Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Dr. Smith (Brent) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance Insurance and Real Estate in the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a Master in Business from the University of Notre Dame and holds a Ph.D. in Finance and Economic Geography from Indiana University. His research interests include commercial property markets, mortgage performance, housing finance, and valuation. Brent serves on the editorial board for Real Estate Economics, the Appraisal Journal, the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, the Journal of Housing Research and the Journal of Real Estate Literature, and regularly reviews articles for numerous journals in the fields of real estate finance and urban economics.   Brent was a recipient of the Outstanding Reviewer Award in 2010 and 2012 for Real Estate Economics, and received the Emerging Scholar’s Award in 2010 from the American Real Estate Society. In addition, he is a post-doctoral honoree at the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics, Florida, USA. His research papers have received numerous grants and acknowledgements include two best paper awards from the American Real Estate Society.Brent was recently inducted as one of only 3 academic members into the Real Estate Councilors’ Group of America. Brent’s recent research is directed at issues of risk and valuation.  Within those themes the areas of study include commercial property markets, mortgage performance, investment finance, and public policy and tax influences.  His research in this area has been published or scheduled for publication in the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Real Estate Economics, the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, the Journal of Real Estate Research, Urban Affairs Review, the Journal of Property Tax Assessment and Administration, the Journal of Housing Economics, the Journal of Housing Research, and Economic Quarterly. 

Tricia Kerney-Willis is Deputy Director of the White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2). SC2 is a federal interagency pilot initiative that aims to strengthen neighborhoods, cities, and regions by enhancing the capacity of local governments to develop and execute economic visions and strategies. In her prior role, she served as manager of the Office of Training and Outreach at the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. She was responsible for oversight of national outreach and training initiatives for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Community Development Entities (CDEs), and increasing awareness of CDFI Fund programs with public and private sector stakeholders. Before joining the Department of the Treasury in July 2009, Ms. Kerney-Willis was a Vice President in the Consumer Real Estate division at Bank of America Corporation in Washington, DC, where she focused on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) lending. She also served as an Assistant Vice President and Relationship Client Manager in the Community Development Banking division. Ms. Kerney-Willis began her career in community development finance at Baltimore Community Lending - a U.S. Treasury certified CDFI. She managed the Commercial and Multifamily Real Estate Lending division which provided loans to small, minority, and women-owned real estate developers and investors for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of vacant and abandoned properties in Baltimore City. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Master of Science in Public Affairs, and a Master of Urban Planning from the university's School of Architecture and Planning.

Theodore Orson, Esq. Mr. Orson is a co-founder of the Providence, Rhode Island law firm of Orson and Brusini Ltd. He is admitted to the bars of Rhode Island and Massachusetts where he practices in the areas of insolvency and commercial litigation. He has garnered national attention for his work as lead counsel to the Receiver of the City of Central Falls and the State of Rhode Island in the Chapter 9 case of the City of Centrals Falls and is regularly invited to speak on panels nationwide addressing municipal insolvency. He also represents the State of Rhode Island in two pending hospital masterships. He represents all types of parties to federal bankruptcy cases and state court receivership proceedings, including debtors, creditors and equity security holders. Mr. Orson has been appointed permanent receiver of over 40 Rhode Island companies by the Superior Court of the State of Rhode Island. He has also been appointed ancillary receiver by the superior courts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Connecticut. Mr. Orson graduated from Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts (B.A. 1983) and Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts (J.D., June 1987).

About a month into his time at NYCEDC, while negotiating a development in Downtown Brooklyn, Kyle Kimball realized that he would be changing the face of a neighborhood that he passed nearly every day. At that moment, Kyle realized that the vacant site, an oddly shaped parking lot that would become a cultural space and affordable housing, would no longer be a part of the "un-built environment" in his mind. At that moment, the deal came to life for Kyle.Kyle's passion for public service stems from his interest in health care reform. He took a year off from Harvard College and worked as a hospice care provider for end-stage AIDS patients as an AmeriCorps volunteer, which led him to pursue a master's degree at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.Kyle was convinced that his path was set, but after taking two finance classes, he steered toward investment banking instead. After finishing his graduate degree in 1998, Kyle talked his way into the health care group at Smith Barney, leading to a decade-long career that included stints at JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.Kyle made a transition to a career in public service in 2008 when he joined NYCEDC and oversaw the Transaction Services Group, one of NYCEDC's largest departments. In that position he negotiated real estate deals on behalf of the City, which required him to balance several competing interests. As an example, he points to the Gotham Center project in Long Island City, which involved four other City agencies, the MTA, and three real estate developers in a deal that involved a land sale, development rights issues, contractual streetscape improvements, and City tenancy issues. He says that his primary job during the project was to keep all parties talking to facilitate financing for a deal that took place only weeks after Lehman Brothers collapsed.In 2011, Kyle became Chief Financial Office of NYCEDC. While he is still kept very busy working on complex development projects and making good use of additional resources provided by the federal stimulus package, Kyle predicts that next year will be a challenging one for new projects. Nevertheless, Kyle is as passionate as ever about working with his team to make the City stronger.

