Glenn Rufrano
ICSC Chairman, 2022-2023| Former CEO, VEREIT, New York, NY, United States
Mr. Rufrano was most recently Chief Executive Officer of VEREIT, prior to its merger with Realty Income in November 2021. While at VEREIT, Mr. Rufrano reconstituted the Board of Directors, formalized the VEREIT management team and introduced a business plan to guide the Company’s strategy.
Prior to VEREIT, Mr. Rufrano served as the Chairman and CEO of O’Connor Capital Partners and was among the founders of O’Connor in 1983. During his career, Mr. Rufrano also served as President and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., CEO of Centro Properties Group, an Australian public LPT and as CEO of Centro Properties Group U.S.
Mr. Rufrano has served on the Board of Directors for Ventas, Inc.; Trizec Properties, Inc.; Criimi Mae Inc.; and General Growth Properties. He currently serves on the advisory boards at NYU’s Real Estate Institute and at The Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute Advisory Board at Baruch College. Mr. Rufrano currently serves on the Dean’s Council for the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts’ Advisory Board of Governors. He is a former trustee of the Urban Land Institute. He also serves on the Board of New Alternatives for Children. Mr. Rufrano earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University and Master of Science in Management and Real Estate from Florida International University.
James Taylor
ICSC Vice Chairman, 2023 | CEO & President, Brixmor Property Group, New York, NY, United States
James “Jim” M. Taylor was appointed CEO and President of Brixmor Property Group in May 2016 and to the company’s Board of Directors in June 2016. Jim brings more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry.
Prior to Brixmor, Mr. Taylor served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for Federal Realty Investment Trust, where he was also responsible for sourcing and evaluating business development and strategic opportunities for Federal Realty’s east coast portfolio and for operational oversight of its southeast portfolio. Before Federal Realty, Mr. Taylor was a Senior Managing Director and the head of real estate investment banking at Eastdil Secured/Wells Fargo. Earlier in his career, Mr. Taylor practiced corporate and securities law at the law firm of Hunton & Williams LLP, with a focus on equity REITs, and worked as a senior accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Mr. Taylor is an ICSC Trustee and a member of ICSC’s Executive Board and serves on the Executive Board of NAREIT. He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Mr. Taylor received a B.S. in Commerce and a J.D. from the University of Virginia, and he is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
John R. Morrison, CRX, CDP
ICSC Past Chairman | Director, Hines Securities, Toronto, ON, Canada
John R. Morrison is a Past ICSC Chair. He currently serves as Director, Hines Securities and President of JRMF Holdings Inc. He is the former Vice Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, a position he held for 7 years. He has over 40 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Mr. Morrison was President and Chief Executive Officer of Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust from 2009 to 2013. Prior to serving in that role, Mr. Morrison was President, Real Estate Management, at Oxford Properties Group.
Mr. Morrison has been an active volunteer member of ICSC for over 40 years. He has served as a Trustee of ICSC since 2008 and currently serves as Past Chair on the Executive Board. He is a Director of the ICSC Foundation and Chair of the ICSC Foundation Canada. He is also former Vice Chairman of the Urban Land Institute Toronto District Council and is Past Chair of the Toronto Metropolitan University Real Estate Advisory Committee. Mr. Morrison also serves on a number of corporate boards, including Automotive Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, Forum Real Estate and Impact Fund. He is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto. Mr. Morrison is an institute-certified director (ICD.D) with the Institute of Corporate Directors.
John C. Dolson
Senior Vice President — Store Development, Nordstrom, Inc., Seattle, WA, United States
As Senior Vice President of Store Development for Nordstrom, John Dolson supports the teams that are responsible for store development strategy, site selection, lease negotiation, design, construction, remodeling, asset management, facilities and energy management as well as non-retail real estate.
John began his career with Nordstrom in 1999 as an intern in the real estate department and has had increasing levels of responsibility since then. Prior to working for Nordstrom, John worked in the former Rich’s/Lazarus/Goldsmiths division of Federated Department Stores, which is now collectively called Macy’s. John earned his BA and MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Andrea Drasites
Senior Managing Director, Real Estate Group, Blackstone, New York, NY, United States
In her role as Senior Managing Director in the Real Estate Group at Blackstone, Ms. Drasites is responsible for the asset management and oversight of retail, gaming, digital infrastructure, and
tradeshow investments in the US including ShopCore, Edens, QTS, Phoenix Towers and International Market Centers. Prior to joining Blackstone, Ms. Drasites was responsible for asset management, acquisitions, and dispositions at Equity One, Inc. She began her real estate career at Woolbright Development.
