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LONDON (November 20, 2014) – Lisette van Doorn, a highly regarded real estate investment professional with experience across Europe, has been appointed chief executive of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) European operations.  Van Doorn will take up her new role in January 2015.

As chief executive of ULI Europe, van Doorn will be responsible for the development of the Institute’s activities across the region, including its renowned pan-European conferences and over 250 local meetings and events across 14 countries. Van Doorn will be responsible for working with ULI’s staff both locally and globally to deliver more high profile content and reports; coordinating Advisory Services panels; facilitating ULI’s global awards programmes and expanding the Institute’s thought leadership across Europe.

Van Doorn will also be responsible for the ULI Charitable Trust, which raises money to advance ULI’s mission and philanthropic activities across Europe.

“Lisette’s practical experience of working across European property markets, combined with the time she spent as chief executive of a member organisation, make her perfectly placed to lead ULI to its next stage of growth in Europe,” said Patrick Phillips, global chief executive of the Urban Land Institute. “Under Lisette’s leadership, we hope to expand the strength and depth of ULI’s reach and programmes in Europe and in turn support our expanding global network.”

“We are continuing to make significant progress in delivering our mission across Europe and we are confident that the appointment of Lisette will enable us to make an even greater impact,” said Roger Orf, chair of ULI Europe and head of real estate in Europe for Apollo Management. “Lisette’s leadership will enable us to offer more opportunities to our growing membership across Europe, including more local programming and engagement.”

“ULI has an important role to play in European real estate, as it is the only member-led, non-profit organisation that combines all the different disciplines and sectors active in the market with a truly global reach,” van Doorn said. “If we look at the pressing issues facing the built environment today such as urban regeneration, sustainability and the impact of technological advances, it takes a multi-disciplinary approach to work towards solutions. ULI is very well positioned to contribute to these discussions and advance the industry’s shared knowledge.”

“To deliver ULI’s mission, I intend to work very closely with the people supporting us in in each country to build our membership and develop our programmes. We will draw upon the great wealth of ULI knowledge and best practices that have been built up over many years and intelligently adapt them to ensure they are relevant and applicable to each national market.”

ULI is a member-based, global research and education institute dedicated to its mission of providing leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities. ULI has over 32,000 members worldwide, including more than 2,200 in Europe. ULI has 14 national councils in Europe, which concentrate on geographic markets, as well as five European Product Councils that concentrate on specific sectors of the market. ULI Europe’s operations are run from its regional headquarters in London, with a second office in Frankfurt.

Van Doorn will join ULI from LIRE, her own consultancy business, which advises international institutional real estate investors and fund managers on strategy, organisational optimisation and portfolio structuring. Prior to this, van Doorn was country manager for CBRE Global Investors where she managed a €1.6bn portfolio of assets in Italy and fund manager of two shopping centre funds (€ 1.3 billion) with assets in Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Before joining CBRE Global Investors, van Doorn was founding chief executive for INREV, the European association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles for four and a half years. Van Doorn set up, managed and developed INREV’s activities for members including research, guidance on professional standards, regulatory affairs, training and education and events. In addition, she led the day-to-day operations of the association, including planning, budgeting, human resources, marketing, public relations and communications, and she reported to the INREV Management Board.

Van Doorn started her career at ING Investment Management, where she held account manager and assistant controller positions before being made managing director of research & strategy for ING Real Estate Investment Management Europe.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 32,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.