D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE is President of Klotz Associates, Inc., a full service civil engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. His 39-year career began with a BSCE from Texas A&M University in 1974 and an MSCE from the University of Houston in 1976. He is a licensed professional engineer in Texas and Louisiana.Wayne is currently serving as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. He is also serving on the Industry Leaders Council. In 2011, Wayne was appointed by the mayor of Houston to the Coastal Water Authority Board of Directors and serves as Board President. He has served on the Community Resilience Task Force for the Department of Homeland Security.He served as National President of ASCE in ’08-09. He has served as Officer for ASCE, HCEC, ACEC-TX, Harris County Flood Control Task Force, the C Club, and the University of Houston and the Texas A&M Civil Engineering Advisory Boards. He started the Klotz Associates Endowed Scholarship in Civil Engineering at both universities. Wayne served 12 years on the Board of Directors of the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District.Among his awards is the 2012 Houston Engineering Alumni Association Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award from the University of Houston. In 2012, he was also inducted into the University of Houston Academy of Distinguished Civil & Environmental Engineers. Other awards include 2011 Texas Engineer of the Year Award, 2011 Houston Engineer of the Year Award, the ASCE National 2005 Edmund Friedman Professional Recognition Award and the 2004 Texas A&M Distinguished Graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering. He has also been awarded the Texas Section and Houston Branch ASCE Awards of Honor. Wayne is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE). In 2008, he was awarded Honorary Professor from the Ricardo Palma University in Lima, Peru, and he is a Life Member of AWWA.He married Karen Wilson in July of 1974, and they have four children and three grandchildren. They are active in ministries at Tallowood Baptist Church.

Beth Ann Bovino is the U.S. Chief Economist for S&P Global Ratings based in New�York. In this senior role, she oversees the development of S&P Global Ratings’�U.S. economic forecasts including its weekly, monthly, and quarterly research�reports.�Beth Ann and her team are a source of data and insights that help inform and guide�S&P Global credit ratings analysts’ research. She has authored and contributed�many articles for popular and professional publications. Her body of work covers a�wide range of topics and trends that impact the U.S. economy including jobs and�wage growth, infrastructure, income inequality, demographics, and the growing�influence of the Millennial generation.�A seasoned economics and market commentator, Beth Ann has appeared on many�major television programs including CNBC, Bloomberg and others. Her work has�also been widely quoted in the national press including outlets such as The New�York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.The Wall Street Journal recognized Beth Ann as the most accurate forecaster of�the U.S. economy in 2013.Before joining S&P Global in February 2004, Beth Ann spent more than a decade�in economics and market research with Sungard Institutional Brokerage, UBS�Warburg, and the Federal Reserve.�Beth Ann holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the�University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s degree in International and Development�Economics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia�University.

Leo Karwejna joined PFM to head the Compliance team in 2011 as Chief Compliance Officer and Managing Director. He has over 14 years of experience providing compliance support to firms in the investment advisory and securities-trading businesses including equity, fixed income, real estate (direct property and REIT securities), and additional alternative investment strategies.Responsible for all regulatory compliance program efforts related to PFM’s business activities and personnel, Leo assists PFM professionals with specific compliance advisory guidance and leads the PFM Compliance team’s efforts to develop, maintain, and monitor firm-wide compliance with appropriate policies, procedures and regulatory requirements.Mr. Karwejna’s prior experience includes compliance management positions at Prudential Financial Inc., Deutsche Asset Management and RREEF Alternative Investments. �Leo also regularly serves as an Arbitrator for securities-related issues among the investing public and/or industry participants. These issues are heard and decided upon under the FINRA regulatory organization’s dispute resolution mechanism.He earned a BS in finance from Saint Joseph’s University and a JD from Temple University School of Law.