Speakers

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Matthew-Luhn

Matthew Luhn

Top Creativity Keynote Speaker, Award Winning Filmmaker, Director, Former Lead Storyteller and Animator at Pixar Studios

Matthew Luhn is an accomplished storyteller, instructor, motivational keynote speaker, and story consultant, with over 20 years’ experience creating stories and characters at Pixar Animation Studios.

Alongside his story work in Hollywood, Matthew works with Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, and other professionals how to craft and tell stories that bridge the gap between business and heart to build stronger brands and business communication. Matthew’s most recent clients include Adidas, Target, Coke, Procter and Gamble, Facebook, Warner Brothers, Sony, and Google. Matthew’s story credits include Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Monsters Inc., Monsters University, Finding Nemo, UP, Cars, Ratatouille and other films currently in development.

Molly-Bloom

Molly Bloom

Award-winning Inspirational Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Bestselling Author of Molly’s Game, Oscar-nominated film. Professional Athlete and Alumnus of U.S. Ski Team.

Molly Bloom is an inspirational keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and bestselling author of Molly’s Game. She is best known for hermemoir, Molly’s Game, which was adapted into an award-winning film of the same name by Aaron Sorkin. Bloom’s memoir chronicles her journey from college student to LA waitress to building and operating the largest and most notorious private poker game in the world. Her games featured hundreds of millions of dollars and players like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, A-Rod, and Ben Affleck.

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Dr. Sam Chandan

Founder of Chandan Economics

D. Sam Chandan, PhD FRICS FRSPH is Professor of Finance and Director of the Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business; Founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Chandan Economics; Economist Laureate of the Real Estate Lenders Association; Forbes contributor; and, host of the Urban Lab. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), and a Contributing Member of the American Society for Microbiology.

Prior to joining Stern, Dr. Chandan was the Silverstein Chair and Dean of the NYU SPS Schack Institute. His current research is focused on urban epidemiology and the preparedness of systemically important urban areas in managing novel public health threats.

 

Helen Calvin

Helen Calvin

Chief Growth Officer, Buildout

Helen Calvin likes oysters. She also likes building growth organizations in tech SaaS, a skill she's been honing over the last 15 years. Most recently, she's been flexing that muscle at Buildout, a leader in Commercial Real Estate technology and a company with the unapologetic belief that the future of CRE is technology enabled, but broker-led.

Helen has her MBA from Northwestern Kellogg, was a recipient of the 2016 Crain's Tech 50, is an advisor and consultant for technology companies and incubators, and desperately hopes her kids think she's cool.

 

7

Jay Panchal

CEO, AlphaMap

Jay Panchal is CEO and Co-Founder of AlphaMap. He's a serial tech-entrepreneur and apart from CRE, his entrepreneurial experience spans a variety of industries including Internet Marketplaces, Industrial Manufacturing, SaaS, E-Commerce, and CPG. 
 
Jay graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Systems Engineering, and is also an alum of Y-Combinator.  As a complete nerd for all innovation, he actively studies and engages with top researchers in a variety of fields from Life Longevity and Cryonics to AI and Space-Tech. He's also an active investor and advisor to technology founders.  

 

8

Steve Narish

National Director for Pro Sales, CREXi

Steve Narish is the National Director for Pro Sales at Crexi and has been with the firm since pre-launch in 2015. Prior to Crexi, Steve was an integral part of a leading sales team at Ten-X (formerly Auction.com) where he served a three-year tenure during a massive growth period for the online platform. Steve obtained a business degree in marketing with a Professional Sales Certificate from Northern Illinois University and is originally from the Chicagoland area. He loves family, friends, basketball, snowboarding, food and Dad jokes although he’s not a Dad quite yet.

 

9

Curt Arthur, SIOR

Managing Director, SVN | Commercial Advisors
Salem, OR

Curt Arthur, SIOR has been a commercial real estate professional for more than 30 years. Curt has advised on most of the largest office and industrial projects throughout the Mid-Valley during that time and has successfully closed more than $1 billion in real estate transactions.

He is a member of the Society of Office and Industrial Realtors (SIOR), the only such member in the area, and is a certified specialist in both office and industrial properties. He currently serves as the Product Council Chair for Industrial Properties after serving in a similar role for the Office Properties Council in 2020-21.

 

10

Michael Thanasouras

Managing Director, SVN | Chicago Commercial
Chicago, IL

 

Michael Thanasouras, MBA serves as a Managing Director for SVN | Chicago Commercial, where he acts as CFO and COO. In addition, Thanasouras specializes in investment sales throughout the greater Chicago, Illinois Metropolitan Area.

Prior to joining SVN, Thanasouras gained industry experience as an asset manager for Connaught Real Estate Finance, LLC, in Chicago, providing mezzanine financing for developers. Previously, he served as chief financial officer and director of operations for Conlon & Co. in Chicago. While there Thanasouras’ responsibilities included: acquisition analysis, disposition analysis, asset management, financial management, and operations management. Prior to joining Conlon & Co., Thanasouras was a top producing agent and one of the cornerstone members in the successful launch of the company that became SVN in Chicago, now SVN Chicago Commercial.

Before entering the real estate industry, Thanasouras spent 14 years in the banking industry as an assistant vice president (AVP) of Small Business Commercial Lending for LaSalle Bank N.A. (now Bank of America). As AVP, Thanasouras oversaw commercial loan business development and underwriting for 15 different branches, gaining valuable experience working in consumer lending and trust.

Thanasouras earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from the Keller Graduate School of Management in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. Thanasouras is an accomplished runner, having completed five marathons. Outside of the office, Thanasouras spends his free time with his wife and two daughters, running, cycling or training for the next event.

 

11

Tiffanie Robinson

Managing Director, SVN | Second Story Real Estate Management
Chattanooga, TN

 

Tiffanie has a background in entrepreneurship, strategy and operations. She is a professional connector who strives to bring together businesses with properties, entrepreneurs with investors, and parents with their school board. She is a CEO, a founder, a visionary, a mother, a wife and a leader with a lifelong history in volunteer service. An entrepreneur at heart and in practice, Tiffanie has spent the last 13 years launching and building businesses resulting in the sale of two successful companies.

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John McDermott

Senior Vice President, SVN International Corp. 

John McDermott serves as the Senior Vice President of SVN International Corporation. John is a member of the Executive Committee of the SVN Asset Recovery Team (SVNART), serves as its Southern California Regional Director, and is also a member of the SVNIC Advisory Board.

John also trains SVN Advisors nationwide. His commercial real estate experience includes the ownership and development of condominiums, mobile home parks, neighborhood anchored retail centers, recreational vehicle parks, and apartments with 45 years of real estate and finance experience.

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Solomon Poretsky

Chief Development Officer, SVN International Corp.

Solomon Poretsky is SVN’s Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining SVN, Solomon was a partner at Custom Skills Development, a commercial real estate consulting firm providing coaching, development, and training services to agents and brokerages across North America. His commercial real estate career started at Marcus & Millichap, where he was involved in over $1.2 billion of listings sales and closings as both an agent and a regional manager.

He currently resides in suburban Minneapolis with his wife, Mary, his twin sons, Thomas and William, and his St. Bernard, Snorlax.

 

Questions?

If you are in need of assistance, please email us at events@svn.com.