Anna Cassan de Valry has been an active member of the New York Chapter of CREW (NYCREW) since its inception and will serve as the chapter's president in 2008. Her main goals while serving as president is to increase membership and the chapter's visibility in the industry, and launch a community outreach program promoting the profession of commercial real estate to young women.
Cassan de Valry is employed by Barclays Capital's Real Estate Capital Markets group. As part of a growing team, she specializes in hotel transactions and is responsible for structuring, underwriting and closing large hotel loans, nationwide and internationally. She is involved in mezzanine debt and equity participations although a majority of her transactions are geared towards securitization.
Cassan de Valry has more than 15 years experience in the hotel industry, including seven years in the financial services industry. She started her career in operations working for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Following that, she worked in the New York-based Hospitality & Leisure Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, where she was involved in appraisals, litigation support, operational analyses and market studies. She subsequently worked as an underwriter in the Large Loan group at Deutsche Bank, followed by a short stint at Credit Suisse and two years in the CMBS group at Eurohypo AG. Cassan de Valry joined Barclays Capital in April 2007.
Cassan de Valry earned her undergraduate degree from Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland and her MBA from Boston College. She is originally from Sweden and has been residing in Boston and New York City for over ten years.Barbara Champoux is a partner in the Real Estate group of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, resident in its New York City office. Since being admitted to practice in New York, she has handled a wide variety of transactional, leasing and securities matters for a diverse client base, but primarily focused on commercial real estate transactions, securitization and structured finance and joint ventures. Champoux has been particularly active on projects in the leisure and lodging industries, handling a wide variety of matters for clients active in these industries and developing an extensive network of industry resources. Her work for these clients has included the acquisition, financing and development of hotels, resorts and timeshares, theme parks, water parks, movie theaters, themed restaurants, cultural attractions, sports/entertainment venues and similar projects throughout the U.S., as well as facility operating, management and concession agreements.
Champoux is member of the Advisory Board of Stewart Title Insurance Co., an adjunct professor at New York Law School, and frequently lectures on a variety of topics. She was also among the top 5% of attorneys selected as 2007 New York Super Lawyers by the New York Times and Key Professional Media, designating the top 5% of lawyers in N.Y.
Champoux currently serves as past president and board member of NYCREW (New York Commercial Real Estate Women) Network, Inc., acting as its delegate to CREW Network, the North American organization consisting of over 7,000 senior commercial real estate professionals of which NYCREW is the New York chapter, as well as NYCREW's representative to the CREW Foundation Grant-Making Committee. She is currently a member of the CREW National Industry Research Task Force.
As both a CREW and NYCREW Network leader, Champoux is strongly committed to their common goals of advancing the achievement of parity for women in commercial real estate through power, influence and opportunity. Champoux is "particularly proud of the opportunities NYCREW provides to women to develop effective business relationships in a supportive and collaborative, rather than competitive, environment."Women in real estate are innately proficient at what they do. One reason for their success could be that, traditionally, female characteristics are so useful in the field, but it may also be due to the high expectations placed on women. I remember what it was like to be the only woman at the table during the beginning of my real estate career. As the years progressed and national networking organizations were established, more and more brilliant women have joined me at the conference table, but we are still in the minority and cannot afford to become complacent.
As a newly elected board member of the New York chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (NYCREW), I have developed a unique perspective on the need for networking so women in real estate can support each other. We all know what it is like to work in a male-dominated business and want to ensure that females are afforded the same opportunities. These organizations provide a much-needed forum for female executives to demonstrate camaraderie. Through my experience at the many NYCREW events, I have learned to make valuable introductions that help my colleagues advance both their business and their careers.
This New York chapter is ideally situated to bring the national CREW network to new heights, as membership levels continue to reach new heights and events host even more distinguished guests and timely subjects. Women in this organization should embrace the opportunity we have to set an example for young ladies considering entering this profession.Elizabeth Muskat, a director with Ferzan, Robbins & Associates LLC, is a seasoned professional in the real estate and construction industry. She has been the treasurer for New York Commercial Real Estate Women (NYCREW) 2006 and 2007. She has been named president-elect of NYCREW for 2008 and president for 2009. She will be working with Anna Cassan de Valry, president 2008, to further the mission of NYCREW, to further opportunities for women in Real Estate.
"Our 2008 focus will be to increase NYCREW's profile through membership. Our members represent all aspects of real estate-brokerage, construction, project management, facilities management, property management, appraisal, underwriting, legal services, finance, development and related areas of practice. NYCREW is committed to providing opportunity for experienced women among all disciplines within a balanced organization. Our members are involved in transactions and projects worldwide. We have expanded our 2008 Summer Breakfast Series to provide opportunity for up-and-coming members of our industry to interact in a smaller forum with selected senior women. Our evening programs are structured so that there is a balance between networking events, industry spotlight events and personal development events. New for 2008 will be a program for Community Outreach called CREW Careers. We will organize a day where young girls will be introduced to career possibilities in real estate."
In her work with Ferzan, Robbins & Associates LLC, she has just completed projects for the National Hockey League, Zurich North America and has been providing Facilities Management support for Societe Generale. Tags: