CREC Women
Profiles of the Advisory Board Members of CREC Women
Our Mission
The mission of CREC Women is to provide a support network for female current students and alumnae interested or working in the field of real estate which historically has been under-represented by women in positions of leadership. To accomplish our mission, we deliver programs throughout the year virtually and in person focused on the unique challenges that women face within our industry. Those programs include on campus advisory sessions, networking events among our members and meetings with women’s organizations outside Cornell offering prospects for both employment and business.
Advisory Board Members
Kamilla Rodrigues
Kamilla B. Rodrigues is an associate in the Real Estate group where she represents developers, real estate investment companies, banks, financial institutions, and various other closely-held corporations in complex financing transactions, including commercial real estate and asset financing, guaranteed facilities, revolving credit facilities, and corporate financing. Kamilla also works on regulatory analysis, the launch of new businesses and products, working out distressed loans, documentation of restructuring arrangements and loan modifications.
Kamilla works closely with clients on various types of corporate transactions, from negotiating and drafting merger agreements, stock purchase agreements, asset purchase agreements, shareholder agreements, limited liability company agreements, and formation and governance documents, to coordinating the due diligence and closing process.
Kamilla was recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2021 for Real Estate Law. In 2020, Kamilla was named one of New York Real Estate Journal’s “Ones to Watch,” which focuses on up-and-coming professionals across all areas of real estate.
Before joining the Herrick team, Kamilla was a Commercial Real Estate & Finance and Corporate Associate at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, P.C. in New Jersey.
Carolyn (Carrie) Pianin
Carolyn (Carrie) Pianin is an accomplished real estate executive with more than 25 years of experience spanning asset management, restructuring, capital preservation, underwriting, and litigation-focused expert testimony. Her career encompasses senior leadership roles at some of the industry’s most respected institutions, including Lightstone Capital, Ankura, Arcturus Group, AIG Global Real Estate, Starwood Capital, Square Mile Capital, NewStar Financial, GE Capital, and Ôtera Capital.
Carolyn’s expertise includes managing and repositioning complex assets, structuring and underwriting both equity and debt investments, and advising on high-stakes workouts across all levels of the capital stack. She has underwritten and closed more than half a billion in direct debt. She has overseen portfolios totaling over 50 million square feet of office and retail, 8,000+ multifamily units, and numerous hotel assets. Her work includes leading HNW asset management practices, guiding dispositions totaling over $400 million, and providing strategic direction across more than $2 billion in AUM. She is also qualified as a court-appointed receiver in New York State.
A respected thought leader, Carolyn is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer for Baruch College and Thirty Capital’s Academy of CRE Finance and Innovation. She serves on several boards, including the Snowbird Cliff Club Owner’s Association, Wellesley College’s Business Leadership Council, and the Fairfield Villages Wellesley Club. In 2024, she joined the Cornell Real Estate Council Women (CREC Women) as Co-Chair, helping advance mentorship, networking, and leadership development for women across the real estate industry.
Carolyn holds a BA from Wellesley College, an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, and an MS in Real Estate from NYU’s Schack Institute.
Dempsey Banks
Dempsey is an Associate on the Investments team at CIM Group, where she is responsible for underwriting new investments across all asset types and investment platforms with a focus on core urban markets. Prior to joining CIM in 2021, Dempsey worked in hotel asset management for Starwood Capital Group. She started her professional career at Duff & Phelps in the real estate advisory group after graduating from the Hotel School in 2017.
Lera Covington
Lera is a December 2020 degree candidate at Cornell University where she is pursuing a dual Masters of Real Estate and Masters of Regional Planning degree. Lera holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University. During her time at Cornell she worked as a Summer Acquisitions Associate at Lendlease’s New York office and as an Asset Management Intern with the Albanese Organization in New York. She also served as President of the Association of Cornell Women in Real Estate (ACWIRE) and Co-President of the Cornell Associate Real Estate Council (AREC). Prior to Cornell, Lera worked in corporate finance and information technology audit. Lera is passionate about transforming communities through the power of real estate. She is actively recruiting for roles in real estate acquisitions and investments.
Carolyn Falvey
Carolyn specializes in hotel asset management, underwriting/development, historic rehabilitation, opportunity zone funding and social impact investing. Based in Denver, Carolyn currently works for private firm NuovoRE, where she asset manages the firm’s real estate investments as well as leading the underwriting and development process. Prior to NuovoRE, Carolyn held roles with Hyatt Hotel Corporation, formerly Two Roads Hospitality, and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. She is an active member of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) and USGBC LEED Green Associate Certified. Carolyn graduated with a B.S. degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in 2015.
Alyssa Gallina
Alyssa Gallina is currently a graduate student in the Master’s in Real Estate program at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, where she is focusing on real estate development and historic preservation. Alyssa is active in student organizations and serves as a Vice President for Cornell’s Associate Real Estate Council, as well as for the Association of Cornell Women in Real Estate. Prior to Cornell, Alyssa worked at JKRP Architects in Philadelphia, managing large-scale multifamily, affordable housing, and historic renovation projects from schematic design through occupancy. This past summer, Alyssa returned to Philadelphia to intern at Hightop Real Estate and Development, where she underwrote new acquisitions and oversaw current construction projects.
