SPIRE Newsletter
WELCOME!
Dear SPIRE Community,
We hope your 2025 is off to a fabulous start! As we move into spring, we’d like to showcase memorable moments from the last half of 2024 and preview some 2025 highlights.
Last November, the SREC (Stanford Alumni Real Estate Council) and SREC Emerging Leaders came to campus for three days of networking, professional development, and fun. The conferences featured several joint sessions, including a keynote by Stanford alum and industry leader Rick Magnuson, as well as Howard Wolf’s engaging and insightful “View from the Top.” Also in November, SPIRE held a webinar on the outlook for (real estate) fundraising with SPIRE Board Chair and moderator Jeff Jacobson, and panelists Lindsay Bachner, Stanford alum Mitch Pleis, and Rob Rubano.
SPIRE also launched regional dinners in 2024 in the Bay Area, New York, Dallas, Southern California, and Chicago. Thank you to the SPIRE “hosts”: Hanns Lee and Meris Ota (Bay Area),Amy Johannes and Andy Richard (New York), John Griggs (Dallas), Loryn Arkow and Charlie Rose (Southern California), and Danielle Dy Buncio and Jeff Jacobson (Chicago). We look forward to expanding the program in locations with cohorts of Stanford alums in real estate / the built environment.
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to departing SPIRE Board Members, Hanns Lee and Brian Patterson, for their vision, passion, leadership, and service. Hanns joins an illustrious group of SPIRE Board Member Emeriti for his service as Board President. While Hanns and Brian will be missed, we’re excited to know they’re always part of the SPIRE and Stanford communities.
SPIRE is off to a strong start in 2025, welcoming new Board Members Julla Boyd Corso and John Griggs. Led by Stanford Student Board Member, Gabriela Diaz, SPIRE hosted a January panel for students across campus, interested in learning about careers in real estate / built environment. SPIRE thanks Gabriela and Stanford alums / panelists Hilary Barte, Anna Cole, and Satej Desai. We hope you attended the recent webinar on 2025 Economic Trends and Strategies for Real Estate. SPIRE thanks Board Member and moderator Tricia Peterson and SREC members and panelists Emi Adachi and Brian Klinksiek for their insights. More than 400 registered for the March 13th event, and if you missed it, please find the recording link below.
SPIRE also received grant applications from 30 Stanford students / teams of students this February. It will award grants through the SPIRE Stanford Student Impact Fund in April, and we look forward to sharing the news with you. In partnership with the Stanford Alumni Association (SAA), SPIRE launched a mentorship pilot in Nelson Koen’s seminar (Opportunities in PropTech and ConTech) in winter quarter. Thank you SAA, Nelson, SPIRE mentors, and Stanford students who participated! SPIRE will fine-tune the program with another pilot in Nelson’s spring class (Real Estate Development and Finance).
We are thrilled to announce the distinguished honorees for this year’s Stanford Real Estate Hall of Fame. At the biennial banquet in November, the SPIRE community will celebrate the outstanding achievements of two remarkable Stanford alumni, who are making lasting contributions to the real estate industry and Stanford: Jeff Birdwell and Rick Magnuson.
More details are below, and the best source for all things SPIRE (e.g. announcements, events, leadership, membership, and resources, etc.) is our website: https://spirestanford.org/. Visit us there using the banners below, and feel free to contact us with questions, suggestions, and feedback.
As always, the SPIRE Board and Staff thank you for your engagement and support!
Warmly,
Lauren Barley ’82
SPIRE Executive Director
lauren@spirestanford.org
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