The 21st annual Achievement Awards took place on April 24 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza with over 275 guests gathered to honor 22 members for their outstanding and impressive accomplishments in commercial real estate. In addition to our Achievement Award honorees, we also recognized two very special groups this year, our Mentor/Mentee program, as well as the cohort of members from our Leadership Academy. Through these three groups that we recognized – our earnest Mentees; our future Leaders; and our esteemed Achievers – attendees saw how the CREW organization supports its members as they grow both personally and professionally.
CREW Boston President, Barbara Oddo welcomed everyone and thanked all our sponsors, especially Mintz Levin and SVN International Corp. for being our Corporate Sponsors. Incoming president and Awards Co-Chair Jill Sharif thanked the 2018 Leadership Recipient Andrea Daskalakis with Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation for sharing this special evening with CREW Boston as the master of ceremonies and invited everyone to moving into the ballroom for food, drinks and a lot of networking at the conclusion of the presentation.
Honorees
Diane Danielson of SVN International Corporation received the Leadership Award as someone who has inspired, motivated and supported CREW Boston year after year and contributed time, energy and talents to CREW Boston as well as the community at large. As a long-standing member and leader of CREW Boston, Diane has positively influenced both our traditions and our innovations in in significant ways. These contributions combined with Diane's integrity, generosity, strong work ethic, warm and inclusive leadership style, and passion for helping others make her a very deserving recipient of our leadership award.
Diane serves as the Chief Operating Officer of SVN overseeing operations and brand development. She is an attorney, accomplished speaker, published author, and widely recognized social media expert. Over the past decade Diane has published 2 books, and has been featured in the NY Times, Forbes, and other noteworthy publications. She is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe and Entrepreneur.com, and has been a speaker on leadership, and social media at companies like Johnson & Johnson, Amgen & EMC. Diane was honored as one of 40 women over 40 to watch by Forbes, a Bisnow Power Woman, and a Real Estate Forum Woman of Influence. Diane’s caring, and compassionate approach is obvious to those she works with, which makes her an influential role model to her colleagues, the CREW organization and our real estate community.
The Networking Award was presented to team of 17 members of CREW Boston who, along with numerous other women providing skills and expertise in their fields, served in various disciplines to develop the
One Dalton project in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. This project is currently under construction and is expected to deliver this Spring. At 61 stories high, the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences at One Dalton will be New England’s tallest residential building and Boston’s third tallest building. The building comprises approximately 160 condos, 215 hotel rooms, and numerous upscale amenities.
Bringing it to reality was no small feat. While the Back Bay is historically a high-end shopping district and residential area, there had been very few development projects over a very long period of time. One of the major pieces of property in Back Bay is the Christian Science Center Plaza. One Dalton is situated on a relatively small triangular-shaped land parcel situated between the Prudential Center and the boundary of the Plaza. Despite its small size, the Church went through a 4-5-year planning process before selling this site to the developer. It took more than a year for the contractor to remove the bedrock and place the foundation, and on, and on.
One Dalton is an inspiring example of CREW professionals working together to change the landscape of a city. Through their involvement in CREW many of our colleagues had relationships that predated their involvement in this project, which speaks to the fundamental goal of CREW as an organization and the value-added dimension of your membership in CREW Boston.
- Lori Silverstein with Carpenter and Company
- Jane O'Brien with Tishman
- Rebecca Lee with Mintz Levin
- Judy Nitsch with Nitsch Engineering
- Cathrine Jansen with Suffolk
- Ellen Donohoe Moshier with VHB
- Janet Carlson, Heather Campisano, Renee LeFevre and Lauren Shurtleff with BPDA
- Marie Franco and Jill Sharif with First American Title National Commercial Services
- Lauren O’Neil and Robyn King with HFF
- Smriti Choudhury, Susan Kincaid and Katelyn O’Brien with Wilmer Hale
Laura Gregoriadis of DGC LLP received the Professional Service Award for her consistent years of service and notable accomplishments and success. Laura is one of 3 partners in the real estate practice and is directly responsible for many of their group’s initiatives. She is actively involved in the strategic direction of the practice, which includes marketing and business developments efforts as well as recruiting staff development, and coaching. Laura is a firm believer that each of us individually should seek to foster an inclusive culture where members actively seek to identify opportunities to work together, support each other, and refer clients. Through her work and her outreach efforts, Laura is a role model at her firm for the quality of services she delivers to her clients and for CREW Boston members, where she has served in a leadership role in enhancing the professional development of its members.
