Founding + Emeritus Board Members
Our Founding and Emeritus Board Members are the bedrock of SPIRE.
They had the original vision. They laid the groundwork, created the first events, enrolled our first members, and forged the relationships upon which today's SPIRE continues to be built.
Preferred Name: David
Last Name: Knowles
Bio: David is responsible for the team at Stanfield Partners and its capital formation, strategic partnership, and investing activities in real estate technology companies. He has been focused on capital raising and strategy for the world's most prominent real estate companies including Co-Manager of Global Real Estate Investment Banking Group, Salomon Brothers and Head of Western U.S. Real Estate Investment Banking, Merrill Lynch. David was a leader in the origination of the CMBS market, central to the creation of the global REIT market responsible for the IPO's of CB Commercial and Essex Property Trust. David has decades of experience in global investment and merchant banking. He is a Founding Board Member of Stanford Professionals in Real Estate, and Co-Founder of the Stanford Real Estate Council, Leadership & Advisory Board member of CRE Tech, inaugural member of ULI’s Tech Council and former policy advisory board member of Fisher Center at UC Berkeley. Knowles received a BA with honors and MBA from Stanford.