Speaker Bios

SPEAKER BIOS 

Rebound
From Surviving to Thriving
   
 Ceasar Mitchell, Atlanta City Council President
  Attorney Ceasar C. Mitchell serves as the 7th President of the Atlanta City Council. Prior to being elected Council President, Mitchell served eight years as a citywide Councilmember. As a public official, Mitchell advocates for safer communities through specific initiatives including police foot patrols.  He has championed key legislation facilitating economic revitalization in underdeveloped areas by authoring measures to create 4 of the city's 10 Tax Allocation Districts and supporting legislation for community input in the Beltline Project.  In 2004, Mitchell stepped up his efforts to make Atlanta clean, green, safe and thriving by creating a Parks Advisory Group to provide recommendations for Atlanta to achieve and sustain a world-class parks and recreation system with a governance structure.
In March 2013, The Aspen Institute named Council President Mitchell to its 2013 Class of Henry Crown Fellows.  The Henry Crown Fellowship is a two-year program that engages the next generation of leaders in the challenge of community-spirited leadership.  Also, he currently serves as a member of the Midtown Alliance Board of Directors, the driving force behind the revitalization of Atlanta’s eclectic and vibrant Midtown community.                                                                                        
 
Scott Klososky, Future Point of View 
  Scott Klososky specializes in helping leaders see the world in new ways through his speaking, consulting and books. He has used innovation, velocity, and future vision to build his own companies and advise clients. Now he speaks worldwide to audiences of all sizes across a myriad of dynamic industries.
A former CEO of three successful tech startup companies and principal at consulting firm Future Point of View, Scott specializes in seeing beyond the horizon of how technology is changing the world.
 
Carol Doscher, Graceworks
  Carol Doscher, President and CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer) of Graceworks, has connected with audiences since she performed in Broadway's "Sweeney Todd." And it's not so far from the boards of Broadway to the boardrooms of America. Since founding Graceworks Inc. in 1995, she has trained thousands of AEC professionals globally to make that vital "human connection" in sales presentations, client meetings and lectures. Having been featured in The New York Times and on Bloomberg television, Carol has published numerous articles on presentation skills. Carol is also certified to use the Whole Brain® Thinking Assessment Tool (HDBI), helping her clients understand their thinking preferences. Prior to her current work, she marketed design and construction services for many years. 

Jen Hebblethwaite, Graceworks
  Jen Hebblethwaite, Champion of All Things Grace, is stationed in Graceworks' Atlanta office.  From commercial real estate to coaching Atlanta’s finest Men in Blue at the Forest Park Police Department, Jen is an experienced corporate trainer. She’s spent 10 years as a Teaching Artist for a Tony Award-winning theatre and has taught everything from playwriting to MBA Leadership/Communication on an undergraduate and graduate level. She is foremost a compassionate coach and trainer, but as our rogue academic, Jen also gets excited about things like semantics and semicolons. She heads up our Gracewriting® program and is certified in Whole Brain®  Thinking, which is designed to use every last brain cell. Jen’s teaching style is big and bold, and she can’t wait to help you help your readers!
Graceworks provides presentation, communication, writing and leadership training to clients globally. Our sessions are designed to free you to be yourself and connect comfortably and confidently with others - you’ll get an interactive, one-of-a-kind experience, not just training. Our promise to you? We’ll laugh, lives will be changed, and you’ll walk away knowing how to make The Human Connection.

Bryan Berthold Sr., SunTrust
  Bryan joined SunTrust Bank in 2012 as a Client Relationship Manager and leads strategic portfolio planning and analysis.  Bryan is also instructor and lead faculty for Corenet Global's Enterprise Alignment course which is part of the Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR) curriculum.
Prior to that Bryan worked in real estate at several financial institutions including:
•    Altisource Portfolio Solutions: Director of Corporate Services where he focused on the development of a global real estate portfolio and location strategy.  His efforts supported the BPO expansions that have doubled the company’s size in less than one year in India and include global location strategies and a new launch in the Philippines.
•    TD Bank Financial Group: VP of Corporate Real Estate overseeing their corporate portfolio which included the client relationship management, strategic planning and operations functions.  
•    Washington Mutual: Bryan managed the Real Estate Strategy and Relationship Management groups.  He led both the Real Estate Strategy function and the development of various enterprise, market and workplace real estate strategies; and the Relationship Management function to the business.
•    Capital One: Bryan spent 8 years at Capital One where he developed and led Capital One’s award winning Future of Work alternative workplace strategy.  Bryan served in a variety of roles including: VP CRE Strategy, Planning & Analysis; CRE Infrastructure and HR Decision Support.  Various responsibilities include: real estate portfolio, workplace and services strategy; alternative workplace strategy, strategic occupancy planning; economic development; labor demographics and location strategy; investments analysis; green and sustainability program; customer experience and change management programs; and merger and acquisition planning.  
•    Fleet Boston Financial (now Bank of America): Bryan has held numerous other real estate positions including VP, Director of Strategic Planning, CRE Senior Business Partner, Corporate Architect and Manager of Planning & Design.
A native of Connecticut and graduate of Syracuse University, Bryan practiced as a licensed architect in New England for over 12 years.  He currently resides in the Atlanta area with his wife Carol and has 2 daughters Amanda and Erica.  Amanda is a recent graduate of the University of Miami with degrees in Psychology and English and Erica is a recent graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis with degrees in film and communications while playing ice hockey and lacrosse.
 

