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Download a PDF copy of this directory at la.uli.org/WLI
To update or add your contact information, please email
matthew.severson@uli.org.
WLI Directory 2014
ULI Los Angeles
Diane Aranda
Regional Planner, Department of Regional Planning Los Angeles County
Ashley Atkinson
Analyst, Long Beach Development Services, City of Long Beach
Amy J. Bodek, AICP
Director, Long Beach Development Services, City of Long Beach
Linnea Berg
Transpiration Planning Manager V, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority
Nicki Carlsen
Co-leader and Partner in Alston and Bird Environmental & Land Development Group
Ada Chan
Vice President, Client Manager, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Donna Clandening
Principal, Director of Marketing, AC Martin Partners
Leanne Cobb
Director of Marketing, American Realty Advisors
Linda Daley
Managing Principal, AHBE Landscape Architects
Susan Davison, AICP, CGBP
Director, Build It Green
Beth Eberlein
Senior Director, Valuation & Advisory, Cushman and Wakefield
Timi Anyon Hallem
Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Barbie Hendon
Vice President, National Account Manager, Commonwealth Land Title Company
Lauren Hanson
Marketing Director, ValleyCrest Landscape Company
Elaine Kanelos
Vice President, Marketing Principal, HOK
Sandra Kulli
President, Kulli Marketing
Joan Ling
Real Estate Advisor & Policy Analyst
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Allison Lynch
Vice President of Asset Management, Watt Companies
Esther Margulies, ASLA, RLA
Associate Principal, AECOM Buildings and Places
Rebecca Martinez
Associate Principal, Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.
Emily Lane Murray, Esq.
Senior Counsel, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP
Rose Olson
Director, Housing and Real Estate Development, West Hollywood Community Housing Co.
Eleanor M. Ord
Senior Counsel, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP
Elisa Paster
Attorney, Gilchrist & Rutter, PC
Sherry Rudnak
Associate, Public Institutions, Jones Lang LaSalle
Silvia Saucedo, Esq.
President, Saucedo Group
Dana A. Sayles, AICP
Partner, three6ixty
Amanda Sigafoos
Marketing Director, Rios Clementi Hale Studios
Melani V. Smith
President, CEO and Director of Planning and Urban Design, Meléndez
Denise Ustariz
General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, Westside Investment Group, Inc.
Monica Zhang
Relationship Manager, Wells Fargo
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Diane Aranda
Regional Planner, Department of Regional Planning Los Angeles County
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Email: daranda@planning.lacounty.gov
Phone: (213) 974 - 6483
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown Los Angeles
Industry: Land Use Planning
# Years in Industry: 8 years
My name is Diane Aranda and I am a Planner for the Department of Regional Planning, Los
Angeles County. I have been with the Department of Regional Planning for almost six
years. The first seven years of my career was in case processing and now I am part of the Land
Use Enforcement section. Prior to my time with Los Angeles County, I was employed with the
City of Arcadia. I received my Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly Pomona's College
of Environmental Design and in 2012 I graduated with my Master's in Public Administration
with an emphasis in Urban Planning.
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Ashley Atkinson
Analyst, Department of Development Services, City of Long Beach
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Email: atkinson.ashley@gmail.com
Phone: (213) 505 - 1631
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Long Beach
Industry: Government/Urban Planning/Redevelopment
# Years in Industry: 6 years
Ashley Atkinson is an analyst with the City of Long Beach’s Department of Development
Services, supporting the Housing & Community Improvement Bureau through project
management, policy development, and financial analysis.
Ashley began working in Long Beach after graduating from the University of Southern California
with a dual Master’s degree in Public Administration and Planning in 2007. Ashley attended
USC’s Price School of Public Policy as a recipient of the school’s Dean’s Merit Scholarship. While
pursuing her degree, she served as an intern with the Community Redevelopment Agency of
Los Angeles, the City of Bell Gardens, and the City of Beverly Hills.
Ashley earned her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, where she was named Outstanding Graduating Senior in Public Relations.
