2023 Summer Alumni Profiles

Paula is a Commercial Real Estate Broker and Creative Consultant. 
She earned her MBA at Hampton University in Hampton, VA. 

Paula is the founder and Principal of Millennial Estates, a full-service brokerage firm specializing in multifamily assets.

Throughout her career, CRE has been her primary focus. Paula's experience includes; franchise leasing, private practice conversion, property management, and multifamily acquisition. 

As a business-savvy professional and a creative advisor, she assists entrepreneurs in strategically scaling their businesses.

Concurrently, Paula intends to share the knowledge she gains from The Ross Program to educate minorities in underserved communities.

Email: 2013.pb@gmail.com

Susan Burroughs, MHA, FACHE is a Los Angeles native who began her career in healthcare leadership in Southern California in acute-care not-for-profit, private and government owned organizations and companies. Most recently she served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast and the Fairfield Emergency Department and Imaging. As CEO, Susan had oversight of the vision and execution of MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast’s and Fairfield Emergency Department and Imaging’s strategic business, and patient care delivery plans. In addition, she had responsibility for MUSC Health Midlands Division (3 Acute Care Hospitals, 1 Free Standing ED (FSED), 1 Urgent Care Center) Imaging, Pharmacy, Rehab Services, and Sleep Center service lines.

Susan’s core values and goals have been laser-focused on creating and expanding access to quality care and patient-centered services that were previously unavailable for communities. She is a leader who is enthusiastic about large-scale projects, which help healthcare organizations grow in a way they have never grown before. Susan has consistently been willing to disrupt and advocate while creating innovative projects and services for acute-care hospitals to provide access to care for all populations. Susan’s gift is galvanizing teams to explore creative business strategies that create new revenue streams, increase efficiency, maintain market share, and increase market growth for hospitals and health systems. She is especially interested in all the rapid changes occurring in healthcare and is intrigued by innovative, disruptive commercial real estate models in emerging communities that include a more patient-centered approach to providing neighborhood care in a mixed-use model. These transformative mixed-use models could impact the population health of multiple communities and provide access to culturally competent care for urban and suburban communities as part of real estate developments in primary, secondary and emerging markets.

Ms. Burroughs holds a B.A. in Biology from Cal State University, Northridge, and is an alumnus of the University of Southern California holding both an MHA degree and a Graduate Certificate in the Management of Ambulatory Care Systems.

Email: srburroughs@outlook.com

Born and raised in a family of LA designers and developers, Stefano has been involved in construction and development since childhood. After graduating with a degree in construction management, he has worked as a construction superintendent for over 8 years in various parts of the industry (historic preservation, custom home building, commercial landscape construction to name a few). He has always simultaneously worked on his own real estate investments, completing eight development projects to date. In the fall of 2020, he started his own construction and development business (Elcano Construction Inc.) focusing on construction/renovation of single-family residences, ADUs, and small multifamily developments in Los Angeles. Since opening its doors, Elcano has done over $4m in sales in its first two years.

Email: elcanocd@gmail.com

Dennis completed his undergraduate education at UCLA with a B.A. in International Development Studies, and a minor in Latin American Studies. He then went on to get a Master of Public Policy and a certificate in Global Urbanization and Development, also at UCLA. His career has focused in seeking a solution to housing issues in Los Angeles. He has been interested in housing issues since he was growing up in Peru, where he noticed the lack of decent, affordable houses, which in turn created the rise of informal settlements that lack basic services.

After working in homelessness services at LAHSA, he started working in real estate asset management, where he acquired more experience in affordable housing and development. He intends to continue focusing on this field, given the urgency to build and develop more affordable units in California. 

After the Ross Program, Dennis plans to join an affordable housing developer as a project manager, in order to contribute to the creation of more affordable units. Dennis currently lives in the San Fernando Valley.

Email: dennis.avila.g@gmail.com
 

Chelsea S. Everett is a Management Consultant Manager at Accenture, a Global Fortune 500 professional services company with clients encompassing 91 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 – it is the largest consulting firm in the world. Since 2012, Chelsea has solved complex challenges for various cross industry clients at Accenture delivering solutions mainly for system implementations through strategic planning, process improvements, change management, and project management. Working cross industry provided Chelsea with a level of experience supporting both commercial and public service clients such as state and local governments and agencies, companies such as pharmaceutical, utility, products, and non-profit organizations. She is also skilled in completing Request for Proposals (RFPs).

Living in Los Angeles has fueled Chelsea’s passion for solving Homelessness, she recently started a “Housing Practice’ and Sales Housing Tiger Team becoming a trailblazer within Accenture’s Public Service offering. She has led this group in creating the foundational layers necessary to improve processes currently impacting the “unhoused” and “housed” at the city, county, state, and national level.

