ULI Graduate Student Fellowship

The Graduate Student Fellowship is a two-year program open to graduate students in real estate disciplines. The fellowship starts during the second year of graduate school and continues for another year after fellows graduate. The hope of the program is that those chosen to be Graduate Student Fellows today will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Bruce Etkin Graduate Student Fellows

Robert Micsak

Robert is an Associate at Headwaters MB as a member of the Business Services team executing all aspects of deal process, including financial analysis, due diligence support and material preparation. Robert has experience with M&A, corporate financing and private equity services. Headwaters MB is a middle market investment bank providing strategic M&A advice, capital raising, and special situations advisory. Previously, Robert was an Associate for EDSA, a foremost master planning and landscape architecture firm, designing and executing large-scale resort and residential components on 25 projects across four continents; including the Dubai Opera House (Dubai, U.A.E.) and Atlantis Paradise Resort (Dubai & Bahamas). Robert received a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

Dillon Teske

Dillon Teske is an MBA candidate at University of Colorado, Boulder with concentrations in Real Estate and Finance. Before starting graduate school, Dillon managed business development and contract coordination for a building materials salvage organization in Ohio and worked as a carpenter for an energy-efficient design-build firm in Virginia. He also served as an AmeriCorps volunteer at a bicycle-focused youth program in Maine. Dillon holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Geography from Macalester College, and he loves hiking, live music, and visiting new cities.

Stephen Chamberlin Graduate Student Fellows

Samuel Becerra

Sam is a second-year MBA pursuing the UC Berkeley Inter-Disciplinary Real Estate Certificate and is Vice President of the Berkeley Real Estate Club. He worked this summer as an Acquisitions Associate at JMA Ventures LLC, a San Francisco-based development and investment firm. While at JMA he analyzed a variety of acquisition and development opportunities, ranging from office to multifamily mixed-use properties, and supported asset management responsibilities of owned properties. Prior to Haas, Sam spent seven years working for Public Financial Management, a financial advisor to municipalities, where he advised on the issuance of over $2 billion of debt. Sam specialized in economic development projects, working on financing of developments like Mission Bay and Treasure Island. Sam received his B.A. in Economics from Pomona College in Claremont, CA.

Brian Chadwick

Brian currently serves as a Development & Acquisitions Manager for Irvine Company Office Properties in Santa Clara, CA.  At the Irvine Company, Brian is part of a team responsible for managing a multi-million square foot development pipeline in Silicon Valley and guiding strategic acquisitions throughout Northern California.  Prior to the Irvine Company, Brian was an intern associate with HP Investors in Oakland, CA, supporting the acquisition and repositioning of multiple office and mixed-use assets.  Before embarking on a career in real estate, Brian served for seven years in the United States Marine Corps as an intelligence officer, deploying twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He holds a B.S. in Economics from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and a MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley with a concentration in Real Estate.

Phil Fargason

Phil is a Master of City Planning student at the University of Pennsylvania, class of 2017, concentrating in public & private development and working towards a certificate in real estate design and development—a joint program of PennDesign and the Wharton School of Business. Phil’s professional and academic work has been centered around affordable housing development.  Phil is originally from Birmingham, AL. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with an undergraduate degree in architecture, Phil worked for development and historic consulting firms focusing on residential renovation in St. Louis and Philadelphia. Phil is also a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, class of 2012-13.

 Thomas Gonzales

Thomas Gonzales is a graduate of Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He currently works as an intern supporting the Asset Management team at Carmel Partners, a real estate investment and development firm. Thomas has previously worked as a Project Associate for Build Public and for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. For the past year, Thomas has been pursuing his Master’s Degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves as a Vice President for Berkeley’s Real Estate club, and is an active board member for City Hall Fellows. In his spare time, if Thomas isn’t actively volunteering in the community you can find him running, cooking, skiing/snowboarding, and/or learning a new foreign language/culture.

Anastasia Kalugina

Anastasia (Ana) Kalugina is a 2017 MBA and Master of Real Estate dual-degree candidate at Cornell. Ana is passionate about creating safe living environments for people, positioning everyone to succeed in life no matter what his or her demographic characteristic and income levels are. She also wants to create sustainable communities that limit adverse impact on the surrounding environment at large.
Jane Jacobs would be excited at the reemergence of cities as lively environments attracting both young and old. The flight to the suburbs was for the most a flight of people in search of more comfortable, and livelier living environments. And as in the last decades, both public and private enterprises recognized the importance of urban environments being safe and walkable, and having a good public transportation system and mixture of uses, the real estate profession plays an ever more important role. The high demand for affordable housing combined with sustainable building techniques can make a profound impact on both the people and the environment involved and Ana is determined to be part of the change.  This past summer, Ana interned with Hodes Weill & Associates in New York City conducting research on investor allocations to and objectives for real estate. In the summer of 2015, Ana worked with Plasencia Group Inc. as an Associate.

