Executive Board
The Nareit Executive Board is Nareit’s policy and steering body, responsible for all long-term planning, financial budgets, investments, policy positions, and statements.
Conor C. Flynn Conor Flynn was named CEO of Kimco Realty and appointed to the company’s board of directors in January 2016. Flynn joined Kimco in 2003 as an asset manager and has held a variety of senior leadership roles within the company, including that of president, COO, chief investment officer and president, Western Region. Flynn holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University and a master's degree in real estate development from Columbia University. He serves as 2025 Chair of the Executive Board of Nareit. Flynn is a member and board member of the Real Estate Roundtable. He is also a past trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers. |
Sumit Roy Sumit Roy has served as Realty Income Corporation’s CEO since 2018, and its president since 2015. He previously served as COO from 2014 to 2018, and was CIO prior to that. Prior to joining Realty Income, Roy held a senior leadership role at UBS Investment Bank, worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, and was a principal in technology consulting at Cap Gemini. He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science, and also holds an MBA in finance and economics from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. |
Mark J. Parrell Mark Parrell is president, CEO, and trustee at Equity Residential. He has been CEO since January 2019, and president since September 2018. Parrell has worked in various finance capacities for Equity Residential since 1999, including as its CFO from October 2007 until September 2018. He currently serves on the board for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, is a member of the Ross School Advisory Board for the Ross Business School at the University of Michigan, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and National Multifamily Housing Council. Parrell received a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. |
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Leslie D. Hale Leslie Hale is the president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust. Since joining RLJ in 2005, Hale has held progressively senior roles at RLJ – she was appointed CFO in 2007, COO in 2016, and CEO in 2018. Hale helped successfully lead the execution of the initial public offering (IPO) of RLJ in 2011 and is on RLJ’s board of directors. Hale currently serves on the Delta Airlines, Inc. board of directors, is the vice chair of the Howard University Board of Trustees, a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Baltimore Branch, and former chair of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Other organizations in which she is a member are the MINA Advisory Board, Nareit 2025 treasurer and member of its Executive Board, IREFAC, and The Real Estate Roundtable. Before joining RLJ, Hale held senior positions at GE–working in GE’s Commercial Finance Mergers & Acquisitions Group and GE’s Real Estate Strategic Capital Group. Hale was also an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. Hale earned a B.B.A. from Howard University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where she was a Goldman Sachs and Toigo Fellow. |
Nareit Officers are also members of the Executive Board.
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Peter E. Baccile is president and CEO of First Industrial Realty Trust. He joined First Industrial as president in September 2016 and assumed the CEO position in December 2016. He also serves as a member of the company’s board. Baccile joined First Industrial from UBS Securities, LLC where he served as joint global head of the Real Estate, Lodging, and Leisure Group within the firm’s investment banking division from June 2012 to September 2016. Prior to that, Baccile served in various senior leadership roles during his 26-year tenure at J.P. Morgan. Most recently, he was vice chairman of J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. Baccile is a member of the Nareit executive board, and The Real Estate Roundtable, where he was past chairman of the Real Estate Capital Policy advisory committee. He is a past trustee of the ICSC and the Urban Land Institute. Baccile holds an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University where he was a Fuqua Scholar and earned his B.S. from Cornell University. |
Eric Bolton serves as the chairman and CEO of Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA). He was named CEO in October 2001 and has served as chairman since October 2002. Bolton has been a member of MAA’s management team since April 1994, serving as COO prior to his appointment as CEO. Bolton holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from University of Memphis, and an MBA with a concentration in finance and real estate from University of North Texas. He also holds professional designations as a certified public accountant (inactive) and an associate of risk management. |
Scott Brinker has been Healthpeak Properties president and CEO, and a member of the board of directors, since October 2022. From January 2019 to October 2022, Brinker served as Healthpeak’s president and chief investment officer. From March 2018 to December 2019, he served as Healthpeak executive vice president and chief investment officer. Prior to joining Healthpeak Properties, Brinker served in various investment and portfolio management-related capacities at Welltower Inc., a health care REIT, from July 2001 to January 2017. Brinker received a B.A. from Yale University and earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. |
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Matt Kelly is the CEO of JBG SMITH and a member of the board of trustees. Prior to the formation of JBG SMITH, Kelly served as a managing partner of the JBG Companies and was co-head of JBG’s Investments Group. Prior to joining the JBG Companies in 2004, he was a co-founder of ODAC Inc., and worked in private equity and investment banking with Thomas H. Lee Partners in Boston and Goldman Sachs & Co in New York. Kelly served as Nareit’s 2024 chair and chairman of the board of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He is a member of the board of MedStar Health and the Urban Institute. He is also past chairman of the board of the Medstar Washington Hospital Center. He is a member of the faculty at the Harvard Business School and serves as an executive in residence of the Steers Center at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He holds an A.B. with honors from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
