the resources up front to respond effectively and efficiently when a crisis hits, you’re going to save a lot of money in the long run. For my book Chief Crisis Officer, we looked at more than 12,000 public statements issued by companies in crisis using our own proprietary software. In every case where an event became a front-page crisis, there was one common thread: the initial public response to the crisis was screwed up, since they didn’t have the proper plan in place. Not 50 percent of the time, or 80 percent, but 100 percent. Thus, without an actionable plan, you inevitably raise the likelihood that a negative event becomes a crisis. We do a fair amount of work in sports-related fields these days, and I would equate this to sending your football team onto the field, and only then making up the plays.

You may win the game, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

You’ve worked with a range of high profile and high-net worth individuals and business owners over the years. How do their needs differ from corporations?

It’s very important to understand that some of the largest businesses in the country are privatelyheld, family-owned enterprises. Most wealthy and high-net worth families have most of their wealth in private operating companies. Moreover, if you are a sports franchise owner, a celebrity, or an athlete, your business operations are very often intertwined with your personal brand. This makes proactively planning for negative news, rather than retroactively reacting to it, of critical importance.

Over the years, my company has had considerable success working with large businesses run by wealthy individuals and families, and I can tell you two things: there’s usually a very successful, strong-willed individual at the top, and the company’s internal communications departments are smaller than you would expect. This can be a volatile mix when ensuring that an organization, family or brand has built up their balance in the “Credibility Bank” and has properly planned for the inevitable negative reputational event.

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Mentalism An Interview with Oz Pearlman

Oz Pearlman

EDITORS’ NOTE Oz Pearlman (ozpearlman.com) is a world-class entertainer and one of the most sought after mentalists in the country. He developed an interest in magic at a young age and what started as a hobby quickly became a lifelong passion. After a couple of years spent working on Wall Street, Pearlman decided to pursue his dream and become a full-time entertainer. His client list reads like a who’s who of politicians, professional athletes, A-list celebrities, and Fortune 500 companies. In the summer of 2015, Pearlman was featured on America’s Got Talent. He has also appeared on a variety of national and international networks, a few of which include NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The TODAY Show and ABC World News and has been profiled in Forbes and The New York Times. Pearlman is an avid marathon and ultra-marathon runner, having completed such grueling races as the Badwater 135 Miler, Hawaii Ironman World Championships, Western States 100 and Spartathlon.

Did you always know you had a passion for being a mentalist?

I have done this since I was a teenager.

The word “passion” is the best way to describe it. When I was 13, I saw a magician for the very first time and was blown away. It became an all-consuming obsession.

I come from a very entrepreneurial background. My folks got divorced when I was 13.

I really needed to do this on the side to subsist; after graduating high school at the age of 16 my parents moved back to Israel and I had nobody to support me whatsoever.

I went to college and from that point forward paid every bill I had myself. I either had 112 LEADERS

scholarships or a couple of businesses I ran. I did magic on the side from age 16 to 20 when I was at the University of Michigan. I was always out there driving business, meeting event planners, working at restaurants. Doing magic at restaurants was really helpful to learning how to interact with people in a setting where they don’t necessarily want you. It’s kind of like a good sales tactic. Imagine you’re interrupting somebody at dinner with their family or their friends, you learn human dynamics very quickly and you learn how to iterate. You learn the psychology of it.

Now I can be in a room with a movie star or with a CEO of a Fortune 100 company and I know how to relate to that person in the span of 10 or 15 seconds because that’s how quickly people make a decision about you.

How is being a mentalist different from being a magician?

They intersect in a certain way. Most mentalists started as magicians because they have the same foundation. A great analogy I like to say, especially being Jewish and telling my Jewish mother I’m quitting Wall Street to become a mentalist, is that it’s kind of like being a doctor in the sense of everyone does premed, but then somebody who goes and becomes a general physician is a magician. Somebody who becomes a plastic surgeon, who specializes specifically in the hands or otolaryngology, anything of that sort, is a specialist, so this is like being a mentalist. There are very few mentalists in the world, and there’s even fewer ones that are good at it and not boring because it’s an inherently boring thing to just keep guessing what people are thinking.

You have to find a way to make it relatable, entertaining, unique, visual. That’s really the most difficult challenge. It’s not doing the performance. It’s knowing how to make it appeal to an audience on an emotional level. I can do magic, but that doesn’t distinguish me from everyone else. What separates me is the mentalism.

Are there times when things go wrong?

For sure. I think that if stuff never went wrong, it wouldn’t be as impressive because it’s kind of like a danger act. If you go watch Evel Knievel, you’re paying to see the jump clear, but you’re also waiting to see if maybe something will happen and knowing that he crashed in the past and broke every bone in his body is what kind of has a little bit of an allure.

In my show, if I just get everything right, people get bored. I like it when somebody is gasping and can’t figure out how what they just say happened or could be possible.

Does mentalism work better in a more intimate setting?

I’ve done live shows ranging from three or four people at a dinner party for just their table to 17,000 people at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where headline rock bands perform. The difference is simply production value.

If you do it in a room with thousands of people, what is involved there is just more production.

I want big screens. I want ways to choose people out of the audience that are impossible. I have all different things that create a situation where you know it’s not rigged or faked. That’s key to my show, because if you think it’s fake and a person is in on it, then suddenly nothing matters.

You have to create a situation where it’s impossible that somebody could be on it because it’s random.

My sweet spot for most of the events that I do is from 200 to 800 people.

Your passion is performing for people, but there is the business side as well. Is it hard to find the balance?

I had one of the big paradigm shifts for me after I was on America’s Got Talent. It was just a tsunami. There’s nothing that compared before or after. I couldn’t handle running the business myself anymore.

At that point, I got a manager and an agent, people that give a separation where I’m not dealing with the day-to-day.

With all of the success, do you miss the early days when it was all about the work and you were building your career?

You always miss the build. I’ve read numerous biographies of famous figures within the entertainment industry and they said the happiest they ever were was when their band was playing in total dives, making no money and just enjoying the “getting there,” which is very cliché but it’s true.

I do miss the early days when I was scrapping. I had an off-Broadway show that I had put together with me and one other guy. I got teenagers to be my ushers. We put this whole thing together and boot-strapped it. One night, Ethan Hawke came to my show and The New York Times came a week later in order to review it, and we didn’t have publicists. We didn’t have anything.

We were doing this show in the back of a yoga studio. The excitement and the novelty of everything when you do that is so different than when you become more known and successful.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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Contents Moving Forward Michael J. Silvestro, Chief Executive Officer, Flexjet LLC

Supporting the Art Community Maria Zec, Regional Vice President, USA East Coast, The Peninsula Hotels and General Manager, The Peninsula Chicago

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A Global Family Hotel Company DionĂ­sio Pestana, Chairman, Pestana Hotel Group

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A Genuine Service Culture Becky Hubbard, General Manager, Lotte New York Palace

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Simple Luxury Maggio Cipriani, President, Cipriani USA, Inc.

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Genuine Hospitality Scott Gerber, Principal and CEO, Gerber Group

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A Sanctuary Bianca Sharma, Owner, Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa

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Wellness and Sustainability Neil Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas

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A More Thoughtful Way to Fly Andrew Collins, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sentient Jet

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The Original Boutique Brand Matthew Hurlburt, Area Director of Operations for New York and Pennsylvania, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC and General Manager, Kimpton Muse Hotel

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“Hospitality is almost impossible to teach. It’s all about hiring the right people.”

Danny Meyer, Founder & CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group

Timeless Elegance Deborah Yager Fleming, Chief Executive Officer & Partner, Acqualina Resort & Spa

Human Experience and Human Scale Dina De Luca Chartouni

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Modern Luxury Bastian Germer, General Manager, The New York EDITION

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A Culinary and Hospitality Community Gillian Zettler, Executive Director, Charleston Wine + Food

A Sense of Place Pascal Dupuis, General Manager, Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya

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Creating Experiences Matthew Humphreys, Area Vice President and General Manager, Hyatt Regency San Francisco

Defining Luxury David Chase, Managing Director, Omni Berkshire Place

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Team Focused Kimberly Christner, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstone Hospitality

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A Living, Breathing, Piece of History Markus Platzer, General Manager, Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C.

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Timeless Hospitality Abraham Merchant, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merchants Hospitality, Inc.

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Committed to Aruba Gabriel Castrillon, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino

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All About Discovery Chris Rynkar, General Manager, Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel

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Moving Forward An Interview with Michael J. Silvestro, Chief Executive Officer, Flexjet LLC EDITORS’ NOTE Michael Silvestro How has Flexjet’s business evolved recently became the longest-tenured and what are the keys to its success?

CEO in the fractional private jet Flexjet was born out of Bombardier industry after having assumed his 25 years ago, as were all the fractional current role just before the finanorganizations that were created from cial crisis of 2008. While attendmanufacturers at the time. They were ing Notre Dame, he was one of two originally created as distribution centers non-scholarship football players for the manufacturer’s products, but subin his freshman class to make the sequently 20-plus years later, all of them team which later won the Cotton have cycled out of the business. As hard Bowl. After Notre Dame, Silvestro as it is to make airplanes, they figured spent two decades inventing prodout that it was even harder to fly them Michael J. Silvestro ucts and founding companies in the and keep up a consistent level of service. footwear and sporting goods indusWe bought Flexjet from Bombardier six tries. Looking for a new challenge, he joined years ago and we have taken that platform and fractional jet company, Flight Options, founded expanded it in terms of the product offering, which by his Notre Dame roommate Kenn Ricci, and now includes Embraer and Gulfstream products. oversaw sales. He turned sales around after the Our number one priority is safety for our pasdot-com crash, building the company into the sengers, our crews and our airplanes, but from a industry’s second-ranked player and leaving service standpoint, we really try to create and have only after Ricci sold the company to Raytheon. created a culture that aims to please. We try to surprise When Ricci reacquired Flight Options in 2008, and delight our customers with the service we deliver. he returned to the company, this time as CEO. In Will you highlight Flexjet’s investment 2013, Ricci acquired fractional pioneer Flexjet and commitment to safety? from Bombardier and Silvestro became CEO of I think our industry does a very fine job of Flexjet as well. He is deeply involved in youth realizing that safety is its most important misand children’s charities and he and his wife, sion. If you look at the fractional environment, Mary Lynn, adopted two orphaned Rwandan you’ll find a fantastic industry-wide commitment children in addition to raising their own sons. to provide safe missions.

COMPANY BRIEF Flexjet (flexjet.com) first entered the fractional jet ownership market in 1995. Flexjet offers fractional jet ownership and leasing. Flexjet’s fractional aircraft program is the first in the world to be recognized as achieving the Air Charter Safety Foundation’s Industry Audit Standard and is the first and only company to be honored with 20 FAA Diamond Awards for Excellence. It also upholds an ARG/ US Platinum Safety Rating and is IS-BAO compliant at level 2. In 2015, Flexjet introduced Red Label by Flexjet, which features the youngest fleet in the industry, flight crews dedicated to a single aircraft, and the LXi Cabin Collection of interiors. To date, there are more than 30 different interior designs across its Red Label fleet, which includes the Embraer Legacy 450, the Bombardier C h a l l e n g e r 3 5 0 a n d G l o b a l Expr ess, the Gulfstream G45 and G650, and the soon to come Aerion AS2 supersonic business jet. In addition, the overall jet collection includes the Embraer Phenom 300 and Bombardier Challenger 300. Flexjet is a member of the Directional Aviation family of companies.

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We have a number of different systems within our safety culture that are transparent in terms of when we learn things. I think most history reports or accident reports tell you that it’s a series of small things that end up causing an incident or something to go wrong. At Flexjet, we have a transparent culture which encourages people to self-report on an anonymous basis. This provides for great lessons to be learned that we incorporate into our dynamic training environment and allows us to stay ahead of any issues.

There is conversation today about democratizing private aviation. What are your views on this?

You’ve heard the term, “we want to be the Uber of private jets.” I think the Uberization of air travel will eventually come, but I think it will come in a more urban setting in a vertical takeoff and landing environment that allows for more mobility around a congested urban area. There are certain facts around flying a private aircraft and certain costs associated with it that makes the concept of democratizing private aviation awfully difficult. I think the models that some of the companies have developed and that have failed are around seat sharing and ridesharing. That is not something that Flexjet is about.

A Flexjet G650 in the air (above); G650 interior (opposite page) VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Flexjet is about belonging to the most exclusive club that you can want to aspire to.

I equate it to when you show up at Augusta National and you’re a member. You want to play on Tuesday morning at 11:00. You expect the course to be in a certain condition and you expect the clubhouse to be manned. You expect to order something off the menu that you want.

The sophisticated consumer has a very strong place in our segment of the market. Our growth has come from bigger airplanes, newer airplanes and more sophisticated aircraft. We placed an order for G700s recently for example. We are for the discerning client who appreciates the highest level of service.

Are you providing additional services and experiences for your members?

I think some companies have certainly made that a major focus. I have great respect for Kenny Dichter and what he’s done at Wheels Up and Wheels Down. I think Wheels Down has played a very significant part of what his strategy is for the company.

At Flexjet, our efforts are focused in and around flying our customers, and we have created some very interesting partnerships with brands that we feel are unique and offer something fun and interesting.

We created the Flexjet Forum which brings our customers together in an informal social setting where they can interact with key leaders in today’s world for discussions about different issues. We kicked this off with President George W. Bush in New York. We also have great friends in an Italian menswear brand called Isaia and we host events at their showrooms and boutiques in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It’s a great social VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

setting where we can introduce a fashion brand that we feel is of the utmost quality to our high-level members.

We’ve created these different events and social interactions that we find interesting and this certainly has a place in our business, but our major focus is still flying people.

How critical has it been to attract and retain top talent?

It is critical. Almost every pilot in the aviation community, both private and commercial, belongs to a union. Pilots feel that they need a collective bargaining agreement to govern their interactions with management. We inherited that when we bought the business years ago. Last year our pilot workforce voted to ask the union to leave the property in favor of a direct relationship with us. This helped us create programs like Red Label, which is essentially a group of pilots assigned to oversee and fly one aircraft – their team’s dedicated aircraft.

This creates an incredible sense of pride and spirit around their aircraft and the service that the crew delivers to our customers.

We have created a culture that includes a family environment and we’re passionate about what we do. We encourage people to do things that are above and beyond on behalf of our customers.

I think retaining people who are passionate around aviation and creating a business environment where they feel trusted and valued has been one of the greatest things that we’ve been able to accomplish.

What has made this industry so special for you?

I became CEO in late July 2008 and that timing was interesting to say the least. The first three to 12 months of my tenure were incredibly

painful because I was forced to layoff many people based on economic conditions. We had to scale the business to be sustainable, but put it in a position to grow when the economy would turn around.

It is an incredible honor and a privilege to be able to lead this group of people. The commitment that I see across the organization to our customers and to one another is what I’m the most proud of. It’s not easy to keep that passion on a day-to-day basis over many years but I think, as a leadership team, that we’ve made decisions and continued to take appropriate steps to grow and to provide opportunities for advancement for people in terms of more aircraft, more programs and more initiatives.