She currently serves on the Board of the American Planning Association’s Los Angeles section
and as treasurer of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council.
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Amy J. Bodek, AICP
Director, Long Beach Development Services Department, City of Long Beach
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Email: amy.bodek@longbeach.gov
Phone: (562) 570 - 6428
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Long Beach
Industry: Government/Urban Planning
# Years in Industry: 20+ years
Amy J. Bodek, AICP, is the Director of the Long Beach Development Services Department, with
over 250 employees and an operating budget of $231 million, where she oversees all
development-related functions for the City of Long Beach. She also serves as President of the
Long Beach Housing Development Company, the City's wholly owned affordable housing nonprofit corporation. Her background is in urban planning, redevelopment and real estate
transactions. Ms. Bodek holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from Cornell
University, a Master of Urban Planning from New York University, and a certificate in Landscape
Architecture from University of California Los Angeles. She also holds registration as a certified
planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and is a member of the
American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute.
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Linnea Berg
Transportation Planning Manager V, Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
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Email: bergl@metro.net
Phone: (213) 922 - 2815
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Los Angeles Downtown
Industry: Transportation
# Years in Industry: 18 years
Linnea’s expertise is joint development, transit oriented development, public finance,
budgeting, strategic planning, transit operations performance reporting, administration and
planning. She has over 15 years of experience in the public sector. Her additional skills and
experience include teaching, curriculum development, electronic publishing and graphic arts.
Currently, she works in the Real Property and Economic Development unit of Metro which has
over 44 active project sites. She administers their budget and supports the established joint
developments and project managers.
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Nicki Carlsen
Co-leader and Partner in Alston & Bird’s Environmental & Land
Development Group
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Email: nicki.carlsen@alston.com
Phone: (213) 576 - 1128
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): LA
Industry: Legal Services
# Years in Industry: 23 years
Nicki Carlsen is the co-leader of the firm’s Environmental & Land Development Group. Her
practice is focused on land use, environmental compliance and litigation. She has over 20 years
of experience with the federal, state and local regulations affecting development projects,
including land use planning and subdivision laws, the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act and endangered
species acts. Nicki advises clients on how to comply with CEQA and NEPA statutes and
oversees the adequacy of CEQA and NEPA documents. Through her representation of
residential, commercial and industrial developers, Nicki navigates a course of action from
project inception to completion. Her land use experience extends to all project entitlements
including general plan amendments, specific plans, development agreements, zone changes,
subdivisions, conditional use permits, variances, and grading, building and encroachment
permits, and specialized environmental permits, such as Section 404 permits and “take”
permits.
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Ada Chan
Vice President, Client Manager, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
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Email: achan8@baml.com
Phone: (213) 621-7377
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown, LA
Industry: Commercial Real Estate Finance
# Years in Industry: 13+ years (5.5 years in commercial construction and
8 years in CRE finance/lending/investments)
Ada Chan is currently Vice President, Client Manager of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the
Commercial Real Estate Banking group where she is focused on the Los Angeles market. She
previously held positions as Vice President of OneWest Bank, Project Manager of Weintraub
Real Estate Group and Sr. Associate of iStar Financial/Fremont Investment & Loan. Ada started
her career as a licensed civil engineer and worked in project management with notable general
contractors Hathaway Dinwiddie and Swinerton Builders. As for extracurricular activities, Ada is
involved with the ULI Young Leaders Group and serves as a Board Member, Events Chair for the
City of Hope Building Hope (City of Hope Los Angeles Real Estate Council emerging leaders
group). Her hobbies include music, shopping, food, tennis and golf.