Ted Klinck joined Highwoods in March 2012 and became president and CEO in 2018. Previously, he was principal and chief investment officer with Goddard Investment Group in Atlanta. Klinck has 28 years of extensive real estate experience, and prior to joining Goddard Investment, he spent 16 years with Morgan Stanley Real Estate, including its predecessor companies Lend Lease and Equitable Real Estate. Klinck has a strong focus on sourcing core, value-add and opportunistic real estate investments in high growth markets. He is a member of Raleigh Chamber Board and chair of the First Tee of the Triangle. Klinck received his B.B.A. in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and his MBA in finance and real estate from the University of Georgia. |
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Marshall A. Loeb rejoined EastGroup Properties as president and COO in March 2015 and was named CEO and a director in January 2016. He served as president and COO of Glimcher Realty Trust from 2005 to 2015, when it was acquired by Washington Prime Group. From 2000 to 2005, he served as CFO of Parkway Properties. Loeb was previously employed by the company from 1991 to 2000, beginning as an asset manager and rising to senior vice president after having a variety of responsibilities with the company. Loeb has over 30 years of experience with publicly traded REITs. He serves on the board of directors and audit committee of Lamar Advertising Company. He also serves as a member of the Nareit Advisory Board of Governors and was chair of Nareit’s Audit and Investment Committee. He received a B.S. in accounting and a master’s of tax accounting degree from the University of Alabama, then earned an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. |
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Lisa Palmer is president and CEO of Regency Centers Corporation. She has served as president and CEO since January 2020, and was president and CFO from 2016 to 2019. From 2013 to 2015, she was CFO, and from 2003 until 2013 was senior vice president of capital markets. Palmer has held other leadership positions with Regency Centers since 1996. Prior to joining Regency Centers, Palmer was a consultant with Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting Strategic Services, and was a financial analyst for General Electric. She is a member of the boards of the Jacksonville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Brooks Rehabilitation. She also serves as chair of the board of directors of the United Way of Northeast Florida. Palmer is also a member of the Urban Land Institute and Innovating Commerce Serving Communities. She received her B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia and her MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. |
Edward Pitoniak is the founding CEO of VICI Properties Inc. Before joining VICI Properties in 2017, Pitoniak served as vice chairman of Realterm and as an independent director on the board of Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers. In April 2014, Pitoniak became managing director of InnVest, and then served as its chairman from June 2015 to August 2016. Previously, he served as CEO of Canadian Hotel Income Properties (CHIP), senior vice president at Intrawest Corporation, and editor-in-chief of Ski Magazine with Times Mirror Magazines. Pitoniak has a B.A. from Amherst College. |
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Andrew (Andy) Power is the CEO and a member of the board of directors of Digital Realty. Power also has served as Digital Realty’s president since 2021 and as CFO since 2015. Prior to joining Digital Realty, Power held positions of increasing responsibility at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he most recently served as managing director of Real Estate, Gaming, and Lodging Investment Banking and was responsible for relationships with over 40 public and private companies, including Digital Realty. Prior to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Power was employed by Citigroup, where he held similar positions. Power serves on the board of directors of Americold Realty Trust, where he is a member of the audit committee and investment committee. He also joined The Real Estate Roundtable’s board of directors for a three-year term on July 1, 2024. He received a B.S. degree in analytical finance from Wake Forest University. |
Joseph Russell, Jr. is president and CEO of Public Storage. Russell has been president of Public Storage since July 2016 and its CEO since January 2019. He has more than three decades of experience in real estate. Prior to joining Public Storage, Russell was president and CEO of PS Business Parks, Inc. from August 2002 until July 2016. Previously, he was an officer of Spieker Properties, Inc. and its predecessor for more than ten years. Russell holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
Benjamin Schall is president and CEO of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Schall joined the company in January 2021 as AvalonBay’s president. Prior to that, he was president and CEO and a trustee of Seritage Growth Properties from 2015 to 2021; COO of Rouse Properties, Inc. from 2012 to 2015; and before that a senior vice president with Vornado Realty Trust. Schall received his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College and his MBA from Harvard Business School. |
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Jim Taylor joined Brixmor Property Group in 2016, bringing more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience with him. His passion and leadership are grounded in a deep belief that retail shopping centers should do more than reflect the surrounding community: they should be an integral part of local daily life. Taylor is a trustee for the Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (ICSC). He holds a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia, and is a trustee for the university's Jefferson Trust. |
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Steven Vondran is the president and CEO of American Tower Corporation. Prior to this role, he was the executive vice president and global COO of American Tower. Vondran has held various leadership positions since joining the company in 2000. Vondran joined the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association board of directors in September 2018, and he served on the board of the Wireless Infrastructure Association between 2018 and 2024. Vondran is a member of the Business Roundtable and Nareit Executive Board. Prior to joining American Tower, Vondran was an associate at the law firm of Lewellen & Frazier LLP, served as a telecommunications consultant with the firm of Young & Associates, Inc., and was a law clerk to the Hon. John Stroud on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. He received his J.D. with high honors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law and a B.A. in economics and business from Hendrix College. |
Nareit Officers are also members of the Executive Board.
