Teresa Bowyer | Owner, Citrine Development

Ms. Bowyer is the Owner of Citrine Development, an affordable housing development and consulting firm based in Austin. Ms. Bowyer has 13 years of experience in developing affordable rental and ownership communities ranging from 40 to 250+ units.  

Prior to founding Citrine Development, Ms. Bowyer served as the Texas Development Director for Herman & Kittle Properties (now Kittle Property Group), a Top 15 national affordable rental housing developer. There she led the development process – including site identification and negotiation, underwriting, financing applications, design and third-party management, and closing coordination. 

Ms. Bowyer’s most recently closed development is Live Make Apartments, which is also a finalist for this year’s Next Big Idea award. To date, Ms. Bowyer has overseen the development of more than 500 units of mixed-income units across Texas, and creating a pipeline of an additional 500+ units in Central Texas. She has secured more than $90 million of funding through competitive affordable housing financing programs, including IRS Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds, HOME loans, Hurricane Harvey CDBG-DR grants, and the City of Austin’s Housing Development Assistance (HDA) programs. 

Ms. Bowyer graduated cum laude from Trinity University in San Antonio with a double major in Urban Studies and Political Science in 2010. In summer 2019, Ms. Bowyer studied international solutions to affordable housing at the University of Amsterdam. She is a member of the Urban Land Institute’s Austin District Council, where she co-chairs the Housing Innovations Local Member Chapter, chairs the Land Development Code workgroup, and is an active member of the Affordability Strategic Council. In her spare time, Ms. Bowyer enjoys trying her hand at new recipes, international travel with her husband, and catching stand-up comedy shows. 

Bungane Mehlomakulu | Director of Building Science and Building Performance, ICON

As Director of Building Science and Building Performance at ICON, Bungane Mehlomakulu is responsible for overseeing the overall performance and development of the ICON wall system, in particular as it relates to thermal, moisture, acoustical, infiltration, and acoustical performance. He also oversees the overall building performance for the ICON home. This includes establishing performance metrics such as energy, and water, thermal comfort and leading the effort to develop design solutions that make the ICON home a leader in sustainable and resilient building performance in the residential market. 

Previous to his role at ICON, Mehlomakulu was the founding principal for Integral Group in Austin, Texas. He was responsible for setting the firm’s direction in the Texas market across all aspects of the business and worked directly with clients to develop design solutions addressing the unique challenges of each project.  

Mehlomakulu received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University at Kingston and his MBA in Sustainable System from Bainbridge Graduate Institute (now Presidio Graduate School). He has been recognized as Top 40 under 40 Engineers by Consulting and Specifying Engineer Magazine and was a nominee for ASHRAE New Faces of Engineering in 2009. He is also a licensed PE in Texas and California. 

Mehlomakulu is an active member of the built environment community and remains committed as a Co-founder of the Austin Green Awards and ULI Texas Chapter representative to the High Performance Building Design Evaluation System Advisory Committee for the (Texas) State Energy Conservation Office. For ULI Austin, Bungane served as a mentor for the Young Leaders Mentorship Forum, is a founding co-chair of the Technology Local Member Council, and serves on the Climate Impact Strategic Council.  He was previously a member of the City of Austin Sustainable Buildings Advisory Group and a board member of EcoRise. In 2017, he was a jurist for the Committee on the Environment Top 10 National Awards. He is passionate about the built community and sustainability and is frequently asked to speak for a variety of high profile engagements. 

Roberta Salas | Business Development Director, Dunaway

Roberta is a lifelong Texas resident representing Dunaway as their Business Development Director for the Central Texas region. A fixture in the AEC industry since joining the firm in 2018, she was recently promoted to Associate Principal for her outstanding performance and contributions. She continues to grow the firm’s footprint throughout Central Texas by formulating strategies that produce long-term client partnerships and revenue generation.  

Before joining the AEC community, Roberta dedicated her talents to Federal government contracting, focusing on Department of Defense projects. Roberta is a proven leader with over 22 years of experience and a track record of success in developing and executing strategic initiatives in several markets – including government, commercial, residential, education, and healthcare.   

Outside of Dunaway, Roberta recently concluded a two-year term as Education Chair for ULI Austin. During her term, she helped launch a new program – Building Industry Leaders – a partnership between ULI Austin and the Boys and Girls Club introducing high school students to the development industry. She also became a certified instructor for ULI’s UrbanPlan Workshops. She also serves on ULI Austin’s Commercial Local Member Council and the Women’s Leadership Initiative Steering Committee. Previously, she served on ULI Austin’s Regional Growth Local Member Council and Sponsorship Committee.  

Roberta is also passionate about giving back to the local community, where she has volunteered for Hays County Brown Santa, Operation Blue Santa, Natural Fit Federation, SMPS, AIA’s Call to Action, and the City of Buda Parks and Recreation Board. 

Preston Martin | Vice President, Timberline Real Estate Partners

Preston Martin is a Vice President at Timberline Real Estate Partners, a multidisciplinary real estate investment and development firm based in Austin, Texas. His role includes sourcing, underwriting, and execution of the firm’s investments and developments. Previously, Preston was as an Associate at Cypress Real Estate Advisors (CREA) where he assisted in acquisition, financing, and development activities. He began his career on the debt & equity placement team in the Austin office of HFF. 

