Willy was joined by Robert Reffkin, the Founder and CEO of real estate tech company Compass, Inc., live from the 2024 Zelman & Associates Housing Summit.

He and Willy discussed topics including Robert’s humble upbringing and how it led him down the path to entrepreneurship, pivotal moments that shaped his career, combatting negativity and lessons learned through hardship, Compass’ investment in technology, intricacies of the real estate market, Robert’s vision for the company and where it will be in twenty years, and much more.

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Willy was joined by one of the most notable figures in housing finance, Priscilla Almodovar, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae. She is on a mission to create a housing market that works for everyone, including whom she calls the “credit invisible” – hard working Americans who may not qualify for traditional loans.

She and Willy discussed the intricacies of her career journey in the private, public, and social sectors, what drew her to the housing industry, mortgage rate predictions, what Fannie Mae is doing to address the affordability crisis, and her strategic vision driving the organization’s initiatives.

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Willy was joined by Matthew Weinzierl, Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA Program at Harvard Business School and an economist whose research focuses on economic policy and the commercialization of space.

They discussed Matthew’s intellectual pursuits and his experience as a student at HBS, his pivot from a focus on tax policy to the new frontier of space, the curriculum at HBS and their focus on leadership over strictly business, why your company needs to have a space strategy, the adoption of AI and tech to propel HBS forward, and much more.

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On this episode of the Walker Webcast, we featured an interview between Gary Pinkus, McKinsey & Company’s Chairman of North America, and Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., from W&D’s 2024 Summer Conference.

They touched on Strauss’ approach to business and leadership, his origin story – from childhood ambitions of running a movie company and toying with the notion of being a performer to deciding to run a business in the creative space – milestones of his career including greenlighting the movie Dirty Dancing, the ins and outs of the largest industry, in the entertainment world: gaming, his breakdown of AI and its future impact on the workforce, what he’s experiencing as a CRE investor, and what to expect in 2025.

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Willy was joined by Diane Hoskins and Andy Cohen, global co-chairs of the world’s most influential architecture design planning firm with over $2 billion annually in revenue, Gensler.

 They covered ways to drive meaningful change through the power of design, creating office spaces of the future, ways they’re working to lower emissions, how Gensler has secured their place as an industry leader, how AI and autonomous vehicles will change the face of our cities, building a culture of collaboration, and how to stay ahead of the curve in a constantly shifting environment.

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While it’s clear that we’re living through an uncertain time in history, there’s one thing Willy is confident in – the strength of our country to get through challenging times.

On this Walker Webcast, we featured Willy’s opening remarks from W&D’s Summer Conference in Sun Valley.

Listen to his take on consumer confidence, housing prices, asset classes including hospitality and office, the impact that climate change is having on your bottom line, single and multifamily housing starts, the impact of AI, impactful global leaders, and much more.

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How can we ensure the preservation of democracy? By adopting the virtues of our founding fathers.

 On the latest episode of the Walker Webcast, we featured Willy’s discussion with Jeffrey Rosen – president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, host of the weekly podcast We the People, professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, and contributing editor of The Atlantic – from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.

Their conversation centered around themes from Jeff’s newest book The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America, including the lives of the founding fathers and their quest for virtue, their emphasis on self-mastery and character development, how social media is validating the founding fathers’ fears of unmediated democracy, the state of play in American politics today, and much more.

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Willy was joined by Wall Street Journal reporters and authors of The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg. They covered key topics from the book, including the pivotal moments and figures that reshaped F1’s trajectory, the technology and engineering advancements that revolutionized the sport, how F1’s sudden arrival in the US was actually decades in the making, and the strategies that have propelled it to become the globe's fastest-growing sport.

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Willy was once again joined by one of the most respected voices in the housing industry, W&D’s Hall of Fame housing market analyst and executive vice president and co-founder of Zelman & Associates, Ivy Zelman.

She and Willy discussed rising home prices and affordability challenges, her outlook on multifamily inventory and rent growth, rate cuts, widening spreads, land prices and accessibility, housing supply constraints, the role of manufactured housing in the affordable housing crisis, her overall macro-outlook on housing over the next 5-10 years and where she’s seeing real opportunity, the overallocation of institutional capital to multifamily and industrial, and much more.

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Willy took a trip down memory lane with George Hawkins as they discussed the incredible turnaround at DC Water when Willy was Chairman of the Board and George was General Manager. Under their leadership, they took one of the most problematic public utilities in the country, The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, and turned it into one of the most innovative, customer-driven, environmentally friendly utilities on earth.

George and Willy discussed why Willy picked George to lead the turnaround, the challenges they faced, the $4.2 billion they spent on infrastructure and environmental protection, and the customer focus and client satisfaction that George and his team achieved. It is a fascinating story of private sector innovation and strategy being implemented at a massive public utility that resulted in huge gains for the citizens of the Washington, DC Metro region.

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Willy was once again joined by John Hope Bryant, a lifelong entrepreneur, philanthropist, bestselling author, and thought leader who has built more than 40 organizations, including Operation HOPE, Inc. His mission? To provide financial literacy and economic empowerment tools in the U.S. for youth and adults in underserved communities.

He and Willy discussed his newest book, Financial Literacy For All, leadership insights, personal finance strategies, the link between education and GDP growth, steps Operation HOPE is taking to create financial literacy, the future of inclusive capitalism, and much more.

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