Brenda Elliott Karp is the Vice President of Breeden Realty, the commercial leasing and sales division of The Breeden Company, a commercial, multi-family, residential, and resort developer based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

Brenda is responsible for securing National, Regional, and Local tenants for Breeden’s Richmond, Yorktown, Newport News and Carrollton, Virginia shopping centers as well as the sale and development of land.

Brenda has more than 20 years of corporate real estate experience including tenant and landlord representation, site and market analysis, sales forecasting and acquisition due diligence. She has represented National, Regional and Local developers and shopping center owners throughout the state of Virginia. Her career has included positions with Divaris Real Estate, The Shopping Center Group, Richfood, and Heilig-Meyers Furniture. 

Brenda is actively involved in business and community organizations, member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), past Co-Chair for VA Program Planning Committee, member of Greater Richmond Association of Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE) and served on the Board of Directors (2010-2013), Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation volunteer for over 15 years, served on the Board of Directors, and has received the Volunteer of the Year award.

Amelia Wehunt is a licensed professional engineer and senior project manager at Timmons Group, a consulting firm specializing in multi-disciplined civil engineering services. She specializes in site design, redevelopment, and stormwater management. Much of her work, in addition to designing and preparing construction plans, involves stakeholder coordination and work sessions, representation at public meetings, and providing construction support services.  Amelia was honored in 2015 as one of CREW Richmond’s 25 Women to Watch, and also in 2017 as one of ENR MidAtlantic’s Top 20 under 40. Prior to working at Timmons Group, Amelia attended the University of Virginia where she majored in civil engineering and minored in engineering business. In her spare time, Amelia enjoys spending time with her husband Mark, son Philip, and daughter Libby.

Ginny Johnston, CID – Workplace Strategy + Design, at Capital One is part of a dynamic team focused on Workplace Experience as part of Workplace Solutions. As a Workplace Strategist, she utilizes current research and knowledge of industry best practices to develop compelling solutions in support of corporate guidelines, company culture and ever-changing business objectives while continuously challenging the effectiveness of design. Prior to her work at Capital One, Ginny was Director of Interior Design at Commonwealth Architects and led an award-winning team of designers, creating best-in-class office environments. Her years of experience in design, planning and project management bring a balanced and diversified approach to developing new strategies. She is focused on bringing added value to the connection between people and their work environment that elevates the associate experience, enhances productivity and enables associates to do the best work of their lives.

Chandra is the Chief of the Construction Section at the Commonwealth’s Office of the Attorney General. In this role, she serves as general counsel to the Commonwealth’s many construction projects valued into the billions of dollars annually.  Prior to joining the OAG, Chandra spent 23 years in private practice focused on commercial business disputes and contracts involving construction and land development issues.

Elizabeth is a CPA and Manager in the Business Assurance department at Keiter CPAs. Elizabeth entered public accounting at Keiter in 2011 after teaching high school math for two years. As a former teacher, she enjoys research and explaining concepts in new ways to assist her clients. She also devotes much of her time to developing her teammates internally at Keiter. Elizabeth’s audit client base consists primarily of not-for-profit organizations (including foundations) and real estate investment funds, but she also has experience with a wide variety of industries including contractors and employee benefit plans. Elizabeth has worked with numerous clients to specially design procedures and reporting to owners, investors, donors, and other stakeholders for a variety of needs. Creative problem solving is her specialty!

Elizabeth received her degrees in Mathematics (B.A.) and Accounting (M.A.) from the University of Virginia. Outside of the office, Elizabeth enjoys visiting Virginia wineries and spending time with her family. 

Meg O’Brien is a civil engineer, land development professional and has used her 17+ years of experience to work on high-profile, fast-paced work in/around the Commonwealth. She loves a project that enhances the community and screams quality. Meg jumps out of bed with a huge smile each morning because she has the chance to make a difference in the world. Each day is new! She loves to partner with her clients by incorporating strategy, creativity and good, solid engineering principles. Industrial, corporate, office, commercial, higher-ed; Meg has worked on them all and has discovered the unique nuances of each project type. Bring her a challenge with many moving parts, big company politics, and impossible timelines and she will show you a woman rolling up her sleeves to make it a reality!

