Get to know some of the ULI San Francisco members who work hard behind the scenes to develop the events and initiatives our District Council is known for. These industry leaders come from a variety of real estate land use sectors and lend their expertise and time to drive the work of our committees. We’ve asked these committee co-chairs to answer three questions around their involvement with ULI San Francisco.

Kara Gross, Technical Assistance Panels
Executive Director, Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance (SVEDA)

Q: What keeps you engaged with ULI SF and what are you most excited about in the near future?
There are so many opportunities to learn – and apply your learning – in ULI! In addition to the critical, first work of pandemic response and recovery,  I will be looking at how we can help our cities plan for their Regional Housing Needs Allocations, create strategies that respond to the new realities of retail, and meet the needs of the logistics industry, as demand for that space type soars.

Q:What do you hope to achieve in the next year?
We have a tremendous opportunity to bring the knowledge that is embedded in the ULI membership to our governments, as they struggle to bring us out of the massive disruption caused by COVID-19. I hope to bring solutions to local government through any and all vehicles – TAPs, ULI programs, the Fall Meeting, and my own SVEDA meetings and webinars – and amass as many creative recovery ideas as possible; there’s no higher calling for me right now.

Q: What’s your leadership philosophy/style?

1. Never ask anyone to volunteer for anything you wouldn’t do yourself.
2. Do the work.
3. When it comes to event planning: lead with content, close with drinks.

Paul Kawakami, East Bay Programs
Partner, KBL Lawyers

Q: What keeps you engaged with ULI SF and what are you most excited about in the near future?
With all of the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s pretty hard to be too excited about the near future right now! But I am excited about the fact that we have some programming in the works that can help our members by not only giving them information about the state of the commercial real estate market, but also hopefully giving them some tools they can use to enhance and inform their own personal decision-making processes. I think ULI has an important role to play by helping our members stay connected and stay involved with one another.

Q:What’s your leadership philosophy/style?

I don’t think I have ever had a leadership philosophy, but my style has been to have 1-to-1 discussions and seek feedback and buy-in in advance of meetings to the extent possible. When other people bring up good arguments or issues that you haven’t considered, acknowledge that you don’t know everything & that they’re raising good points.  And when you’re dealing with an issue on which there are opposing viewpoints, it’s always good to start with areas of agreement first; when you do that, you often find that the folks who were arguing really weren’t that far apart after all. (I should probably remember that last point myself when I’m talking politics with other people!)

Q:What is your favorite ULI memory or event?

Fall Meeting in Las Vegas back in 2007 – but not for the reasons you may be thinking. I was working on a major deal at the time with a client who was also in attendance, so he and I would sometimes have to duck out of separate programs, grab a couple of chairs somewhere to huddle, and revise documents on the fly. This was a while ago, and so working remote from the convention room floor was more of a novelty at the time. I just look forward to the time when we can all get together in person at another Fall Meeting!