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Steven A. Wechsler Steven Wechsler is Nareit's president and CEO. He joined Nareit in 1997 from the National Realty Committee (NRC), now known as The Real Estate Roundtable. He served as NRC's CEO from 1990 to 1997 and first joined NRC in 1983 as general counsel. Prior to joining NRC, Wechsler practiced law with Stein, Miller and Brodsky, and served as counsel to Thevenot, Murray and Scheer, a government relations consulting firm. He is a graduate of the Boston University School of Communications and the Cleveland State University College of Law. |
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Cathy Barré Cathy Barré is executive vice president, policy and public affairs and general counsel at Nareit. Prior to joining Nareit in 2015, Barré served in key senior positions in the public and private sectors, including tax counsel for the Senate Finance Committee, a senior executive role at the IRS, and director, associate general counsel, and tax counsel for the funds at Legg Mason Global Asset Management. She earned a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and was an Olin scholar in law and economics while earning her J.D. (order of the Coif) from the University of Virginia School of Law. |
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Matthew Bechard Matthew Bechard is the executive vice president, communications and industry affairs at Nareit. Prior to joining Nareit in 2001, Bechard spent his career in business-to-business journalism focused on the marketing, publishing, and investment markets. He holds a BA in journalism from SUNY Plattsburgh. |
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Roberto Diaz Roberto Diaz is the executive vice president, finance and fiscal management at Nareit. Prior to joining Nareit in 2007, Diaz held several finance and accounting positions at Marriott International. He earned a B.A in economics from Virginia Tech. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Maryland; as well as a CFA charterholder. |
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Victor Dristas Victor Dristas is the executive vice president, operations at Nareit. Dristas has been with Nareit since January 2000 and is responsible for Nareit’s information technology, human resources, office operations, and corporate dues activities. In addition, Dristas operates Nareit’s top level domain registry, .reit. Prior to joining Nareit, he was a systems engineer with Unisys Corporation on the U.S. Coast Guard TISCOM base. Prior to that he was an IT manager with U.S. News & World Report and helped launch their online media division. He holds a B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University and a M.S. in Information Systems from The George Washington University. |
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John D. Worth John Worth is the executive vice president, research and investor outreach at Nareit. Prior to joining Nareit, Worth was the chief economist of the National Credit Union Administration from 2010 to 2015. Prior to joining NCUA, he spent nearly a decade at the U.S. Treasury where he served as the director of the Office of Microeconomic Analysis. Worth has also worked as a consultant for Welch Consulting and the RAND Corporation. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Southern California. |
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Please visit the staff page to see the rest of the Nareit staff. |
Past Nareit Chairs
Company and position details listed are reflective of term year.
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W. Matthew Kelly Lisa Palmer Marguerite M. Nader James F. Risoleo A. William Stein Sandeep Mathrani Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. Timothy J. Naughton Edward J. Fritsch David J. Neithercut Ronald L. Havner, Jr. W. Edward Walter Donald C. Wood Bryce Blair Debra A. Cafaro Constance B. Moore Martin E. Stein, Jr. Arthur M. Coppola R. Scot Sellers David E. Simon Hamid R. Moghadam Steven Roth William D. Sanders Warren E. Spieker, Jr. Samuel Zell Steven J. Guttman Milton Cooper Stanford J. Alexander Kenneth B. Roath John P. McCann William Newman |
The Advisory Board of Governors is the advisory body to the Executive Board and provides advice and assistance in all matters related to Nareit, the membership, and the REIT industry.