Ms. Drasites received a BA in International Business from Rollins College and an MBA from the University of Florida. Ms. Drasites is a leader in the Blackstone Diversity & Inclusion Task Force and a member of the University of Florida’s Real Estate Advisory Board as well as the ICSC Board of Trustees and Executive Board. She is a Founding Member of the Board of Core Giving.
Conor C. Flynn
President & CEO, Kimco Realty Corporation, Jericho, NY, United States
Conor Flynn was named Chief Executive Officer of Kimco Realty and appointed to the company’s Board of Directors in January 2016. Mr. Flynn joined Kimco in 2003 as an asset manager and has held a variety of senior leadership roles within the company, including that of President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Investment Officer and President, Western Region.
Mr. Flynn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Yale University and a master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Mr. Flynn is a member of National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), serves on their Audit and Investment Committee, and is a founding member of Nareit’s Dividends Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion CEO Council. He is also a member of Real Estate Roundtable, Urban Land Institute (ULI), a trustee of ICSC and a member of ICSC’s executive board.
David G. Krueger
Senior Vice President, Growth and Development, ULTA Beauty, Inc., Bolingbrook, IL, United States
David Krueger is Senior Vice President of Growth and Development at Ulta Beauty, the largest beauty retailer in the United States with more than 1,350 stores, 350 Ulta Beauty at Target shops and 14 million square feet of retail. In his role, Mr. Krueger is responsible for leading Ulta Beauty’s store development strategy, site selection, lease negotiation, construction, remodeling, maintenance, energy management and corporate real estate planning. Prior to joining Ulta Beauty, Mr. Krueger was Vice President of Real Estate at Carter’s and Senior Vice President of Corporate Real Estate at Calere's (Brown Shoe Company).
Mr. Krueger received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MBA from Cardinal Stritch University.
Laurie Mahowald
Vice President, Real Estate, Target Corporation, Minneapolis, MN, United States
As vice president of real estate for Target Corp., Laurie Mahowald oversees new-store growth strategy and roughly 1,800 existing stores across the country. Before this, she was director of property development for Target Canada, where she led property management, construction and store design. She is an ICSC Foundation board member and a member of the ICSC OAC Summit Program Planning Committee, as well as a member of the Urban Land Institute.
Marty Mayer
President & CEO, Stirling Properties, Covington, Louisiana
Marty Mayer joined Stirling Properties in 1986 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2002. Under his leadership, Stirling Properties, located in the Gulf South, has continually grown as one of the most diversified full-service commercial real estate companies in the country.
Mr. Mayer is affiliated with numerous industry, business and charitable organizations, as well as economic development and entrepreneurial movements across local, regional and national levels. He has served in many roles for ICSC, including Chairman of PAC, Vice President of Southern Development, Special Committee on Public Policy, and Chairman of the Open-Air Center Committee. He has also served on ULI’s Small Scale Development Council–Black Flight and Silver Flight as past Chairman.
Mr. Mayer holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Kenton H. McKeehan
Chief Revenue Officer, Big V Property Group, Charlotte, NC, United States
Kenton McKeehan is the Chief Revenue Officer of Big V Property Group. Prior to Big V Property Group, Mr. McKeehan oversaw Hines’ retail activities worldwide including acquisition, disposition, retail and mixed-use development, redevelopment and asset management. Mr. McKeehan also worked for MG Herring and LaSalle Partners overseeing retail leasing activities and spent time working for himself as a developer, restaurant consultant and leasing advisor.
Mr. McKeehan has experience across all retail asset classes including grocery-anchored centers, power centers, lifestyle centers, malls and complex mixed-use assets on behalf of some of the largest institutions in the world.
Jodie W. McLean
CEO, EDENS, Washington, DC, United States
Jodie W. McLean is Chief Executive Officer of EDENS, one of the nation’s leading private owners, operators and developers of retail real estate. With a tenure of more than 25 years, she has been a key player in EDENS’ growth and expansion to its current marketplace leadership, capitalized by blue chip investors and assets valued at $6.5 billion.
