TORONTO (July 13, 2022) – The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto is excited to announce a series of changes to its local leadership.

Effective July 1, 2022, Michelle Ackerman, Consultant, Kilmer Infrastructure Developments Inc. joins the ULI Toronto Management Committee as Chair, succeeding Emma West, Partner, Bousfields Inc., who will continue to serve on the Executive Committee in her role as Past Chair and on the Governance Committee as Chair.

Emma West has also been appointed to the ULI Americas Executive Committee (AEC), the governing body of over 50 District Councils in Canada, the United States and Mexico, joining Toronto’s Ashley (Ash) Lawrence, Head of Alternatives, AGF.

Emma West is also incoming WLI Global Chair, starting July 1, 2023.

Andrew Garrett, Senior Principal, Real Estate, IMCO Investments, will serve as Vice Chair succeeding Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker, Partner, Urban Strategies Inc. Renée Gomes, Senior Vice President, Development, DiamondCorp will serve as Chair of Mission Advancement.

Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker has been appointed to Chair, ULI Toronto Advisory Board, succeeding Derek Goring, Executive Vice President, Development, Northcrest Developments, who was appointed Global Governing Trustee at the Urban Land Institute.

Cyndi has also been appointed as Co-chair of the international ULI Spring Meeting in Toronto (May 16-18, 2023), joining Ken Tanenbaum, Vice Chairman, Kilmer Group; Allison Wolfe, CFO and Head of Global Portfolio Management, Oxford Properties Group; and Ashley Lawrence, SVP and Head of Alternatives, AGF Investments.

Heela Omarkhail, Vice President of Social Impact at The Daniels Corporation succeeds Bader Elkhatib, Partner, Senior Vice President at CentreCourt. Tobias Oriwol, Vice President of Investments at Tricon Development will succeed Renée Gomes, Senior Vice President of Developments at Diamond Corp as Co-chairs of Program Committee.

Saira Muzaffar, Director, Marketing and Communications at BTY Group succeeds Meghan Wong, Vice President, Development, Heavy Rail (New Stations) at Metrolinx. And Anna Ritacca, Principal and Strategic Advisor at BEL+RIT Urbanism succeeds Kim Beckman, Senior Partner at Davies Howe LLP as Co-chairs of the WLI Committee.

ULI Toronto thanks Katarzyna (Kat) Sliwa, Partner at Dentons Canada LLP for serving as Membership Co-Chair for the last two years – leading ULI Toronto to become the largest District Council in the international network.

Alexandra Rybak, ULI’s founding staff member, has been promoted from Director to Senior Director, and recently celebrated 17 years with ULI Toronto’s District Council.

ULI Toronto’s membership has grown significantly, and in the past year has  convened more than 21,944 industry professionals online and has attracted over 33,300 attendees through a remarkable 183 events combined during the pandemic period. Under the direction of ULI Toronto Executive Director Richard Joy, the new leadership will be tasked with continuing to advance the global mission of the Urban Land Institute in the Toronto Region.

About ULI Toronto
Our mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. We provide our members with independent forums for discussion and debate about city building issues and best practices. ULI Toronto carries forth that mission, while helping to shape a sustainable and thriving future for the Toronto Region. We are supported by over 2500 public and private sector members.