Clients view Laura as a resource and value her significant relationships with industry professionals and access to their varied skillsets. She takes a holistic approach to each engagement and advises her clients on the optimal approach to structuring a transaction. She is appreciated for her depth of expertise and breadth of experience, especially when issues arise that are not typical textbook matters.” Laura is also a silver gavel member of NAIOP and treasurer of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.
Kim Rubin received the Suzanne King Public Service Award for devoting her time and talent to strengthening the community through effective action and leadership. Kim is a real estate attorney whose practice includes representing clients in acquisition, sale, financing, leasing, developing, and permitting of real estate projects throughout the United States. Her clients have included non-profit organizations, senior housing developers, schools and universities.
In 1998, Kim received the BU School of Law Young Lawyer’s Chair for outstanding performance in the legal profession and for public service. Throughout her career Kim has performed innumerable hours of pro bono work in the Greater Boston area including volunteering as Lawyer for the Day in the Boston Housing Court and representing several non-profit organizations in real estate related matters. Kim is also a member of many other trade and philanthropic organizations including the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Bar Association. She is also an active member of the Needham Chapter of Hadassah, where she serves on their advisory board, and is a co-chair of the Northeast Chapter of Jewish National Fund Lawyers for Israel group.
Tina Cassidy was presented with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Tina is an inspiration for other professional women in real estate who seek to help an organization grow organically. Tina’s entrepreneurial skills have been evident throughout her career. She began her career as a beat reporter for the Boston Globe, where she covered everything from politics, sports, fashion and business, and worked her way up to Assistant Business Editor and lead Real Estate Reporter.
Until recently, however, Tina was the executive vice president and chief content officer at InkHouse, a women-owned integrated public relations agency, where she founded and led the firm’s highly successful real estate practice. Clearly acknowledging her extraordinary accomplishments at InkHouse, last month Tina was named WGBH’s Chief Marketing Officer, where she will lead the organization’s marketing, communications, and public relations efforts. While at InkHouse, Tina grew the real estate practice from the ground up, which meant not only winning clients, but also building a strong team to support them. Through her, and her team’s efforts, InkHouse now has a large portfolio of real estate clients, for whom her team has created together cutting-edge marketing campaigns, many of which have won numerous awards.
Elizabeth Krol of Partner Engineering & Science received the Esprit de Coeur Award for embodying the spirit and principles of CREW Boston through her embrace of CREW Boston’s overall mission. Elizabeth who is the National Client Manager joined CREW in 2002 when we were known as NEWiRE. Her membership has consistently played a critical role in her professional life, where she has continuously embraced CREW’s mission putting her heart and soul into promoting the organization. She has worked on various committees, including co-chairing the Development Committee and spearheading the evolution of Project Spotlight. She is also a member of our Legacy Council, is active in the Entrepreneurs Exchange, is a contributor to the Programs, Seminars & Project Spotlight, and has been a Mentor in the CREW Boston Mentorship program. Elizabeth has also served on the board of CREW Boston, is a graduate of our first Leadership Academy class, and is the current Delegate of the CREW Network for CREW Boston. Elizabeth’s contributions to CREW Boston have been truly outstanding!
Founded in 1982 CREW Boston has grown to over 500 members and focuses on educational programs, networking, mentoring and other activities that support the professional development of women working in commercial real estate throughout New England. CREW Boston has been a member of the CREW Network, a federation of like-minded organizations throughout North America, since 1996.