Gina Lavery

Gina Lavery recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where she earned her Master’s of City Planning, concentrating in Smart Cities. Gina attended Penn Planning as a part-time student and worked full-time for Penn’s Office of Government and Community Affairs. In that role, she monitored legislative and policy developments within Philadelphia city government as well as developed and implemented a strategic communications and outreach plan to advocate for the University’s interests with local government officials. After receiving her Master’s degree in May 2016, Gina left her full-time role at Penn and became a Research Analyst for JLL, where she performs market research and analysis for the Philadelphia region’s suburban markets. As a Graduate Student Fellow for ULI, Gina has the opportunity to participate in the UDMUC – Silver Product Council meetings. She also holds a B.A. in Political Science and European History with a minor in Italian Literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jason Spencer

Jason Spencer is an assistant development manager for PGP Development (PGP) in Washington, DC. In this role, he is responsible for assisting in the management of development projects in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Prior to joining PGP, Jason worked as a structural engineer on a variety of large, and technically complex projects in Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, and Denver, CO. A native of Deckerville, Michigan, Jason Spencer graduated from the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 2006 and a Masters of Engineering degree in Structural Engineering in 2007. In May of 2016, he graduated with a master’s in professional studies degree from the Baker Program in Real Estate at Cornell University, where he served as a senior editor of the Cornell Real Estate Review. Jason is a licensed professional engineer and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accredited professional.

Alexandra Stein

Allie is a recent graduate of the Master of City Planning program at UC Berkeley where she concentrated on urban design and real estate development. She currently works as a Development Associate for OakBrook Partners, a company that aims to build multifamily workforce housing in Oakland and the greater Bay Area. Through her work at OakBrook Partners she is helping to launch OakBrook Modular, a company that provides innovative building solutions to owners, developer clients, and their general contractors through off-site modular manufacturing of residential and commercial development projects. Allie is passionate about the intersection of urban planning and real estate development and believes that thoughtful design and development of urban places can help build stronger communities and thriving cities.

Deb Stein Graduate Student Fellows

Samantha Beckerman

Samantha Beckerman is a master’s student in the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, with a focus on real estate development, placemaking, and community and economic development. Most recently, Sam worked at the Association of Bay Area Governments, conducting research on housing policy, land use regulations, and development. During her first year of graduate school, she served as a Graduate Student Researcher for UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation where she worked on an evaluation of HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative Regional Planning Grant Program. Prior to attending graduate school, Sam spent four years working on environmental policy and advocacy at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. Her work at NRDC focused on green building, community redevelopment, and smart growth. Sam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from Kenyon College and loves to cook, read, and spend time outdoors.

Ashley Weinstein-Carnes

Ashley is the 2015 recipient of the ULI Debra Stein Graduate Student Fellowship. She recently graduated from Berkeley Law at the University of California in May 2016, where she received her J.D. with an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate. Prior to attending law school, Ashley spent several years as a high school biology teacher in East Los Angeles as a Teach for America Corps Member; an experience that informed her interest in pursuing a career in law. Ashley dedicated her time at Berkeley Law to gaining experience in the fields of land use policy, real estate development, and affordable housing. Ashley received her M.A. in Urban Education Policy & Administration from Loyola Marymount University in 2012, and received her B.A., cum laude, in International Relations from the University of Miami in 2010. After graduation, Ashley will be joining the San Francisco office of Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, one of the largest full-service law firms specializing in real estate in the United States.

Stephen Chamberlin ULI San Francisco Public Sector Fellow

The Fellowship is a two-year program open to ULI members under the age of 35 in the real estate disciplines who are also in the public or nonprofit sectors. The Fellowships are funded through the ULI Foundation by Stephen and Susan Chamberlin with the hope that those chosen to be Chamberlin Young Leader in the Public/Nonprofit Sector Fellows today will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Stephen Chamberlin ULI San Francisco Public Sector Fellows

Emily Lesk

Emily manages public-private development partnerships for the City and County of San Francisco, with a focus on multi-phase, master-planned infill development and affordable housing. Her role includes negotiating development agreements, securing entitlements, and managing the disposition of surplus public land. Emily serves on ULI San Francisco’s Young Leaders Steering Committee and, with support from the Chamberlin Fellowship, on the Transit Oriented Development Council. She holds a BA in urban studies from Stanford University and a Master of Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Sarah Seiloff

Sarah Sieloff is the Executive Director of the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR), an Oakland, CA-based national non-profit dedicated to enabling the productive reuse of contaminated, vacant and underutilized land through tailored technical assistance, workshops, and electronic resources. In her professional career, Sarah has worked in both the non-profit and public sectors, both domestically and abroad. Most recently, she served as the Memphis Team Lead for the White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities, where she forged partnerships between the Memphis Mayor’s Office and 25 federal agencies to better connect the City of Memphis with federal resources and technical assistance. Sarah is a Truman Scholar and earned her Master in Public Affairs at Princeton University.