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.
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Chair Lisa Palmer 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. |
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First Vice Chair W. Matthew Kelly W. Matthew Kelly is CEO of JBG SMITH. Kelly worked at JBG from August 2004 until the formation transaction and served as managing partner and a member of JBG's executive committee and investment committee from 2008 until the formation transaction. Prior to joining JBG, he was co-founder of ODAC Inc., a media software company, which he helped start in March 2000, and prior to that worked in private equity and investment banking as an analyst with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Goldman Sachs, & Co. Kelly received his B.A. with honors from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
 Second Vice Chair Conor C. Flynn Conor Flynn was named CEO of Kimco Realty Corporation 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 president, COO, CIO and president, Western Region. Flynn is a founding member of Nareit’s Dividends Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion CEO Council, and he is also a member of Real Estate Roundtable, Urban Land Institute, a trustee of Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (ICSC) and a member of ICSC’s executive board. Flynn holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University and a master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. |
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Treasurer 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. |
Nareit Officers are also members of the Executive Board.
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Peter E. Baccile Peter Baccile became president of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. in September 2016 and assumed the CEO position in December 2016. Prior to joining First Industrial Realty Trust, he served in various senior leadership roles during his 26-year tenure at J.P. Morgan, most recently as vice chairman of J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. He earned his B.S. degree from Cornell University and holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University where he was a Fuqua Scholar. |
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Thomas A. Bartlett Thomas Bartlett serves as president and CEO of American Tower Corporation. He previously held the positions of executive vice president and CFO. Prior to joining American Tower, he served as both the corporate controller and treasurer with Verizon Communications, Inc. He also served in numerous operations and business development roles, including president and CEO of Bell Atlantic International Wireless, where he was responsible for wireless activities in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Bartlett earned a B.S. in engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from Rutgers University. |
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Tamara D. Fischer Tamara Fischer serves as executive chair of National Storage Affiliates. She previously served as president and CEO of the company and has been an officer since its inception in 2013. She is also a member of NSA’s board of trustees and serves as chairman of the PRO Advisory Committee. Before joining NSA, Fischer served as executive vice president and CFO of Vintage Wine Trust, Inc. and as executive vice president and CFO of Chateau Communities, Inc. She is a certified public accountant (inactive) and graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a B.A. in business administration. |
 Leslie D. Hale Leslie Hale is president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust. Since joining RLJ in 2005, Hale has held progressively senior roles at RLJ – she was appointed to CFO in 2007, COO in 2016 and CEO in 2018. Hale helped to lead the execution of the IPO of RLJ in 2011. Before joining RLJ, Hale held senior positions at GE in its Commercial Finance Mergers & Acquisitions Group and its Real Estate Strategic Capital Group, and she was also an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. Hale currently serves on Macy’s, Inc.’s board, is a Howard University Trustee and is a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Baltimore Branch. Hale earned a BBA from Howard University (summa cum laude), and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Goldman Sachs and Toigo Fellow. |
 Marguerite M. Nader Marguerite Nader is president and CEO of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. Nader has been with the company since 1993 and is a member of its management committee and board of directors. Nader was President and CFO prior to her appointment to CEO. She also serves on the board and is a member of the Audit Committee of Ventas, Inc. |
 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. |
 Edward B. Pitoniak 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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James F. Risoleo James Risoleo joined Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. in 1996 and became president and CEO in 2017. Prior to becoming CEO, Risoleo led the company’s West Coast investment activities in addition to its European business activities. Prior to joining Host Hotels, Risoleo held positions at Interstate Hotels Corp. and Westinghouse Electric Corp. He received his B.S. from the Palumbo Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law. |
 Joseph D. Russell, Jr. 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 W. Schall 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. |
 Michael J. Schall Michael Schall is a board member of Essex Property Trust, Inc. after having served as president and CEO of the company since 2011. He previously served as senior executive vice president and COO of the company from 2005 to 2010, and from 1993 to 2005, was the company’s CFO. He joined The Marcus & Millichap Company in 1986. He was also the CFO of Essex’s predecessor, Essex Property Corp., and worked in roles at Churchill International and Ernst & Young (then Ernst & Whinney). Schall is a certified public accountant (inactive) and a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council and AICPA. Schall received a B.S. from the University of San Francisco. |
