Scholarship

From Christine Flaherty, 2018-2019 President of the CREW Boston Educational Foundation, Inc.

Once again, we were very fortunate to have a strong group of candidates for the Educational Foundation annual scholarship from both undergraduate and graduate colleges and universities throughout New England. This year, thanks to the support we have received, we were able to award one $10,000 scholarship and two $5,000 scholarships. The CREW Boston Educational Foundation Scholarship recipients has shown us that they have an amazing work ethic and drive to succeed.

Merida Kepnes was drawn to commercial real estate watching economic development occur around her – The Merrimack Premium Outlets. She was anxious to learn more about the real estate industry.  Putting herself through college and adding to her student loans – Merida, began interning at KeyBank, and has been working closely with existing members of CREW Boston including Hayley Suminski.  Her focus has been the multifamily sector; and led her to author a research paper “Boston’s Affordable Housing Crisis and How Multifamily Real Estate Capital can Contribute to the Solution”.  Her letters of recommendation spoke of her poise and efforts to learn as much as possible about Commercial Real Estate.  One of her professors described her as bright, thoughtful, eager to learn and eager to apply her keen analytical ability to real estate development.

Shawna O’Neil is currently a working towards her Masters in Public Policy at Northeastern University.  She currently works as a Lending Assistant at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and commutes daily from her home in Providence, RI! Ms. O’Neil is the first in her family to obtain an undergraduate degree and knows first-hand of the struggles of housing costs.  She is described as driven, smart, ambitious and tireless – someone with a bright future ahead of her.  She is committed to pursuing a career in Commercial Real Estate and we look forward to having her with us in CREW Boston.

Sienna McKenzie Flynn is currently working towards her Master of Architecture degree from Wentworth Institute of Technology. McKenzie is known to several folks in the room who have helped introduce her to the world of Commercial Real Estate. Her first architecture internship was courtesy of her relationships with Andra Foster and Allison Rojas. Allison describes her as: Driven, smart, focused, a team player and extremely talented McKenzie is looking forward to continuing to grow the relationships she has started here at CREW Boston.

We are thrilled to award the 2019 CREW Boston Educational Foundation scholarships to these amazing women and the future of commercial real estate.

Please join me in congratulating the 2019 CREW Boston Educational Foundation Scholarship Recipient Merida Kepnes, Shawna O'Neil and Sienna McKenzie Flynn

Past CREW Boston Educational Foundation Scholarship Recipients
2018 - Kelen Araujo
2017 - Kimberley McKenna & Kelly Yates
2016 - Rachel Brewster & Michaela Gross
2015 - Roma Patel & Wajuha Qureshi
2014 - Christine Kaczyniski
2013 - Emma Tuohy
2012 - Jennifer Wong
2011 - Elizabeth DiLorenzo
2010 - Mary Long

2020 FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP

The 2020 Scholarship Application is available for any female student entering her junior or senior year of undergraduate school or entering or enrolled in a graduate program at an accredited college or university based in New England. The student must demonstrate an interest in pursuing a career in the commercial real estate industry through her course studies and/or internships in a commercial real estate firm. The 2020 Scholarship, that will be awarded in May 2020, is expected to be at least one $10,000. The deadline to apply for the 2020 Scholarship is February 28, 2020.

To download the 2020 CREW Boston Educational Foundation Scholarship application, click here.

To learn more about the CREW Network Scholarship, click here.

Prior Events

Kendall Square Development Update and Hard Hat Walking Tour

The CREW Development Project Management Group held a successful Hard Hat tour of Kendall Square on October 10th. The evening started with presentations from Maureen McCaffrey of MITIMCo, Melissa Schrock of Boston Properties and Michelle Lower of Alexandria Real Estate. Participants were able to hear about the development projects which are transforming the Kendall Square area. Project team members including Architects, Engineers, Contractors and Project Managers then led a hard hat tour of MITIMCo's SOMA development and Boston Properties' Akamai Headquarters.
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Tour of Harvard University’s Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center

On July 25th, Harvard’s Director of Capital Projects, Shirin Karanfiloglu, Director of Common Spaces, Julie Crites, and Program Coordinator for Common Spaces, Tracey Daley, led a group of CREW members around Harvard’s new Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center. Shirin, Julie and Tracey shared details about the history of the original building, Harvard’s vision for creating a center of campus that is also open to the public, and the constraints of performing the renovation while the building was occupied. A few of our CREW members had worked on the project and shared their own insights into aspects of the design and the selection of furniture.
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A Conversation with Lisa Wieland, Massachusetts Port Authority’s CEO

On October 3rd at the Fairmont Copley, Lisa Wieland, Massport’s new CEO spoke to an engaged audience to hear about her role and upcoming initiatives. It ended with a fireside chat with CREW Boston President, Jill Sharif.
As Lisa stepped into her role this past August, her goals are to enhance the customer experience, maintain strong business relationships and optimize best practices for the organization.
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