Brenda Walker, Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc.

Name: Brenda Walker Title: Chief Operating Officer and Vice President Company/firm: Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. Years with company/firm: 27 years Years in field: 33 years Years in real estate industry: 33 years Address: 44 South Bayles Avenue, Port Washington, NY 11050 Telephone: 516-944-4525 Email: [email protected] URL: www.cedarshoppingcenters.com Real estate organizations / affiliations: NAREIT, ICSC, REBNY, etc. What was your greatest professional accomplishment in 2010? Managing, as COO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed real estate investment trust, continued growth of our company, as well as, acquisitions and financings in a challenged real estate and financial environment, including additional staff and many initiatives on the accounting, reporting and information technology fronts. What was your most notable project, deal or transaction in 2010? We acquired 16 properties for more than $350 million and placed new financing on a dozen of those properties under my supervision. How do you contribute to your company and / or the industry? As COO of Cedar, one of the largest public companies on the Island, I have been in charge of all facets of operations of our business for 30 years. I have also been active in conferences and conventions involving our peers in the shopping center business and have been active in shopping center and real estate industry trade groups. What advice would you give to women just starting out in commercial real estate? There is no stopping you if you are truly determined to succeed. In my case, during the course of my career, I have historically had few peers of my gender and ethnic background group, and yet have, I believe, succeeded well and made a mark in an industry that was traditionally, almost exclusively, the playground of a "boys club." How do you manage the work/life balance? I always remember that I, like everyone in our company, have a life outside the office and that our business is ownership and operations of shopping centers; we are not solving hunger and intolerance in the world and this is not Google. Who or what has been the strongest influence on your career? Leo Ullman, our CEO. We go back to a time when our company had only three employees and was managing a couple of properties for some foreign investors. Without his support and stick-to-itiveness, I don't know whether I would have dared think that we could reach the levels at which we now operate. What impact has social networking had on your business? Our strong relationships over a period of three decades with brokers, owners, lenders and others in the real estate and financial world has permitted our company to source many attractive and opportunistic acquisitions and financings and has helped us attract a wonderful corps of management and professional staff.