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James M. Taylor 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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Owen D. Thomas Owen Thomas is the chairman and CEO of BXP. He is a director of Lehman Brothers Holdings and served as its first chairman from 2012 until 2013 when he joined BXP. Prior to Lehman, he was with Morgan Stanley for 24 years serving in a number of different roles, business units, and locations. He is a director and former global chairman of the Urban Land Institute, a director of the Real Estate Roundtable, a member of the Economic Club of New York, and a director of Episcopal Charities of New York. He attended and is chair-elect of the Board of Trustees at Woodberry Forest School, received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
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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Tony M. Edwards Tony Edwards is the senior executive vice president of Nareit. Before joining Nareit in 1993, Edwards was a tax partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Morrison & Foerster. From 1975 through 1979, Edwards was an attorney-adviser (tax) with the Interpretative Division of the Internal Revenue Service's Office of chief counsel. He received his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Lehigh University; his J.D. degree, with honors, from the University of Miami School of Law; and his L.L.M. in taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center. |
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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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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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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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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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Please visit the staff page to see the rest of the Nareit staff. |
Past Nareit Chairs
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Marguerite M. Nader James F. Risoleo William Stein Sandeep Mathrani Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. Timothy J. Naughton Edward J. Fritsch David J. Neithercut Ronald L. Havner, Jr. Edward Walter Donald C. Wood Bryce Blair Debra A. Cafaro Constance B. Moore Martin E. Stein, Jr. Arthur M. Coppola 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 |
Advisory Board of Governors
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.
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Edward K. Aldag, Jr. |
H. Eric Bolton, Jr. |
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Jon E. Bortz |
Byron L. Boston |
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Jay A. Brown |
Stephen E. Budorick |
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Richard J. Campo |
Frank Cohen |
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Lisa R. Cohn |
Victor J. Coleman |
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M. Colin Connolly |
Laurel B. Durkay |
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Jeffrey S. Edison |
Mary Fedewa |
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Jason E. Fox |
Jennifer F. Francis |
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Kenneth A. Gunderman |
David A. Helfand |
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Mary Hogan-Preusse |
Jackson Hsieh |
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Lisa L. Kaufman |
Katharine A. Keenan |
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John B. Kilroy, Jr. |
John A. Kite |
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Theodore J. Klinck |
Marshall A. Loeb |
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David R. Lukes |
Joseph D. Margolis |
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Christopher P. Marr |
John P. McCarthy, Jr. |
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Paul T. McDermott |
Sheila K. McGrath |
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William L. Meaney |
Charles J. Meyers |
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Shankh Mitra |
Diane M. Morefield |
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David L. Nunes |
Thomas E. O’Hern |
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Jeffrey S. Olson |
C. Taylor Pickett |
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David J. Schulte |
Gregory K. Silvers |
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Wendy L. Simpson |
Devin W. Stockfish |
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Jeffrey A. Stoops |
Gerard H. Sweeney |
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Gina Szymanski |
Dallas B. Tanner |
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Diane L. Wade |
Sarah J. Wade |
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Bonnie Wongtrakool |
Stephen J. Yalof |
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Audit and Investment Committee: Best Financial Practices Council and Accounting Committee Co-Chairs: CFO Council Chair and Vice Chair: Communications Council Co-Chairs: Corporate Governance Council Chair and Vice Chairs: Dividends Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DDEI) CEO Council Co-Chairs: Dividends Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative Steering Committee Co-Chairs: Federal Tax Committee Chair: Government Relations Committee Co-Chairs: Insurance Committee Chair: mREIT Council Executive Committee Chair: Public Non-Listed REIT Council Executive Committee Chair: Real Estate Investment Advisory Council Chair: Real Estate Sustainability Council Chair and Vice Chair: Social Responsibility Council Co-Chairs: |