McLean is responsible for EDENS’ strategy to move the portfolio to major urban centers and first-ring suburbs, creating a portfolio of assets that are the center of community life. She was named Chief Investment Officer in 1997, President in 2002 and CEO in 2015. Overall, she has been responsible for the development, redevelopment, acquisition and disposition of more than $20 billion in retail assets.
McLean serves on several boards, including Cushman & Wakefield, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Wofford College and Milhaus. She is also a Trustee of ICSC, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and The Real Estate Round Table. McLean is a member of the Liberty Fellowship (Aspen Institute), Class of 2009. A native of Chicago, IL, Jodie McLean holds a B.S. in Finance and Management from the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, and a degree from South Carolina Honors College.
Angele Robinson-Gaylord
Senior Vice President, Store Development Americas, Starbucks, Seattle, WA, United States
Angele Robinson-Gaylord has been helping retailers and developers create and implement strategies to grow and protect their real estate portfolios for over 15 years. Currently, she serves as Senior Vice President, Store Development Americas for Starbucks, leading a management team supporting 17,000+ retail locations in the United States and Canada.
Prior to joining Starbucks, at Rite Aid and IKEA, Angele led Store Development teams that oversaw site acquisition, design, construction and portfolio management for their retail portfolios. She formerly worked at McDonald’s Corporation in the U.S. Restaurant Development division, where she supported real estate issues for existing restaurants.
Before McDonald’s, Angele practiced law for over fifteen years in litigation and commercial real estate. Angele holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University and a J.D. from George Washington University School of Law. She is also a proud 2009 graduate of Project REAP, a market-driven education and professional development program that serves as a bridge between talented minority professionals and commercial real estate companies looking for talent. Angele serves on the board for ICSC, the ICSC Foundation, Project REAP and Success Academy.
Mark A. Schurgin
Co-Founder and Chairman, The Festival Companies, Los Angeles, CA, United States
As Co-Founder and Chairman of The Festival Companies, Mark Schurgin heads up all investment strategies and investor relationships and oversees the firm’s corporate direction. Mark Schurgin’s sharp entrepreneurial instincts and real estate investment acumen have produced exceptional returns for partners and clients. With over 40 years of national commercial real estate experience, Mark has been involved in the sourcing and creation of more than $5billion of retail and mixed-use properties. His development background also includes the development and syndications of more than thirty multi-family and condominium projects.
Mark serves as Trustee and Executive Board Member of ICSC and is a member of the CRC Blue Council of Urban Land Institute. A graduate of the University of Colorado, he is an active speaker for numerous industry organizations and sits on the executive boards of several charities. In 2008 Mark and Rosalind Schurgin established the Undergraduate Schurgin Family Foundation Scholarship, which provides college tuition assistance to undergraduate students who are studying retail real estate or a related field. The scholarship program is the Schurgin family’s legacy to give back to an industry that has brought them so much fulfillment.
John (J.P.) Suarez
Former EVP, Chief Administration Officer & Regional CEO, Canada, Chile and Massmart, Walmart International, Bentonville, AR
JP Suarez retired from Walmart where he acted as the EVP, Chief Administration Officer and Regional CEO, Chile and Massmart for Walmart International. JP led the teams responsible for Technology, Supply Chain, Global Leverage and Supplier Relationship Management. He also served on the board of Massmart, Walmart’s publicly held subsidiary in South Africa. Prior to this role, JP was the President of Walmart’s Realty Division and was responsible for leading all of Walmart’s Realty functions, including site selection, prototype design, construction, store maintenance, fixture and equipment procurement and portfolio management. JP has also been responsible for Business Development in Walmart’s International Division and looked after M&A activities, real estate, and global format development. He has also been the General Counsel for Walmart International and U.S. Sam’s Club and was the SVP and Chief Compliance Officer and served as the interim CEO for Walmart Canada. JP served five years as a board member on the University of Pennsylvania Law School Board of Overseers.
JP’s previous experience includes serving as President Bush’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance at the EPA and as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey. He was also the Director of N.J. Division of Gaming, where he oversaw New Jersey’s casino industry. JP has a B.A. in English and Drama from Tufts University, as well as a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he served as an Articles Editor for the Law Review. JP is married and has three children.