We’ve created an environment that allows people to see that they have a great career path in an organization that values them and encourages them to go above and beyond. That’s been our secret, to create a culture that allows people to feel good about that kind of day-to-day passion.

Are you able to take moments to celebrate the wins or are you always looking ahead?

I think you have to celebrate the wins; otherwise you keep your nose to the grindstone 100 percent of the time and this is hard to do. NBAA was great, for example, and we announced our recommitment to Embraer for well over a billion dollars’ worth of aircraft.

I was front and center at Gulfstream for the unveiling of the G700 and Flexjet is one of their launch customers. Was that a good day? Yes, it was a good day, and sharing that with the organization allows everybody to enjoy and to feel proud. This was a collective win for everybody associated with Flexjet.

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Simple Luxury An Interview with Maggio Cipriani, President, Cipriani USA, Inc. EDITORS’ NOTE Maggio Cipriani, Among his more recent endeavors is fourth generation of the Cipriani the development of the lounge brand family and President of Cipriani Socialista, from creating and finalizUSA, was born in Bologna, Italy. He ing its unique design to curating a spent his childhood between Venice, successful guest strategy in New York, Ravenna and Milan, and at the age London, Dubai and Miami. He is also of 10, he moved to New York where focused on the development of the he completed his bilingual eduiconic Battery Maritime building in cation first in a European instiNew York City that opened in October tution and later in the American 2019 as Cipriani South Street, the latschool system. Since his early teenest addition to the Cipriani landmark age years, like his brother Ignazio, collection of event spaces. A second Maggio Cipriani he spent time working at Harry’s phase, to be completed in 2020, will Bar in Venice, then Hong Kong and house Casa Cipriani, a luxury hotel with London, whenever he had some spare time from 47 rooms and suites and the family’s first school. He trained in the kitchen, on the floors of social private membership club. He still finds the restaurants, in the pasta factory and worked time, whenever work allows him, to pursue two side by side with his grandfather and father in of his great passions, boxing and soccer. the different Cipriani locations around the world. He joined his father, Giuseppe, in han- COMPANY BRIEF In 1931, a long-sought dream dling day-to-day operations of the company, became reality – Giuseppe Cipriani opened the doors focusing on the United States business and devel- to Harry’s Bar. In a discreet stone building perched oping at the same time with his brother, Mr. C Hotels, along a canal just off Piazza San Marco in Venice, their own independent hospitality concept. he created a timeless and impeccably appointed The first project unfolded in Los Angeles in establishment. His concept was to serve others as 2011, followed by Mr. C Seaport and Mr. C you would want to be served yourself. Four generaCoconut Grove. He opened Cipriani Downtown tions of the Cipriani family have grown a single resMiami in 2013, Cipriani Masaryk in Mexico taurant into a world-renowned hospitality brand City in 2015, Cipriani Dubai in 2016, Cipriani (cipriani.com) recognized for its distinguished venRiyadh in 2017 and Cipriani Las Vegas in 2018. ues and service all over the world.

The original Harry’s Bar in Venice 118 LEADERS

Interior of Cipriani South Street

Cipriani is consistently a leader in the hospitality industry and has a long history and heritage. What have been the keys to Cipriani’s success and has made Cipriani stay relevant over the years?

To guard the core values that have been at the heart of the company for four generations and apply to all aspects of the hospitality business. They are timeless elements that were appreciated yesterday, are appreciated today, and will be appreciated tomorrow. An understated luxury made of many different details, the concept of freedom and no imposition, the love for real service and the attention to quality of ingredients are fundamentals in our Cipriani style and philosophy. We have also been very fortunate to have wonderful, faithful guests around the world who keep coming back and see Cipriani as their second home.

They appreciate our traditional Italian cuisine that in its simplicity and familiar tastes can be enjoyed day after day.

Will you pr ovide an overview of Cipriani’s business and where you see the greatest opportunities for growth?

It all started in Venice in 1931 when my great grandfather opened the doors of Harry’s Bar which is still successful to this day. His name was Giuseppe Cipriani.

He was a bartender at the time, and out of kindness and incredible intuition, he had loaned a tidy sum to a customer named Harry Pickering who had been cut off from his family fortune. Repaid for his generosity, he opened what was declared in 2001 by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs a national cultural landmark.

It was the birthplace of Carpaccio and the Bellini, the original cocktail of Prosecco and white peach purée, which was named after the 15th-century Venetian painter, Giovanni Bellini.

In the almost 90 years since and four generations later, Cipriani has developed into an international hospitality brand with over 25 locations that include restaurants, landmarked event spaces, hotels and lounges in over 10 countries around the world along with a full product line of Cipriani foods marketed internationally in retail stores. We are now present in, just to name a few, New York, Miami, Mexico City, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Monte Carlo, the recently opened Cipriani Las Vegas at Wynn Shops and Riyadh.

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I strongly believe that there is still room to expand in key high-growth markets, including cities in Europe like Milan and Madrid with luxury hospitality projects, especially with hotels, restaurants and private clubs.

Will you highlight Cipriani’s current projects?

We recently opened Cipriani South Street at the iconic 1906 Beaux Arts Battery Maritime Building. This is a variety of event spaces that include separate pre-function rooms, a spectacular loggia balcony and the historical Great Hall with the original skylight that accommodates up to 800 seated guests. A second phase in the same building will be completed in late summer 2020 and will house our first Casa Cipriani luxury hotel, with 47 rooms including 20 suites with private balconies overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty and an exclusive private membership club with over 15,000 square feet devoted to fitness and wellness and 30,000 square feet of dining, entertainment, social areas and terraces.

The architect for the entire project is Thierry Despont, internationally renowned for his historical renovations, including the Statue of Liberty, high-end residential, hotel developments and museum projects. The first quarter of 2020 will also see the opening of Harry’s Table, a 28,000-square-foot expanded culinary project at the Waterline Square in Manhattan on the West Side, that will include specialty counters like a pasta lab, a fish counter, a pizza bar and other casual outlets, a food retail component throughout the space, a full bar inspired by midcentury Italy, and a more formal restaurant facing the waterfront.

On the event side, we have started at our Cipriani 25 Broadway landmarked space, previously known as The Cunard Building, a collaboration with Moment Factory, an entertainment

Cipriani 42nd Street

studio known internationally for its installations and immersive storytelling. Through their incredible work, we show how an historic landmark building can be transformed into a bespoke multimedia canvas and customize the architecture for the most innovative events, pushing the boundaries of technology, entertainment and hospitality.

We are also developing in Punta del Este, Uruguay, a Cipriani Ocean Resort, Club Residences and Casino complex, designed by famous architect Rafael Vinoly, converting the emblematic Tudor style San Rafael Hotel and adding 800,000 square feet of beautiful residences.

Cipriani 25 Broadway, formerly known as The Cunard Building VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Are there consistent characteristics that are a part of each Cipriani venue or is it more about what works for each specific market?

Our cuisine sees our traditional dishes from Harry’s Bar in Venice in all locations with a few specialties that are based on the local produce. We keep our style of relaxed elegant decor in every venue that we open, adapting sometimes colors or materials to the feel and vibe of the location.

How do you define the Cipriani culture?

Luxury in simplicity, which is a state of being and more substance than form.

Cipriani places a major focus on talent and investing in its workforce. In an industry known for high turnover, what has made Cipriani successful in attracting and retaining talent?

We look for people who aside from their own specific skills show passion for this industry and for our brand and our culture, along with their own personality, to bring added value to our team.

As a fourth-generation family member, did you always know that you wanted to work for the business?

I grew up breathing this business and most of the conversations in my household were around food and service. From a very young age I started to be involved and worked on all different aspects of it in different countries.

What has made the family dynamic at Cipriani work so well and what do you see as the keys to running a successful family business?

I consider myself very lucky to have mentors and great examples within my own family.

Their work ethic, love for service and constant enthusiasm have been invaluable inspirations.

Of course, we have our own different personalities, but we always express ourselves and listen to each other with a great sense of respect.

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Wellness and Sustainability An Interview with Neil Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to joinAside from running Asia-Pacific ing Six Senses, Neil Jacobs spent for Four Seasons, I also looked after five years at Starwood Capital spa and wellness globally for the Group as President of Global Hotel Four Seasons brand. Wellness has Operations where he led the group always been of great interest to me responsible for the development personally. of two new brands – Baccarat I met with the former president Hotels and 1 Hotels. Previously, of Four Seasons, Wolf Hengst, who Jacobs spent 14 years with Four sat on the board of Six Senses. He Seasons Hotels and Resorts servsaid that there was a move from one i n g a s S e n i o r Vi c e P r e s i d e n t of the investors to buy the company, Operations for Asia Pacific. He backed by a private equity group in Neil Jacobs was r esponsible for the operaNew York called Pegasus Capital. I tion of 16 hotels throughout the spent time with them and was really region and new properties under development encouraged by their approach to investment. in China, India and the Indian Ocean. His What was exciting to them about Six Senses global career included key leadership roles in were the sustainability and the wellness platEurope, Asia and the Americas. Jacobs stud- forms. The intention was to transform Six ied hotel management at Westminster Hotel Senses from being a small resort group, 95 School in London, French civilization at La percent of which was in Southeast Asia, and Sorbonne University and Italian culture and to create a global platform. We wanted to conart in Florence. He is fluent in five languages. tinue to honor the values that were instilled in the company, but to grow it geographically COMPANY BRIEF Six Senses Hotels Resorts and ramp up what we were doing in wellness Spas (sixsenses.com) are discovered in some and sustainability. of the world’s most exquisite destinations.

All of that was super exciting to me. It Whether cradled by dramatic mountains, took about six months to close the deal, and I perched on a vine-laden hilltop, or dipping moved back to Asia to run things and to start sun-kissed feet into an opal bay, each one driving the execution. begins with nature getting everything just How deeply ingrained is wellness right. From its simple beginnings with a single and sustainability as part of the Six Senses resort in 1995, Six Senses is now recognized culture? as a pioneer of sustainable practices, demonIt’s completely ingrained in the culture. strating that uncompr omisingly gor geous Wellness and sustainability drive every major hideaways can live in harmony with local decision we make in the company and its communities and ecosystems. Today, the hos- growth, even to the extent that we would pitality management company upholds this potentially turn down deals that others would same ethos operating in 21 countries under consider really good if the ownership group the brand names Six Senses, Evason and Six behind those deals doesn’t resonate with us Senses Spas. or believe in these two platforms. We rely on our owners’ ability to execute and on their What excited you about the opportunity integrity. A lot of people call us because we’re to lead Six Senses and made you feel it kind of a hot commodity right now, but not was the right fit? everybody believes in what we do. If you I’ve worked with some amazing people over don’t believe in what we do, we know it’s the years from Issy Sharp to Barry Sternlicht to going to end up in a bad place because we other iconic people. Interestingly, early-on in time have certain brand standards that dictate what at Starwood Capital, we looked at trying to buy we need to be doing in the realms of sustainSix Senses. I knew the brand extremely well hav- ability and wellness. They’re not negotiable ing run Asia for Four Seasons since Six Senses because that’s who we are. originated in Asia. I always felt that it was a brand We have a WIT (Wellness Innovation that had some good vision and was doing certain Team) with about six people who spend 50 things before its time, especially when it came to percent of their time creating content around sustainability. There was always that intrigue. wellness and keeping us ahead of the curve.

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Six Senses Shaharut in Israel (above); organic garden at Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam (left)

In the past three to four years, everybody brandishes the wellness term around. It’s so overused. It has to be ingrained into the culture to do it properly.

We focus on wellness not only for our guests, but also for our employees who we refer to as hosts. It took us two years to develop a very exciting host wellness program that we call Mission Wellness that defines how we look after our employees from a wellness perspective.

Spa, to us, is an important component of wellness. Spa, alone, is not wellness. For us, it’s mind, body, soul and spirit. It’s also food and sleep. It’s the whole thing that really dictates a healthy lifestyle. We’re not evangelical nor do we stick wellness down anyone’s throat. We’re not a destination spa company.

We want to be wider in our approach and have options so our guests can choose the amount of wellness that they want. We get a lot of people coming to our properties that really don’t want to do anything. They just want to lie on the beach or do very little.

That’s okay. We structure our programming in a very layered way so you can choose as little or as much as you want.

Sustainability is part of the heritage of Six Senses. We look at sustainability from many angles. There is clearly the element related to how we build hotels. Whether it’s fabrics or off-gassing and BOC levels and light quality and mechanical, electrical systems, all of these things we agonize about relative to how properties are built today. Any new project that we do, as part of the contract owners have to allocate half a percent of total revenue for sustainable activities.

From the perspective of self-sustainability, we have something called Earth Lab in every property which now showcases what we are doing. Basically, it’s taken the back of the house where all of this work used to go on and puts it in at the front of house. The one thing we didn’t do very well before is talk about it and show people exactly what we were doing.

For 20 years, we have not had any imported water at our properties. Occasionally, we get guests that are upset about that, but we explain it to them. We tell them why it is a part of who we are as a brand. We have stated publicly that by 2022, we will be plastic-free completely in our resorts.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Editors’

CHOICE Gallaghers Steakhouse An Authentic NY Steakhouse

What makes Gallaghers so golden days of destination dining – tablespecial? Business people, actors, side choreography, expertly offering stealth winemakers, bankers, athletes, gueridon-service that is at once attentive and politicians – you’ll find them non-intrusive. there, side-by-side, enjoying The wine list, while not overwhelmUSDA prime steaks, seafood and ing, offers an impressive selection of classic the vibe of an authentic New York Bordeaux, Burgundy and big American reds, City steakhouse. as well as great Champagnes and celebraThe moment you see the tory white wines that pair perfectly with the hand-selected prime beef in main event – the food.

Gallaghers’ store-front meat Gallaghers’ a la carte menu is classic locker – a New York landmark steakhouse fare – truly spectacular dry-aged that might get as many views USDA prime steaks, chops, lobster, grilled as the windows of Saks Fifth fish and all the side dishes New Yorkers Avenue – it’s easy to understand love – plus refreshing additions, includwhy so many are attracted to this ing the chef’s signature shrimp dumplings, New York icon. Guests instantly hamachi crudo and creamy burrata with recognize Gallaghers’ larger-thancoal-fired peppers. Insider tip: because life personality with its warm Gallaghers’ prime rib was recently named Gallaghers’ entrance and the street view of the meat locker (upper right); meat locker (above); dining area and kitchen (lower left); bar (lower right) welcome, world-class service among New York magazine’s “absolute best,” and a menu that offers traditional it sells out every day so reserve yours prior steakhouse dishes as well as refreshing, contemporary selections. to arrival. Classic and homemade, desserts include chocolate layer cake, The welcome is thanks to General Manager Brian Jontow, a steakkey lime pie, banana splits, and Gallaghers’ coveted cheesecake, arguhouse pro from Ben Benson’s, and James Modena, a 35-year Poll Group ably the best you’ll find anywhere in New York City. veteran. Every day of the year, at least one of the two is in the house That is why Gallaghers is the kind of joint where you’ll find rockto greet guests and usher everyone into the Gallaghers’ experience. For ers sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with bankers in suspenders. It is for many, the first stop is Gallaghers’ famed horseshoe-shaped bar. Beloved those who appreciate the taste of the good life, only better. Judging by regulars and the home to what The New York Times’ Robert Simonson from the reaction of restaurant reviewers, including the latest Michelin named “the best, most thoughtful steakhouse martini in New York.”

Guide 2020 that raves about “Gallaghers iconic character” and “conOthers head straight for one of the cushy red-leather booths in temporary-minded fare”, Gallaghers delivers the classic NY Steakhouse the bar room, or a ringside table near Gallaghers’ famed, open kitchen, experience. In a city where diners expect authenticity, Gallaghers has where chefs have been grilling over red-hot, hickory coals since 1927. succeeded in remaining true to its history.

Regardless of where they’re seated, guests recognize this is a unique Gallaghers Steakhouse (228 West 52 Street New York City 212.586-5000) steakhouse, unlike the typical corporate chains. A perfect example of is centrally-located in Midtown Manhattan. It is open for lunch and dinthis is the service. Waiters are seasoned professionals, many of whom ner 365 days a year, and features an iconic bar, a la carte dining and a have 30+ years with Gallaghers and who provide a reminder of the private event space.

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Supporting the Art Community An Interview with Maria Zec, Regional Vice President, USA East Coast, The Peninsula Hotels and General Manager, The Peninsula Chicago EDITORS’ NOTE Since March 2002, Maria Zec has served as General Manager of The Peninsula Chicago and assumed her current post with The Peninsula Hotels in May 2007. Prior to this, she served as Managing Director and Hotel Manager at the New York Palace Hotel. Zec holds a B.S. in business management and a B.A. in French from Purdue University.

PROPERTY BRIEF The Peninsula Chicago (peninsula.com/chicago) has been recognized as a premier property with Forbes’ Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond awards since its grand opening in 2001. The property boasts 339 luxurious guest rooms and suites and offers a 15,000-squarefoot spa and fitness center, 24-hour room service, a ballroom, and seven additional meeting and event rooms as well as three distinctive restaurants and Z Bar. Will you highlight The Peninsula Chicago’s commitment to art and its permanent art collection?

The hotel’s permanent art collection was curated to give a nod to Chicago’s prominent design and famous architecture legacy while reflecting the building’s Art Deco elements. The curator wanted guests walking through the public space to feel that they were passing through a museum showcasing art which truly enhances the setting and atmosphere of the hotel. In fact, there are a number of commissioned works throughout the public spaces and top suites by well-known artists such as Sol LeWitt, Sean Scully, Robert Mangold, Paul Housberg and more.

In 2016 when the hotel renovated our guestrooms and suites, a beautiful art wall was installed in every room. Designed by artist David Qian, there is a painted panel in guestrooms and it is hand-embroidered in suites. The primary motif is the chrysanthemum flower,

The Peninsula Chicago’s guestrooms and suites feature a Chrysanthemum art wall 122 LEADERS

Gaetano Pesce’s work on display at The Peninsula Chicago in conjunction with EXPO Chicago 2017

chosen intentionally as it is not only a significant subject of Asian art, but also the official flower of the city of Chicago.

Will you discuss The Peninsula Chicago’s partnership with EXPO Chicago?

For the past five years, The Peninsula Chicago has been the premier hotel sponsor for EXPO Chicago, the city’s annual contemporary art fair, which brings together some of the best galleries, artists and collectors in the world. Annually, the hotel transforms the lobby and public space to showcase internationally acclaimed artists’ work for the public and guests to enjoy for a six-week special exhibition. We love shining a light on emerging talent as well as transforming our lobby and public space into an even more grand art gallery.

The hotel has recently created an Artistin-Residence program. Will you elaborate on this program?

In an effort to create more ongoing art programming throughout the year, we launched an “Artist-in-Residence” program in the summer of 2018. The goal of this program is to feature a rotation of both established and emerging artists. To date, the hotel has hosted three artists including Chicago photographer Lincoln Schatz, Australian photographer Peter Lik, and Chicago artist Darren Jones. The response to the rotating singular artist work has been very well-received with guests commenting that the area provides a gallery feel and that each new exhibit and featured art completely changes the feeling of the area.

What was the vision in creating the academy programs as well as the art-influenced program at The Peninsula Chicago?

Our brand-wide program, The Peninsula Academy, is designed to give guests unique and unprecedented access to historical, cultural

Tony Karman, Maria Zec, James Nares and Nick Olney at EXPO Chicago 2019 at The Peninsula Chicago

and local lifestyle experiences in each of our hotel destinations through a variety of bespoke offerings for children and adults.

At The Peninsula Chicago, we offer a program for art enthusiasts called “The Art Institute of Chicago: A Private Tour of a Revered Art Collection.” Through this program, guests can experience exclusive access to the museum’s very special collections. A national treasure, T h e Art Institute of Chicago, houses the country’s leading collection of impressionists’ paintings, among many other prized pieces.

Iván Navarro’s Impenetrable Room (pink) and Impenetrable Room (green) on display in The Lobby during EXPO Chicago 2019

How does The Peninsula Hotels brand support the art community worldwide?

For many years, The Peninsula Hotels have supported the art community in a variety of ways with art exhibits in Hong Kong during Art Basel beginning five years ago, a dedicated gallery of rotating art in Beijing, and art initiatives around Fashion Week in Paris, just to name a few. In March 2019, Peninsula Hotels worked alongside curators Bettina Prentice and Isolde Brielmaier to present “Art in Resonance,” a new, multiyear global contemporary art program that commissions work from artists who are poetically pushing the boundaries of their mediums. The program reflects a deeper commitment to engage directly with artists, not only as a venue to showcase their art, but as an originator and innovator of culture via commissioning artwork that will continue to travel to Peninsula destinations.

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Genuine Hospitality An Interview with Scott Gerber, Principal and CEO, Gerber Group EDITORS’ NOTE Scott Gerber be great. The lighting has to be just began his career in the bar busiright. The design of the space has to ness in 1991 when Gerber Group be comfortable with different options opened its first venue. Soon after, depending upon who you’re entertainGerber formed a partnership with ing – if it’s a business person, you may Starwood Hotels & Resorts to develop prefer to sit at a high-top. If you’re the W brand, which features Gerber with some friends, you may want to sit Group venues throughout the U.S. at a banquet or on a couch. If you’re and in select properties internaalone, you may want to go up to the tionally. Prior to founding the combar. We always like to provide differpany, Gerber was a Principal at ent seating options. real estate firm Peter R. Friedman Wher e do you see gr owth Scott Gerber Ltd. Gerber has been quoted in The opportunities for Gerber Group?

Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and We’re very opportunistic. We’ve Crain’s New York Business, among others. He been in a fortunate position for many years holds a B.S. in Finance and Real Estate from the where we don’t really go out and seek opporUniversity of Arizona. tunities. They come to us. For instance, The Campbell at Grand Central Terminal that we COMPANY BRIEF Gerber Group (gerberbars.com) took over about two years ago was an open, is the owner-operator of 15 innovative cocktail public request for proposal where a broker bars and restaurants in New York, Washington came to us and asked us to participate.

D.C., Atlanta and Santiago, Chile. Each venue Most of our opportunities are in hotels. celebrates the importance of genuine hospital- Generally speaking, we want to make sure that ity and positive customer experiences. In 1991, we are complimentary to the hotel and that Gerber Group established its ability to pro- we can add value to the hotel, not just in runvide a unique nightlife experience with the ning a great bar, but really being a deciding facopening of its first property, The Whiskey at the tor in somebody choosing to stay at that hotel Paramount Hotel. Today, Gerber Group con- over another. tinues to redefine the hospitality industry with H o w d i d G e r b e r Group’s relationcreative dining concepts and bars featuring ship with the new TWA Hotel at JFK Airport renowned beverage programs accompanied by come about? exceptional culinary talents.

Tyler Morse, who is the CEO of MCR, developed the property. He used to be What are the key characteristics of a Gerber at Starwood and he knew of us from them.

Group venue and how do you define the We happened to run into each other at a NYC Gerber Group difference?

Hospitality Alliance board meeting and he Hopefully, the most common characteristic is the hospitality that we provide from the staff at each location.

It’s obviously very difficult to differentiate a Heineken you drink at our venues, versus a Heineken you drink somewhere else. We find that it’s also hard to differentiate with spirits.

That is not to say that one bar may make a better Manhattan than another bar, but I don’t think you can really hang your hat on that. We preach that we want our staff to be polite, friendly, engaging and attentive. That’s the most important thing, and what sets us apart.

In addition to the people, the music and the sound levels have to VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Mr. Purple in Hotel Indigo Lower East Side (left); Rooftop pool at the TWA Hotel (above); The Campbell in Grand Central Terminal (below)

mentioned that they were doing a project out at John F. Kennedy Airport. He asked if we would be interested in looking at it and I was intrigued.

At first, I didn’t really know very much about airport hotels, but in spending a lot of time with Tyler and his team, and understanding how passionate they were about making sure they were bringing this place back to its authenticity, we became very excited about it. I think part of the reason they chose us was also because we were good at operating The Campbell, which was a historic space, so they knew that we would be respectful to this restoration project. We were able to make a deal.

Gerber Group creates venues that are timeless. What is the key to staying relevant?

That’s a great question. Our business model has always dictated that we don’t want to be trendy, but we want to be aware of the trends. For instance, years ago, it started becoming trendy to drink coldpressed juices. Instead of just adding juice to our menu, we saw that people were looking for healthier alternatives in their cocktails, so we added items like green juice with vodka to the menu. It was a different way of looking at things, while always using the freshest ingredients that we can.

It’s also important to be aware of trends so people don’t walk into a place and feel like it’s their grandfather’s bar but, at the same time, know it’s not about being the coolest kid on the block. If you’re the coolest kid on the block, that’s probably good for 18 months to two years. Then you have to reinvent yourself.

There are a lot of people in this industry that have that business model, and it works out fine for them.

It’s just not what we do. We want to create a great ambience so that if you haven’t been to our bar in two years and you go back to that city to visit and walk into the bar, you remember what you loved about the place.

Maybe the music is great. Maybe it’s contemporary. Maybe it’s still old bluesy or old rock or whatever it might be. The cocktails are still amazing. The sound levels allow me to talk to the person I’m with. It feels good.

I think if you provide all of these things, plus genuine hospitality, you will have longevity.

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LEADERS 123

A More Thoughtful Way to Fly An Interview with Andrew Collins, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sentient Jet EDITORS’ NOTE As the President digital and technology transformation and CEO of Sentient Jet, Andrew at Sentient Jet and its parent company, Collins is responsible for a $350 OneSky. This has included the creation million aviation business that of retail product, online consumer has flourished over the last five “touch points,” novel mobile applicayears. Under his leadership, tions, and a brand-new, supply-side the company has benefited from platform for driving further efficiencies both a digital and business model in flight-time procurement. Collins transformation, in addition to an received his B.A. from Union College organizational restructuring. This in Schenectady, New York, and a includes repositioning the brand, master’s degree from the Sloan School integrating a full suite of retail and of Management at MIT. Andrew Collins wholesale technology applications, doubling Jet Card sales, and movCOMPANY BRIEF Sentient Jet (sentient.com) ing top-line revenues by 60 percent, while also has continued to perfect the jet card model for evolving Sentient into an EBITDA-positive entity. nearly 20 years as an alternative to jet ownership, In 2018, Collins, on behalf of parent company fractional arrangements, and other jet card proOneSky, led the acquisition of international dig- grams. Sentient Jet certifies every single aircraft, ital charter provider PrivateFly (London, U.K.) pilot, crew, and flight that flies in its program to to help establish a $100 million, on-demand ensure the safety of its clients. Operators are tested global platform. In addition to helming Sentient annually and the company’s safety standards Jet, Collins is also the Global Brand Leader for exceed FAA Part 135 regulations in various catePrivateFly, acting as the team’s executive spon- gories. Supported by an extensive 24/7 customer sor as this platform is further enhanced. In service operation, Sentient Jet strives to make each recent years, Collins has motivated a significant private jet travel experience an extraordinary one.

124 LEADERS

Will you highlight the history and heritage of Sentient Jet and how the business has evolved?

Sentient spotted a need in the marketplace in 1999. This is interesting because if you’re an investor or if you look at business models, someone once said to me, you always want to be a painkiller and not a vitamin, where you’re solving something as opposed to just making somebody feel a little better.

At that time, there was a very fragmented charter market and, to some extent, it is still fragmented today. However, purchasing private jet time was not nearly as clear as it is today, and simplifying it and making it so that a consumer saw a reduction in the friction of trying to book a flight or have a solution provided a big opportunity. We created the Jet Card, which allowed a number of things to happen that productized a good portion of the industry in many respects since we created a one way rate that was different from the way others were billing at the time.

We guaranteed 10 hours advanced notification. At that point, we were competing

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

more with the fractional groups like NetJets.

Our creation stimulated an entirely new segment in the industry and our patch of grass became wider and more influential over time. What we’ve always done as a company, which was true back then and is true today, is that we’ve stuck to the Jet Card metaphor.

The idea was that someone could just purchase 25 or 50 hours at a time and have the flexibility of choosing anything from a light jet all the way up to a mid, super-mid or large cabin aircraft, and have that jet delivered to them within just 10 hours of advanced notice.

How do you define the profile of the Sentient Jet client?

I’ll answer that in two ways. There is a word that people are using these days where they’re saying they’re looking to democratize private aviation. I love that spirit and I think it’s a really smart vision. I would tell you though, with today’s aircraft, it’s very difficult to democratize at $5,000 an hour and up. We have 6,000 cardholders and will do $300 million in Jet Card sales this year. That is close to triple what we were doing in 2011 so we’ve been able to really grow the size of the company.

We foresee that the card product itself can be a $500 million product through organic growth without acquisitions, so it’s a significant piece of the private aviation landscape. I would reserve judgment as to whether it becomes a bigger market because it’s really going to be about the future aircraft available that are coming off the line and what the direct operating costs are.

Our market is a defined market and is one in which you have to think about how you look at the segment and how you acquire customers. If you overpay to acquire a customer in this space, it’s tough to make that up in volume over time. The way you really have to think about it is by defining how you rationalize your cost of acquisition and how you make sure everyone from your marketing team to your sales force is focused on a pool of discussions with individuals who can actually utilize the card and become longstanding clients.

Our average tenure for a client is four years, which shows that we have been able to develop a nice relationship with our base and have a true understanding of who they are.

How is technology impacting Sentient Jet’s business and how critical is it that technology does not take away from the human touch and personal relationship?

That’s a great question. My guess is that by next year we probably will have seen anywhere from $80 to $100 million in private aviation transactions that happen through our mobile app. This is a significant number in the industry, but it is not one which we necessarily run out and talk about because we have a captive membership base. What we’re looking to do is to unlock different ways we can work with, partner with, and communicate with our cardholders.

There is a swath of our client base that are very digitally oriented and are used to doing things with their phones or on their desktop.

We are launching a brand-new desktop booking VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

site this month, which is a wonderful addition for this group.

On the other hand, we also have people that like the high-touch personal interaction.