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Donna Clandening
Principal, Director of Marketing, AC Martin Partners
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Email: donna.clandening@acmartin.com
Phone: (213) 614 – 6039 direct/(213) 683 – 1900 office
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown, LA
Industry – A/E/C
# Years in Industry: 27 years
With over 27 years of experience in the business development, marketing, structural
engineering, and project management sectors of the A/E/C industry, Donna is part of the senior
leadership team at AC Martin as Principal and Director of the Marketing. In this role, she has
strategically developed marketing plans, reinforced public relation outlets, and strengthened
and developed new business contacts for the firm. With a hands-on background in the design
and construction of projects, Donna works closely with the firm’s leadership to create new
avenues for market growth and business development. A long-time resident of Los Angeles
County, Donna has participated in several professional organizations as an active board
member, including positions as an Education Chair coordinating programs for professional
development. She has also participated in non-profit organizations dedicated to student
development and scholarship programs, and currently serves on an Advisory Committee for a
local school bond.
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Leanne Cobb
Director of Marketing, American Realty Advisors
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Email: lcobb@americanreal.com
Phone: (818) 409 - 3268
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): West Hollywood, or close
to work in Glendale or Downtown LA
Industry: Real Estate/ Intuitional Management
# Years in Industry: 9 years
Seasoned Brand Marketing professional with over 10 years of experience in Marketing,
advertising, business development, brand strategy, repositioning and customer outreach.
As Director of Marketing at American, Leanne is responsible for developing and executing
overall marketing and public relations strategy designed to promote the identity of the firm and
its products to targeted prospects, consultants, and the industry at large. In addition, Leanne
manages a team of six, with unique job roles, and supports the Chief Investment Officer, and
the client/sales efforts.
Previously, Leanne worked at Arden Realty, A GE Capital Company for over 7 years where she
had a proven track record of delivering innovative and multi-level marketing campaigns to
support Arden/GE's overall company strategy. Prior to Arden, she worked at Corporate
Connections handling all marketing and business development connecting CFO's of Fortune
1000 companies and business solution providers.
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Linda Daley
Managing Principal, AHBE Landscape Architects
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Email: ldaley@ahbe.com
Phone: (310) 838 – 0448
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Culver City/Westside
vicinity, Downtown L.A.
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Industry: Landscape Architecture
# Years in Industry: 15 years
Since joining AHBE Landscape Architects, Linda Daley has been a leader in all aspects of the
firm's practice. Her project work has been diverse and she enjoys the challenges of projects
involving collaborations with community groups. As Managing Principal, Linda also oversees the
firm's business development, financial, and human resources activities.
11
Susan Davison, AICP, CGBP
Director, Build It Green
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Email: sdavison@builditgreen.org
Phone: (760) 535 - 0496
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown L.A.
Industry: Housing / Residential Energy Retrofits
# of years: 16 years
Susan Davison serves as a Director at Build It Green, a Bay-area non-profit whose mission is to
promote energy- and resource-efficient building practices in California. Her current focus is on
residential contractor-based home improvement programs, including strategic coordination for
the highly successful Energy Upgrade California Program. Susan is responsible for the
development and ongoing management of all of the residential energy retrofit programs within
the organization. She oversees the various implementation teams, coordinating with utilities
and local governments to develop innovative and cost-effective programs that work for
homeowners, contractors, and the industry.
Prior to her role at Build It Green, she was a Director at Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, AIA
(“VTBS”), where she managed the operations, business development and marketing efforts for
the locally-based architectural firm. In her role, she was responsible for providing strategic
direction and identifying potential opportunities for the firm. VTBS specializes in mixed use,
urban infill and transit-oriented-development, designing a wide range of projects throughout
Southern California. With VTBS, Susan helped reframe the affordability and transit dialogue,
with her focus on neighborhood characteristics and how they shape the quality of life, as well
as transportation demand and use. Susan started her career in economics and finance, and
then spent ten years as a senior project manager at EDAW/AECOM, an international planning
firm with offices in Southern California. She held a leadership role in the early design of
proprietary tools that measure horizontal and vertical sustainable design impacts.
Susan serves on the Advisory Board of the ULI Orange County/Inland Empire District Council, as
the Non-Profit Liaison, and is a founding member of the Sustainable Communities Initiative
Council. She has a Master of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los
Angeles, a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies + Planning from the University of California, San
Diego, and is currently pursuing an MBA in Sustainability.
