Alumni & Mentorship
Anna-Kaye Barrett
Anna-Kaye Barrett is a philanthropist, real estate enthusiast and opportunistic entrepreneur. She has a passion for helping people and is hoping to do so through her contributions to the built environment. Prior to starting Columbia Business School, Anna-Kaye earned a BS in Civil Engineering in 2017 from Howard University and interned at Goldman Sachs (GS) during her summer breaks. Upon graduation, she continued to work at GS in Operations for the Urban Investment Group, which is a domestic, multi-asset class investing and lending business that provides equity and debt to real estate projects and social enterprises to benefit underserved communities. Currently, Anna-Kaye serves as the Assistant Vice President of Alumni and Mentorship for the Real Estate Association and Community Chair for Cluster A at Columbia Business School. In addition, she is an advisor to the Ambassadors of Engineering Volunteering Program at Howard University.
Winnie Hui
Winnie Hui is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2022, focusing on Real Estate. Prior to CBS, Winnie worked in capital raising and investor relations at DivcoWest. Before DivcoWest, she was on the Technology Equity Capital Markets investment banking team at J.P. Morgan. Winnie graduated from University of Southern California with a B.S. in Business Administration and minor in Real Estate Development.
Careers
Jhonnari Jimenez
Jhonnari Jimenez is a member of Columbia Business School’s class of 2022 and AVP of Careers for the Real Estate Association. Previously, she worked as a financial accountant at MFA Financial, a New York City based real estate investment trust with approximately $12B in assets under management. She has extensive experience in accounting for residential mortgage backed securities and residential whole loans. She earned her bachelor's degree in Corporate Finance & Accounting and her master's in Accountancy from Bentley University in Waltham, MA.
Daniel Vasserman
Daniel Vasserman is a full-time student at Columbia Business School focusing on the real estate & hospitality industries. Prior to starting his MBA, Daniel was an Executive Director for the Commercial Real Estate business of JPMorgan Chase. He led the Boston office for his group, overseeing a multifamily portfolio with a $1.4B capitalization. He focused on originating commercial mortgages, sourcing new business opportunities, and managing the relationship of over 200 real estate clients, including family offices, institutional investors, and merchant builders. Daniel completed his undergraduate studies at New York University and was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
Case Competitions
Alex Kovtun
Alex Kovtun is a Vice President at Sloane & Company in New York. He has extensive experience advising clients on a wide range of special situations, including mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, and shareholder activism. In addition, he works with clients to develop and refine their investor and public relations programs. He regularly assists companies in raising their corporate profiles, preparing for quarterly earnings and enhancing their relationships with key stakeholder audiences. Prior to joining Sloane & Company, Alex was with Finsbury, a global strategic communications firm, where he worked on cross-border M&A, activist investor defense, investor relations, and corporate reputation assignments for clients across various industries. Before Finsbury, Alex worked at The Equity Group, an investor relations firm, where he helped companies articulate their investment story and enhance their profile within the investment community. Previously, Alex spent four years in the equity research department at Sandler O’Neill +Partners covering financial institutions. Alex holds a B.S. degree in Finance and Economics from Rutgers University. He also is an active member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI).
Communications & Technology
Melissa Blotner
Melissa Blotner is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2022. Prior to CBS, Melissa worked as a software engineer and team lead for Novetta Solutions while also maintaining an interest in real estate. She has worked various summers at a real estate development and investment company and as a real estate agent in Boston, and is particularly interested in the intersection of real estate and technology. Melissa graduated from Tufts University in 2016 with a B.S. in Computer Science and is also involved with the Technology and Data Analytics Association at CBS.
Erika Jobson
Erika Jobson is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2022, and is the co-AVP of Communication for the Real Estate Association. Prior to CBS, she worked in real estate development in Los Angeles for a boutique multifamily developer and owner/operator. In this role, she underwrote multifamily, tax-credit financed development opportunities and managed the development process full cycle from cradle to grave. Erika graduated from Cornell University in 2016 with a B.A. in Government and minor in Real Estate and is a NAREIM Jeff Barclay Fellow.
Site Tours & Company Visits
Brandon Hoffman
Brandon Hoffman is a member of the 2022 class at Columbia Business School, focusing on Real Estate and Technology. Brandon graduated from The Ohio State University in 2015 with a B.S. in Finance. Prior to joining business school, Brandon was a Leasing Manager at Macerich, helping Digitally Native Brands like Warby Parker and Purple Mattress open up brick and mortar stores across the country. Prior to Macerich, Brandon was a Senior Associate at Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp where he managed over 2m square feet of urban retail in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
Warinya Sriwattanatrakul
Warinya Sriwattanatrakul is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2021. Before CBS, Warinya co-founded and served as a managing director of Warin Asset Company. Her housing project and vacation property management is in Hua Hin, a premiere beach town in Thailand. She graduated (Second Class Honors) from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok with a Bachelor degree of Landscape Architecture. She worked as a landscape architect at PLandscape Company in Bangkok and Belt Collins Company in Singapore. Through Warinya’s work, she has continually applied creativity in architecture and landscape design to differentiate the prod uct in a highly competitive market, which gives her a sense of pride and accomplishment as a real estate entrepreneur.
