CREW Network Special Report: Introducing the Impact Award Winners

By Suzann D. Silverman, Editorial Director

CREW Network honored the winners of this year’s Impact Awards last week during its annual Convention & Marketplace, focusing attention on nine people dedicated to innovation, community benefit, outreach and recruitment. Recognition was awarded for Career Advancement for Women, Economic Improvement, Entrepreneurial Spirit and Member-to-Member Business.

The award for Career Advancement for Women went to two separate people: Jennell Fairman, project leader for CORE Planning Strategies LLC in Indianapolis, and Cally Miltenberger, senior manager at Ernst & Young in Dallas. Fairman, a structural

Jennell Fairman

engineer, has actively mentored women at a variety of levels over the past four years to encourage female

Cally Miltenberger

involvement in the STEM professions. She has built a 25-member network of female engineering and construction professionals and regularly reaches out at the college and high school levels. Miltenberger, in a senior position at a major consulting firm at just 33 years of age, manages a 30-member networking and team building program, and has personally mentored 15 people, 12 of them women.

The Member-to-Member Business award went to a two-person team from Philadelphia: Sarah Peck, CEO of Progressive Housing Ventures, and Joanne Magnatta, senior vice president for facilities design and construction/real estate with Main Line Health. The pair came together to sell a garden apartment complex owned by Main Line Health. Peck developed a plan to redevelop the site into affordable townhomes, an effort

Sarah Peck

that involved enlargement of the site and financing by a fellow CREW member.

Heather Schwarz-Lopes of Miami won the Entrepreneurial Spirit award for her 2013 launch of EarlyShares, a crowdfunding investment platform that raises capital from domestic and international accredited investors for U.S. commercial real estate.

A four-person team was awarded the Economic Improvement accolade for their positive impact on

Heather Schwarz-Lopes

Ferguson, Mo., during a time of upheaval and recovery for the city. Colliers International Broker Spencer Toder, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Vice President of Business Development and Workforce Innovation Monica Conners, JLL Managing Director Lynn Schenck and Colliers International Director of Public Relations & Marketing Pam Boelhauf relocated Swedish industrial manufacturer SKF to a new site in Ferguson, working from September to November 2014 to solidify a deal expected to have a $316 million impact on the local economy.

Pam Boelhauf & Monica Conners

Look for more about these award winners and their accomplishments in the November 2015 issue of CPE, and be sure to watch the accompanying video featuring their insights on business and leadership on CPE TV.