For the last 9 years, I've built a real estate development company within a diversified family office in northern Illinois, in the outer reaches of Chicago. Together, with an excellent team of development professionals, we've developed strategies for creating transformative real estate developments in smaller Midwestern markets, branching out from our base in northern Illinois to Indiana and Michigan.With guiding principles of excellence in design, economic sustainability, and community transformation, we put together mixed-use, residential, retail, and hospitality projects with over $100M in value. My role has been one of great opportunity to create a new purpose-driven firm, determine strategies with ownership, recruiting the best team of staff and consultants, and overseeing the complete real estate development process, from project conception, market analysis, resourcing equity and debt investors, financial forecasting and reporting, design and construction team building, construction oversight, and marketing. Along the way, we've gained experience in collaboration skills with land owners, local government bodies, contractors, and lenders, and we've executed creative solutions to developing quality projects in varied economic situations.Prior to this period of my career, I developed new single-family communities in the New Orleans Metro area and led the development side of a 4,500 Acre Master Planned Community on the Gulf Coast. In my diverse real estate career, I have also developed affordable housing, historic renovations, and a mixed-use urban master planned community. I have a passion for improving the built environment, creative solutions for complex challenges, and team building, while enjoying the opportunity to build a network of relationships with talented professionals and investors.