BOSTON, MA (June 28, 2019) – AEW is pleased to congratulate the winners of the first annual Christopher Kazantis Real Estate Challenge: Jean Rho, Michelle Bates, Michael Avery, David Appolonia, Angelo Ignacio, Stephanie Wong-Harrison, David Soroudi, and team advisor Nate Munson.
The challenge involved 7 teams organized across different functional areas across the firm and selected based on their variety of experience and industry experience. A case study was utilized that incorporated a number of factors the teams needed to analyze, and teams were provided with advisors to guide them through the process and serve as presentation coaches. The teams were given 12 weeks to create a presentation based on a shared premise of making a presentation to a mock investment committee, composed of executive leaders from the firm. The final two teams then presented again to the entire firm, and fielded questions from AEW’s executives and portfolio management teams. There was no right answer, and the winning team was selected based on thoughtfulness and accuracy of their decision and how it was conveyed through the team’s presentation. The winners were announced at AEW’s annual summer meeting.
This marked the first annual Christopher Kazantis Real Estate Challenge at AEW, named for a beloved colleague, mentor, and friend of AEW, Chris Kazantis, who passed away in 2019.