12
Beth Eberlein
Senior Director, Valuation & Advisory, Cushman & Wakefield
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Email: beth.eberlein@cushwake.com
Phone: (213) 955 - 6415
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Los Angeles
Industry: Real Estate - Valuation & Advisory
# of years: 10 years
Ms. Eberlein has a broad range of valuation experience in many types of real estate assets
including, hotels, office, retail, vacant land, industrial, multi-family residential and mixed-use
projects. Her valuation and consulting experience encompasses proposed, renovation and
repositioning, and existing properties.
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Timi Anyon Hallem
Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
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Email: THallem@manatt.com
Phone: (310) 312 - 4217
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): West Los Angeles
Industry: Legal/Attorney
# of years: 40 years
Timi Hallem practices in the areas of real estate and hospitality law. She has had great success
representing major developers, lenders, owners and operators in all economic climates. She has
been counseling real estate and hospitality clients since she first began her legal career at the
now-closed firm of Tuttle & Taylor. Hallem is trusted counsel to clients whose legal needs
change with the markets. She has extensive experience representing developers (such as Lowe
Enterprises) in new development ventures when real estate is booming, and on the opposite
end, she has been very successful representing the FSLIC, lenders (such as Wells Fargo) and
distressed property managers (such as the Palmieri Company) when real estate is under duress.
Hallem is known for getting deals done no matter how challenging the issues or the
personalities involved. Sample transactions include representing Kennedy-Wilson in the
acquisition of the Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe, representing an affiliate of Lowe Enterprises in
the entitlement, development and financing (including the recent $220million refinancing) of
Terranea Resort, representing Lowe Enterprises in the redevelopment of a 100 acre site in the
City of Hawthorne, and representing a client in the acquisition of 24,000 acres of California
coastal property.
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Barbie Hendon
Vice President, National Account Manager, Commonwealth
Land Title Company
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Email: bhendon@cltic.com
Phone: (949) 724 - 3161
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Los Angeles or O.C.
Industry: Title Insurance
# Years in Industry: 10.5 years
Barbie has been a Title Representative for 10 years, starting her career at First American. She
moved to Lawyers Title in July of 2007. Her team handles all manners of National Commercial
transactions for Investors, Developers, Principals and Attorneys. Barbie’s larger accounts
include G.E. Real Estate, Home Depot, The Rockefeller Group and Shorenstein. As part of the
Fidelity family, Barbie has access to the largest Reserves in the industry to insure any
transaction without going outside the company.
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Lauren Hanson
Marketing Director, ValleyCrest Landscape Company
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Email: lhanson@valleycrest.com
Phone: (818) 737 - 2607
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Santa Barbara
Industry: Landscape/Design/Construction/Maintenance
# Years in Industry: 9 years
Lauren Hanson is a marketing professional with almost a decade of experience in the A/E/C
industry. Lauren has expertise in advertising, direct marketing, thought leadership, collateral
development, event coordination and social media. Lauren launched and manages the blog,
www.ValleyCrestTakesOn.com and was the driving force behind the Planned Communities of
the Future think tank series and publication. Throughout her career, Lauren has remained
actively involved with leading real estate institutions like the ULI. ValleyCrest Landscape
Companies, Lauren’s current employer, designs, builds and maintains some of the most notable
landscapes around the world in every market sector.
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Elaine Kanelos
Vice President, Marketing Principal, HOK
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Email: Elaine.kanelos@hok.com
Phone: (310) 490 - 7722
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): ANY
Industry: Architecture
# of years: 20 years
Ms. Kanelos has over 20 years of Marketing and Business Development of professional services
in both the financial services and AEC industries. She began her career on Wall Street, where
she led the national marketing efforts for two significant financial product groups for Merrill
Lynch. Elaine then continued her career in the mutual fund industry, where she was responsible
for the marketing of several fund groups for such clients as HSBC, Duff & Phelps and GE Capital.