Mike Hurst, SunTrust

Michael (“Mike”) Hurst is the Director of Corporate Real Estate & Workplace (CREW) for SunTrust Bank.  In this role he oversees real estate strategy, development activity, project management, real estate transactions, real estate compliance, workplace planning and design and real estate utilization and policy.  Although unrelated to real estate, Hurst also manages SunTrust Aviation. Mike previously served SunTrust as the Commercial OREO Manager and as President of Transom Development, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SunTrust Bank.
Prior to joining SunTrust in November, 2000, Mike practiced law as a shareholder in the firm Blanco, Tackabery, Combs & Matamoros, P.A., in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  In his legal practice Hurst focused on real estate finance, tax and securities law issues particularly related to real estate transactions.
Mike serves on the Board of Central Atlanta Progress and is active with several not for profit groups in North Carolina.  Hurst earned a Bachelors Of Public Administration with Highest Honors from Florida International University and his Juris Doctorate degree cum laude from Wake Forest University.

Harry Banks, SunTrust

Harry Banks is a 34 year veteran within the technology field with a multitude of experience across several disciplines, both technical and managerial.  He started his IT career as an application developer before moving into the systems programming arena supporting mainframes.  A few years later he began the transition into a leadership role and since that period has had several successful job engagements crossing all aspects of managing technical computing infrastructure planning, engineering, delivery, and operations departments.  He is currently responsible for the Applications Services Strategy Office for one of the top super-regional US banks.  
Major accomplishments include creation and delivery of large scale programs, building and moving data centers, large data/voice network upgrades, and many major technology hardware/software upgrades.

Cat Cotman, Cassidy Turley

Cathrine leads Cassidy Turley’s SunTrust account team responsible for Strategy, Transactions, Project Management, Space Planning, and Lease Administration for the financial institution’s entire 15M SF footprint.  In addition, she is responsible for the Trust Real Estate asset management function, managing real estate investment assets for SunTrust individual wealth clients.  

Ms. Cotman joined Cassidy Turley as a veteran CRE executive with a successful track record of leading strategy and planning teams for Fortune 100 Financial Services firms. Most recently, she led a real estate portfolio strategy team at Bank of America overseeing a 100 million-square-foot portfolio.

John Cantrell, HOK
  John Cantrell is a designer at HOK with a specialty in the design of highly-branded, sustainable environments with clients such as Porsche, Sony Mobile and Bacardi USA and product designs for brands such as Mohawk and Steelcase. His work and words on design can be seen in publications such as Interior Design magazine, Fast Company, GB+C magazine and awards from organizations such as USGBC, IIDA, ASID and Antron. John has served on the Advisory Board for the Building Arts Department for SCAD; the Sustainable Design Advisor for the Georgia Chapter of IIDA; and chair of the 2008/09 “Trash to Treasure” Art Auction supporting Public Art for the Atlanta BeltLine. He currently curates for Modern Atlanta’s ‘Design Is Material’ exhibition exploring new and bold philosophies and research into material design and fabrication. John studied design at the Pratt Institute and Savannah College of Art and Design.