Diversity, Ethics, and Inclusion
Albert Kao (VP)
Albert Kao is a second-year MBA student at Columbia Business School focusing on Real Estate. Prior to CBS, he worked in various corporate finance roles at Tishman Speyer and J.P. Morgan. This summer he interned at AvalonBay Communities on their New Jersey Development team. In addition to his role on the REA Board, he serves as Co-President of Gourmet Club, VP of Logistics on the Peer Advisor Board and VP of Campus Activities in Hermes Society. Albert is originally from New Jersey and graduated from Columbia University with a BS in Financial Engineering.
Eric Chapek (AVP)
Eric Chapek: I was born in La Paz, Bolivia but moved to the United States at a young age and grew up in the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. In high school I ran cross country and track and was on the swim team. I attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington and studied finance. While there I had my first taste of New York through an internship in commercial real estate (CRE). I’ve spent the past seven years in New York working in CRE finance. I live with my boyfriend/fiancée who I met while in undergrad and we are coming up on 10 years together in November. I love to travel and hope that we can all partake in that portion of the CBS experience soon as I have heard great things about the REA trips!
Jillian Solomon (AVP)
Jillian Solmon: I am a first-year student at Columbia Business School. Prior to CBS, I advised public transportation agencies on strategies to manage and maintain their physical assets, such as the trains, tracks, etc. A major hurdle was that there is such limited funding for public infrastructure and there's many projects to be done to ensure they are maintained in a good state. This funding problem is part of what motivated me to come to Columbia to learn more about business and finance. I'm currently recruiting for municipal or public finance roles. My long term goal is to lead a transportation agency in a major US city.
Education
Gianmarco Rea
Gianmarco Rea is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2022 focusing on Real Estate and Investment Management. Prior to CBS, Gianmarco spent three years at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities as an Investment Grade Corporate Bond Trader covering Healthcare, Industrials, Aerospace/Defense, and corporate floating rate notes, deploying firm capital within risk parameters to facilitate secondary market liquidity as both a principal and agent. Gianmarco received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Business Management, while serving as a member of the football team. As an undergraduate, Gianmarco interned for several real estate companies and came to CBS to make a pivot back into the space.
EMBA
Arsean Maqami
Arsean recently launched an owners’ representative and general contracting business based in New York City. Previously he has overseen the building of over 1 million square feet of office space in New York and 500 thousand square feet of office space on the West Coast. Arsean launched a general contracting company for WeWork in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. While managing that company Arsean was able to integrate core design-build concepts in the team to improve customer satisfaction while reducing timelines and costs.
Events
Katie Hogan
Katie Hogan is a member of Columbia Business School Class of 2022, focusing on real estate. Before CBS, Katie completed two pre-MBA internships - at Strategic Property Partners (partnership between Cascade Investments & Jeff Vinik) and Harrod Properties, where she launched a healthcare acquisition fund. Prior to her internships, she was an associate at Morgan Stanley on a wealth management team with assets under management of $7.75B. Katie graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2016 with a B.A. in Political Science. In addition to her role in the Real Estate Association, Katie serves as Social Chair for CBS Cluster E 2022 and is a member of the Hermes Society.
Finance
Jack Davis
Jack Davis is a member of the Columbia Business School Class of 2022 focusing on real estate. Prior to Columbia, Jack worked as an analyst with the Fundamental Equity Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in New York. During this time, he served as a client portfolio manager for the US Growth business and an equity research analyst focusing on the Technology sector. Jack graduated from Arizona State University in 2016 with a BS in Accounting and a minor in Economics.
International
Laura Ulrich
Laura Ulrich: I am second-year J-term student from Cluster X. Before CBS, I worked in management consulting at McKinsey & Company, serving clients in the insurance and pharmaceutical industry as well as PE clients. I was born and raised in Munich, Germany. I graduated with a Master’s degree in history and German literature from the University of Munich (LMU) and studied one year at the Trinity College, Cambridge, UK. In my free time, I enjoy going hiking or skiing in the mountains.
Trips
Samuel Kornblau
Sam Kornblau is a member of Columbia Business School’s Class of 2022. Prior to CBS, Sam was a paralegal at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he worked on the formation and operation of a variety of investment funds. Originally from New York City, Sam graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.
Jeffry Laupola
Jeff Laupola: I was born and raised in Hawaii and am the youngest of two boys. Like many in Hawaii, I have a diverse background and am of Samoan, Hawaiian, Irish, Portuguese, and German descent. I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in Quantitative Economics. I started my career as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy and deployed at sea to the coast of Somalia, Pakistan, and on land to Afghanistan. While in the Navy, I first gained real estate experience managing buildings. I acquired my real estate salesperson license in Hawaii, conducted a few transactions, and became interested in development and real estate investments. Prior to Columbia Business School, I did a Pre-MBA internship in real estate private equity and was focused in the residential and hospitality sectors in Hawaii. I loved the creative process in real estate investments.