In the late 1990s, Elaine was recruited into the AEC industry where she has led the marketing
and business development efforts of several significant firms. Throughout her career, Ms.
Kanelos has been active in community and industry organizations. She is particularly proud of
her role in establishing Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s Meter Project contributing over
$800,000 towards the initiative to end homelessness. A graduate of the University of Colorado,
she is a published author, freelance writer and frequent speaker. Shed is a member of Los
Angeles HOK’s Management Team and HOK’s Global Marketing Board.
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Sandra Kulli
President, Kulli Marketing
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Email: kulli@mac.com
Phone: (310) 454 - 5268
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Los Angeles
Industry: real estate marketing, mixed use, residential, office, master
planned communities, infill
My experience is long and varied, consulting with developers, builders, architects, planners and
marketers around the country (and in some other parts of the world) about the business and
art of place making. I’m an advocate of thoughtful design and innovative problem-solving, from
urban infill to new communities, and pretty much everything in between.
What I’ve learned is that community is local. And personal. So I look for the human connection.
We can learn more from a casual conversation in the neighborhood café than from a behindthe-glass focus group because people let their guard down and tell you what they truly care
about.
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Joan Ling
Real Estate Advisor & Policy Analyst
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Email: joancling@gmail.com
Phone: (213) 621-7377 (310) 397-8835
Meeting Location Preference: N/A
Joan Ling is a real estate advisor and policy analyst in urban planning. She brings 30 years of
experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors: she has worked as an affordable
housing developer, property manager, real estate financial analyst, government loan
underwriter, and community planner.
Ms. Ling has taken about 60 development projects (1,400 units) from acquisition through
entitlement, financing, construction, marketing, and building operations. Her projects include
the first multi-family structure in the country awarded the gold certification by the U.S. Green
Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as well as two
buildings that received the National American Institute of Architect’s Design Honor Awards.
Ms. Ling has used her hands-on experience to improve public policy, legislation, and
government regulations. Among the many issues she has affected, the high impact ones
include reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to streamline affordable and
urban in-fill housing production, negotiating the California Mello Act implementation in Los
Angeles, running a successful voter initiative to authorize affordable housing development
under Article 34 of the California Constitution, passing local ordinances giving land use
incentives and protections for affordable housing development projects, and advocating for
more and better targeted financial resources in California’s tax credit and bond-funded housing
programs. She is currently working on promoting a range of housing choices in Los Angeles
transit station areas, land use incentives for affordable housing, and a dedicated funding source
in California.
Ms Ling served as the Executive Director of Community Corporation of Santa Monica for 20
years. Her previous employers include the Los Angeles County Community Development
Commission, Kotin, Regan, and Mouchly, Inc. and The Planning Group. She was the Treasurer
of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles City for over six years before the
dissolution of redevelopment in February 2012. She is a director on the Housing California
board and the chair of its Land Use and Finance Committee. In addition, she serves on the
MoveLA Advisory Board.
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Ms. Ling is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Chatham College in Pennsylvania and received her M.A.
degree from the UCLA Urban Planning Department. She also holds a certificate from Harvard
Kennedy School of Government after completing an 18-month program in Achieving Excellence
in Community Development. Fannie Mae Foundation honored her as a National James A.
Johnson Fellow. She teaches real estate, housing and planning courses at the university level.
20
Allison Lynch
Vice President of Asset Management, Watt Companies
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Email: alynch@wattcompanies.com
Phone: (310) 314-5069
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Westside
Industry: Commercial Real Estate/Asset Management
# Years in Industry: 20+ years
Allison Lynch joined Watt in 2004. As Vice President of Asset Management for Watt Properties,
Allison is responsible for all aspects of asset management on a portfolio of 60 properties
comprised of retail, office, industrial and multi-family. Prior to joining Watt, Allison was Vice
President of Asset Management for CNA Enterprises where she managed a portfolio of 30
assets throughout the Southwestern United States. She has worked in various Asset
Management and Property Management positions overseeing all types of commercial real
estate for real estate firms such as Burnham Pacific, CB Richard Ellis, MBK Northwest, and
Terranomics Retail Services. Allison obtained a B.A. in liberal studies from Mount St. Mary’s
College and is a Senior Certified Shopping Manager (SCSM). She serves as a Regent of Mount St.
