Board of Directors - Bios

Bob Underhill
Former Executive Vice President Shorenstein Realty

Bob Underhill joined Shorenstein in 2002. He was responsible for leading all the company’s fund management activities, including fundraising, investor relations, investor reporting and portfolio management; and was also a member of Shorenstein’s executive and investment committees.

Prior to joining Shorenstein, Mr. Underhill was a Principal at Lazard Frѐres Real Estate Investors. Before Lazard Frѐres, he worked for over 17 years in real estate investment and asset management with LaSalle Partners and Security Capital Group.

Mr. Underhill is a Trustee of the Princeton Theological Seminary and a member of the Real Estate Advisory Council of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mr. Underhill earned his Bachelor’s degree from Colby College and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Kelly Baker
Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer Thrivent

Kelly Baker is Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer at Thrivent, a Fortune 500 diversified financial services organization.

Ms. Baker is responsible for the teams that provide strategic human resources advice and enterprise support for talent acquisition, benefits and compensation, organizational design, diversity and inclusion, and workforce culture and effectiveness. Under her leadership, Thrivent is making strategic talent and resourcing decisions that ultimately help the organization meet the needs of current and future clients.

Prior to joining Thrivent in 2021, Ms. Baker was Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Pentair. Before that, she served in various Human Resources roles at General Mills, including Vice President of HR for the U.S. Segment. She also led Global Diversity & Inclusion at General Mills, strengthening diverse representation among the company’s leaders.

Ms. Baker holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Howard University and a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She currently serves on the Ferguson PLC board of directors and as a board member of the Children’s Theater Company of Minnesota and The Blake School.

Mary Brainerd
Former President & CEO HealthPartners

Mary Brainerd is former President and Chief Executive Officer of Minnesota-based HealthPartners, the largest, consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation.

Ms. Brainerd started her career with HealthPartners in 1992. Under her leadership, HealthPartners experienced record growth and was often recognized as a national leader in the health care industry.

During her 15-year tenure as CEO, the organization received numerous accolades for outstanding patient care, health plan service and its charitable community work, as well as for workplace ethics and being a top workplace.

Prior to joining HealthPartners, Ms. Brainerd held senior level positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, including Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. She was also Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Plus.

Ms. Brainerd holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. She is one of the founding CEOs and former Chair of the Itasca Project, previous Chair of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank and currently serves on the boards of Minnesota Life/Securian, Bush Foundation and Stryker, Inc., Bremer Financial Corporation and Minnesota Public Radio.

Anne Deanovic
Founder Hot Mustard PR

Anne Deanovic is Founder and head of the public relations consultancy Hot Mustard PR, and has nearly 20 years of experience as a communications specialist. At Hot Mustard PR, she tailors custom solutions for clients in the hospitality and retail spaces, to help them reach audiences that matter with storylines that capture attention.

Before branching out on her own, Ms. Deanovic served as an account director at Olson Engage, leading PR and social media programs from strategy to execution for clients like BEHR Paint, General Mills and P.F. Chang’s. She has led award-winning campaigns for Pillsbury and Big G Cereals, and spearheaded crisis communications efforts for several national brands.

Prior to Olson, Ms. Deanovic helped build the national reputation of MONO, a creative agency in Minneapolis, and spent four years at Hill & Knowlton in Chicago, where she managed brand communications and media relations for sports and CPG clients including the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee, Allstate, the Big Ten Network and adidas.

Ms. Deanovic earned a Master's degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University’s Medill School and a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana.

Amy Goldman
Chair & CEO GHR Foundation

Amy Goldman is CEO and Chair of GHR Foundation, a philanthropy serving people and their ideas for transformational change in lives around the world.

Ms. Goldman steers the foundation’s direction with optimism and a background in diplomacy and social investment that has inspired new approaches to philanthropy. Under her leadership, GHR has doubled its assets and staff as the organization launched a new effort to build bridges across ideas, sectors and people; elevated powerful movements of faith and inter-faith actors for sustainable development; implemented systems change strategies across public, private and faith sectors to keep children in families; and unlocked significant funding from industry and government to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.