This embodies everything from hospitality and service levels to an innate and deep knowledge of our clients based on the records and archived data that we have and the client’s history, so it’s a mixture of both.

race right from the rail, as well as having our brand ambassador, Bobby Flay, personally cook breakfast for 125 of our clients on the Saturday of the race.

We need to relate to our clients and we want to be in their lives, but we do not want to be intrusive. We try to align propitiously with what they are interested in, where they would like to head, and how they would like

Are you providing broader services and opportunities for your members in addition to flying?

We are focused on being a more thoughtful way to fly, so our brand positioning and our relationship with our client is much deeper than just booking a flight. From the time that a black car service shows up at your house to bring you to the plane, through being in air and completing your flight, we’re the brand that’s representative of the whole experience.

We have to make sure that the logistics of that for the 6,000 cardholders that use us each day is as smooth as possible, and that requires the technical focus, but it also requires the 20 years of history and understanding of how to be both proactive and reactive in that process.

We have a unique way of engaging our client base. For many years we’ve developed exclusive partnerships and benefits for our client base so the experience in some respects extends into things such as Sentient Jet being the official provider, for the first time ever, for the Kentucky Derby.

This partnership means that if you go to the Kentucky Derby as one of our clients, not only do you fly in and enjoy special amenities on board the aircraft, but you can attend a series of events that Sentient is hosting for you. You have access to a private suite, you have access to the paddock, you will likely get to see a

to transact, so it is more than just putting somebody on a jet. It really is about building a relationship.

This is a business with so many moving pieces. Are you able to enjoy the process and take moments to celebrate the wins?

I celebrate the wins. I have a short list of about 53 clients out of 6,000 for whom I personally watch and review every transaction they’re involved in. I can do that because of technology. I started here coming out of MIT as our product person. I was a director of product management and really got into digital strategy and I don’t ever want to lose those roots. For me to experience how a client is doing and what their sentiment is and learn from them is very important to me.

It is really important to celebrate. This is a business that’s 24/7/365 and we would be nowhere without our senior leadership team, our front-line client services people, and our flight planners. This year we’ve been acknowledging our 20th anniversary. Private aviation can be a complex business and it can be one that has a bit of a grind to it. We have developed an organization that understands not only the client, but also understands how to work well with one another as a team. If you don’t stop and celebrate that, you will lose that spirit of camaraderie and lose focus on our daily mission.

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A Global Family Hotel Company An Interview with Dionísio Pestana, Chairman, Pestana Hotel Group

Rooms, minibar, and bathroom at Pestana Park Avenue in Manhattan, Pestana Hotel Group’s 100th hotel

EDITORS’ NOTE Dionísio Pestana is the owner of Pestana Hotel Group which was founded by his father and is the largest international hotel group of Portuguese origin with 99 properties in 15 countries.

In January 2020, Pestana Hotel Group will open its 100th property, Pestana Park A v e n u e in New York City. Pestana has received several awards in the industry and from the Portuguese government for his achievements. He earned a degree in business management in South Africa.

it from there. Today we’re celebrating the upcoming opening of our 100th hotel, which will be New York.

What are the characteristics of a Pestana property?

When we build and train our staff, we focus on service and the Portuguese have this natural hospitality to deliver guest experiences.

That has been a key to our success. We have expanded to two other brands. One is Pousadas de Portugal, Dionísio Pestana which is a very distinctive product which are historical monuments, castles and convents in Portugal with a concession with the government.

COMPANY BRIEF Pestana Hotel Gr oup More recently, we teamed up with a (pestana.com/en) is the largest multinational famous footballer named Cristiano Ronaldo, who group from Portugal in the tourism sector. It is is originally from Madeira, and built a brand present in 15 countries, has more than 12,000 around CR7, which is his personal brand, so it’s rooms under direct management, has a global Pestana CR7 Lifestyle Hotels. This is more of a team of 7,000 professionals and is chosen by younger lifestyle product and has had great sucmore than 3,5 million customers per year. In cess, especially in emerging countries.

2016, Pestana started a partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s best soccer players, that has now built seven lifestyle hotels.

What is the history of Pestana Hotel Group?

Originally my dad built the first hotel in Madeira as a family business with his brothers which opened in 1972. There was the revolution in Portugal in 1974 and things went completely haywire.

We had to take the hotel out of bankruptcy and rebuild it again. In those years, we had a management contract with Sheraton because my dad wasn’t in the hotel business. I learned a lot about the hotel business through Sheraton and John Kapioltas, who was the president at the time, and he was a great mentor. We decided to go independent, grow our company and build

126 LEADERS

You mentioned service. Will you elaborate on Pestana’s commitment to service and training?

We focus on the five- and four-star product only. By doing that, the people that work with us start off knowing that our segment is in the top tier. We do all of our training in-house. We have a very knowledgeable human resource team in Portugal and we are hiring young, talented people. We have a ‘Grow Together’ program of about 30 youth colleagues that start off with us and slowly build up in the service side of the business. There are two sides to this business. There’s the contact with the guests which is the smile, the hospitality, the experience that people touch and feel. Then there is the backoffice side which is a different ball game completely because today there is digital marketing

and the world has changed from traditional sales. It’s very specific, and for that we try and attract young people out of the industry, not people that have been a part of the hotel business, so we bring in out-of-the-box ideas.

How do you focus your ef forts in leading Pestana Hotel Group?

I think the larger the organization gets, the more decentralized you have to be. You have to make sure that the culture has to reach the entire system, and that’s what I focus on. I always want our team to feel my presence physically when I’m at the hotels so that there is a face for them to see as they deliver what we promised and what they have been trained to do.

This is a family hotel company run on family values and we are all one family. This is a feeling that we try to keep and obviously as we go international, it’s more difficult because of language and culture differences, but we work at it.

What do you look for when hiring talent and what advice do you offer young people beginning their careers in the hotel business?

You have to be passionate and dedicated.

You’ve got to come to this business because you love it, because if you give a brief of what the workload is many would immediately give up.

The skills we look for are people that speak two or three languages because that opens their minds to ideas. The other that we encourage is travel. In other words, if somebody says to us, “Look, I’d like to come, but I’m not prepared to travel,” we think they are going the wrong way because you need to have those experiences. I think this openmindedness is very important to be able to surprise themselves and for the company to do things differently. If you are passionate and dedicated and want to travel and try new things, you have a fantastic career ahead of you.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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A Genuine Service Culture An Interview with Becky Hubbard, General Manager, Lotte New York Palace EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to her current post, Becky Hubbard was Executive Assistant Manager at Trump SoHo Hotel; Assistant Rooms Executive at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC; Front House Director for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC; Director of Reception for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.; and Assistant Director of Reception for Sheraton. She received her B.S. in hospitality from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

levels alongside increased hotel room inventory. Even though the room supply has increased, it has certainly been met with strong demand.

What have been the keys to the strength and leadership of Lotte New York Palace and how do you define the Lotte New York Palace difference?

It is important to know the market, but it is even more important to set your own standards. At Lotte New Becky Hubbard York Palace, our executive teams set aspirational goals both financially and PROPERTY BRIEF Lotte New York Palace operationally. We’ve created a positive momen(lottenypalace.com), a legendary New York City tum that other industry leaders want to be a part luxury hotel, underwent a thorough transfor- of. We have built a team of experts and have mation from a historic Madison Avenue gem to amazing synergy in our organization.

Midtown’s premier modern hotel. The hotel feaHow critical is it to have owners with tures 909 spacious rooms and suites, including a long-term vision and commitment to the 176 exclusive Towers accommodations, which property? provide the perfect setting for relaxation and It is vital. LOTTE Hotels & Resorts is incredinspired stays in New York City. Unique dining ibly invested in building a genuine service culvenues such as Pomme Palais offer everything ture alongside state-of-the-art hotel facilities. from imaginative breakfast dishes to signa- This has been instrumental in allowing us to ture pastries and sandwiches. Lotte New York deliver value to our guests.

Palace’s collection of versatile meeting and event Lotte New York Palace has been spaces is ideal for weddings, corporate events, described as two hotels in one building with and special occasions. The hotel’s famed Villard The Palace and The Towers offerings. Is this Mansion, built in 1882, is recognized as a New an accurate description of the property?

York City landmark and gracefully blends with We like to describe The Towers as a “hotel a contemporary 55-story tower. The Madison within a hotel” as it occupies the top 14 floors Avenue courtyard provides a dramatic entry- of Lotte New York Palace. The Towers houses way to the hotel’s grand lobby. Villard restau- 176 spacious guestrooms and suites, in addition rant offers a New American menu comprised of to its own stylish private reception area com“farm house” breakfast and brunch fare. plete with a dedicated Les Clefs d’Or concierge team. Each guest room provides an unparalleled What are your views on the current state ‘home away from home’ experience. of the hotel business in New York City?

The Towers is our premium collection of The New York City hotel market continues guestrooms and extra-spacious suites, ranging to grow. Each year we see growth in tourism up to 5,000 square feet. Our suites are among the largest in New York City. Guests of The Towers have access to a wide range of exclusive services and luxurious amenities, including our Maybach car service, Maître d’etage service and private Les Clefs d’Or concierge.

Lotte New York Palace is a leader in the meeting and event business. Will you provide an overview of the property’s capabilities and strength in this area?

Lotte New York Palace is the largest luxury hotel in New York City with approximately 30,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space. With our seasoned team of catering and 128 LEADERS

Clockwise from top left: Lotte New York Place grand staircase; hotel exterior; Jewel Suite by Martin Katz living room; Gold Room

event managers, our flexible space can be easily transformed for large conferences and corporate meetings, to weddings and small celebrations.

How do you define a true luxury hotel experience today?

Luxury service is about creating transformative experiences that people want to be a part of and delivering far beyond what our customers have paid for. The core of our business is that we genuinely care about our guests and delivering memories that they will take with them long after they check-out.

What do you tell young women about the opportunities to grow and lead in the hospitality industry?

Opportunities for women in the hospitality industry are growing. Right now, there are approximately 90 female General Managers in New York City, which is extraordinary. Being a leader is not about being a man or a woman, but rather about being an expert in your craft.

A piece of advice that I would offer to young women is to “lead from the front” and build relationships, because it is those relationships that will get you everywhere.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

A Sanctuary An Interview with Bianca Sharma, Owner, Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa

Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa (above); outdoor area of the Sea View Premium Terrace Suite (left); Ristorante Il Refettorio (below)

EDITORS’ NOTE Bianca Sharma is Will you discuss the history and a U.S. entrepreneur and owner heritage of Monastero Santa Rosa of Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Hotel & Spa and how the propSpa. A former Montessori nursery erty has evolved? teacher, Sharma had no prior expeMonastero Santa Rosa dates rience as a hotelier. She first caught back to 1680 when the Pandolfi sight of the abandoned monastery family provided for the construction in 2000 while on holiday with her of the monastery attached to the sons. Enchanted by what she saw existing church, Chiesa Santa Maria and knowing that the building di Grado. This monastery housed would make a fabulous hotel, she nuns of the Dominican order until embarked on a decade long jourthe late 1800s when the monastery Bianca Sharma ney to revive the forgotten buildwas deconsecrated by the Catholic ing, turning it into the charming church and the structure was turned boutique hotel and spa it is today. Sharma cur- over to the municipality. The remaining nuns rently splits her year equally between living in were allowed to live out their lives in the the U.S. (South Carolina and Colorado) and building, the last surviving there until 1912.

Italy (Amalfi Coast) and is very much involved Not long after that, a hotelier from Sicily, in all aspects of the hotel operation. The hotel is a Massimiliano Marcucci, spotted the strucfamily enterprise and Sharma’s son, Nathan, is ture from the mountains above, falling in involved in the day-to-day running of the hotel love with the design of the structure. He in his role as Managing Partner. purchased the building and, ultimately, the former monastery became a hotel, occupied PROPERTY BRIEF Situated between Amalfi and run by the family. The last remaining and Positano, Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & member of the family died in 1998, leaving the Spa (monasterosantarosa.com) is a spectac- property to a distant relative in the north of ular former 17th century monastery which Italy, and was basically abandoned. In 2000, has been lovingly restored into 20 beautiful I was visiting the Amalfi coast with my sons sea-view guest rooms and suites. The hotel and family friends, and I spotted the monasopened in 2012 and is now regarded as one of the finest luxury boutique hotels on the Amalfi coast. The hotel retains the unique features of the original monastery and the original vaulted ceilings and arched windows of the nuns’ rooms and refectory have been preserved and linked together to create individually decorated rooms and suites. The family run, adults only, hotel is nestled into the side of a cliff. Each room is decorated with historical photographs of the area and the monastery itself, adding to the sense of history. A true refuge from city life, the hotel has a beautifully manicured, five-tiered Italian garden, spec- tery from the sea and was intrigued by the tacular heated infinity pool and award-win- stone structure that seemed to grow directly ning spa. Monastero Santa Rosa is renowned from the cliff. When I asked the boat capfor its incredible infinity pool that literally falls tain about the structure, he told me it was a off from the cliff edge, an award-winning Spa monastery and that it was for sale. Something with unique treatments created exclusively strongly pulled me to want to learn more, for the hotel by Santa Maria Novella (the old- and I returned to the U.S. with a dream of est phar macy in Flor ence) and Michelin bringing this abandoned building to glory by starred restaurant, Il Refettorio, serving locally creating a luxury hotel. Naturally, my family sourced, fresh and seasonal produce includ- financial consultant was not in agreement, ing hand-picked herbs from Monastero Santa but he started the process to learn more, even Rosa’s own gardens. taking time to return to the Amalfi coast with VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

me to have a serious look at the entire property. That is when he really encouraged me to forget this, as it was going to be a daunting task. There was no true infrastructure, no real evidence of a former hotel, with only three bathrooms for many more rooms, and the fright of working in Southern Italy as Americans. His assessments were completely correct, but I was still determined. The final result of what we offer today took 11 years to create, partly because of mistakes on our side, partly because of the difficulty of working with Italian bureaucracy. In the end, I have no regrets.

We are now proud that, in a relatively short period of operation, the hotel has won many awards, most recently Conde Nast Traveler’s Top Hotel in Italy and Second Top Hotel in Europe, and our kitchen has been reconfirmed for a third year with a Michelin star.

Will you highlight the accommodations at Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa and the strength of its suite offering?

Monastero Santa Rosa offers 20 rooms in total, 12 rooms of varying categories and eight unique suites. Having this variety of rooms and suites allows us to accommodate a wide range of guest preferences. It was very important to me to maintain the integrity of the original architecture, so all rooms reflect the nuns’ quarters and common spaces. Rooms, and some suites, were created by linking two or three nuns’ rooms.

In most rooms, the bathrooms occupy an entire former nun’s room, allowing space for a very generous and well-appointed bathroom. The largest suites were areas that the nuns used for congregating, praying, cooking and laundry. In spite of all rooms and suites having their unique touches, there is a continuity from room to room, creating a sense of harmony.

I would say that our largest suites give guests, especially for longer stays, a sense of being in a home within a home.

How important is it to keep a family feel at the property?

My staff has my heart, and they know it. Many of our original team are still with us because of this strong bond we have with each other. So many guests have commented that they feel they have entered a home and have been embraced by a family. That warms my heart.