Mary’s College.
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Esther Margulies, ASLA, RLA
Associate Principal, AECOM Buildings and Places
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Email: esther.margulies@aecom.com
Phone: (213) 593 – 7775 office/(213) 364 – 7397 cell
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown during work
hours, Westside before or after
Industry: Landscape Architecture
# Years in Industry: 15 years
Ms. Margulies has been involved in the reshaping of the environment in Los Angeles for over25
years. She has designed and managed a wide variety of corporate, civic, residential and
infrastructure projects for firms such as the SWA Group and Peter Walker and Partners and as a
founding partner at Mia Lehrer + Associate.
At AECOM, Ms. Margulies leads the landscape architecture studio on projects with a holistic
approach guiding responsible and productive public and private use of the land. Current clients
include The City of Long Beach, Metro, and LAWA. Recently completed projects include the
Restoration of historic Echo Park, the New Face of the Central Terminal Area at LAX and
planning for the Tehachapi Event and Rodeo Grounds. Her studio collaborates frequently with
the AECOM Urban Design studio on large scale district planning and design in the US and Asia.
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Rebecca Martinez
Associate Principal, Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.
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Email: RMartinez@cuningham.com
Phone: (310) 895 – 2200
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Culver City
Industry: Architecture
# Years in Industry: 20 years
As a senior marketing, business development and communication strategist, I have hands-on
experience establishing market presence and capturing market share in the architecture
field. My role at Cuningham Group goes beyond marketing activities and is focused on highlevel strategy across market groups and office locations, building client relationships and
business management responsibilities.
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Emily Lane Murray, Esq.
Parnter, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP.
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Email: emurray@allenmatkins.com
Phone: (213) 955 – 5584 office/ (310) 775 – 1124 cell
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown LA
Industry: Attorney, practicing in Environmental, Land use, and Energy
Law
# Years in Industry: 11 years
Emily is an attorney with Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in downtown Los
Angeles. Emily practices in environmental, land use, and energy law. Her environmental
practice includes federal and state court litigation of environmental claims related to land use,
water quality, air quality, and hazardous materials brought under CEQA, NEPA, CERCLA, and
other state and federal laws. She also represents clients before federal, state, and local
agencies in connection with permitting and enforcement actions. Emily's land use practice
includes the representation of clients in matters pertaining to the securing of land use
entitlements and environmental compliance. She has significant experience in the preparation
of environmental review documents under CEQA and NEPA for complex mixed use
development projects throughout California. Emily's energy practice includes advising energy
and renewable energy clients in all aspects of the industry, including acquisition of land, project
entitlement and development, and environmental and regulatory compliance.
Emily chairs the firm's Pro Bono Committee, and participates in pro bono matters in
conjunction with Los Angeles Public Counsel and The Alliance for Children’s Rights. She is also a
member of the firm’s Diversity Committee and the Los Angeles office Recruiting Committee.
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Rose Olson
Director, Housing & Real Estate Development, West Hollywood
Community Housing Co.
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Email: rose@whchc.org
Phone: (323) 650-8771 ext. 17
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown or mid-city
Industry: Design and real estate development
# Years in Industry: 15 years (7 in architecture, 8 in real estate
development)
Rose Olson, AIA is Director of Housing with WHCHC, and manages all real estate development
for the corporation. A licensed architect, Rose practiced in Boston before moving to LA, working
with noted firms Brian Healy Architects and Bruner/Cott & Associates. Rose has a B.Arch from
McGill University in Montreal, and a Master of Real Estate Development from USC. A LEED AP,
Rose’s expertise lies in the areas of green design, construction and project management,
adaptive re-use, and multi-family development. Rose is an active member of ULI, and was
named one of Engineering News-Record California’s “Top 20 under 40” in 2012.