Angela M. Aman
CEO
Kilroy Realty Corporation
Jon E. Bortz
Chairman & CEO
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust
Byron L. Boston
Chairman & Co-CEO
Dynex Capital, Inc.
Stephen E. Budorick
President & CEO
COPT Defense Properties
Daniel J. Busch
President & CEO
InvenTrust Properties Corp.
Richard J. Campo
Chairman & CEO
Camden Property Trust
George F. Chappelle, Jr.
CEO
Americold Realty Trust
Christina Chiu
President
Empire State Realty Trust
Victor J. Coleman
Chairman & CEO
Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc.
M. Colin Connolly
President & CEO
Cousins Properties
William R. Crooker
President & CEO
STAG Industrial, Inc.
Jeffrey J. Donnelly
CEO
DiamondRock Hospitality Company
Yael Duffy
President & COO
Industrial Logistics Properties Trust
Laurel B. Durkay
Head, Global Listed Real Assets
Morgan Stanley
Jeffrey S. Edison
Chairman & CEO
Phillips Edison & Co.
Mark Fioravanti
President & CEO
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.
Tamara D. Fischer
Executive Chair, Board of Trustees
National Storage Affiliates
Jason E. Fox
President & CEO
W. P. Carey Inc.
David A. Helfand
Chairman, President & CEO
Equity Commonwealth
Mary Hogan-Preusse
Founder & Principal
Sturgis Partners LLC
Steve Horn
President & CEO
NNN REIT, Inc.
Jackson Hsieh
President & CEO
Macerich
Brian C. Jones
Managing Director
Neuberger Berman, LLC
Lisa L. Kaufman
Global Head, Solutions
LaSalle Investment Management
Katharine A. Keenan
President & CEO
Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc.
John A. Kite
Chairman & CEO
Kite Realty Group Trust
Angela L. Kleiman
President & CEO
Essex Property Trust, Inc.
Kristin L. Kuney
Managing Director, Global Co-Head
of Liquid Real Assets
Goldman Sachs & Co
Wesley M. LePatner
COO (Incoming CEO as of Jan. 1, 2025)
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT)
Daniel S. Letter
President
Prologis, Inc.
David R. Lukes
President & CEO
SITE Centers Corp.
Joseph D. Margolis
CEO
Extra Space Storage, Inc.
Christopher P. Marr
President & CEO
CubeSmart
Richard K. Matros
Chairman & CEO
Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.
John P. McCarthy, Jr.
Vice Chairman
Starwood Real Estate Income Trust
Paul T. McDermott
Chairman, President & CEO
Elme Communities
Sheila K. McGrath
Principal
Grayton Advisory
Mark D. McHugh
President & CEO
Rayonier Inc.
Charles J. Meyers
Executive Chairman
Equinix, Inc.
Shankh Mitra
CEO
Welltower Inc.
Peter M. Moglia
CEO & CIO
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Steven Moskowitz
President & CEO
Crown Castle Inc.
Anne M. Olson
President & CEO
Centerspace
Jeffrey S. Olson
Chairman & CEO
Urban Edge Properties
C. Taylor Pickett
CEO
Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc.
Gregory K. Silvers
Chairman & CEO
EPR Properties
Wendy L. Simpson
Chairman & CEO
LTC Properties, Inc.
Devin W. Stockfish
President & CEO
Weyerhaeuser
Gerard H. Sweeney
President & CEO
Brandywine Realty Trust
Gina Szymanski
Managing Director & Lead Portfolio
Manager, North America REITs
AEW Capital Management
Dallas B. Tanner
CEO
Invitation Homes
Owen D. Thomas
Chairman & CEO
BXP
Thomas W. Toomey
Chairman & CEO
UDR, Inc.
Diane L. Wade
Head Sustainability, Listed Securities
CBRE Investment Management
Sarah J. Wade
Managing Director and Portfolio Manager
Nuveen Asset Management
Stephen J. Yalof
President & CEO
Tanger Outlets
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Audit and Investment Committee: Best Financial Practices Council and Accounting Committee: CFO Council: Communications Council: Corporate Governance Council: Dividends Through Diversity CEO Council: Insurance Committee: mREIT Council: Public Non-Listed REIT Council: Real Estate Investment Advisory Council: Real Estate Sustainability Council: Social Responsibility Council: Tax Committee: |