Navigate, Connect, Grow: Conversations to Elevate Your Career

Are you considering a significant career move, looking to secure a promotion, or planning to launch your own enterprise? The BREAA Career Advancement Workshop provides a confidential, supportive environment for candid discussion, collaborative brainstorming, and personalized feedback from your BREAA peers.

Event Highlights:

• Expert Panel Discussion:
  Gain insights from senior real estate leaders who will address career strategies, challenges, and opportunities. After registering, you will have the chance to submit questions and topics you'd like the panel to discuss.
• Interactive Small-Group Breakouts:
  Engage in intimate, moderated discussions to define your career goals, explore strategies for overcoming obstacles, and establish clear next steps.
• Networking Opportunities:
  Connect and build meaningful relationships with fellow Berkeley alumni and industry professionals.

Last year's participants shared that it was a "high-quality event" featuring "impactful panel and workshop-style activities." The breakout group discussions provided "valuable perspective when considering my career plans."

One Participant noted, "I took insights directly into my job search and landed a great new gig-one of the top three BREAA events of the year

Don't miss this opportunity to clarify your path forward, develop valuable connections, and leave with actionable tools and strategies to elevate your real estate career.

Confirmed Speakers:

Evan Schwimmer, Founder & Partner; Plumforge Partners

Evan Schwimmer is a commercial real estate investment and development executive with over 20 years of experience and more than $7 billion of life sciences, office, industrial, hospitality and land projects acquired, managed and delivered. Prior to Plumforge Partners, his institutional investment background includes leadership roles at Longfellow Real Estate Partners, John Buck Company, the Irvine Company, Starwood Capital Group, and Turner Construction.

Evan’s responsibilities have spanned strategy and operations, acquisitions, development, design and construction, asset management, property management oversight and leasing.

Evan served as a US Army Engineer and he received his B.S. in Civil/Structural Engineering from Princeton University and his M.B.A. from UC Berkeley. Evan also teaches a graduate-level investment and development course at UC Berkeley and he is a member of NAIOP, ULI, SPUR, BREAA and the Guardsmen.

Kristina Wollan, Managing Director Investor Services; Cushman Wakefield

Kristina Wollan is a Managing Director and the West Region lead for Investor Services, providing Cushman & Wakefield’s largest institutional investor clients with comprehensive advice to address their unique investment needs. Investor Services includes leaders from Asset Services, Agency Leasing, Capital Markets, Energy & Sustainability Services, Project & Development Services, Valuation & Advisory and others who draw on a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses to deliver opportunities and solutions. Kristina leverages her understanding of each client’s business priorities, challenges and opportunities to coordinate integrated real estate solutions, customized to yield maximum value throughout the asset lifecycle.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Kristina served as Senior Vice President and COO of the San Francisco Bay Area Capital Markets team at JLL, executing and facilitating transactions exceeding $8 billion over a 14-year period.  Her transaction experience spans the West Coast from Seattle to San Diego. After receiving her MBA from UC Berkeley, she worked at boutique M&A investment bank, Harris Williams & Co. She began her career at LaSalle Investment Management in the Retail Specialty group in Chicago.

Janice Yuen, Chief Financial Officer, Managing Partner; Sares Regis Group of Northern California, LLC

Janice Yuen joined Sares Regis Group of Northern California in 2012 and oversees finance, accounting, asset management, IT, and operations in Northern California. During her initial 10-year tenure at Sares Regis, Janice actively managed several Bay Area development projects totaling approximately 2.5 million square feet and including a variety of at-risk, institutional, public-private partnerships, and non-profit projects. Janice approaches development projects and management of the company with a people centered and collaborative attitude. Prior to Sares Regis, she was at Lehman Brothers, managing $3B of equity and debt investments in real estate development projects around the globe. Janice Yuen received a B.S. degree from Cornell University’s Hotel School and a M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Janice was named on Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2018. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis and baking with her two daughters.

Andrew Cussen, SVP, Head of Asset Management; Anchor Loans

Driven real estate professional with over 10 years of experience designing, developing and building institutional-grade multifamily, student housing, creative office and hospitality projects in urban markets across the West Coast. Skilled in all phases of the real estate project life cycle including acquisition, underwriting, entitlements, design/construction management, leasing and disposition. Combines a design-focused, technical background with business acumen to deliver innovative, beautiful and profitable projects.

Andrew graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Civil Engineering from UCLA and an MS in Civil Engineering with a focus in structural engineering, mechanics and materials from UC Berkeley. Prior to RAD Urban, Andrew practiced structural engineering in the San Francisco office of Walter P Moore. In that role he focused on seismic engineering and performance-based design on projects as varied as the new SFO Air Traffic Control Tower and the new LA Rams stadium.