Real Estate Finance Association selects 2019 board of directors - D'Amato named president

Boston, MA The Real Estate Finance Association (REFA) has named its board of directors for 2019. Travis D’Amato, senior vice president and managing director, Walker & Dunlop, will serve as president along with president-elect Claudia Piper, senior vice president at Webster Bank.

REFA has also named nine new members who will join the board of directors:
• Jenieri Cyrus, AEW Capital Management; 
• Amanda Eckhoff, Robinson + Cole LLP;
• Rachel Edwards, WinnCompanies;
• Sam Hallowell, Newmark Knight Frank;
• Jess Hughes, Tishman Speyer;
• Patrick Keefe, HFF;
• Ian McKinley, Hunneman; and
• Melissa Schrock, Boston Properties.

The following will continue to serve on the board for 2019:
• Paul Ayoub, Nutter; 
• Kristen Binck, Oxford Properties; 
• Steven Bonelli, Lighthouse Real Estate Investments; 
• Peter Brockelman, TD Bank; 
• Robert Brown, Brookline Bank; 
• Nilesh Bubna, Longpoint Realty Partners; 
• Sam Crossan, CBRE; 
• Travis D’Amato, Walker & Dunlop; 
• Bill Flynn, Net Lease Capital Advisors; 
• Joanne Foley, Equity Resource Investments, LLC; 
• Natalie Herald, Fidelity Investments; 
• Paul Jakubowski, WilmerHale; 
• Kathryn Kargman Holden, First Realty Management; 
• Deepa Krishnamurthy, Linear Retail Properties, LLC; 
• Chris Legocki, Skanska Commercial Development; 
• Israel Lopez, The Gutierrez Company; 
• Doug MacLean, Berkshire Bank; 
• Adrienne Maley, REFA; 
• Naomi Mayeux, National Development; 
• Paul Nasser, Intercontinental Real Estate Corp.; 
• Doug Novitch, Wells Fargo; 
• Lauren O’Neil, HFF; 
• Claudia Piper, Webster Bank; 
• Sean Randall, Citizens Bank; 
• John Roach, US Bank; 
• Andrew Rosen, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; 
• Ross Sabasteanski, Wells Fargo; 
• Jonathan Schneider, JLL; and
• Amanda Strong, MITIMCo. 

We hope you can join REFA in 2019 for some quality networking and educational programs, starting with our Annual Forecasting Luncheon on January 16. This signature REFA luncheon will be held at WilmerHale, featuring prominent industry leaders, including keynote speaker Mary Burke, senior economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, moderator Travis D’Amato, senior vice presient, and managing director, Walker & Dunlop and speakers Pam Herbst, managing director, AEW Capital Management; Gary Magnuson, head of commercial real estate, Citizens Bank and Eric Schlager, CEO, The Bulfinch Cos. 

To learn more about REFA, including membership, events, and ways to get involved, please visit us at www.refa.org. Follow REFA on Twitter @REFABoston.

REFA, a division of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB), is a commercial real estate business association providing members with high quality networking and educational opportunities. REFA strives to maintain its reputation for excellence by promoting the exchange of information between professionals in the real estate finance community, fostering a platform for growth and development for its emerging leader membership and maintaining a central role within the commercial real estate industry – one that is at the center of it all.

Real estate professionals from a variety of institutions join REFA to network and exchange ideas through educational programs, networking events and committee participation. From forums featuring senior-level executives to the Annual Gala, REFA programs are well attended with leaders from the industry and provide excellent opportunities for industry updates and networking. Formed in 1988, REFA currently has over 700 members, 100 corporate sponsors, and hosts 30 educational and networking events per year. 

REFA has built a strong emerging leaders program with a membership of 250 members.