She serves on the Georgetown University board of directors, the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service board of advisors, Mayo Clinic leadership council and is a Trustee and Vice Chair of the board for the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ms. Goldman previously served as a lead consultant for Washington D.C.-based International Trade Services, where she focused on trade negotiations and investment strategies. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master’s degree in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Sabrina Kanner
Executive Vice President, Development, Design and Construction Brookfield Properties

Sabrina Kanner serves as Executive Vice President, Development, Design and Construction of Brookfield Properties.

With Brookfield Properties and its predecessor, Olympia & York, since 1982, Ms. Kanner oversees development, design and construction in the northeast U.S. She joined the construction division of Olympia & York in 1982 and was appointed to run Olympia & York’s construction company in 1986.

In her tenure with the company, Ms. Kanner has played a key role in the construction, design and development or redevelopment of over 40 million square feet of signature Brookfield projects such as World Financial Center/Brookfield Place, 300 Madison Avenue, Bay Adelaide Centre, the restoration/renovation of the Winter Garden at World Financial Center after 9/11 and currently Manhattan West.

She is a member of WX and sits on the board of directors of New York Building Congress (Vice Chair), Salvadori Center (Chair), The Opus Group, The Regional Plan Association, Urban Green Council (Vice Chair) and Cedar Realty Trust, and sits on the board of trustees of The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.

Wade Lau
President & CEO Founders Properties, L.L.C.

Wade Lau serves as President and CEO of Founders Properties, L.L.C. and President of Opus Properties. Mr. Lau is responsible for all aspects of the Founders Properties and Opus Properties operations including investments, finance, capital market activities, dispositions and new product development, including the formation and management of real estate investment opportunities and fund partnerships, and plays an active role in overseeing the operations and strategic vision for these funds.

Before the formation of Founders Properties, Mr. Lau was Vice President of Asset Management for Opus Properties, which he joined in 1999. Prior to that, he led CB Richard Ellis’ Central Region as Senior Managing Director of Asset Management and was COO for the Shelard Group, a Twin Cities-based real estate services firm. Mr. Lau began his career in Norwest Bank’s Minneapolis’ commercial real estate group and has more than 30 years of diversified commercial real estate experience.

Mr. Lau is a member of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, and Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Mr. Lau holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard College and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School where he graduated with honors.

Walt Mercer
Managing Director Paris Hill Realty Advisors

Walt Mercer is Managing Director of Paris Hill Realty Advisors, specializing in advisory work for clients on real estate capital matters. Mr. Mercer is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Most recently, Mr. Mercer was Market Manager for Suntrust’s commercial real estate line of business in the Northeast and served prior as their Executive Vice President and head of the commercial real estate line of business. During his 11-year tenure at Suntrust, he was responsible for relationship management, tax credits and syndications and the REIT group. He retired from Suntrust in 2018. Previously, Mr. Mercer held positions at Paris Hill, Spaulding & Slye, Fleet Bank, Creamer Realty Associates and Citicorp Real Estate.

Active in finance and banking since 1973, he began his career at Citibank and was involved in managing banking relationships for middle-market, national and then real estate firms.

Mr. Mercer is a graduate of Harvard University.

Tim Murnane
President & CEO Opus Holding, L.L.C.

Tim Murnane is President and CEO of Opus Holding, L.L.C. Mr. Murnane oversees all operations for the companies collectively known as The Opus Group, which includes Opus Holding; Opus Development Company, L.L.C.; Opus Design Build, L.L.C.; and Opus AE Group, L.L.C

Mr. Murnane started his career in commercial real estate development in 1980 and throughout his career has developed more than 30 million square feet of office, industrial and retail projects. While at Opus, Mr. Murnane developed some of the firm’s landmark projects, including the 475-acre mixed-use Arbor Lakes Lifestyle Center in Maple Grove, MN, and the 1.6 million-square-foot Best Buy Corporate Campus and the 1.2 million-square-foot American Express Financial Advisors Headquarters, both located in Minneapolis.

Mr. Murnane is a board member for the University of St. Thomas Real Estate Program, the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Minnesota Business Partnership and St. Thomas Academy. Additionally, he is a past President and Board Member of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, and former board member of the MN Chamber of Commerce, Twin Cities RISE and the Minneapolis Downtown Council.

Mr. Murnane is an alumnus of the University of St. Thomas.