2024-2025 WDC Sponsors
Many thanks to our WDC sponsors!
Housing Opportunities Unlimited (Marble Sponsor)
Housing Opportunities Unlimited (HOU) works in a diverse range of affordable and mixed income public and subsidized housing and specializes in assisting tenants and residents that are in transition due to major redevelopment, renovation, or renovation-in-place construction projects in their communities. HOU’s Mission is to ensure that residents are treated fairly and experience minimum physical and emotional stress during the relocation process while ensuring that our clients’ projects are complete in a timely and cost-effective manner.
The Clarett Group (Steel Sponsor)
Clarett is a NYC based real estate development entity best known for complex urban developments and its NYC large scale ground-up high-rise projects ranging in size from 100,000 to 500,000 square feet. In addition to developing or investing in projects for its own account or with partners, the company also provides development advisory services for select clients. Clarett’s mark on the New York skyline has been enhanced by its commitment to architectural and design significance, community engagement and showcasing of local artists in its ground-up mixed use high rise developments.
IHP Capital Partners (Steel Sponsor)
As one of the nation’s only residential investment firms, IHP Capital Partners (IHP) facilitates a path to success for its investor and development partners by providing equity for residential projects throughout the country with a focus on the western U.S. IHP’s track record is built on experience, expertise and long-term sustained partnerships with well-known institutional investors and a wide range of the industry’s most notable builders and developers, including firms led by women. To date, IHP has invested equity of more than $9.6 billion in residential housing and development projects. As a trusted fiduciary, IHP ensure alignment of capital goals through every step of a project’s life while providing transparency and insight to its investors.
Kulli Marketing (Steel Sponsor)
Sandra Kulli consults with residential builders, MPCs and mixed-use developers on marketing strategy, working with over 100 companies on193 communities with a sales volume exceeding $5 billion throughout the US and in Japan, Dubai, New Zealand, Sweden, England, and Mexico. From green field development to adaptive re-use, Sandra has a placemaking philosophy that built environments last a long time, and they have great power to influence the lives of people (and other living things). She’s an ardent city bike rider, traveler, and remains endlessly curious about how we can create ever-better communities within our urban fabric.
Dentons (Brick Sponsor)
Dentons is the world's largest law firm, with lawyers and professionals in over 160 locations spanning over 80 countries. Our geographical reach is unparalleled, while our local real estate experience, relationships, contacts and understanding are exceptional. We are experienced, practical legal advisors providing strategic advice throughout every stage of the real estate and land development process. Whether you need advice on real estate investment, project finance, development, construction, leasing, disputes, partnership or joint venture our team can help you succeed. Our purpose-driven approach, together with our commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity ensures we challenge the status quo to stay focused on what matters most. We are collaborative business partners.
Eden Housing (Brick Sponsor)
Eden Housing creates and sustains high-quality affordable housing communities that advance equity and opportunity for all. Eden Housing has worked in partnership with cities and local community partners to develop or acquire more than 11,937 homes in communities throughout California, currently serving a diverse population of 22,000 low-income residents from all cultures and backgrounds. Since our humble beginnings, more than 100,000 people have come home to an Eden community.
Mithun (Brick Sponsor)
Mithun is a design firm. We leverage technology and integrated disciplines to advance design that serves individuals, communities and our planet. Research and development programs enable our teams and collaborators to transcend boundaries, reaching ever higher levels of design quality and impact. Our teams are structured to welcome ideas, reward collaboration and invite constant professional challenge. Staff-initiated programs—from Mithuniversity to ACE Mentors and Mithun Wellness—enrich our practice, enliven our workplace and open the door for new discoveries.
Omgivning (Brick Sponsor)
At Omgivning, our passion is to breathe new life into spaces, buildings and communities. Since our founding in 2009, we have had a significant impact on the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles through the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and spaces. Coupled with our foundation in design, sustainability and adaptive reuse is a growing, varied portfolio of project types. Today, our design staff has touched over 400 projects, from small, local cafes to two-million square foot historic landmarks. From the design of workplaces, boutique hotels, multifamily housing to retail, dining and theaters, our projects emerge as warm and welcoming environments.
Small Change (Brick Sponsor)
Small Change is an impact investing platform focused on transformational real estate projects. The platform matches everyday investors with real estate developers, including many women and minority owned development firms, providing opportunities for everyone who cares about cities and wants to make change. It’s like Kickstarter for real estate – but with a return. Small Change provides a fluid and compliant technology platform that brings impact investment opportunities to everyone who cares about cities and wants to make change. Honors that CEO and founder, Eve Picker, is proud of include Small Change ranking as one of the 7 top Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms of 2020 by US News, nabbing Top Innovator in "Capital" category by HIVE, her tenure as a Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center Residency Program and recent participation in Village Capital's FinHealth US 2021, an accelerator program for early-stage startups. Most recently Connect CRE made Eve one of their National 2022 Women in Real Estate Awards winners.
Spectacle* (Brick Sponsor)
Spectacle* is home to designers, urban planners, visionaries and lovers of people and place. We bring over two decades of experience translating our clients challenges into impactful and memorable vision. With our understanding of real estate and the development process, through facilitation, we help you shape the persona of your project to establish an identity via name and logo. From this, icons and graphics systems emerge-and a place is born.