Joseph Geierman,Troutman Sanders LLP
  Joseph Geierman is Senior Manager of Facilities Operations at Troutman Sanders LLP, where he has worked since 2009. Prior to joining the law firm, he worked for 9 years at EarthLink, holding various facilities-related positions. Mr. Geierman graduated with highest honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz and holds a master’s degree in Building Construction and Facility Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He serves as Vice President of the IFMA Legal Council and was elected President of the Atlanta Chapter of IFMA for the 2014-2015 term. Mr. Geierman has earned IFMA's Certified Facility Manager (CFM) and Facility Management Professional (FMP) designations, and is one class away from completing CoreNet’s MCR designation. He has been recognized by his peers in the Atlanta Chapter of IFMA with the Martha C. Osborne CFM award and the Distinguished Member Award.
Bo Reddic, Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc.
  Carroll A. (Bo) Reddic, IV is the Executive Vice President for Real Estate Operations at Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. His responsibilities include leading the company’s asset and property management divisions. Additionally, he provides oversight to the company’s construction management and tenant relationship functions. Mr. Reddic is a member of the company’s executive and investment committees.  
At Wells Real Estate Funds, Mr. Reddic was a Managing Director in the Asset Management Department. He was responsible for supervising the firm’s asset management function in its Midwest and South regions. Additionally, he served in a deputy department head capacity. Also, Mr. Reddic was on the Board of Directors and membership chairman for Wells Real Estate Funds’ political action committee, Wells PAC.
Mr. Reddic has 25 years of institutional real estate experience. Prior to joining Wells Real Estate Funds in January 2005, Mr. Reddic was an Executive Director with Morgan Stanley (including the predecessor companies of The Yarmouth Group and Lend Lease Real Estate Investments) from February 1990 to December 31, 2004, where he served as portfolio manager for domestic commingled investment funds and international separate account portfolios. Prior to his portfolio manager responsibilities, he was a member of the Atlanta regional office working in various capacities including acquisitions, asset management, and dispositions. Mr. Reddic’s experience includes assets within the office, industrial, retail and hotel sectors managing the entire life cycle of assets. Additionally, Mr. Reddic has represented investor interests in a private REIT and numerous joint ventures. Prior to joining The Yarmouth Group, Mr. Reddic was employed at Laventhol & Horwath in its real estate consulting and appraisal division.
Mr. Reddic received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management and a Certificate in Industrial Psychology, with honors, from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of City Planning degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. While working on his graduate degree, Mr. Reddic was a graduate teaching assistant and a graduate research assistant at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in its Economic Development Laboratory (EDL). He is a member of the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties (NAIOP), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and CoreNet Global. Additionally, Mr. Reddic is a Trustee of NAIOP-PAC and a member of the Advisory Board for the City and Regional Planning Program at Georgia Tech.

Gregg Simon, Metro Atlanta Chamber
  Gregg D. Simon is Director – Technology Industry Development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber.  In his role Mr. Simon works to build Atlanta’s technology cluster in the areas of internet and network security, mobile communications, software development and engineering, transaction processing, and digital media and content.
Mr. Simon brings almost 20 years of economic development experience to the Metro Atlanta Chamber.  Prior to his current role, Mr. Simon was Manager of Business Engagement for the Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) where he worked to help existing businesses in the City of Atlanta and to attract new ones.  Before coming to Atlanta, he was the Director of Business Services for the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development, a private non-profit economic development organization dedicated to business growth in Massachusetts.  He also worked for Empire State Development, New York State’s economic development agency with a focus on business retention and expansion in the Buffalo regional office.
Mr. Simon’s work in Atlanta, Massachusetts and New York has included administration of tax and financial incentive programs, business retention and attraction marketing initiatives, economic development policy creation and implementation, and special event planning.  Mr. Simon has worked with businesses such as Panasonic Automotive Systems of America, Ernst & Young, Novelis, Kemira, Invesco, Wipro, Bristol Myers Squibb, Straumann, Target, General Motors, 3M, Ford, Delphi, and many others to support business expansions resulting in job retention and creation.
Mr. Simon is a graduate of the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY and lives in Atlanta with his wife and three children.

Stephen Swicegood, Gensler
  Stephen is the Managing Director of the Gensler Atlanta office. A graduate of the Auburn University College of Architecture, Design and Construction, he is a 40-year veteran of the architecture and design profession. He holds NCARB certification and is licensed to practice architecture in 25 of the 50 United States. In 2004, he was elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects for his pioneering work in workplace strategy and design.  Stephen has held leadership positions at all levels of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 2004, he completed a three-year term on the AIA National Board of Directors representing over 4,000 AIA members in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. He is currently serves on the CoreNet Atlanta Board of Directors and chairs the chapter’s Programs Committee. In the community, he chairs the Board of Directors of the Decatur Preservation Alliance.
 