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Eleanor M. Ord
Senior Counsel, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP.
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Email: eord@allenmatkins.com
Phone: (213) 955 - 5653
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown LA
Industry: Attorney, practicing in Land Use and Litigation
# Years in Industry: 8 years
Eleanor M. Ord is a senior counsel in the Los Angeles office of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble
Mallory & Natsis LLP. Her practice focuses on land use law and civil litigation.
Eleanor has broad experience in land use and project development, assisting clients with
complex projects from inception through approval. She has represented clients in securing land
use entitlements on a variety of commercial, residential, and mixed-use development projects
in jurisdictions throughout California. She also advises clients on environmental compliance and
has experience with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), the Subdivision Map Act,
the California Coastal Act, the Ellis Act, and the Brown Act. Eleanor also has substantive
experience in general civil litigation and the litigation of claims related brought under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Before joining Allen Matkins, Eleanor served as legislative assistant to Representative John
Linder of Georgia's 7th Congressional District and as associate staff on the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Rules. She also served as district field manager for
Representative William Thomas of California's 22nd Congressional District.
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Elisa Paster
Attorney, Gilchrist & Rutter, PC
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Email: epaster@gilchristrutter.com
Phone: (310) 460 - 4488
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): West Side or Downtown
Industry: Law, Land Use, Real Estate
# Years in Industry: 15 years (10 as lawyer, 5 as planner)
Elisa Paster is a member of Gilchrist & Rutter's Land Use and Real Estate Practice Groups. Elisa
represents developers, land owners, investors and municipal governments in all aspects of land
use and entitlements matters, including CEQA, Subdivision Map Act, and Planning and Zoning
Law compliance, development agreements, due diligence review, and transactional issues. She
has experience entitling a wide range of projects, including urban infill, mixed-use, and master
planned communities, and has defended those projects against litigation challenges.
Prior to attending law school, Elisa worked for five years as a policy analyst and urban planner.
This experience "behind the counter" in a municipal planning department, along with her
involvement with the American Planning Association, is unique amongst land use attorneys and
allows Elisa to provide a heightened level of service to her clients.
Elisa is the President of the Westside Urban Forum and a Board Member of Menorah Housing
Foundation.
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Sherry Rudnak
Associate, Public Institutions, Jones Lang LaSalle
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Email: sherry.rudnak@am.jll.com
Phone: (213) 304 - 7655
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown LA
Industry: Development Advisory/Real Estate Strategies/Land Use
Economics Consulting
# Years in Industry: 11 years
Sherry Rudnak has more than a decade of experience as an active economics planning and
development advisory consultant. She specializes in economic development, market analysis,
impacts analysis, public finance, real estate advisory and public/private partnerships, with a
strong focus on quantitative methods.
During the course of her career she has become an expert in market analyses and
redevelopment dissolution. Ms. Rudnak taught a course on real estate market analysis for the
ULI Real Estate School. She has also discussed redevelopment dissolution as it relates to
strategically disposing of assets to promote economic development goals and other planning
objectives as a panel member for the Orange County BIA and the 2013 ULI-LA Urban
Marketplace.
Ms. Rudnak currently serves as co-chair of the ULI-LA Women's Leadership Initiative
Engagement Committee. Her specialties include sustainable development, public finance,
economic impact analysis, market analysis, master plan implementation and TOD.
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Silvia Saucedo, Esq.
President, Saucedo Group
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Email: Silvia@SaucedoGroup.com
Phone: (323) 243 - 4556
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown LA
Industry: Real-Estate Entitlements, permitting, government and
community relations
# Years in Industry: 15 years
Silvia Saucedo, LEED AP, is the founder and owner of Saucedo Group, a real estate consulting
firm that advises clients in all aspects of real estate development, including the entitlement
process, strategic planning, project management, land use, eminent domain, sustainability and
the establishment of government and community relations, for all real estate product types.