SvN Architects and Planners (Brick Sponsor)
With a history dating back 40 years, SvN Architects and Planners is a multidisciplinary design firm working to solve the greatest challenges faced by rapidly growing cities worldwide. Our team supports a diverse practice that includes full-scope architecture, policy and land use planning, development planning, urban design, landscape architecture and engagement services with proven experience bringing complex multi-stakeholder projects through all stages from initial conception to implementation and construction.
With a team of 180 planners, urban designers, architects and landscape architects, and studios in Toronto, Vancouver, and Mexico City, we guide both public- and private-sector projects in pursuit of value creation for stakeholders and quality of life for people and planet. We have developed new forms of affordable housing, reformed transit-oriented development, and designed resilient neighbourhoods that contribute to economic vitality in cities around the world.
Avison Young (Timber Sponsor)
Avison Young creates real economic, social and environmental value as a global real estate advisor, powered by people. As a private company, our clients collaborate with an empowered partner who is invested in their success. Our integrated talent realizes the full potential of real estate by using global intelligence platforms that provide clients with insights and advantage. Together, we can create healthy, productive workplaces for employees, cities that are centres for prosperity for their citizens, and built spaces and places that create a net benefit to the economy, the environment and the community.
Development Collective (Timber Sponsor)
Using their expertise and relationships, The Development Collective focuses on land development to effectively manage complex acquisition, building design and planning approval processes for high density projects. Their co-founders have oversaw development approvals for 100,000 units of housing and 20,000 acres of land, in addition to delivering high-density infill developments across the Greater Toronto Area.
Excelerate Housing Group (Timber Sponsor)
Excelerate Housing Group is a real estate development company that adds value in communities across the U.S. by partnering with local nonprofits and public agencies to expand housing opportunities for low-income families, seniors, moderate income households, and people experiencing homelessness. Founded by Dana Trujillo, Excelerate partners with local nonprofits who currently provide high-quality services to people in their communities but are in need of real estate development expertise and capacity building.
HaydenTanner (Timber Sponsor)
HaydenTanner is a strategic advisory and development firm focused on accelerating impact investment & sustainability in the built environment. We firmly embed “triple bottom line” principles as a core part of any corporate and real estate investment strategy. Embedding climate risk, environmental, social and governance factors into strategic decision making is central to improving our clients’ long-term performance and risk reduction. What distinguishes us is a proactive intent to deploy capital that generates risk adjusted market rate returns while creating durable and measurable social and environmental value.
Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services (Timber Sponsor)
Since 1981, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. has worked to strengthen low-income families and neighborhoods through the promotion of affordable housing by providing affordable rentals to families and financial literacy.
Founded by a dedicated group of low-income Richmond residents, RNHS was established to reverse the adverse effects of systemic segregation, redlining, disinvestment, and blight. Today, RNHS has grown to serve the needs of over 7,500 families across the East Bay. RNHS continues to work for a more just and equitable society. RNHS is a HUD-approved Housing Counseling agency.
Rose Community Capital (Timber Sponsor)
Rose Community Capital (RCC), a division of the Jonathan Rose Company Holdings, is a commercial lender with a particular focus upon the affordable and moderate-income multifamily asset class. RCC originates, underwrites and services various types of debt, including acquisition bridge loan, construction, and permanent loans. RCC is a mission-based lender that actively seeks out opportunities to work with women and minority led real estate developers that historically have faced high barriers to entry into the commercial asset sector. RCC is led by Kelly Boyer, an affordable housing industry veteran who leads a diverse team of professionals located throughout the country.
SMMC (Timber Sponsor)
New York-based SMMC, which marks its 25th anniversary in 2019, is a boutique real estate marketing agency focused on residential and commercial real estate, placemaking and economic development. Its clients represent an industry who’s who and span the spectrum of real estate players from publicly-traded REITs (including the largest owners in NYC and Philadelphia), many of the country’s pre-eminent institutions, bi-coastal private equity funds, small, entrepreneurial owners, several of New York’s great real estate dynasties, and many major real estate brokerages. Recently it collaborated with one such family scion, Amy Rose of Rose Associates, on a ground-up 300-unit multifamily building, Hoyt & Horn, in Downtown Brooklyn. SMMC, which is proud to have designed and developed the WDC logo, is certified as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) and actively pursues opportunities where the designation lends value to clients and their partners.
San José State University (Timber Sponsor)
The Department of Urban & Regional Planning provides a wide range of dynamic academic programs, including the only accredited Master's in Urban Planning program in Silicon Valley. In addition, we offer an Advanced Certificate in Real Estate Development and several other advanced certificate programs for professionals. Our students benefit from the expertise of faculty who are prominent scholars across disciplines including architecture, communication, economics, history, public policy, and sociology. The University’s location in Northern California's largest city and one of the world's great metropolitan areas enriches the educational experience in our career-focused programs. Our department has established enduring collaborations with industry, government, and community partners. Students who have graduated from our programs have achieved professional success in a wide range of organizations, including prominent Silicon Valley companies, government entities, and non-profit organizations located in the Bay Area and beyond.
Seifel Consulting (Founder Sponsor and WDC Coordinator)
Seifel Consulting (Seifel) is a strategic economic advisory firm that helps clients achieve their project goals, meet complex urban growth challenges, and create financially viable and sustainable developments. Seifel’s expertise in guiding the successful development of a broad range of land uses has been cultivated through its work for both public and private sector clients on real estate projects ranging in size from $10 million to $6 billion, many of which have been led by women. Firm principal, Libby Seifel, and founder of the Women’s Development Collaborative is dedicated to advancing women’s leadership in business, real estate and technology.