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The Original Boutique Brand An Interview with Matthew Hurlburt, Area Director of Operations for New York and Pennsylvania, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC and General Manager, Kimpton Muse Hotel EDITORS’ NOTE A 25-year hoswherever you go, you’d get the exact pitality industry veteran, Matthew same thing. It was the opposite of Hurlburt began his car eer in that. Instead, when you stayed in a California, initially at Woolley’s city or in a hotel, you really got to Petite Suites in Santa Ana and then experience that local place. That was the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. He what inspired him. moved to Dallas, working at Hyatt We started with our first hotel in Regency DFW Airport, before makSan Francisco in 1981. At the time, he ing his way to New York, where he didn’t envision a global company at worked at the Grand Hyatt New all. In fact, he didn’t want to emphaYork. Hurlburt then headed to size his name. In the early days, it Washington, D.C. and, from 1998 was more about the individual names Matthew Hurlburt to 2012, held successive manageof the hotels without something ment positions at the Hyatt Fair attached. He wasn’t trying to take Lakes in Fairfax, Virginia; Hyatt Regency Crystal over the world. He was trying to share what City in Arlington, Virginia; Hyatt Regency he had found to be a great way to experience Washington on Capitol Hill; and Grand Hyatt a hotel in a city in a place that you’re visiting, Washington. In 2012, he joined Kimpton Hotels and we’ve grown from there. & Restaurants as General Manager of the Hotel Will guests find common characterisMonaco Alexandria, and in 2013 was named tics in each Kimpton property?

Kimpton’s Area Director of Hotel Operations There are some things that we like to for the Mid-Atlantic Region, where he oversaw make consistent, only because we feel that seven properties in Washington, D.C. totaling they help define who we are. These are the more than 1,100 keys and over 300 employees. little touches that make a guest feel welcome.

For instance, we always have a music styling in COMPANY BRIEF San Francisco-based our hotels and restaurants, but it is customized Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants (kimptonhotels.com) for each property. We actually have a person is a collection of boutique hotels and chef- in our company whose job it is to help curate driven restaurants in the U.S. founded in 1981 music lists for each space and each hotel so

by Bill Kimpton. Its hotels offer authentic and the music styling is customized for each propunscripted customer care, stylish ambience and erty, but the common element is always having embody a certain playfulness in its approach to music. programs and amenities. Adjacent to the hotels How is Kimpton Muse Hotel posiare locally-loved, top-rated, Kimpton restau- tioned in the market? rants. Kimpton is a leader in ecological pracOne key aspect of the Kimpton Muse tices through its innovative EarthCare program is its location. We are right in the heart of that spans all of its hotels and restaurants. The Times Square on 46th Street between 6th company operates 58 hotels and 67 restau- and 7th so on one side, you’re at Times rants, bars and lounges in 24 cities.

Square, and at the other end of the block is Rockefeller Center and tons of large law How do you define the Kimpton brand? firms and media companies and corporate One of the things we’re most proud of giants. The property makes a very natural is that Kimpton is really the original bou- transition from corporate business travel tique brand. We were the first company that during the week to the leisure traveler on made boutique an actual segment within the weekends or holidays who want to experiindustry. We owe that to our founding owner, ence Times Square.

Bill Kimpton. He was a person who saw an We try to position the property to be opportunity to share with people what he had that home-away-from-home and an oasis for experienced in his own travels throughout launching your trip to New York, no matter the world staying in smaller boutique hotels whether you’re there for business or for leithat were often family-owned or run and that sure. We really focus on being knowledgehad a care and sensibility that reflected the able about New York so we can help people local essence of the place he was visiting. It with restaurants or other activities in the was not about being homogenous so that city. We make sure we stay up to speed with 130 LEADERS

The lobby of the Kimpton Muse Hotel (above); a king room (left)

what’s happening and with what people are looking for.

The property has also been going through some renovations that have been very beneficial. We just finished a large renovation that created a brand-new fitness center and business lounge. Those spaces are both designed to help our guests, whether they be there for business or just want to have some time to workout or focus on their health and well-being. The spaces came out beautifully and have been very well-accepted by our guests.

We also have a new bar that we’re very proud of that we incorporated into our lobby space which allows people to relax in the lobby. It has been very successful.

What advice do you offer young people entering the hotel industry?

I tell them to make sure they take opportunities to work in different departments within the hotel. People sometimes gravitate towards the front office and the front of house leadership positions because they’re in the limelight and they feel like they are on stage there and they can quickly move from position to position within that context.

But they shouldn’t forsake the back of house departments like housekeeping. This gives them such a great experience from a management standpoint in working with employees and making sure they’re focused and that they’re supported and respected. Everyone needs to be treated fairly and consistently.

This experience will push their management style in a different way.

Another key for young managers is sales and revenue. As they grow more in their careers and need to deal with financial pressures and ownership groups, sales and revenue becomes vastly more important because it sets the tone. If we don’t have a strong sales pipeline or manage our revenue correctly, then operations is going to suffer.

I tell young managers to take on as much as possible and to really ingrain themselves in whatever they have the opportunity to experience. Take advantage of any meetings you can join and any connections you can make with folks in every department.

This will give them a better background to understand the overall business and to be able to speak to and help drive the business should they become a GM.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Timeless Elegance An Interview with Deborah Yager Fleming, Chief Executive Officer & Partner, Acqualina Resort & Spa EDITORS’ NOTE Deborah Yager Fleming joined Acqualina Resort & Spa in March 2004 after having served as Vice President, Sal es & Marketing at Island Outpost, where she managed marketing campaigns for 12 boutique hotels, including The Tides in Miami. She also garnered valuable experience in New York at Leading Hotels of the World where she held senior management positions and implemented the design of worldwide sales strategies and innovative marketing programs.

Lawns at Acqualina Resort & Spa (above); suite living area (below)

participating in it. It has been wonderful to see the engagement that is taking place with sharing of news, photos and content.

I take great pride in seeing our employees prepare and execute fivestar services from a visual representation within the app. For example, we have housekeepers who are taking photos of their turndown experiences and broadcasting them not only to their co-workers within the Deborah Yager Fleming department to see, but for all of the Acqualina team members. We have 425 team members involved in the app. It has created a spark where more people are posting PROPERTY BRIEF With a lushly landscaped 4.5- and commenting and this brings a great sense acre backyard of seaside bliss, world-class res- of pride and inspiration. taurants, curated amenities and spacious rooms and suites all with balconies and water views, Acqualina Resort & Spa (acqualinaresort.com) is at the center of Miami’s Sunny Isles Beach providing an exclusive experience and an ultra-luxurious beach lifestyle. As Florida’s only hotel of its kind, built open to the sea with no structural or visual barriers, Acqualina evokes a Mediterranean lifestyle just steps off the pristine sand into the Atlantic. The lush grounds are dotted with umbrellas in the resort’s signature red color and lounge chairs punctuate the blue and green hues of its natural surroundings. The property is the recipient of the coveted Forbes Five Star Award and the AAA How do you define the elements to Five Diamond Award. TripAdvisor named providing a true luxury hotel experience?

Acqualina as the Best Beachfront Resort in the It’s about personalization, because what U.S. for five years in a row. could be appealing to me may not necessarily be appealing to you. It’s all about emotion.

What have been the keys to Acqualina’s It certainly requires having a beautiful quality success? design and architecture and the highest-quality It starts with employee happiness. To linens, but it’s how we make you feel from an maximize the long-term value of the Acqualina emotional perspective that is most important. brand, ensuring that our team members are That is really true luxury and it is something that happy is most critical to our success. We’ve has to be personalized because we are all differdone that by empowering the employees to ent. Many of us appreciate a wonderful bottle create personalized experiences with our of wine, but there are individuals who are avid resort guests. This has resulted in a significant connoisseurs of wine and then there are those amount of repeat business. who are more of a novice wine drinker. The The importance of recognition and approach has to be different and tailor made rewarding team members is such a founda- and this truly comes down to active listening. We tion in everything that we do here. One of the are living, breathing individuals and any minute things I am most proud of is that we recently something could happen to enhance or change launched an app called “Together,” which is our lives so you have to be conversational and an employee engagement app. Approximately attentive in the luxury space in order to fulfill 85 percent of the workforce is actively at the highest level from a service perspective.

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Are you happy with the product today and what changes can guests expect from Acqualina?

I come from a place where I’m always looking at how we can further develop and improve our services. I’m very happy with the people that I’m surrounded by who support me in my quest to make it better. I’m proud of our product because it provides a timelessly elegant experience in every facet, whether you’re at the beach relaxing in a lounge chair under a red umbrella, or at the front drive surrounded by beautiful Italian mosaics and flowing fountains. I have this catch-phrase that I use often, “photo ready,” and it means that everything always has to be ready to be photographed.

Acqualina’s design embraces classic furnishings and decor with modern elements. It’s a Mediterranean style experience that exemplifies the highest standards of excellence. To achieve this, it requires a significant investment. We always want to remain relevant by developing new offerings for our guests. For example, earlier this year we launched a grand three-bedroom suite with a distinctive design and feel. We are now designing a second, three-bedroom suite, which will be ready to launch in early 2020. Together, we will be able to offer a combination six-bedroom gorgeous showcase suite.

The fact that we’re a family-run and independent brand allows us to be nimble and agile and create experiences quickly. It is all about what’s on the horizon and how we make what is here now even better.

What advice do you offer young people interested in building a career in the hospitality industry?

The first is to have patience. One of the most difficult things to do is self-assessment. I try to impart to our millennials that there are skill sets that one acquires through academia, but the important thing is the application and that requires time and exposure. The benefit of being at an independent brand like ours is that we embrace career development. It’s about that human connection, and I do believe that what you give is what you get.

People who are goal driven and have aspirations need to put a goal post down and have a plan to reach that goal post. Once they’ve reached it, they need to move the post to another level and make a plan to get to the next level.

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LEADERS 131

Team Focused An Interview with Kimberly Christner, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstone Hospitality EDITORS’ NOTE In 2012, Kimberly of large and mega-sized third-party operChristner created a partnership to ators and developers in the market and develop Cornerstone Hospitality. She that the personalized touch with which oversees the operations, development, an owner would operate a property was management and financials of the somewhat lost in the mix with many of firm’s portfolio. Prior to developing these operators. It’s not that they don’t do Cornerstone Hospitality, Christner a great job; it’s just that an owner – verses worked for Beck Company for more a REIT, who may own several properthan 19 years and led the company ties – wants that individualized attention. as CEO for the last five years of her We work with owners and opertenure with the company. She has ate the properties under our purview the served in leadership roles on numerway we would if we personally owned Kimberly Christner ous boards and committees for both the property. We look at decisions from civic and professional organizations an owner perspective. It’s a much more including VHTA, Rotary International, the YMCA, personalized approach in how we handle the team Proclaiming Grace Ministries and city and state that’s in place and how we communicate with the tourism boards. In 2011, she was the American ownership groups.

Hotel & Lodging Association State Leadership Award Is brand awareness important for recipient and in 2012 was awarded the Virginia Cornerstone Hospitality or is the focus on the Hotel and Travel Association’s Hotelier of the Year branding of the individual properties? award. Christner earned her bachelor’s degree in It’s both. We take great pride in the properties business administration from St. Leo University and we operate whether they are a brand or an indeseveral executive education certifications from the pendent boutique. Whether a soft brand, full brand School of Hotel Administration at Cornell. or independent property, we want each property in our portfolio to be recognized as a high-quality COMPANY BRIEF Cornerstone Hospitality property and the cream of the crop. It is equally (cornerstonehospitality.com) was launched in April important that the Cornerstone Hospitality brand 2012 by founders Kimberly Christner and Craig be known and recognized for top-notch properLarson. Since its inception, it has grown from a ties, personalized service, and the development of company of two hotels to a group of both owned independent, boutique, and highly-curated properand managed properties, open and in construc- ties and high-performing assets. tion, totaling 15 hotels, three food and beverage Cornerstone places a major focus on the outlets and banquet venues. Cornerstone’s primary food and beverage part of the business. What focus is to develop and operate upscale boutique, are the keys to being successful in this area? lifestyle hotels, upper- to mid-scale branded and We have done several different things. We independent hotel properties. Each boutique hotel have operated our own restaurant concepts and property is uniquely different from any other hotel in we’ve also partnered with others to operate food its portfolio. Services and concepts are created spe- and beverage concepts. We’ve learned that a hotel cifically for each property based on the history of the restaurant can’t be successful as just a hotel service property, the history of the area and the guests that amenity, it has to be a partner in the community. will be served. Cornerstone Hospitality functions as We look at what the community wants and needs a developer, consultant, development partner on and what will be supported by both the hotel owned projects, provides third-party management guests and the community the property serves. We and conducts market research for boutique hotel evaluate what’s missing and what type of restauopportunities. Currently, Cornerstone Hospitality rants are enjoying the best performance. has seven projects in development and construction We’ve been successful partnering with including two Tapestry Hotels by Hilton, a Marriott celebrity chefs, especially in smaller markets. We Tribute Collection hotel, a Choice Ascend Collection recently partnered with Chef Torrece Gregoire, hotel and several select-service branded hotels. from the reality show Hell’s Kitchen, and she opened her first restaurant at one of our bouWhat was your vision for creating Cornerstone tique hotels in Southwest Virginia. She’s enjoying Hospitality? great success. It really depends on each market When we started Cornerstone seven years and what will be most successful as well as what ago, we started with the premise that there are a lot will complement the hotel.

132 LEADERS

Cornerstone Hospitality-managed Shoemakers American Grille (left) and Craddock Terry Hotel and Event Center in Lynchburg, Virginia

What do you look for when bringing new talent into Cornerstone?

Everyone in this industry is challenged in acquiring great talent. This is a big issue for our industry now and in the future. We take a team focused approach to leadership. We have a very interactive and approachable management style. We desire our associates to be a part of our processes. When we invite someone to join the team, we want them to take ownership of whatever asset they’re operating and to bring their own ideas and own innovations to the team. We value their opinion on how to generate more business, how to operate more efficiently or even how to design a property around a specific guest profile. This attracts a lot of people to us because they’re not just getting a checklist to accomplish every day, they actually get to participate in projects and property growth and that builds their loyalty in working with us. Leaders who join our team find that our ethics, integrity and inclusiveness is something that we live daily, it’s not just a mission statement written in the handbook.

They are active participants in the company, the growth of the company and have a great deal of impact on their own properties. We desire to work with people who have the same guiding principles in their own lives that we embrace at Cornerstone Hospitality.

Cornerstone is committed to giving back and being engaged in the communities it serves. What makes this so important?

We believe that each property and its team needs to be a part of the fabric of that community. We want the teams to know what’s happening in their community, to be actively involved and to be a good steward for the brand and hotel in that community. We participate in specific activities in each community and the local team leads those efforts. When we have our corporate meetings, we hold them in different locations where we have hotels and participate in team-driven community activities in those locations. Just this summer, we went to the Clinch River in Southwest Virginia and participated in a big cleanup initiative in which the team all worked cleaning up the river for a day.

We also contribute money to certain causes in the areas in which we have hotels such as education foundations, children’s hospitals, a women’s center or a human trafficking initiative. We give back with our time, our service and our financial resources. It’s a part of who we are and what we stand for.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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A Living, Breathing, Piece of History An Interview with Markus Platzer, General Manager, Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C.

Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C. entrance (above); Jefferson Suite living area (below)

EDITORS’ NOTE Markus Platzer hotels to open in the coming years. began his career as a night audiThe strengthening global economy is tor at the Park Hilton in Munich, a huge driver of this growth and as Germany, and eventually earned a result we continue to find ways to a role as Sales Manager at Hilton be innovative to remain competiInternational’s hotel in Vienna, tive, exploring new market segments Austria. In 1992, he joined the IHG including China, the Middle East and team at the InterContinental Hotel Europe.

Abu Dhabi, and in a few short years How is Willard InterContinental became the Regional Manager, Washington, D.C. positioned in the Travel Trade Development, for market and what differentiates the the United Arab Emirates, workproperty?

Markus Platzer ing fr om the company’s hotel Here at the Willard, we take trein Dubai. He returned to Europe mendous pride in the history and in 2001 as Director of Sales & Marketing for uniqueness of our property, recognizing the InterContinental Hotel Prague, the hotel where significant contributions that this legendary he first led operations as Resident Manager hotel has made, and continues to make, in this before beginning a seven-year stint in Bangkok, nation’s history. For 200 years, the Willard has Thailand, overseeing four hotels in that coun- welcomed U.S. presidents, foreign dignitaries try. More recently, he has served as Area General and celebrities, as well as has been the site of Manager for IHG in Japan, based at the ANA many historic moments. The Willard is more InterContinental Tokyo. Platzer earned bach- than a hotel. It’s a living, breathing, piece of elor’s degrees in international tourism and history. It’s an iconic institution. Like Nathaniel hotel management at the Tourism School Bad Hawthorne said in 1862, “it’s the center of Gleichenberg and in business and commerce at Washington.”

Handelsakademie Feldbach, both in Austria.

We know that we can’t rest on our PROPERTY BRIEF A celebrated historic hotel, laurels. It’s important listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to utilize our heritage Willard InterContinental Washington D.C. as the basis for serv(washington.intercontinental.com) first opened ing the next generaits doors as a two-story rowhouse in 1818. tion of customers and Offering 335 guestrooms and suites, Willard guests at the propInterContinental remains an integral part of erty. Remaining relWashington, D.C., and is regarded as a world- evant means keeping class destination. Located in the heart of the true to who you are, nation’s capital, the property is within walk- while being innovaing distance to many of the city’s most nota- tive. While our hisble attractions including The White House and tory will remain the the National Mall. Nicknamed the “Residence of centerpiece and the Presidents” for its long-standing reputation most important part of hosting the world’s political and social elite, of the hotel, we must Willard InterContinental exudes contemporary evolve to remain competitive in the market and luxury and historic charm. to attract the next generation of luxury travelers.

Will you provide an overview of the What is the state of the hotel business in suite offering at Willard InterContinental Washington, DC and is there growth in the Washington, D.C? market?

Here at the Willard we boast some of The Washington, D.C. market is evolving the largest hotel rooms in the city. We have and ever-growing. Last year, Washington, D.C. 41 suites that are very residential in feel, welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors each with their own identity and unique to the city – 24 million, which was a 5.3 percent attributes. The Willard sets a distinct stanincrease from 2017. At the moment, hotel room dard for the ultimate luxury experience for inventory continues to grow with 18 additional our clientele.

134 LEADERS

Will you highlight the property’s restaurant/food and beverage product and what are the keys to being successful in this part of the business?

I look at our F&B program as a way to create exceptional experiences for our guests.

While it is a necessary amenity and driver of revenue, our culinary offerings, whether in our restaurant, bar, private dining or banquet spaces, is one facet of our business that allows our personality to shine through our rich diversity of cuisine.

How broad are the Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C.’s meeting and event capabilities?

With more than 22,000 square feet of event space, the Willard offers 19 function rooms, including three ballrooms. We can accommodate groups as small as 5 to as many as 600 people. Similar to our suite product, our function spaces have their own identity and unique attributes and some have quite the storied past, such as our Crystal Ballroom or Willard Room. Our hotel is known for the many historic moments that have taken place

here over the last 200 years. You will experience history in these rooms and in the hotel.

It’s a strength that definitely helps set our product apart.

How has the role of the general manager evolved and is it still about hospitality?

Hospitality will always be at the forefront.

That is the heart and soul of the business. The role of a GM is a delicate balance between maximizing profitability, managing employee expectations and delivering the most memorable experience for our guests.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Human Experience and Human Scale An Interview with Dina De Luca Chartouni EDITORS’ NOTE Dina De Luca York that was built as a hotel in 1927 Chartouni wears many hats. As and still remains a hotel today – it her maiden name, Dina De Luca, has never fallen into corporate hands. she is known as a producer of film Today, it is more relevant in the New and TV. As Dina Chartouni, her York luxury market than ever in its married name, she is known as a history. The Lowell received two very co-owner of The Lowell Hotel in New distinguished honors this year: Travel York City. In addition to being a & Leisure’s #1 New York City hotel and wife and mother of three, Chartouni Conde Nast Traveler’s #1 New York is known as the name behind the City hotel in their reader awards.

DDC28 brand of bath and beauty What are the keys to providproducts, which recently launched ing a true luxury hotel experience in Saks Fifth Avenue and is available Dina De Luca Chartouni today? at lowellhotel.com. Born and raised in I have been traveling a lot New York City, Chartouni continues to make it recently and have stayed in many different her home base, while also dividing her time types of luxury properties around the world. between London and Los Angeles for work.

What I have come to conclude about a true luxury hotel experience is two-fold: The human PROPERTY BRIEF The Lowell (lowellhotel.com) experience and the human scale. The human pr ovides its guests with unique personal- experience starts from the moment you enter a ized service and attention to detail, main- lobby. Are you handed an electronic key, or are taining 75 suites that can be configured in you escorted to your room by a member of the multiple ways. Guests will appreciate compli- staff? Are you ordering your breakfast through mentary beverages upon arrival, Voss water at the app on the TV screen or are you speaking turndown, and a selection of DDC28 ameni- to someone in room service? The human expeties exclusively created for The Lowell. Most suites rience is all about feeling there is a connection have wood-burning fireplaces, some have ter- to the hotel as soon as you step through the races, and almost all have fully-equipped kitch- front door. Since The Lowell is a uniquely sized ens. The Lowell, long the New York hotel of choice property, we have a good ratio of staff to guests for “in the know” world travelers, has become and a sense of personalization and service can even more sought after with a new restaurant, be met.

Majorelle, and bar, Jacques, library lounge, and The other key to providing a truly luxgarden, in addition to an updated lobby and ury hotel experience is that guests experience Pembroke Room. “human scale.” What I mean by this term is that a guest should be able to enter a luxury hotel, The Lowell has achieved consistently strong reach one’s room and walk about the property results and is a leader in the market. What and not feel like they’ve run a half marathon. makes the property so special and how do Human scale is the ability to access things in you define The Lowell advantage? a relatively effortless fashion and with relative There are many aspects that help to make ease. Being able to go to your room without The Lowell unique. Chief among them is the having to ride two elevators, or the ability to staff – the team of people that make up what open a window, and/or step onto a terrace and I call “The Lowell family.” We are a uniquely feel the temperature outside, are all a part of the sized hotel and everybody’s input is valued. The human experience.

Lowell Family is led by our talented General How do you define the target market Manager, Heiko Kuenstle, and the staff’s dedica- for The Lowell? tion and passion for their work is unparalleled.

We define the target market for The Lowell I believe that our guests sense this spirit as they as those who want a quintessentially New York come into contact with the staff. Many of our experience, complemented by personalization guests have been staying with us for over 30 of service and unique and exclusive spaces. years and many of our staff have been workThe Lowell has a strong suite proding at the hotel for this same amount of time. uct. How critical is this offering for your The Lowell is also unique because it is one of clientele and will you provide an overthe only remaining hotels in the city of New view of the suites?

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Two-bedroom suite living area

Often, in the world of luxury travel, suites represent heightened glamour, as well as more space. For The Lowell, suites are a way of experiencing a true New York lifestyle. We have many different categories for our suites – some are larger than others. All accommodations have kitchens or mini kitchens and many have wood burning fireplaces and terraces. The Lowell has the unique flexibility to join suites and rooms to create largescaled, truly exclusive units that feel like a big Manhattan apartment.

The restaurant/food and beverage business is challenging for hotels in major cities like New York. What are the keys to being successful in food and beverage for a hotel like The Lowell and will you highlight your new restaurant, Majorelle, and bar, Jacques?

I believe that the key to having a successful food and beverage department in a hotel is consistency and menu choices. Under the direction of Chef Michael Fred, The Lowell has been able to achieve this consistency of quality, while evolving with the changing tastes of the times. The in-room dining menus have tried to balance the need for comfort food along with the latest trends in the food world.

Majorelle’s and Jacques’ successes are largely due to Charles Masson’s dedication and hard work. Charles’ lifelong passion for excellence in food and service have few equals in this city. In addition, his floral arrangements are works of art that help to transport the guest out of reality.

You are involved in many businesses in addition to hospitality, including film and beauty. How do you balance your time and efforts and do you see these areas as interrelated?

I started out in film and TV production and moved into the world of design as The Lowell needed attention. They are both visual mediums and therefore very interrelated. I feel that hotels, like films, tell a story and if the story is relatable and resonates with you, you will want to come back to it time and time again. The bath and lifestyle products that I created for the hotel are just further enhancements in the telling of the story. I wanted the scent of the DDC28 bath amenities to trigger a sense of release and surrender to tranquility while using them at The Lowell. Hopefully, this sense of peace in a bustling city like New York will be the perfect antidote when you come home to The Lowell.

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LEADERS 135

A Sense of Place An Interview with Pascal Dupuis, General Manager, Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya EDITORS’ NOTE Pascal Dupuis Will you highlight the destinais a hospitality veteran with more than tion of Mayakoba?

30 years of experience. He began his Mayakoba is well connected through career in his home country of France the Cancun airport and the majority of working as a receptionist at the our guests are from the U.S. There are Negresco Hotel in Nice. After working a lot of direct flights from New York, at several other French hotels, Dupuis for example, and the flight is only three moved to London in 1993 where he and a half hours. We are located 30 quickly climbed the ranks in the hotel minutes away from the airport, so it’s industry, holding managerial positions very close. Mayakoba is a destination at properties including Le Méridien that’s really growing, and all four of Piccadilly, The Sheraton Park Tower the properties work closely together to Pascal Dupuis and St. Martins Lane, before returning promote the destination and highlight to France as the General Manager of shared experiences.

Hotel De La Tremoille in Paris. Dupuis has served as Will you provide an overview of the General Manager at some of the leading resorts in property? the world including the One&Only Le Touessrok in We have 214 rooms in total at the Andaz Mauritius, The Leela Kempinski Goa, and The Leela Mayakoba. The resort is split into two areas: the Palace Chennai, which he opened. Prior to join- lagoon area, which includes the majority of our ing Andaz Mayakoba, Dupuis served as General family rooms and connecting rooms, all which are Manager for The Address Dubai Marina and The around the lagoon and right next to the spa. You Address Boulevard Dubai. Dupuis is a graduate of have a kid’s club, the main restaurant and another Lycée Régional Hôtelier et de Tourisme De Nice | Paul restaurant, Casa Amate.

Augier in Nice, France.

Then there is the beach area which also has two restaurants and a beautiful pool. The PROPERTY BRIEF Andaz Mayakoba Resort beach area is where the majority of our suites, Riviera Maya (mayakoba.andaz.hyatt.com) is such as our Presidential Villa and our bi-level secluded in the private gated-Mayakoba complex, suites, are located. surrounded by tranquil lagoons and lush vegeWill you discuss the focus on health and tation with nature trails that guests can enjoy for wellness at the property? walking, jogging and biking while listening to the This is a really important area and, as sounds of nature. The 214 guestrooms and suites at a brand, Hyatt is focusing more and more on Andaz Mayakoba are inspired by nature with open layouts and a color palette reflective of stone, sand and water, flooded with natural light and featuring bright pops of color and refined Mayan decor.

Beside its beautiful beachfront, the property offers two outdoor pools, Naum Wellness & Spa, Kimbo Kids Club, El Camaleon Golf Club, four on-site restaurants offering fresh local produce, and 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Casa Amate Restaurant Library Terrace (left); Lagoon pool (above); Presidential Villa (below)

well-being. At Mayakoba, we have an environment which fits very well with this focus so we have a number of yoga, meditation and other healthy activities. We refer to massage treatments as rituals because they all include some type of Mayan cultural ritual, whether it’s cleansing or card reading. We have also modified our food and beverage offerings to be even more healthy. Our chef has created a program called green garden chef’s table which is held in the garden and we are starting to cultivate our own vegetables and salad ingredients. We are trying to be more accommodating for our guests who may be vegan or vegetarian.

We have a great spa manager who is from the Mayan region and is focused on the spiritual journey, and we have great fitness offerings as well.

How has the general manger role evolved?

Over the past 30 years, the role of the GM has changed. Before, it was primarily being the PR person for the hotel who represented the face of the hotel by shaking hands and having dinners and meeting clients. Then it became a bit more of a salesperson role. Now you have to be a guru on every aspect of the job, whether it’s financial, guest relations, food and beverage, wellness, or any other aspect.

We spend a lot of time making sure the marketing is done well and that social media is wellconnected with the message we want to give. This is something new that has accelerated over the last five years with the growth of social media.

•

How do you define the Andaz brand?

Andaz as a brand is really about the sense of place, so we focus on providing guest experiences that utilize the local culture and the local environment. In Andaz, you have two different aspects: you have the city hotels of Andaz, like the one in New York, and then you have the resorts. We have resorts in Costa Rica, Maui, Mayakoba, and Scottsdale, and there are more resorts coming up in the near future. The brand is growing which is great because, for about 10 years, we only had 17 hotels.

136 LEADERS

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Defining Luxury An Interview with David Chase, Managing Director, Omni Berkshire Place EDITORS’ NOTE David Chase has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years, beginning his career at The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco. After relocating back to the East Coast and working in Boston, he settled in New York to open the first W Hotel in New York City. Chase has held management positions at prestigious hotels including The St. Regis and The Ritz-Carlton, and served as General Manager of Trump SoHo and The New York Palace.

greatly stabilized the team, and we have done this at all levels of the organization.

How important is it to have a strong suite offering in a city like New York?

In a luxury hotel like ours at this prime location, there are certain guests who come for extended leisure stays of three or four nights rather than a quick business stay. It means a lot to them to have a separate parDavid Chase lor and extra space. We have recently renovated our premier suites and we plan a full room renovation in the next 12 to PROPERTY BRIEF Conveniently located on 18 months.

52nd Street between Madison and 5th Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, Omni Berkshire Place (omnihotels.com) is near Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. Guestrooms and suites were designed with the feel of an Upper East Side residential townhome, while keeping them spacious and larger than most Manhattan accommodations. The property boasts 398 luxury guestrooms including 45 suites; a 17th floor terrace sundeck overlooking midtown Manhattan; 24-hour in-room dining; a state-of-the-art fitness center; 6,000 square feet of function space and a 24-hour business center.