In addition to working as a Management Consultant, Chelsea has been a licensed Real Estate agent with Keller Williams since 2017, and a Real Estate Investor since 2018.

Chelsea is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, Asian Studies minor. While at Spelman, she was an international exchange student at East China Normal University. She often says that she was charged by Spelman College to “Choose to Change the World” and has since become passionate about correcting the social injustices that occur within all lenses that make up a society.

Currently, Chelsea is rehabbing an investment property and has created an Investor Tour showcasing Real Estate and Economic Growth opportunities within East Baltimore. Upon completion of the USC Ross Program in Real Estate, Chelsea intends to focus on Commercial Real Estate Sales and Real Estate Development to make tangible impact, solving complex housing issues for those living in underserved communities. Chelsea is currently Bi-Coastal, living in both Columbia, Maryland and Los Angeles, California.

Email: Chelsea.Everett@gmail.com

Ruby Harris is Senior Director of Capital Solutions and Partnerships with Enterprise Community Partners, a national organization focused on the production and preservation of affordable housing. In her role, she supports the local affordable housing ecosystem, including developer capacity, creative capital deployment and policy initiatives. Ruby's career has been centered in community-based real estate strategies, with experience ranging from nonprofit management, program and product design, project management, public policy, finance and grant-making. Prior to Enterprise, Ruby served as Director of Real Estate Solutions (Consulting) and Co-Director of Lending at Community Vision (a Northern CA regional CDFI) and created the Small Sites Program, an acquisition and rehab program, at the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development in San Francisco. Ruby holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley in Ethnic Studies and City Planning.

Email: rharris@enterprisecommunity.org

Michelle Iarusso is a trial attorney and founder of Iarusso Legal APC who has been first or second chair in numerous trials and arbitrations. Her practice focuses on employment-related issues including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and business litigation.

Michelle has more than ten years of experience litigating and trying a variety of complex cases. She’s obtained great results for her clients because of her in-depth knowledge of the law, contracts and litigation strategy, tenacious spirit and her genuine care for her clients.

Michelle is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and UCLA School of Law- where she also clerked for the Los Angeles Public Defender’s office. She later served as a Fellow with the American Board of Trial Advocates with several law firms and a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

Michelle is the mother of two girls for whom she works to make the world a better and more fair place. To that end Ms. Iarusso does pro bono Marsy's Law representation for victims of sexual assault. She also is a founding board member of two non-profits - Black Doc Village and Undergrad Prep.

Email: michelle@iarusso.legal

Jasper Joseph is a real estate broker and the co-owner of JD Emory, Inc., a luxury real estate development company based in Encino, CA. She is currently developing two triplexes in North Hollywood and a host of other single-family homes in the San Fernando Valley.

Jasper’s passion for real estate development began at just two years old. Watching her mother develop a small community of homes, she knew then that her destiny would lie in developing. Before co-owning JD Emory, Inc., Jasper worked in and studied real estate most of her life. She began her career assisting a developer in building a multimillion-dollar property from the ground up. While assisting, she gained valuable, hands-on experience in construction management, design, and fundraising. Eager to also learn the sales side of real estate, Jasper transitioned to an agent’s assistant. There, she learned practical market analysis, hosted open houses for million-dollar properties, and designed top-notch marketing materials.

Jasper’s early passion for real estate allowed her to tailor her education to be successful in the field. She graduated from San Diego State University with a Business Administration Real Estate degree. She was awarded the prestigious Steven L. Black Endowed Full Scholarship for Real Estate. Her involvement in many business and career-focused organizations and her education taught her leadership, charisma, and the importance of meaningful connections.

Success for Jasper includes creating opportunities and empowering other members of her community to create generational wealth through real estate, as well as inspiring women to become investors and developers in their communities. Her passion for all facets of real estate makes her among Los Angeles’ most promising young developers.

Email: jasper@jdemory.com

Kalli Knight is a Senior Associate at Colliers and a Multifamily expert specializing in selling market rate, affordable, and new development multifamily investments across Southern California. The commercial real estate professional began her career at Colliers in 2017 and has since generated a trusted client base and secured a reputable status with the involvement of high-profile transactions throughout Los Angeles.

As a previous business development executive of a Fortune 500 company, Kalli brings forth a valuable understanding of today’s current market, working alongside The Kitty Wallace Team to strategize and provide substantial market intelligence. What sets Kalli apart is her solutionist and tenacious spirit. She is astute in developing a meticulous approach to adhere to her client’s business objectives and successfully crafts tailored solutions for institutional and private sector users. With over 20 years in the industry, Kalli is well-positioned to curate seamless transactions. She is often responsible for retrieving high-value listings, cross-collaborating among industrial and office brokers for the most lucrative partnerships, and executing sales, underwriting, client evaluations, and financial analysis.