Amy Dils, Knoll
  Amy Dils is the Director of Business Development for Knoll in Atlanta. Mrs. Dils joined Knoll in 2012, with more than six years of industry experience, in the field of Interior Design. In her current role, Amy is the primary liaison between Knoll and the Atlanta Commercial Real Estate community, delivering value-added service while marketing Knoll solutions to project managers, end-users, and designers/architects. She also provides strategic support for the Knoll and Corporate Environments sales teams. Currently Amy is an active member of NAIOP, and serves on the Programs Committee for CoreNet Atlanta Chapter.
Prior to joining Knoll, Amy was employed by VeenendaalCave for five years where she managed a project team and large, complex accounts. She worked her way up from an Intern to Design Team Manager in her tenure with the firm. Her design background and project experience has provided her with the means to effectively contribute to large scale corporate accounts as well as design driven project opportunities.
Amy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from Auburn University. While at Auburn Mrs. Dils was actively involved in community-service activities including Habitat for Humanity, The Boys and Girls Clun and Project Uplift.
 John Duisberg, Cooleaf Inc.
  John Duisberg is a Co-Founder of Cooleaf, a technology company based in Atlanta, GA that offers a web and mobile employee engagement platform for top workplace organizations. At Cooleaf, John is responsible for overall product strategy and business development. Prior to joining Cooleaf, John spent 8 years in the healthcare technology industry focusing on new product development for EMR systems and 2 years with an e-commerce startup company.   
 Tyler Disk, Smith & Howard PC
  Tyler is a Senior in the Tax Group at Smith & Howard, a public accounting and advisory firm located in midtown Atlanta.  Tyler provides consulting, tax planning, and accounting services to businesses and individuals in a wide variety of industries with a focus on the technology, real estate, hospitality, and transportation markets.  Prior to joining Smith & Howard Tyler spent almost two years working in a business development/consulting role with a medical device start-up based out of the ATDC.  Tyler obtained an undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech in Business Management with a dual concentration in Operations & Supply Chain and Accounting.  While at Georgia Tech Tyler served as the Public and Corporate Relations chair on the executive board of H.E.R.O. (Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out), a non-profit based out of Atlanta, GA.  He is currently enrolled at Georgia State University in pursuit of a Masters of Accounting degree and is a member of TAG and GSCPA.   

Julie Seitz, The Coca-Cola Company 
  Julie is leading an ambitious mission to reimagine and revitalize the Atlanta headquarters campus of The Coca-Cola Company, and to define the future of the Company’s workplace globally. One of the few professionals in the workplace industry without a real estate background, Julie is reflecting on her deep understanding of what makes Coca-Cola the world’s best-loved brand, she’s passionate about grounding workplace thinking in the brand essence and experience rather than only considering traditional real estate issues. Prior to her 18 years at Coca-Cola, she worked at IBM in sales and sales management. She’s very active in the community, serving on three boards and a 2013 graduate of Leadership Atlanta. She loves Clemson football, having earned her degree in Mathematical Sciences there.
Kate Culver, The Coca-Cola Company
   Kate Culver is the Design and Construction Lead for Workplace 2020 at The Coca-Cola Company–possibly the most complex corporate renovation of a fully-occupied global headquarters ever. Since joining the team in 2010, at any given time, Kate is leading multiple full-scale construction projects –each at a different stages of a project life cycle: budgeting, planning and programming, design, preconstruction pricing, decommissioning, construction, and turning over finished space to occupants and service providers. Kate holds a Masters of Business Administration, a Masters of Science in Real Estate, and a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design.
Justin Kuczmarski, MBA, CPA, CVA, CIRA, ABV, Crowe Horwath LLP
  Mr. Justin Kuczmarski, MBA, CPA, CVA, CIRA, ABV, CFF is an Executive and financial advisory / valuation expert at Crowe Horwath LLP, a leading CPA and professional services firm.
Mr. Kuczmarski possesses a unique background combining senior experience in both M&A investment banking (M&A corporate finance) and financial advisory services (securities/business valuation, litigation consulting and bankruptcy/restructuring). Prior to Crowe Horwath LLP, he previously worked as an investment banker directing the valuation and fairness opinion practice of a leading middle-market M&A investment bank. Mr. Kuczmarski has been involved in over 150 transactions during his 13-year career from either a financial advisory or M&A banking perspective.

 George Azih, LeaseQuery
   George Azih is the founder of LeaseQuery LLC, which develops cloud software to simplify lease accounting. He currently also serves as the Technical Accounting Reporting Specialist at Graphic Packaging Holding Company, a leading provider of packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. Prior to Graphic Packaging, George worked as an auditor at a regional Accounting Firm in Atlanta, specializing in audits of financial institutions. He graduated with a degree in accounting from the J.M. Tull School of Accounting at the University of Georgia in 2003, and is a member of the AICPA and GSCPAs.

Stanley K. Gibson, CPM®, MCR.h, Wells Fargo
  As Senior Vice President, Stan oversees Corporate Workplace and Real Estate Strategy for Wells Fargo’s administrative portfolio consisting of 55 million square feet of administrative office. Stan’s past experience at Wells Fargo also included oversight of all corporate real estate functions for Wells Fargo Financial including strategic planning, property management, construction, corporate leasing and purchasing.
Stan has over 30 years of real estate experience in the industry. Prior to his role at Wells Fargo, he served for six years as senior vice president at Terrus Real Estate Group, where he oversaw corporate real estate consulting and business development. In addition, Stan spent 12 years directing corporate real estate activities for the Principal Financial Group as well as spending 11 years in Dallas, TX working with the Vantage Companies and Lincoln Property Company.
Stan is a faculty member for CoreNet Global and a lead instructor for “Real Estate Transactions Impact on Corporate Financial Statements” and “Portfolio Restructure” in which he has earned top faculty honors for the last 15 years.