Hospitality & Real Estate
Moderator: Emily Baxter
Emily stems from a background in hospitality, graduating with a BA in Hospitality Tourism Management from UNC Greensboro. She went on to do a one-year internship abroad in Taipei, Taiwan working at her first hotel, the Sheraton Taipei. Emily returned to NC and worked for several years with Marriott International in their group and business transient sales before moving to DC to take job with a boutique DC-based brand, Modus Hotels. She then went to graduate school at GWSB and is now a proud alumna of the Masters of Tourism program with a Management Leadership certificate. She has pivoted into the world of private wealth management, utilizing her hospitality and love for taking care of people to UBS where she works as the Executive Team Assistant.
Leslie Furst
Ms. Furst is the Chief Operating Officer and Principal of Blackfin Real Estate Investors, LLC. She is responsible for asset management, debt placement, investor reporting, and human resources. Prior to joining Blackfin, Ms. Furst was Senior Vice President of Asset Management and Finance and Chief Risk Officer of Kettler Inc. Kettler is a privately owned real estate developer, investor and property management company based in Northern Virginia concentrating in multifamily, mixed use and residential land development projects. Ms. Furst was responsible for overseeing asset management, all financing activities and lender relationships and was actively involved in equity placement and investor relations. She successfully managed over $2 billion of financings on behalf of Kettler and its partners during her 15 year tenure. Prior to Kettler, Ms. Furst was a Vice President in the Charles E. Smith Division of Vornado Realty Trust and a Managing Director of Bank of America. Ms. Furst earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is an active member of Urban Land Institute and a ULI Young Leaders Mentor. She is also a FutureLink mentor and serves on the CREW DC community service committee.
Brittany Nguon
Brittany Nguon is an Asset Manager at Avenue One, a prop-tech service platform streamlining institutional capital’s access to the Single-Family Rental (SFR) industry. In her role, Brittany is responsible for asset-level value preservation through maximizing operating efficiencies and property management partnerships. Brittany also has prior experience in commercial audit focused on REITs at EY. Brittany graduated GW in 2019 with a Bachelor of Accountancy and minor in Journalism and Mass Communications.
Lauren Urchick
Lauren Urchick currently works at Hilton as a Senior Manager on the Executive Communications and Events team. In this role, she manages the communication strategy, internal and public appearances, and multimedia content development for the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Mrs. Urchick led the Content and Creative team at Iridium Satellite Communications, overseeing the strategy, branding, and production of marketing and sales materials, as well as visual assets. Prior to that, she held roles in digital and social marketing. Throughout all her roles, she has been involved in corporate social responsibility and employee volunteerism programs. Outside of work, she volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association and enjoys traveling. Mrs. Urchick received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from George Washington University (SMPA ’15) and a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University (Medill ’19).