In her tenure, she has completed an array of notable transactions, which include the $46 million sale of the Hollywood Landmark—The Gershwin, a $21 million portfolio sale of AB14 non-rent control multifamily investments in Hollywood and Koreatown amidst the pandemic, and the sale of new construction in Silverlake at a record $680,000 per unit for the market. She was also most recently recognized by the Emerging Leaders at the NMHC 2023 Conference.

Email: Kalli.Knight@colliers.com

Myles McKee-Osibodu works in the real estate development/construction industry as the owner & operator of M. O. Consulting, LLC, where he works in partnership with Efficient Construction, a home improvement construction company based out of Gardena, CA, as a Project Manager & Sales Representative. Myles provides expert consulting services for homeowners throughout southern California regarding the aesthetic revitalization and structural integrity of what are often his clients’ most significant intrinsic & financial assets. Serving all of Los Angeles & Orange Counties, Myles makes a concerted effort to focus his endeavors in the often underserved & underdeveloped urban communities of Compton, Inglewood, South Central Los Angeles & Long Beach.

A first-generation college student, Myles graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences in Business Administration – Marketing & a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Montana where he was also an NCAA Division I student-athlete (football – 2x Team Captain), served as the Vice President of the American Marketing Association and was a member of the Black Student Union. In addition to his endeavors in real estate, a proud Nigerian-American, Myles also serves as the Co-Director of Operations for Nigeria Basketball (the Nigerian Men’s National Basketball team) and represented Nigeria at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Growing up in a family full of individuals with real estate-oriented careers, Myles’ motivation & inspiration for pursuing a career of his own in real estate is deeply rooted in his upbringing. His mother worked as Jr. Escrow Officer, his grandmother works as a Sales Agent & his grandfather was a well-renowned real estate agent throughout Orange & Riverside Counties, however, Myles’ intentions in real estate are to forge his own path working in the development & investing space. Myles lives in Los Angeles.

Email: myles_olamijulo@msn.com

Roy Payan is a Public Policy expert in Disability Rights, housing and land use issues and has been Vice President of Northeast Los Angeles - Save Our Undeveloped Lands (NELA SOUL for the last two years, where he balances preserving open land spaces and wildlife corridors while addressing housing needs.

Prior to forming NELA – SOUL, Roy Payan served as President of the Montecito Heights Improvement Association for 14 years since 2007, where he reviewed development proposals, housing construction fill-ins, oversaw the Planning and Land-use Committee for adherence to the planning and building codes. Roy was also instrumental in obtaining LA County funds to acquire open land spaces for the purpose of converting into public parks as well as implementing rain water reclamation projects and helping to write the Northeast Los Angeles Hillside Ordinance.

More recently, Roy Payan has worked on a program analysis of the county’s Los Angeles Homeless Shelter Authority to review program misuse and policy failures.

Roy earned his BA in Rehabilitation Services with a minor in Public Administration at Cal State Los Angeles and his Masters from the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Roy has won several national awards for his advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities. He completed a Fellowship at RespectAbility.org in Public Policy where he reviewed disability policies at the federal, state, county and city levels and informed elected and civic officials on how to improve workforce and housing policies.

Roy plans to acquire the necessary skills in housing development to create Community Land Trust to build truly affordable housing for purchase by persons with disabilities to begin to close the generational wealth gap for this demographic.

After evaluating and researching the housing needs of persons with disabilities in the Disability Compendium published annually by the U.S. Census Bureau, he came to the realization that there is a shortage of affordable housing for this under represented group throughout the US. He aspires to implement these developments throughout the nation to begin to attenuate these statistics and begin to ameliorate the lives of persons with disabilities in every state. Roy Payan lives in Los Angeles.

Email: repayan4197@gmail.com

Blake Taylor currently serves as the Director of Accounting of her family office, which has a holding and investment arm with a portfolio of companies having exposure in Healthcare, Commercial Real Estate and land ownership. She is responsible for providing oversight, guidance, planning, and supervisory functions. Her role is to aid in the implementation of company vision and strategic direction while tracking economic and business market shifts. She is keen on forecasting multiple aspects of a deal in order to know what is feasible but also to accurately assess risk and stay on budget. A lot of her work is collaborative. She is currently managing several large-scale tenant build outs. Blake and her team work with banking institutions, lenders, building managers, architects, structural engineers, contractors and designers.