Ms. Saucedo has a proven track record of successfully navigating private sector, public benefit
and governmental agency clients through the difficult issues arising from the development
process. Ms. Saucedo’s innovative and effective advice throughout every phase of the planning
and approval process is based on her collection of unique and valuable experiences as a former
executive for a major real estate development company, as a land-use and real estate attorney,
and as a former policymaker for the City of Los Angeles.
Ms. Saucedo is also passionate about empowering underprivileged girls and women by sharing
her story and facilitating life-skills workshops to enable them to break the cycle of poverty.
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Dana A. Sayles, AICP
Partner, three6ixty
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Email: dana@three6ixty.net
Phone: (310) 204 - 3500
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Culver City
Dana Sayles has a long and diverse history in the California real estate industry, and brings her
extensive expertise to every client and development venture with three6ixty.
Three6ixty is a full-service consulting firm providing development/project management,
entitlement and expediting, strategic land planning and community outreach services for
developers throughout Southern California and the western United States.
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Amanda Sigafoos
Marketing Director, Rios Clementi Hale Studios
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Email: amanda@rchstudios.com
Phone: (323) 785 - 1868
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Hollywood, DTLA
Industry: A/E/C
# Years in Industry: 11
Amanda joined Rios Clementi Hale Studios in 2008. She manages the office’s marketing efforts
including proposals, project assets, web and social media, award submissions and photography.
She is an active member of the Los Angeles District Council of the Urban Land Institute and the
Society for Marketing Professional Services. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration from the University of Southern California.
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Melani V. Smith
President, CEO and Director of Planning and Urban Design, Meléndez
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Email: msmith@melendrez.com
Phone: (213) 233 - 2846
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Los Angeles
Industry: Design
# Years in Industry: 25
Melani Smith and her partner Scott Baker concluded their purchase of downtown Los Angeles
based Meléndrez, in 2010. They have reshaped the practice of the firm, while remaining
consistent with its core values: context, people, and impact. For over 28 years Meléndrez has
made places and remade streets so that they work for people, are memorable within their
context, and are sensitive to the long term livability and sustainability of the urban environment.
Melani has a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UC Irvine. She is a 23 year
resident of Long Beach, and has served on the City’s Planning Commission since 2007. She
currently Co-Chairs ULI Los Angeles’s Land Use Leadership Committee, is a Co-Chair of the
Central City Association’s Downtown 2020 Committee, is an Associate member of the AIA, and
is a member and past President of the Downtown Breakfast Club in downtown Los Angeles.
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Denise Ustariz
General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, Westside Investment Group, Inc.
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Email: denise@westsideigi.com
Phone: (310) 458 – 2126 office/ (510) 847 – 7944 cell
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Westside
Industry: Real Estate/Legal
# Years in Industry: 2 years
I did my undergrad at UCLA and went to law school at Berkeley. I work for a small real estate
investment company located in Santa Monica. The company has different investments, such as,
apartment buildings, office buildings, a shopping center, and a boutique hotel in downtown Los
Angeles. I wear two hats at work and on a day-to-day basis I deal with both legal and business
issues that arise. I deal with everything from Purchase and Sale Agreements, to capital calls, to
court cases and compliance issues.
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Monica Zhang
Relationship Manager, Wells Fargo
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Email: monica.k.zhang@wellsfargo.com
Phone: (213) 253 – 3630
Meeting Location Preference (Home/Work): Downtown LA
Industry: Commercial Real Estate Lending
# Years in Industry: 6 years
Monica originates and underwrites commercial real estate loans sized $5 million to $150 million
for Wells Fargo. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2011, Monica worked as a senior accountant at
Hines for 4 years while obtaining her MBA from UCLA Anderson. Monica focused on
commercial real estate and finance while at UCLA Anderson and was a recipient of the J. Fred
Weston Award for Academic Excellence in Finance. Monica began her career at
PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor and is a CPA. Her undergraduate degrees are from Penn
State in Accounting and German.
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