Madi Ford serves as the co-founder and managing partner of Audeo Partners, a certified small and woman owned business operating in Virginia. In this capacity, she manages deal structuring, development, joint venture negotiation, and equity and debt finance from a legal perspective for Audeo Partners. Madi has over a decade of transactional legal experience in commercial real estate, in addition to extensive experience in corporate governance. She advises on risk mitigation and complex cross-functional matters relevant to the ownership, asset management, and development of multi-family rental housing for Audeo Partners. Madi has executed over $400M in debt financing including HUD, agency, and conventional market loans as well as structured 1031 and opportunity zone equity and historic tax credit syndication for development deals. Madi has secured successful rezoning approvals in multiple jurisdictions for development projects totaling over $1B in development potential. She has also established and capitalized a GP Fund and an Affordable Housing Fund under the Audeo Partners umbrella to support the company’s development and investment platforms. Recently, Madi transitioned distressed bank notes into a redevelopment project supporting retail, 220 multifamily units and 60 for sale units. In early 2025, she delivered a 125-unit mixed income adaptive reuse multifamily project in Richmond, Virginia. Audeo currently has over 500 multifamily units in the development pipeline. Madi’s next project to deliver will be a full-service gas-convenience Wawa on Route 1 in Summer 2025. Prior to founding Audeo Partners, Madi served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel at MidCity Development where she oversaw all legal matters for the asset management and repositioning and development of a 9,000-unit portfolio of affordable and market rate apartment communities across the Mid-Atlantic. Ford has also served as Director of Legal Affairs at Vantage Management and as a Corporate Associate at Bingham McCutchen L.P.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, Public Policy and the Law from Trinity College and a Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law. Madi has served on the Emerging Leaders Committee of the National Multi-Family Housing Council (NMHC) and the NMHC Working Group for the Women in Multifamily Networking Series. Madi serves as a member of the Board of Directors for The Hope Forward Foundation for Academy of Hope, as the Vice-Chair of the Board for Habitat for Humanity D.C.-NOVA, and the President of The Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation. She is a member of the Leadership Council for the District of Columbia and the Greater Washington Community Foundation: Partnership to End Homelessness.  She has previously served on the boards of directors for two private companies, the Community Services Foundation, the Holton-Arms School Alumnae Board, and The Academy of Hope. Madi is a passionate participant and supporter of initiatives focused on affordable housing, economic empowerment, and access to education.  She was a Steering Committee Member for Habitat for Humanity D.C.’s 2017 Women Build, Event Chair for the 30th Anniversary Gala for Habitat for Humanity D.C. in 2019, Event Chair for Habitat for Humanity D.C.’s 2021 Women Build, campaign and the Co-Chair for Habitat for Humanity D.C.-NOVA’s 2022 merger launch, and is currently serving as the Co-Chair for the Habitat for Humanity D.C. -NOVA 35th Anniversary Gala. Additionally, Madi served as the Event Chair for the Academy of Hope’s 35th Anniversary Gala. Madi is very proud to have led fundraising campaigns generating several million dollars in donations for local organizations and was recognize in Fall 2022 as the March of Dimes “Heroine of Washington” for the Real Estate Sector. Madi is also the recipient of Connect CRE: Women in Real Estate 2024 award for the Washington, D.C. region.

Careina Williams is the Founder and Managing Partner of Caro Investors. She has over two decades of real estate investment/finance experience, largely on behalf of institutional investors. Caro Investors is an investment management firm domiciled in Maryland. The firm’s flagship product, Caro Investors’ Real Estate Credit Fund, L.P. (“Fund”) currently intends to deploy capital into middle-market private debt investments with underlying commercial real estate exposure in product types and markets that Caro believes to be more resilient including multifamily, industrial, and investment-grade quality retail. Careina will also serve as the Portfolio Manager and CIO for the Fund. Careina most recently served as a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Sundance Bay Debt Opportunity Fund, which aggregated $139.0M in capital commitments and invested $82.0M, prior to exiting to form Caro Investors. Previously, Careina served as COO of a small, short opportunistic equity hedge fund and Principal of Acquisitions and Asset Management at Artemis Real Estate Partners. At Artemis, she contributed significantly to helping grow the core plus emerging manager business from $300M to over $1BN, with three institutional pension fund clients and 27 managers, in addition to serving on the Investment Committee. Prior to Artemis, Careina served as Principal, Investments for Capri Capital Partners, LLC, where she was responsible for origination, investment structuring, and asset management of equity and structured finance investments. Careina also worked for Goldman Sachs within the Investment Banking Division and at Bertelsmann Music Group. Careina graduated with honors from Harvard University (A.B. Economics) and has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is a member of Urban Land Institute – Silver Retail Counsel. Careina is an Independent Member of CareTrust REIT (NYSE: CTRE) Board of Directors, where she Chairs the Audit Committee and serves as Chair of the Investment & Endowment Committee for the United Church of Christ national denomination.

Robin Zeigler is the Founder & CEO of MURAL Real Estate Partners. MURAL is a privately owned, full-service real estate company that aims to spur economic development primarily through the conception, development, and management of mixed-use assets in urban and under-served neighborhoods. Prior to founding MURAL, Robin was the Chief Operating Officer, Sr. Executive Vice President for Cedar Realty Trust from March 2016. In her role as COO, she was responsible for the operations of the fully-integrated real estate investment trust’s nine million square feet of grocery-anchored shopping centers as well as the redevelopment of its mixed-use assets. Prior to joining Cedar, worked at Federal Realty Investment Trust as Chief Operating Officer for the Mid-Atlantic Region. In that capacity, she was responsible for the operations of a portfolio of over 40 shopping centers and five mixed-use projects representing approximately 7.3 million square feet. Additionally, Ms. Zeigler provided oversight and strategic direction on mixed-use development and redevelopment projects in the region. Ms. Zeigler holds a BS in Accounting from Florida A&M University and an MBA from Georgia State University. Robin is on the board of directors for three public companies: JLL Income Property Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, and NETSTREIT. She is a Trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), on the board of the ICSC Foundation as well as an ICSC Foundation Mentor. Ms. Zeigler is a Member of the Real Estate Executive Council, as well as the ULI NY Advisory Board, a ULI NY Development Awards Juror and a member of the ULI Commercial and Real Estate Development Gold Council.

Mrs. Heather Wellington is the Founder and Principal of Cubed Development & Consulting, a boutique commercial real estate firm specializing in development, real estate consulting, federal government project management, and third-party development. With over 20 years of experience, she has built a strong reputation as an institutional commercial real estate professional in Washington, D.C., and markets nationwide. She combines her deep expertise in real estate development and project management to deliver strategic, value-driven solutions for clients while fostering positive community impact. Mrs. Wellington’s extensive development experience includes overseeing all aspects of the development process, including acquisition, entitlement, design, and construction management, for mixed-use, residential, office, retail, and hotel projects in urban environments. Additionally, Mrs. Wellington has overseen the acquisition and development of federal, state, and local Government assets and specialized mission-critical assets for private institutions. She has managed new construction, base building renovations, and tenant improvements of more than 3.1 million square feet of space and in excess of $900 million. Mrs. Wellington earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from The George Washington University and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from The Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development at The University of Maryland, College Park. Mrs. Wellington serves as the Chairwoman of the Board of the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA). She is President of the African American Real Estate Professionals DC (AAREP) and a Director on the Board of Compass Working Capital (Compass). She is an active member of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.