Blake possess 15-years of comprehensive accounting experience with a focus in real estate, healthcare and small business consulting. Blake graduated from The Catholic University of America, in Washington D.C, with a B.S.B.A with an emphasis in accounting.

When Blake is not serving on her Alumni Association Board of Directors, for her alumna, she is an active volunteer on the finance council of her church, is a volunteer and member of the Huntington Gardens, enjoys playing tennis, is an avid skier and likes to tinker, play chess, and work on entrepreneurial endeavors.

Blake has a keen eye on the future, as such; she prioritizes gaining the knowledge necessary to be a good steward of the land and property within her care. She is looking forward to expanding her financial modeling skill set and expanding her understanding of the upstream and downstream effects of real estate development.

She is excited upon the completion of the Ross Program, to provide accounting consulting services for independent small-scale projects, which have tangible change that lead to positive community impact.

Email: blaket@asereth.com

Gabriela Vega has worked with non-profit 501c3 housing developers for seven years. Since joining Decro corporation in early 2020, she has been promoted from Assistant Project Manager to Community Development Manager after demonstrating strong organizational, project management, and leadership skills in her work. Gabriela has mixed experience with new construction and acquisition/rehabilitation deals. She has prepared funding applications and has successfully been awarded tax credits and Project based vouchers for a project in Lincoln Heights, CA. She is currently tracking day-to-day aspects of a 97-unit affordable housing development for families and special needs population suited to get leased up by the end of 2023. Gabriela’s dedication to redevelop underserved communities have been exceptional, working tirelessly to secure grants with key community service partners, including more than $8 million for Homeboy Industries to acquire and renovate multiple sites for their expanded workforce training services. With Gabriela’s experience and education, she expects to continue supporting underserved communities to thrive and become sustainable and equitable. Gabriela holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of California, Merced and recently completed the Housing Development Training Institute program hosted by Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Email: gvega@decro.org

Christopher White has had a rewarding career with Southern California Edison and uses his extensive experience to inform his current pursuits. He is focused on bringing positive change to the region by investing in projects related to the California housing crisis. Christopher believes increasing access to affordable housing is essential for improving the quality of life for residents in Southern California and beyond. As a passionate advocate for the cause, he has taken on personal projects related to this issue. He firmly believes in the motto “Think Global, Act Local” and is actively using his resources and expertise to bring tangible solutions to the California Housing Crisis.

Email: Chris21white@outlook.com

As a Rotational Program Analyst in Asset Management at TIAA, Raekwon collaborates with partnership representatives, property managers, and housing agencies to stay informed about policy changes related to specialized housing programs. He is responsible for monitoring, analyzing, and synthesizing financial and operating reports, ensuring quality control of financial data, compliance reporting obligations, and property audits. Additionally, Raekwon assists in the preparation of annual property audits and internal desktop valuations.

Prior to his current role, Raekwon served as the Finance Director at The Connected Foundation, a national non-profit organization. In this capacity, he managed all matters relating to budgeting and money management, tracked national chapter funds raised, submitted reimbursements, and secured funding through grant applications and research.

Furthermore, Raekwon also gained valuable experience as an Equity Research Analyst at BLK Capital Management, where he collaborated with fellow analysts to manage a real estate stock portfolio, conducted equity research, and developed essential skills for the financial services industry. Raekwon’s internships at Deutsche Bank and Pfizer, Inc provided him with exposure to various financial analysis tasks, including data analysis, reporting, and project coordination.

In addition to his professional experiences, Raekwon has demonstrated organizational and coordination abilities as an Office Coordinator at Youth Empowerment Success Services. Raekwon implemented and improved CRM platforms, managed client data, and maintained compliance records. Additionally, as an Administrative Assistant at Buy N Sell Inc, he supported executive directors, managed client accounts, and handled administrative tasks such as filing, organization, and creating presentations.

Raekwon received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Morehouse College, where he graduated with Cum Laude honors. With a strong academic foundation and a passion for the commercial real estate industry, he has gained valuable experience through various internships and positions, contributing to a well-rounded skill set.

Overall, Raekwon’s diverse experiences have equipped him with strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and a commitment to delivering high-quality results. Raekwon is eager to leverage his expertise and contribute to the success of a dynamic organization in the commercial real estate industry.

Email: raekwon.williams@tiaa.org

Katie Wilson is a Marketing Director at Skanska. She brings 12 years of experience marketing and branding companies within the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Her comprehensive experience within urban development—including development, construction, architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture—has given her the ability to understand development from a macro, policy and community master planning level to a micro, project-specific construction site development level. Katie is actively involved in the development community, including serving on the LA Urban Land Institute (ULI) Programs Committee. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Art Studio from UC Davis.

Email: kathlynwilson@hotmail.com