Dean Mencius
Title: Finance and Operations Officer
Organization: Changing Ground
Location: New York, NY
Dean is a first-year MBA student in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Prior to that, Dean was on the Board of Advisors of Changing Ground, a housing and community development initiative based in New York City, promoting equitable land ownership and empowering local homeowners economically. He also served as the Education Committee Chair at NAIOP, an Infrastructure Council member of ULI, and as a Young Leaders member at CoreNet Global.
Prior to joining these nonprofits, Dean was a NYU international graduate student, majoring in real estate finance and investment, featured on the school website and CoreNet magazine. He supported the establishment of the Institute for Cities and Real Estate in Emerging Markets with NYU Shanghai, facilitated an Executive Education program at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, and advised a China REITs project at NYU REITs Center.
Dean began his career as policy analyst in one of the largest Chinese Stateowned Enterprises (SOEs), where he primarily worked under the direct supervision of the Chinese State Council. Instrumental in real estate development and corporate governance, he rose to become the SOE system’s youngest executive, successfully negotiating land acquisition, government contracts, and project management in large-scale China operations involving real estate, hospitality, and tourism in a portfolio of
$250 billion assets.
Dean has a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a master’s degree in Management from China as well as a Master of Science degree in Real Estate from NYU.