Preston is an active member of ULI Austin’s Young Leaders Steering Committee since 2020 and is a past participant in the Young Leader Mentorship Forum. He has planned the Young Leaders community service event for the past two years, which is now a tradition! This year, he coordinated having the Young Leaders serve dinner to Community First residents. Preston received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with a real estate concentration from the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the Associate Council for the University of Texas Real Estate Center. 

Anastasia Megdanis | Analyst, RedLeaf

Anastasia Megdanis is an Analyst at RedLeaf, a P3 Developer, in Austin, TX. She is primarily involved in Development, Finance, and Asset Management functions of the business. Additionally, she oversees Marketing at both the corporate and project level.

Anastasia first began her involvement in ULI as a student member in 2019, earning a scholarship to attend the National ULI conference in Washington D.C. After experiencing the positive impact of ULI in D.C, she wanted to continue her involvement as a ULI Young Leader upon moving to Austin in 2020.

Anastasia currently serves on the ULI Membership Committee and the P3 Local Member Council. She is also involved in the Women’s Leadership Initiative events of ULI and participated as a mentor in the Building Industry Leaders (BIL) Education program for the past two years. She will serve as Co-Chair of the BIL Program, alongside fellow ULI Young Leader Nominee, David Walsh, this year. Additionally, Anastasia was recently accepted into the Young Leader Mentorship Forum and looks forward to participating in the 2023/24 class. She is also a member of the Real Estate Council of Austin.

Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, running, attending live music events, and all the natural amenities that Austin has to offer.

Anastasia holds a Bachelor of Science in Business, and a Master of Science in Real Estate from Texas A&M University.

David Walsh | Director of Development, Greystar

David Walsh is a Director of Development for Greystar in Austin, Texas. He is responsible for sourcing and executing new multifamily and student housing developments for the Austin business unit. In this role, David negotiates land transactions, manages the design and entitlement process, sources debt and equity financing, and represents the ownership group through construction, lease up and disposition.  

David is an active member of the Urban Land Institute Austin District Council and the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association. In 2021, David helped launch Building Industry Leaders (BIL), a partnership between ULI and the Boys and Girls Club of Austin to educate and mentor high school students on numerous career opportunities in commercial real estate. The program seeks to promote greater ethnic and gender diversity among our future real estate industry leaders. David also serves on the Membership Committee for ULI and is an alumnus of the Young Leader Mentorship Forum.  

David holds Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in Real Estate and Finance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  

Jeff Coddington | Managing Director, JLL Capital Markets 

Jeff is a Managing Director of JLL Capital Markets with over 30 years of industry experience. His primary role is to assess, strategize, and execute on complex commercial real estate needs of investors, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Jeff’s clients include JPMorgan Chase, Starwood Capital Group, Tishman Speyer, Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson and Applied Materials. 

Prior to joining JLL, Jeff was with the Austin affiliate of Cushman & Wakefield for 20 years, establishing its sales practice in 1997. Earlier roles included working with AIG Global Real Estate as it acquired pools of commercial real estate mortgages and subsequently packaged those pools into REMICs. Jeff currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Real Estate Center at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and on the Board of Directors of Ballet Austin, further serving on its Management Committee. For ULI Austin, he is currently on the Advisory Board and is a mentor for the Young Leader’s Mentorship Forum. He formerly chaired and currently sits on the Commercial Local Member Council and served on the Programs Committee. 

Amie Henry | Managing Partner & COO, Ladera Capital Partners

Amie Henry is a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Ladera Capital Partners. She serves as a member of the Investment Committee. Ms. Henry oversees fund management, asset management, and investor reporting. In addition, she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm. 

Prior to joining Ladera, Ms. Henry served as SVP and was a principal at Hawkeye Partners, LP. Prior to joining Hawkeye, Ms. Henry was an Investment Manager with Cypress Real Estate Advisors and started her career with Archon Group, a Goldman Sachs company. 

Ms. Henry is a long time active member of ULI Austin’s Women’s Leadership Initiative and chaired the initiative from 2019 to 2021.  This past year and in 1917, she also served as a mentor for the ULI Austin Young Leader Mentorship Forum.

Ms. Henry holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Real Estate Center at the University of Texas, Advisory Board for ULI Austin and is a member of ULI National SSDC, Board of Directors for WIRE Austin, and is a member of PREA.
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Jennifer Wenzel | Director, Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Jennifer Wenzel is a Director at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a $200 billion pension fund.  Jennifer joined TRS in 2009 and is a member of the Investment Division Real Estate team where she leads investments in both funds and principal investments across property types and geographies.  Prior to joining TRS, Jennifer worked at Cherokee Investment Partners and Crow Holdings.    Jennifer received a BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin.  Jennifer currently serves on the Board of the Hill Country Conservancy and the ULI National UDMUC Product Council.  She is also a member of the Advisory Council for the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business Real Estate Finance & Investment Center (REFIC).   

Jennifer was a founding member of ULI Austin’s Women’s Leadership Initiative. Since then she has continued to serve on the steering committee and helped established the strong Luncheon with Leaders program, by utilizing her strong network to bring in influential female speakers.  Jennifer resides in Austin, TX with her husband and 2 children.