What are the strengths of the Omni brand?

Omni has a very unique loyalty program, Select Guest, which is not points based. We offer stays based on numbers of stays, but unlike points where it is dollars for points and certain hotels cost different points to redeem, a guest can earn free nights by staying at our New Haven hotel but then use those nights at our New York City property. The loyalty program includes a beverage delivered to your room every morning. People love free coffee, but they really love free coffee left at your door. Our Select Guest program focus is more experiential which provides us a lot of repeat guests.

When you assumed this role, your priority was on building the team. How critical has it been for you to attract and retain the right talent at the property?

It was job one for me. We became very stabilized within the first 12 months of me getting here. The executive team now has an average tenure of over three years, so we have VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

How much of a focus are meetings and events for Omni Berkshire Place?

It is interesting because the industry is evolving in this area. We have relatively limited space – 5,000-6,000 square feet. We have many of our group clients who hold meetings here and they find it nice that once they have 40 to 60 people with some breakout rooms, they pretty much own our space. That is really one

Fifth Avenue Suite (left); Omni Berkshire Place entrance (above) and exterior (below)

of the wonderful offerings of Omni Berkshire Place because you can be the main focus inhouse. In the industry, we’re all getting hurt by the likes of Convene and other players.

How do you define a true luxury hotel experience today?

It is all about personalization. When I worked for Ritz-Carlton many years ago, we use to think that we could tell people what luxury was by saying here is what you want, it’s luxury.

We have all now figured out in the business that what John Doe wants is completely different from what Jane Doe wants. Personalization is at the heart of luxury today.

How important has it been for you in this role to have owners with a long-term focus and commitment to the property?

This is one the greatest ownership structures in the business. The owner owns the building and owns the brand. There aren’t conflicting parties who have different priorities, an owner who may want a certain profit in a certain way and a brand trying to keep certain brand standards, so they’re at odds with each other. In our case, it is the same people that we’re serving.

This is by far the most collaborative organization I’ve ever worked for.

What has made the hospitality industry so special for you?

I often think about what I do for a living and say that I have an office but I don’t work in an office. I work in a building, I spend time in the public space of the hotel, in the back of the house, and everywhere else in the building. I have the opportunity to inspire and motivate people to really give their hearts to the guests every time.

That is what I love about this business.

What advice do you offer the next generation of leaders coming into the industry?

I’m a person who didn’t study hospitality.

I started as a pot washer while in college, and then a student cook, and then a bus boy at TGI Fridays, and then a server in a Marriott restaurant. The fact that I became a general manager shows that you learn everything being inside the hotel. It is obviously a positive to go to hotel school because you learn the P&L, owner goals, and get a better understanding of the overall business in the early days.

When I look at the students coming from hospitality schools, it’s the ones that have had the dedication to do relevant internships every single summer and have real experience who impress me.

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LEADERS 137

Committed to Aruba An Interview with Gabriel Castrillon, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino EDITORS’ NOTE Gabriel Castrillon of the hurricane belt. Our weather is began his career with Hyatt in 1984 always perfect and we are not affected and has held many leadership roles by the storms in the Caribbean. For the at Hyatt Regency properties across the last four years, since the Caribbean has United States. Most recently, he was been so active weather-wise, Aruba general manager at Hyatt Regency was not affected, unlike a lot of the Miami, and additionally served as an other islands in the Caribbean, which active member of the Greater Miami has benefited Aruba tremendously. & the Beaches Hotel Association, the How is Hyatt Regency Aruba Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Resort Spa and Casino positioned Bureau, and the Florida Restaurant in the market? & Lodging Association. He was The Hyatt brand and the commitGabriel Castrillon awarded “2011 General Manager of ment of the Hyatt family to Aruba dates the Year” for Hyatt North America’s back 30 years. Hyatt is one of the landsmall hotel category in recognition of his excep- marks of the island and Hyatt continues to be 100 tional leadership and contributions to the hospi- percent committed to the country of Aruba. One tality industry. Castrillon earned his bachelor’s of the best features of the resort is its knowledge degree in business administration and manage- of the island. The location of our resort is in the ment from Florida International University. prime area of Palm Beach. We believe that we have the best beach location. We also believe PROPERTY BRIEF Located on 12 acres of mag- that we have the best landscaping in Aruba. All nificent beachfront property on Aruba’s world- of this is crowned with our tremendous 30 years renowned Palm Beach, Hyatt Regency Aruba of experience servicing the destination.

Resort Spa and Casino (aruba.regency.hyatt.com) is a year-round resort with a reputation for refined hospitality. Its 359 modern guestrooms and suites with a tropical touch include soft colors, handcrafted furniture, stone quartz bathrooms with 65-inch television sets, and Hyatt’s signature Grand Bed. The hotel delivers a sense of authentic island chic with an emphasis on unique architecture that includes an open-air lobby, natural stone floors and colorful Caribbean accents.

Recreational facilities are abundant and include a three-level pool complex complete with a twostory waterslide, a ZoiA Spa with fitness center, tennis courts, Camp Hyatt for kids with a game Will you discuss the investments being room, and a lively Hyatt Regency Casino. The made at the property? property offers ten delectable food and beverage Hyatt has engaged in a renovation and options, including the resort’s signature restau- modernization of the resort over the past four rants Ruinas del Mar and Mexicado. Nine meet- years and it will continue for the next three years. ing rooms and extensive outdoor areas are ideal We are fortunate to have completed a phase of for catered special events. The resort is con- the renovation in 2018 that was designed to bring veniently located 15 minutes from Queen Beatrix a modern touch to the resort with light, very International Airport and is within walking dis- soothing colors that contribute to a very quaint tance to Oranjestad, entertainment, dining and Caribbean experience. shopping.

We are in the process of adding an adult pool, which will supplement the traditional pool What is the current state of the Aruba hotel that the resort has always had. We will now have business? two pools in two different areas of the resort.

There has been tremendous growth in the One will cater to families and the other one to market. The number one asset for the Aruba des- adults. The colors and the themes of the guest tination is the sun and the beach experience. The rooms near the adult pool will be changed to most important thing about Aruba is that it’s south bring them in line with the feel of the new adult 138 LEADERS

Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino adult pool event area rendering (left); aerial view of the property (above); oceanfront king room (below)

pool. In 2020, we will bring the complete landscaping design to encompass the new pool and the new guest rooms and we will be embarking on a renovation upgrade of our food and beverage experience.

What are the keys for a hotel to be successful in food and beverage in Aruba?

We are striving to create a resort experience and, at Hyatt, that resort experience includes not only the guest room product, but all the activities that we offer at the resort. When people come to Aruba, they spend most of their time outdoors.

We now have the recreational areas with the two pools and the beachfront to be able to satisfy the needs of our guests for the sun and the water.

Throughout the day, we have tremendous facilities and we are upgrading them to elevate the food and beverage experience as part of the resort experience. We’re looking at food and beverage trends and are always thinking about the wellness element as well while still offering Caribbean tastes through our food and beverage plan.

How critical is the focus on wellness for Hyatt?

Hyatt began focusing on wellness many years ago. That is now evolving from wellness to well-being. Hyatt has acquired a new brand called Miraval which specializes in well-being.

The food and beverage component is important to well-being and we focus on how to eat healthy and how that can contribute to your life expectation. Another element of well-being is a positive mindset. As everybody is beginning to know and understand, the healthier your mind is, the healthier your body will be, so we are incorporating more of this into our well-being offerings.

Will you highlight Hyatt’s commitment to its workforce?

Hyatt is 100 percent committed to Aruba and we are proud that 90 percent of our workforce is from Aruba. They bring the candor and the service orientation which is innate in the people of Aruba. The fact that Arubans speak four languages and are fluent in English is perfect for us because the majority of our customers are from the United States. We continue to support the local community and we continue to create opportunities for Arubans.

We are proud that Hyatt, throughout the world, cares for people so they can be their best.

We bring this philosophy of Hyatt to Aruba and care for people and want them to have what they need to be their best.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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Modern Luxury An Interview with Bastian Germer, General Manager, The New York EDITION EDITORS’ NOTE Bastian Germer well is connect with the local comhas served in his current role since munity through food and beverage.

October 2017. Previously, he was This is something that we’ve done in Hotel Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, every single location where we operToronto for three years. Germer ate a hotel. Specifically, here in New has held numerous positions at York City, we have our restaurant, The distinguished hotels across the Clocktower, and our cocktail bar, The globe since entering the industry in Bar at The Clocktower, which are both 1995. He is a graduate of the Hotel located on the hotel’s second floor. We Academy in Hamburg, Germany also have our Lobby Bar, which serves and has completed the General cocktails and light bites.

Managers Pr ogram at Cor nell We’ve partnered with Stephen Bastian Germer Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Starr and his team in Philadelphia in Management, as well as the Ascent the restaurant space. He is a remarkLeadership Program at UNC Kenan-Flagler able restauranteur and has been an ideal partBusiness School. ner in executing our vision for a sought-after, elevated dining experience in Manhattan that PROPERTY BRIEF The New York EDITION far surpasses the typical expectations for a (editionhotels.com/new-york) blends the ele- hotel restaurant. Of course, we care about gant design of Ian Schrager with its Madison creating an enjoyable and convenient dinAvenue landmark beginnings. Originally con- ing experience for our hotel guests, but it is structed in 1909 as Metropolitan Life Insurance equally as important to engage the local comCompany’s headquarters, this clocktower on munity’s interests and tastes in order for the the edge of Madison Square Park has been restaurant to sustain. reinvented to offer luxurious boutique accommodations, a tranquil hotel spa, sophisticated event spaces, and a Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by Chef Jason Atherton, all encompassed by 360-degree views of the City.

How do you define the EDITION brand and how is The New York EDITION positioned in the market?

The EDITION brand and our hotel, specifically, are pioneers as far as the introduction of modern luxury is concerned. Both the EDITION brand and our hotel’s location here in New York City are growing in recognition and exposure.

The Flatiron District is not a traditional luxury destination, but both domestic and international travelers are becoming increasingly aware of the location because of the brand’s global appeal.

New York City is a market that is challenging for hotels in regard to food and beverage business. What was your approach to food and beverage and what are the keys to being successful in this area?

I think in the hotel business this is a very challenging area and we’ve seen, unfortunately, many luxury hotels closing restaurants or foregoing restaurants altogether in recent years. At EDITION, one thing we do extremely 140 LEADERS

How critical was it to build the right team at the property and to attract top talent?

This was our number one priority. Without being able to recruit and retain the right team, all other priorities would have been very difficult to achieve. We have adopted some of the best practices in the market as far as recruiting is concerned and we have put several initiatives in place to ensure that we consistently assess, evaluate and retain the best talent.

The Jade Room at The Clocktower restaurant (left); the exterior of The New York EDITION (above); a loft suite (below)

How has the role of the general manger evolved?

In the past, many would have thought of the GM as more of a host in a hotel who could be found in the lobby interacting with guests.

As the industry has evolved, the GM role has developed into one that looks at asset management, at technology, and at financial pressures, so today, many consider it to be more of a financial role than a hospitality role.

For someone like you who puts hospitality at the forefront, how important is it that with all the financial pressures around the business, that the hospitality part does not get lost for a general manager?

While I think that the general manager’s role has certainly evolved, especially considering how important the financial pressures of the business have become, a general manager in our organization and within our brand needs to be present and needs to be visible.

Our general managers are expected to interact with both staff and guests on a daily basis. Our guests expect personal interactions with the general manager, and not just through correspondence, but face to face as well. I carve out a significant amount of my day for that because personal connection is at the heart of hospitality.

What advice do you offer to those coming out of hotel school and beginning their careers in the industry?

My advice would be to spend as much time as possible with the people that carry out the majority of the day-to-day work in the hotel, and to make the opportunity to step into their shoes and experience what it is like to be a housekeeper, a room service server, or a laundry attendant.

I know that may not sound like the most enticing proposition for somebody who is a fresh graduate, but down the road as one becomes a manager, a department head, and eventually a general manager, this practice will instill an understanding of and appreciation for the work that these people do on a day-today basis. It will provide a genuine respect for everything that’s happening in the hotel which will help with the decision-making process. It will also build stronger relationships with the team which, ultimately, is what one must have if one wants to be a successful general manager.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

A Culinary and Hospitality Community An Interview with Gillian Zettler, Executive Director, Charleston Wine + Food

EDITORS’ NOTE Gillian Zettler assumed her current role in 2013 after having served as the Executive Director of euphoria, a multi-day food, wine and music event in Greenville, South Carolina, for almost three years. Prior to this, she served as Event Manager for The Children’s Museum of the Upstate, also in Greenville. Zettler held multiple positions at Entercom Communications Corporation after graduating with a B.A. in education from Clemson University.

Arriving at the Charleston Wine + Food gospel brunch (above); a champagne tasting flight (below); a dish served opening night (left)

city, and our community knows how to make you feel welcome.

How important has it been to build the right team as the Festival has grown?

I could talk all day about the strength of my team. It is the reason that I show up for work every day. We have a motto that is pasted on the walls of our office that says, “Patience, gentleness, and kindness.” My team knows that that’s my mantra, and I certainly look to Gillian Zettler hire for soft skills. I value empathy, flexibility, and gentle delivery of information.

ORGANIZATION BRIEF Charleston Wine + Food I think that especially in the event world, there is (charlestonwineandfood.com) is a 501(c)(3) non- this “it’s got to get done” attitude, and sometimes profit organization that supports Charleston and the that translates to abrasive communication when it Lowcountry’s diverse culinary and hospitality com- doesn’t need to be. I’m always telling the team that munity. It champions the region’s unique foodways you can communicate in a way that is kind and that 365 days a year through world-renowned culinary is patient, and I think that a great portion of our experiences that bring people together to share sto- success comes not only from treating each other ries and create connections. that way, but also by extending that ethos to our external relationships and our communication.

Will you highlight Charleston Wine + Food and how the organization has evolved?

I think that there’s been a huge evolution since I took the reins in Charleston. One of the things that I’m most proud of is how we’ve turned the corner of becoming – and it’s actually part of this year’s advertising campaign – more than a wine and food festival. At this point, you can look across the United States and find a food event of some sort in virtually every major city, and Charleston’s no different. We’ve obviously had the great opportunity to be able to shine a light on this amazing hospitality and culinary community that we have, but with the festival’s maturation and growth over the past five years, we’ve been able to step outside of that food festival box and really become a content generator. There is nothing more exciting to me than being able to share amazing stories through the festival and shine a light on all the beautiful people and places that make Charleston so special.

How do you define the market for the Festival?

We end up with about a 50/50 split of local Will you discuss the economic impact of and non-local attendees, with non-locals being the Festival? defined as people who are more than 50 miles I give a lot of credit to the people that initially away. There is definitely a hot spot in the Georgia founded the festival who saw the importance and and North Carolina market, but it extends beyond the alignment with the College of Charleston and those to areas with direct fly markets to Charleston. working with the Office of Tourism Analysis to do We see a huge guest population from New York, an economic impact study right out of the gate. It Boston, Texas, Florida, and even California. We is important to be able to track our guests’ length of have a really elevated food scene for the size of our stay. Trips hovered around two nights six or seven VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

years ago, but are now eking up to a five night average stay, which has grown in tandem with the length of the festival which started at two days and is now five days long. The economic impact formula is driven by heads in beds, but then there’s this huge ripple effect that comes as well. We hear from local businesses that restaurants and retail stores are seeing increased traffic. The festival had an $18.6 million economic impact in 2019, which is remarkable for a five-day event.