Jill Greenspan
Jill Greenspan is the President and CFO of Silverman Realty Group, Inc. in White Plains, New York. Silverman Realty Group, Inc. owns and manages over 50 commercial properties (retail, office, industrial/warehouse and medical) in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Florida. Jill was formerly a commercial banker and investment banker, both in the commercial real estate space. She received her B.S., with distinction, from Cornell University in 1988 and received her MBA from Columbia University in 1991.
Maxine Hepfer
Maxine has over six years of corporate real estate experience, specializing in fund formation, capital raising, and valuations. Based in Denver, Maxine is a Vice President of foreign investment advisory International Capital (ICI), where she oversees the firm’s Colorado investments. Prior to ICI, Maxine held roles with Jones Lang LaSalle and Ernst & Young. She is an active alumna of the Hotel School and proud Brother of Delta Sigma Pi.
Lily Li
Lily Li graduated from Cornell University, the School of Hotel Administration with Summa Cum Laude in 2019. After graduation, she started full time at Brookfield Asset Management in the U.S. Northeast real estate investment team. As a rotational analyst, she is currently doing her second rotation in BAM’s Canadian investment team. Prior to joining Brookfield, she has interned at PM Hotel Group, HVS and PSP Investments with experience in hospitality valuation and real estate portfolio management. Originally born in Beijing and having lived in Nashville and Montreal, Lily enjoys traveling and is a passionate foodie.
Teresa Liang
Teresa is an analyst on the Real Estate team at Cascade in Seattle, WA. Prior to Cascade, she was on the Income and Growth Fund at LaSalle Investment Management in Chicago, IL, and interned at Watermark Lodging Trust. She is a 2020 graduate of The Hotel School and enjoys solo traveling, snowboarding, and surfing.
Brigitte Oviedo
A lifelong New Yorker, Brigitte was raised on Long Island and traveled upstate for school, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development at Cornell University. Brigitte went on to earn a Juris Doctor at Hofstra University School of Law, and is admitted in the State of New York (2009) and the US District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts (2009). Her interest in helping future fellow lawyers led her to Pieper Bar Review, where she assisted law students in their preparations for the New York Bar Exam. Brigitte also practiced law in New York City before launching her career in residential real estate. She now serves as Head of Professional Development at Cooper & Cooper Real Estate, where she leads the firm’s introductory training program, as well as a wide range of other training and development initiatives.
Catherine von Seggern
Catherine von Seggern is an Executive Director in Ernst & Young LLP’s Construction and Real Estate Advisory Services Group working in New York. She also leads EY’s Locations Advisory Services in the Americas. She has more than 18 years of real estate knowledge. Her experience at EY has focused on project management, strategic planning, portfolio and location strategy, real estate technology solutions and real estate and facilities sourcing and organizational design. von Seggern has a Master in Real Estate from Cornell University and a BS from New York University.
Crystal Wilson
Crystal is a dynamic commercial real estate finance professional versed in asset management, leasing, dispositions, acquisitions and ground up development. Her expertise includes value-add and repositioning strategies, distressed and institutional quality multifamily, retail, office and industrial asset classes, negotiations, leasing, business development and deal structuring.
Crystal is currently a Director with New York Life Real Estate Investors in the Atlanta office. In her current role, she has asset management responsibilities for part of the company’s equity portfolio in the Southeast. Before joining New York Life, Crystal served as Vice President of Development for Milhaus overseeing the company’s multifamily development and expansion in Florida . Prior to that, she served as Head of Real Estate for hospitality start-up Sonder in South Florida where she was responsible for expanding the brand’s portfolio footprint. She also spent five years at Starwood Property Trust as a Senior Associate in asset management overseeing portfolios in the Western, Central and Southeast US.
Crystal holds a master’s degree in real estate from The Hotel School at Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from The Haslam College of Business at The University of Tennessee.
Emily Wu
Emily Wu is currently an undergraduate in the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, where she minors in real estate, information science, and applied economics. Emily serves as the president of the Cornell Real Estate Club, the largest undergraduate organization at Cornell. Emily is interested in pursuing a career in hospitality real estate and is an incoming hotel asset management summer analyst at Starwood Capital. Prior to Starwood Capital, Emily interned at Keppel REIT in Singapore, Jones Lang LaSalle in Bangkok and Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts in Singapore. Having grown up in the US and Singapore, Emily enjoys traveling around the world and writing food reviews on Tripadvisor.
Amy Yao
Amy Yao is a Senior Associate at Metropolitan Real Estate – The Carlyle Group and a member of the investment team. She is responsible for the sourcing, evaluation, and execution of primaries, secondaries, and co-investments globally.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Amy was an Associate at Rhône Group on the investment team of WeWork Property, a joint venture between Rhône and WeWork Company. Prior to joining Rhône, Amy was an Associate at J.P. Morgan’s Global Real Assets in Tactical Direct Investments.
Amy received her B.S. from Cornell University in the School of Hotel Administration.
