NEW YORK, NY—August 29, 2023 — The Real Estate Lenders Association (“RELA”) is pleased to announce its National Board members for the July 2023 – June 2024 membership year, and will continue to be led by chairwoman Karen Ramos, Managing Director/Head of Distribution and Asset Rotation Americas, Credit Agricole CIB.
RELA has grown to become a truly national platform with eight chapters, including the expansion of our San Francisco chapter to other states west of Mississippi, now renamed as “RELA West” (Northern and Southern California, and Denver) and additional pop-up events to be held this fall in new markets to continue our potential growth and expansion in cities across the U.S. The demand for RELA’s expansion continues to be strong, especially post-Covid, with record attendance at events and membership levels and sponsorship support at an all-time high.
“I’m thrilled to work with the brilliant, highly competent, and hardworking returning and new National Board members who will continue to bring in new energy and fresh ideas to RELA. We are a volunteer organization relying fully on the efforts of our National Board members and Chapter officers…our success is totally dependent on our team members! This year, our pipeline of programming and events will be extensive, including but not limited to, property tours, panel presentations with industry leaders and renowned industry leaders and economists, networking events and more, both in-person and select virtual format.” said Karen Ramos.
Returning 2023-2024 National RELA Board Members include:
- Karen Ramos, Credit Agricole CIB, Chairwoman
- Doug Marron, Raymond James, new Vice Chairman (took over from Benjamin Stacks)
- Helga Blum, Bayerische Landesbank, Treasurer
- Kip Sanford, Fifth Third Bank, Secretary
- Nicholas Eng, Capital One
- Ben Flanders, Santander
- Andrew Fleming, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG
- Colleen Foy, M&T Bank
- Richard Grani, Valley Bank
- Andrew Huggett, CIT Capital Markets
- Carina Kalaw, Bank United
- Paul Kesicki, TD Bank
- Paul Kinyon, Bank of America
- Mark Lanspa, Wells Fargo
- Kathryn Marchi, CIBC
- Juliana Matson, JP Morgan
- Michael Rogers, TD Bank
- Emily Rush, SVP Private
- Benjamin Stacks, Bank United
- Jeffrey Wallace, Fulton Bank
- James Whelan, J.P. Morgan Chase
New National RELA Board Members include:
- Christopher Csontos, TD Bank
- Mauricio Duran, CIBC
About The Real Estate Lenders Association
The Real Estate Lenders Association, Inc. (RELA) Is a not-for-profit corporation formed in 1991 to provide a forum for real estate lenders to advance their knowledge and expertise in their industry. RELA’s focus is on education, networking, and opportunity. Through a rich and varied program of panel presentations, property tours, seminars, and networking events, we bring together professionals from the commercial real estate finance and lending industry who share knowledge, connections, ideas and information. Our goal is to support, enhance and encourage the professional growth of our members through the opportunity to meet and learn from other talented and committed professionals.
For further information on the Real Estate Lenders Association, visit our website at http://www.rela.org