Sarah Cullins Nezamis is a Managing Director at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm’s Chicago office, where she oversees the Midwest region. Her practice focuses on C-Suite and Board recruitment across the commercial real estate industry. She leads the firm’s Retail Real Estate Practice and Financial Officers Practice, and she also participates in the REIT Practice. Ms. Cullins Nezamis specializes in client and engagement management, candidate development and evaluation, and the presentation of qualified candidates to clients. A licensed Attorney in the State of Illinois, she excels in sourcing candidates through comprehensive research and broad analytical evaluation. Prior to joining Ferguson Partners in 2015, she worked as an Assistant Vice President and Division Director at Robert Half Legal, where she specialized in recruiting highly skilled legal professionals for law firms and corporate legal departments. Ms. Cullins Nezamis holds a Juris Doctor degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Michigan State University.

Peter Tomai is a recognized thought leader in operational decarbonization and sustainability. Grounded in sound engineering principles, Specific Performance delivers accretive results across real estate sectors and operational enterprises. SPI partners with owners, investors, and public-sector entities to materially improve operational efficiency and bolster resiliency in response to increasing climate risks. Specific Performance evaluates the wholistic landscape of client markets, operations, and communities to identify profitable paths to scale sustainably and fuel growth. Prior to founding Specific Performance, Inc, Peter was Managing Director of Madison Marquette where he was responsible for their value-add investment fund and lead the transformational redevelopment of the Asbury Park waterfront. He served as SVP of Great Wolf Resorts, a company he helped take public, and rapidly grew its resort footprint across North America. Prior to Great Wolf, Peter was EVP of American Skiing Company where he helped navigate the company through a failed merger and 9/11 and delivered year-round resort villages from New England to California. Peter’s career started in banking and corporate finance with National Westminster Bank. In 2019, Peter completed the Climate Change and Energy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. He studied Mechanical Engineering at RPI and International Business and Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Onay Payne is a Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Manulife Investment Management (“Manulife IM”). Ms. Payne is responsible for driving the strategy and development of ESG/Impact investment capabilities across the Manulife IM platform. Ms. Payne partners with Manulife IM’s investment, asset management and investor relations teams in screening investments; identifying risks and opportunities with respect to ESG/Impact; optimizing portfolio construction; enhancing asset performance; maximizing returns; and establishing performance benchmarking for ESG/Impact. Ms. Payne serves on Manulife IM’s Global Real Estate Leadership Team. Prior to joining MIM, Ms. Payne was the Managing Director of Real Estate at Lafayette Square, a national investment platform focused on achieving risk-adjusted returns for investors while positively supporting people and communities in overlooked places and underserved markets. Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Payne was an equity owner and Managing Director of Clarion Partners. As a Portfolio Manager, she was responsible for close to ten billion dollars in assets under management over the course of her 19-year tenure, having overseen several separate account and co-mingled investment mandates covering all major property types and markets throughout the United States. She also oversaw Clarion’s Mexico platform and served on the firm’s Investment and Career Management Committees. Ms. Payne began working in the real estate and finance industries in 1997. Ms. Payne is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, from which she received an A.B. in 1997. She received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 2003, where she was a Robert Toigo Foundation (“Toigo”) Fellow. Ms. Payne is fluent in Spanish. Ms. Payne currently serves as Chair of the Toigo Alumni Endowment Board and Chair of the Audit, Finance & Investment Committee of the Mark Morris Dance Group board of directors. She is also a member of the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”), where she serves as a Global Governing Trustee, a Vice Chair of the national Technology and Real Estate Council, and a ULI NY Advisory Board Member; the Real Estate Executive Council (“REEC”); the Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board; WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate; and the Advisory Board of Building Cyber Security. In 2023, Ms. Payne has been recognized on the Commercial Observer’s 2023 Power 100 list, featured in Bloomberg Markets Magazine and in Commercial Property Executive’s Female Leaders in CRE. Previously, she was a featured contributor to Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2023, selected as a member of the Commercial Observer’s 2021 Power Finance 50 list, featured in the Pace Common Ground Campaign for Gender Equality in 2017, inducted into the Toigo Foundation’s inaugural “40 Under 40” in 2013, and featured in Real Estate Forum Magazine’s “Women of Influence 2010.”

Philippa joined EVORA Global in January 2020, initially to focus on the expansion into Europe and our Climate Resilience Services. Given her background in private equity real estate, she brings deep knowledge of investment drivers and associated risk factors. She continues to sponsor our Social Wellbeing and EVOLVE education service lines at Executive level, while also providing senior strategic support to a number of Evora’s key global clients. Philippa previously occupied a range of senior sustainability leadership roles within global real estate organisations; prior to joining EVORA, she was the head of Real Estate at Verdextra where she emerged as a thought leader in the Health and Wellbeing arena. Philippa has over 15 years’ experience in private equity and real estate, having worked across the building lifecycle for both Tishman Speyer and Blackstone. She was global co-head of sustainability at Tishman Speyer and has also managed transformation, construction and software projects, together with significant client-side experience and formerly roles as Head of Human Resources, Operations Director and Property Systems Manager. Philippa is a member of the WELL Faculty; a Fitwel Ambassador; and a RESET Fellow and RESET Auditor. She has also served on a number of industry committees, including the BPF, INREV and GRESB and continues to contribute to task groups and committees, in particular as part of property-related working groups within the European Commission.

Judi Schweitzer has been pioneering sustainable real estate development practices since the early 1990’s and is a recognized global leader in the field. She advises public agencies, universities, utilities, landowners, capital providers and organizations in optimizing their triple bottom-line value of implementing sustainability with sound real estate decision-making. Judi founded Schweitzer + Associates, Inc. (www.schweitzer-associates.com) in 2006 to apply her 25+ years of experience in real estate development, land use entitlements, underwriting due diligence, design, and economics to the challenges facing owners of legacy properties, their teams and stakeholders. With her clients, Judi creates projects that are innovative and economically viable, environmentally responsible, and socially valuable for today and tomorrow. Judi is sought out for her ability to sort through the information and separate “fact from fiction”. She discovers the most cost efficient path to implement a sustainable plan for a project. As a sought-after collaborator, Judi is an integral part of development teams providing valuable management and leadership skills. She has advised state, national and global organizations such as AECOM, Chevron Land and Development, County of Orange, Davis Energy Group, Lewis Operating Corp., Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Rancho Mission Viejo, Tejon Ranch, CALPers, CPUC, CEC, BOMA, DOE, and others. Education -Advanced Management Development Program (AMDP) in Real Estate Development, Harvard University, Graduate School of -Design, Executive Education, Cambridge, MA -Master of Real Estate Development (MRED), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA -Bachelor of Science - Economics, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO Certificates: Certified Green Building Professional, National Charrette Institute - Charrette System Program Appointments -2019, 20