As a 501(c)(3), will you highlight the charity component to the Festival?

The festival is a 501(c)(3) organization and was founded in 2006. The main reason for the festival was to shine a light on the culinary and hospitality community and be an economic impact driver for the city. The piece that walks in tandem to that is being able to give back. We’ve been really excited over the past few years to work closely with One80 Place and its training program. One80 Place Training is a rapid-fire, five-week culinary crash course that ultimately prepares folks who come through the program to step into a kitchen and hopefully begin a career in the culinary industry.

We actually moved one of our outside commissary kitchens that we used for all the food prep during the festival into One80 Place last year. Many chefs thought this was a really bold move to have some of the best chefs in the country prepping their food in a homeless shelter. I think it is humbling to give people an up-close view not only of all that goes into having to prepare meals for hundreds of people each day, but also how blessed we all are to have the things that we need on a day-to-day basis.

How do you describe Charleston today and what makes it special?

There is this sense of welcome to being in Charleston. Charleston is a southern city with a very complicated and sometimes very sad history.

I think one thing that we, as an entity planning events in a city with a historical backdrop, are constantly looking for is ways to acknowledge our past and embrace our community as a whole.

One of the major themes for the festival this year as we developed programming was this idea of migrations of people and ingredients. We want to make sure that when we’re celebrating something like shrimp and grits, that we’re also being true to how the shrimp and grits landed on the plate.

How did those ingredients get to Charleston and who brought them here? We can pay homage to the history of Charleston and acknowledge our past while simultaneously celebrating the beautiful city that we have become.

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LEADERS 141

Creating Experiences An Interview with Matthew Humphreys, Area Vice President and General Manager, Hyatt Regency San Francisco EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to assuming his current role in February 2017, Matthew Humphreys served as General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, as well as Senior Director of Rooms of Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Director of Rooms for Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa and for Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. Humphreys graduated with a B.S. in hotel administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

meeting, but they want it to be satisfying. That is a direction that a lot of hotels are going with in providing quick and efficient tasty food where you’re not sacrificing any of the quality but you’re getting it in a faster timetable.

We have great offerings whether it’s signature cocktails or different food menu items that provide a connection to the city.

We have chefs who are inspired by that and one of the advantages you Matthew Humphreys have as a hotelier in San Francisco is that people are into the food scene, PROPERTY BRIEF Hyatt Regency San Francisco especially chefs, and they want to be here. (hyattregencysanfrancisco.com) features expanWill you highsive Bay views and its renowned world’s largest light Hyatt Regency hotel lobby all near San Francisco’s most cele- S a n F r a n c i s c o ’ s brated hot spots and steps away from the iconic event and meeting Embarcadero and Union Square. Many of the capabilities? property’s 821 rooms and suites feature views We have 72,000 of the bay area and city skyline and the 15 newly square feet of meetintroduced Water View rooms showcase the best ing space. It’s split up views of the San Francisco Bay and historic Ferry into four different levBuilding with smart amenities and voice-acti- els of the hotel from vated controls. The hotel offers flexible meeting whether it’s a boardand exhibition space with 39 innovative venues, room for five to 10 including a 17-story vaulted atrium, an elegant people to a ballroom ballroom and a 17,000-square-foot exhibit hall. for a thousand people.

We have the capabiliWill you provide an overview of the accom- ties to be all things to modations at Hyatt Regency San Francisco all people. and the suite offering at the property?

Where I think we We have 821 rooms and 45 suites so we win often is that we’re have a pretty strong connection to our suites. on the right side of All of our suites have great views and many having the space with have balconies. the number of rooms to be able to accommodate Four of our top suites have a fun design a mid- or really large-size group and have them be to them. Most of our suites are tailored to that our focus and provide personalized service. person who wants to come in from work and We can make it feel like you’re the only be able to rest a little bit, to be able to entertain one in our hotel because we have the right a little bit inside their room, take work calls, do number of staff and a tenured staff who have meetings, and be able to utilize the guest room been at this hotel for many years. for that.

The hotel has been open for 46 years and What are the keys for a hotel to be suc- we have quite a few employees who have been cessful in the food and beverage part of the here for all of that time. We just had one of our business? doormen retire a year ago and this was the only I think the big thing is to meet custom- job he had in his life. He was a doorman at the ers where they’re at and understanding what hotel from two months before it opened all the your customers are really looking for out of way until he retired. your restaurant and your food and beverage Are there certain characteristics that offerings. you will find in every Hyatt property?

It may be that they need something quick I think that the thing that is the most conon their way out the door to be able to get to a sistent about our brand is our brand purpose.

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Hyatt Regency San Francisco Water View room (left); the second-floor lobby (above); exterior at dusk (below)

Our purpose is to care for people so they can be their best. I think you will find that to be consistent across our brand and when you walk into any of our properties, people care about you.

I get to work in a building with people who feel that somebody else’s happiness is what makes them happy. That is a great group of people to work with every day.

We derive our happiness out of making somebody else’s day and you have so many opportunities to do that in a hotel. You’re just tripping over opportunities to make a difference in the lives of the people you’re coming in touch with every day.

With the financial pressures in the business, is the general manger role still about hospitality or is it more of a business role today?

I think there is definitely a balance you have to strike. It is a business and you have to be concerned about the business and how to make sure you’re growing it the right way.

I think you’ll find that most owners understand that the business is about experiences, and by delivering the best experience, the financial results will thrive.

It is about finding the right people to work with who deliver in their roles that they’re put in.

I think those who say it best say that if you take care of your people, they’ll take care of the customer which will take care of the business.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Timeless Hospitality An Interview with Abraham Merchant, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merchants Hospitality, Inc. EDITORS’ NOTE Abraham Merchant with myself and my partner, Richard is a real estate developer and a Cohn, with whom I have remained multi-branded restaurant owner partners for the past 30 plus years. who founded Merchants Hospitality Over time, we started acquiring real in 1986 with his partner, Richard estate, especially over the last six to C o h n . H e s e r v e s a s Managing ten years when we became involved in Director to each restaurant and various other parts of the market segMerchants Hospitality’s affiliated ments from owning properties to ownproperties. Merchant has opened ing and reselling properties to putting and operated properties over the together assemblages. past 30 years and leads an experiIs brand awareness important enced management team and a for Merchants Hospitality or are you Abraham Merchant staff of over 1,500 employees. Some focused on building awareness for of his earlier successes include the individual brands?

Anaconda, Art Bar & Lounge, Chicago Blues, We debate about this all the time given Merchants NY Chelsea, Merchants NY Columbus there are very few companies that do all Ave, Merchants NY Cigar Bar, Southwest NY, and the things we do. We try to keep Merchants Merchants Café. In the early 1980s, Merchant Hospitality in the background because we want served as Regional Director for Riese Restaurants. each restaurant to feel independent. We want Merchant has co-developed properties and res- each experience to be independent because taurants in New York City and Miami in part- when you come to one of our properties, we nership or association with the New York City want you to have a unique experience, not a Economic Development Committee, and other corporate experience. major institutional and governmental groups.

COMPANY BRIEF Founded in 1988, Mer chants Hospitality (merchantshospitality.com) and its principals have owned, operated, and developed a number of luxurious properties, hotels and restaurants. Properties have included hotels and r esidential condominiums such as Cachet Hotel in Manhattan, the Z Hotel in Long Island City and NYC’s famous Pier 15 at South Street Seaport to name a few. Merchants also owns 18 premier restaurants in NYC including Philippe Chow, Playboy Supper Club, Treadwell Park, Ophelia Lounge, Sugar East, Industry Kitchen, and Merchants River House. Merchants Hospitality’s principals Abraham Merchant and Richard Cohn have been industry leaders in the real estate and hospitality space for over 30 years and have been honored by multiple charities across the country.

What is the history and heritage of Merchants Hospitality?

Merchants Hospitality started in the late 1980s predominantly as a restaurant company VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

It is a fine balance between marketing the restaurant versus marketing the parent company, but we generally see our properties as more independent and we want people to have a one-on-one experience with our brands, not with the company.

What are the keys to remaining relevant and having longevity in the industry?

We are one of the few companies that have been around in a sizeable form for the past 30

Merchants River House in Battery Park (left); Philippe Chow Downtown (above); Savanna Rooftop in Long Island City (below)

years. We try to be consistent in what we provide. We make sure our staff is happy. People are creatures of habit. They will work for a company for a little less than what a competitor is offering if they are happy in their work environment. We try to create a great culture and a great work environment.

We try to stay ahead of the trends. We try to be timeless in many aspects so we’re not creating concepts that are only good for this year or next year. We are creating concepts like Treadwell Park where if you are 12 years old, we have something for you, and if you are 40 years old, we have something for you.

We are trying to build brand loyalty and earn your respect.

How critical is it to provide career opportunities for your employees in order to retain talent?

When it comes to our career-minded employees and management team, I like to say that what we do is give them golden handcuffs.

We pay them above market rate because we want to retain the best talent.

I never like to use the word “employee.” I like to use the word “staff.” Most of our management staff has been with us for 15 plus years.

Our objective is to make the workplace an engaging workplace in order to get the most out of our staff. We have to ask for more. When you expect less, you get far less. When you expect more, most people will surprise you and deliver.

How has your role evolved as Merchants Hospitality has grown?

The key is time management.

I try to organize my time very effectively. The more structure we have around us, the more availability it gives me. My hardest time was when I had one restaurant. The more restaurants we have, the more structure I have around me. I’m surrounded by very smart people and it gives me an ability to do what I do best. My focus is to visit restaurants, to say hello to guests and my staff, to see how the restaurants feel, how the music sounds, and make sure everyone is having a good time.

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All About Discovery An Interview with Chris Rynkar, General Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel’s Somewhere Nowhere Manager, Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel rooftop bar and lounge (left); Cotto restaurant (above); guestroom (below) EDITORS’ NOTE Chris Rynkar has more than 15 years of hospitality experience working in New York City, Detroit, Boston and San Diego.

He has held various managerial and operational positions at Marriott, Hyatt, and Real Hospitality. He was awarded “General Manager of the Year” by Real Hospitality Group and was named “Manager of the Year” during his career at Hyatt. He also served as Director of Revenue Management at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge Hotel in Boston. Rynkar is a graduate of Villanova University.

meld well together. Renaissance is all about ensuring that guests experience the DNA of the neighborhood through the brand’s theatrical design spirit and engaging guest experiences – ultimately leaving with a new sense of the destination. Chelsea is brimming with an artistic and eccentric personality, which inspired us to create a sensory-focused hotel experience infusing creative, unexpected design details that stimulate curiosity Chris Rynkar and exploration among our guests.

We encourage this sense of discovery not only within the hotel, but also throughout the Chelsea neighborhood. Our on-site PROPERTY BRIEF Renaissance New York Renaissance “Navigators” are on hand to help Chelsea Hotel (renaissancechelsea.com) is a travelers uncover hidden indigenous gems that boutique destination occupying a prime address they won’t find in the guidebooks. in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood. Within close proximity to iconic attractions like Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building, the property provides guests with intimate access to New York City. As one of the tallest buildings in Manhattan’s enchanting Flower District located on the former site of Chelsea’s Antiques Garage, the hotel draws inspiration from the site’s history and surrounding neighborhood. The new hotel is infused with a sense of clever theatricality, where spaces surprise and delight guests with unexpected moments, each thoughtfully designed to tell a story. Guest rooms and suites have been designed to underscore Renaissance In terms of design, the hotel is located on Hotels’ unexpected design aesthetic, with high- the former site of Chelsea’s beloved Antiques low elements such as wood paneled printed wall Garage. As an homage to the historic site, coverings and concrete sinks, complemented by eclectic vintage accents are peppered throughwhimsical touches like gnome desk lamps and out every space for guests to discover. Art rabbit coast hooks. The property’s rooftop bar and consultant Indiewalls led a massive two-story lounge, Somewhere Nowhere, offers 360-degree installation of antique knobs, locks and keys views and one of the city’s highest open-air roof- that takes center stage as the backdrop to the top pools, in a lush, garden-like setting, while its lobby staircase. Trellage-Ferrill Studio fabri24-hour fitness center provides ample options for cated custom pieces like a collection of upsidehealth-conscious guests. With a spacious ball- down bird cages, as well as a large pendant room and light-filled meeting spaces, the hotel is at the elevator lobby inspired by a bird’s nest an inspired choice for special events or creative to pique the curiosity of travelers. Inside the meetings in the heart of Chelsea. elevator cabs, leather tiles made from vintage belts coat the walls, adding intrigue of the Will you highlight the opening of the hotel’s overall design. Stonehill Taylor did an Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel and incredible job with the design, really encapsuhow the property will be positioned in the lating the Chelsea neighborhood. market?

On the rooftop, guests are surrounded We are very excited to open the hotel, by fresh vegetation and ivy-clad walls. At 430 especially in this dynamic neighborhood. The feet, the hotel is one of the tallest buildings Renaissance brand and Chelsea neighborhood in Chelsea with 39 floors. On the rooftop, 144 LEADERS

guests will have access to a private oasis featuring one of the city’s highest rooftop pools as well as breathtaking, 360-degree views of Downtown, Uptown, the Hudson River and Hudson Yards.

How critical is having a strong suite offering for the property?

It is very important to have a robust suite offering. We expect many of our loyal Marriott Bonvoy members to visit the hotel and we like to reward these guests with perks, such as suite upgrades, whenever possible. A strong suite offering also means guests have choices when selecting room type. I personally recommend suites located on our 36th floor. They boast the most unbelievable views of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. Other suites have lovely outdoor balconies that offer the perfect vantage point of the bustling city.

What has been the focus on food and beverage which is an area that can be challenging for hotels in a city like New York?

While the food and beverage industry can be a challenging environment, the key is to capture the interest of guests staying at the hotel. We’ve created an inviting setting at Cotto, our Italian restaurant in the lobby. With airy, indoor dining and a trellis-covered courtyard, Cotto will feature community tables and menu items that are both reasonably priced and easy to share. This is the first Manhattan hotel restaurant opening for our award-winning executive chef, Fabrizio Facchini, who hails from Northern Italy. He is ecstatic to bring his talents to Chelsea and offer a modern take on traditional Italian dishes.

Will you highlight the focus on building the team at the property?

We already have a great product and the right neighborhood – now we’re prioritizing building our team and investing in our staff.

It all starts with hiring the right team members who truly care, have a passion for the business and want to grow. While a background in hospitality is a plus, we’re also looking for eager candidates that know how to connect with people from across the world and understand the ins and outs of Chelsea.

In my experience working with a wide range of properties, the differentiator has always been the staff and how well they can take care of and connect with guests. Our mission is to ensure that guests feel like they are at home and have memorable experiences.

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VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

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