Mike Strug, Co-President; YREPNY Founder
Mike, Senior Vice President--Carlton Advisory Group, is the Founder of YREPNY. He has spent his career on the debt side. Before joining Carlton, Mike was a bridge lender for Resource Real Estate Funding financing acquisition of valued added commercial properties nationwide. Previous lending positions for Mike include stints at IDBNY (2 years) and TIAA-CREF (3.5 years). Mike graduated from the Columbia Business School in 2001 with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance. Mike is a Texan as he was born and raised in Houston, TX. Before going to business school, Mike worked in commercial real estate for three years in Houston. Mike and his wife have two kids. Brett is 6 and Rebecca is 4.

Mike Benedetti
Mike is a Project Manager with the CB Richard Ellis Tri-State Project Management Group which is a consulting division within the firms' national Asset Services practice. From 2001 to 2004 Mike was with the National Multi Housing Group for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Company where as a broker, he facilitated transactions of $20 Million in aggregate property values. Mike received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University and his M.S. in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute as well as the Young Leadership Committee for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Mike coordinates events for YREPNY.

Randall Liberman
Randall, who recently moved to Newmark, was until recently the principal of The Premark Group, a boutique-marketing arm under the umbrella of Goodstein Realty. He has over four years of experience in residential and commercial leasing, management, and sales. His experience includes managing over 20 buildings and over 80 apartment units, and several small parking lots. Randall is currently working on residential property acquisitions and building conversions for development sites. Additionally, he is a licensed salesperson in the state of New York. Randall handles sponsorship for YREPNY.

Website: www.nycrew.org
Email: nycrew@crewnetwork.org

Taken straight from NYCREW's website:

A leading commercial real estate association in the New York metropolitan area composed of dynamic, diverse, and sophisticated women of influence within the commercial real estate industry.

Our Mission: To provide our members meaningful and rewarding opportunities for:

• Business Development
• Professional Training
• Access to Industry Resources
• Mentoring
• Leadership
• Community Outreach

Our Goals

• To encourage and promote business and professional opportunities for women in the field of commercial real estate in the New York metropolitan area.

• To provide a communication network among women in the field of commercial real estate.

• To further the professional development and expertise of members through educational opportunities.

• To encourage the recognition of women in the field of commercial real estate in the greater New York metropolitan area.

• To promote the highest professional standards among our members.

• To create leadership opportunities for members within the organization and in the greater business community.

• To recognize and exercise social responsibility by contributing to the larger community.

• To provide a diverse membership representative of those areas of commercial real estate deemed essential by the organization to provide a full spectrum of professional expertise in commercial real estate within its membership.

Real Estate Industry Party

www.realestateindustryparty.com

Every quarter a guy named Aaron McCann puts together a huge party - the last one was at Trump Tower. The party is free to attend (cash bar) and brings in people from all across the local industry. Aaron's even been featured in The Real Deal. . Text and information from typical invite are below:

"Please join us for a night of informal real estate networking. Every quarter, professionals from all aspects of the real estate development industry get together for a drink to talk with others in the business. The setting is relaxed, as these events specifically do not have an agenda, theme or real estate sponsor. The crowd is eclectic - developers, architects, brokers, urban planners, students, contractors, engineers, interior designers, equity investors, lenders, and lawyers - with a wide range of experience. It is a great opportunity to meet others in the New York real estate circuit.

Urban Land Institute - Young Leaders Group

http://newyork.uli.org

Text on the Young Leaders Group is below - you need to sign up as a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in order to participate. They might have upped this slightly, but recently, it cost $150 for a one-year associate membership to ULI (must be 35 or under) and $75 for a student membership. Student members may not get to participate in YLG (check on that) but you still get some benefits, like discounted admission to events.

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is one of the premier real estate organizations in the world. Here's the (partial) YLG text:

NEW YORK YOUNG LEADERS GROUP

For those professionals and students under 35 years of age, ULI New York has launched a special program called Young Leaders Group (YLG). There is a special rate of $150 for ULI membership. The New York ULI YLG Steering Committee has been meeting and planning a great year of activities for our Young Leaders.

Basically, ULI YLG involves you in seminars, workshops, UrbanPlan (a great initiative), and they have a networking program meant to match "mentors" and "proteges" - in other words, experienced people with inexperienced people. The only drawback to YLG is that its events generally aren't free - so if you're on any sort of budget pick and choose your spots.

Young Men/Women's Real Estate Association (YM/WREA)

The most exclusive of the local real estate organizations; in order to become a member of the YM/WREA you must have two years or more of real estate experience. You must also attend several events before even applying. In addition to hosting monthly luncheons with guest speakers (including people like Larry Silverstein, Michael Fascitelli, etc.), the YM/WREA is involved in several community initiatives and its members feature prominently in the local real estate community.

For more information visit www.ymwrea.com

Most flexible of the programs - also conveniently located at 11 West 42nd Street across from Bryant Park in Midtown. Students can take classes full- or part-time; maybe 70% of the students are part-time, and take two classes per semester. You can typically take anywhere between one and four classes per semester.

If you want insight into the REI program from a student perspective, visit the Real Estate Institute Student Association (REISA) website at www.nyu.edu/clubs/realestate. They have a vibrant online community there. For 2005-'06 the Student Club Presidents are:

Dave Fabian - dmf280@nyu.edu
Andy Ashwal - andrew@ashwal.net

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If you want to find out more about the program because you're considering attending, visit the website at www.scps.nyu.edu.

If you want to reach the Alumni Board, contact Carrie Lee at cachle@aol.com.

If you want more information about the school, or want to post a job to its students, the best person to contact at the REI is Fran Brooks - 212-992-3237. Or fb228@nyu.edu.

Columbia MBA (Real Estate Concentration)

Student Organization Website:
http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/students/organizations/rea/

Main Columbia MBA Website:
http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/departments/realestate/

Columbia Masters of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED)

One-year full-time program.

Main Website:
http://www.arch.columbia.edu/realestate/programdes.htm

Also check out the Center for High Density Development
http://www.arch.columbia.edu/realestate/chdd.htm

New York University MBA (Stern)

Program Website:
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/

Student Club Website:
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~reclub/

Baruch College

Main Website:
http://newmaninstitute.org/