Caroline Browder is a partner at Roth Jackson. Her practice focuses on all aspects of commercial real estate law, including strategic planning, acquisition and development, leasing, residential subdivision development, mixed use development, and construction contracts. Caroline represents lenders and borrowers in all types of loan transactions, including commercial real estate loans, construction loans, asset-based loans, and tax credit transactions. Caroline has extensive experience representing landlords and tenants in all types of commercial lease transactions including ground leases, "build to suit" leases, national tenant leasing, office, retail, industrial, and telecommunications leases. In addition to her work with CREW, Caroline serves on the board of the Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation and is committed to supporting the development of quality affordable housing throughout Virginia.

Debbie is Senior Vice President for Divaris Real Estate, Inc.’s Richmond, Virginia office. Active in all markets in Virginia, Debbie provides her clients with responsive and effective representation. She specializes in office and retail tenant representation and land sales. Debbie has over 20 years of corporate real estate experience with public companies (Marriott Corp., Heilig Meyers, Best Products) and has been on the brokerage side with Divaris for 18 years. She also works with the team representing the Commonwealth of Virginia in handling their real estate requirements across the State. Debbie has consistently been a top producer at Divaris and most recently was named the 2017 Top Producer company wide. She was recognized by CREWRichmond as the Top 20 commercial real estate women in 2010. Debbie is on the Industry Advisory Board for the Virginia Tech Program in Real Estate and is a member of the Real Estate Circle of Excellence at Virginia Commonwealth University. Debbie is member and past President of GRACRE, and member of Richmond Real Estate Group. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and scuba diving with her husband and spending time with her friends and family!

Lee Ann Gudorp’s career as a civil engineer launched in 2005 after receiving her Bachelors from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ - a town better known for Frank Sinatra’s birthplace, the reality television show  Cake Boss,  and a short drive from her hometown of Metuchen.

Over the past thirteen years, she’s worked at three private civil engineering firms in the Mid-Atlantic region and is currently a Senior Project Manager at Timmons Group where she manages their retail development programs and Richmond metro area expansions for Publix, AAA Car Care Centers, Christian Brothers Automotive and Panera Bread.

With a personal mission to promote women in the field of engineering and as a way to encourage more women into the fields of science, technology and management, she remains actively involved in CREW and GRACRE and is proud to serve as the incoming 2019 CREW Membership Director.

On the weekends, you will find her at various yoga studios in Richmond (a City she has called home for the past four years) practicing her favorite tree pose and the balancing act of self-care.

Monica is a Vice President and Principal Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo’s Commercial Lending group in Central Virginia She is in her 16 ^th  year with the Company and has a Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. Her banking experience includes asset based lending, government contract receivables financing, staffing services financing, commercial factoring, equipment lending, SBA lending, commercial real estate lending and cash management/treasury services for businesses. Monica has experience working with various industries including manufacturers, property management companies, commercial contractors, real estate investors, distributers, medical/dental practices, and other service based industries.  

Monica enjoys spending time with her family and friends as well as her two rescue pups. She loves to travel, attend exercises classes, watch VT football, attend the many festivals Richmond has to offer and visit the local restaurants and breweries in town.

Christian Creswell is a Senior Associate Principal at Wendel, a full service architecture and engineering firm. Christian is an interior designer with almost 20 years of experience in commercial design. Christian provides clients with sound design ideas coupled with a creative approach. She works to gain a thorough understanding of the client’s needs and is committed to providing the best design solutions. As a Principal in the Firm, Christian has served as Project Director for many of the Firm’s largest corporate projects. In recent years Christian has transitioned to a business development role and helps lead the interior design department for Wendel. Christian was honored in 2015 as one of CREW Richmond’s 25 Women to Watch.

As Director, Research & Communications for Harrison & Bates, I am responsible for collecting market data and creating quarterly market reports for various proerty types statewide, including (but not limited to) office, industrial, retail and multifamily real estate. In addition, I work with brokers with on-demand research



projects, as well as acting in a public relations capacity - coordinating interactions between Colliers Richmond & Norfolk and the press, and maintaining our local social media accounts.

I am active in the commercial real estate community through multiple organizations including CREW, SMPS and GRACRE. I serve as chair of the VCU AREA (Association of Real Estate Alumni) and I am also actively involved in two other VCU Alumni Groups; VCU GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) and sit on the VCU Women in Business Panel committee. I am an active member of PEO International, a philanthropic organization committed to advancing women through through scholarships, grants, awards, loans, and stewardship of Cottey College.