Ariana will focus on growth, innovation, leadership, education, and major industry challenges such as decarbonisation

LONDON (8 July 2024) – Ariana Maass, Originator International Real Estate at Berlin Hyp, has been appointed as the next Chair of the ULI Europe Young Leaders Group, which represents members under the age of 35. Maass officially commenced a two-year term on 1 July 2024 and will serve on a voluntary basis. She succeeds Thibault Weston Smith, Co-Founder, Crayon Partners.

Ariana Maass joined ULI in 2021, and for the past two years has been a member of the ULI Europe Young Leaders Executive Committee as well as a Young Leaders Co-Chair for the Berlin-based group. At Berlin Hyp she is part of the origination team for international investors and is responsible for financing cross-border institutional transactions in all international lending markets and across all strategic asset-classes of the bank.

“I am both humbled and excited to be taking on the leadership of the ULI Europe Young Leaders”, said Ariana Maass. “I’m humbled to have the opportunity to work with over 1,500 diverse, energetic and bright industry leaders of tomorrow, and am excited for the challenge ahead, to maintain membership growth and retention, meet the professional education and leadership development priorities of young leaders across Europe, and work with them to further the mission of ULI.”

“The real estate industry is navigating some extremely complex geopolitical challenges and is seeing unprecedented disruption and change, from sustainability, decarbonisation and biodiversity to AI and other technological innovations. It is important that our Young Leader members can both benefit from the expertise and best practices of our industry’s current decision makers but also have a chance to question, and to contribute their own innovative ideas and solutions to address the critical issues we’re all collectively facing and help move as many needles as the industry needs us to move. The Young Leaders group provides an excellent platform to facilitate this.”

Reflecting on the role of Chair, Maass said: “These are big shoes to fill, and we’re all grateful to Thibault for his huge contribution to the ongoing success and reputation of the Young Leaders group, and for his staunch commitment to ULI and its mission.”

Maass plans to build on the legacy left by Thibault Weston Smith during his tenure, maintaining a strong focus on education, innovation, and leadership in the Young Leader programme, as well as ensuring ULI’s three mission commitments, to connect, inspire, and lead, are intrinsically incorporated.

While there is an ambition to explore new opportunities, Maass will ensure that focus is also maintained on the success of established areas: “It is important that we continue to nurture and develop our great initiatives such as the PropTech Innovation Challenge, launched last year by Thibault and Simon Abboud, which focuses on addressing real estate’s biggest challenges through innovative solutions.”

Thibault Weston Smith, outgoing ULI Europe Young Leaders Chair and co-founder, Crayon Partners said: “It has been an incredible honour to lead the ULI Europe Young Leaders group over the past two years. I am immensely proud of the collaborative spirit and forward-thinking mindset we have fostered, at both local and global levels, which have been crucial in driving meaningful initiatives and empowering the next generation of industry leaders. Our focus on fostering creativity and leadership development has laid a solid foundation for the future, and I am excited to see how we will continue to evolve and make a difference”.

“I take great pride in the achievements of our group during my tenure, particularly with the launch of the PropTech Innovation Challenge (PIC) in 2023, which has become a significant milestone in our journey and is now a flagship event within the ULI. As I pass the baton to Ariana Maass, I am confident in her leadership and excited to see her drive our group of Young Leaders towards more accomplishments in the coming years.”

Anne Kavanagh, the new ULI Europe Chair, who started her term on 1 July, said: “The contributions that our Young Leaders make, including their enthusiasm for innovation, ceaseless energy, and dedication, contributes significantly to the growth and success of ULI. I’m sure that Ariana will be a fantastic ambassador and leader and look forward to working with her as she focuses on delivering a compelling and essential programme and sustaining the ongoing success of the group.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, concluded: “Welcome to Ariana, whose commitment to supporting and championing our mission priorities and to membership growth, her intended focus on further strengthening the Young Leader engagement at both the local and European level by sharing best practices through regular exchanges between local Young Leader chairs, as well as enhancing existing initiatives such as the mentoring programme, and the Young Leaders Retreat, and exploring new initiatives focused on leadership education, innovation, and leadership. Her great enthusiasm and recent experience actively contributing to our group both in Germany as well as across Europe put her in good stead to be a great European Young Leaders Chair. The team and I are all looking forward to working with her.”

“I would also like to thank Thibault for the significant contribution he has made as Chair of our Young Leaders Group in Europe over the past two years. My congratulations to him for the success of initiatives such as PropTech Innovation Challenge, and his recent and deserved ULI European Talent Award win, which reflect the great legacy he has left at ULI”, added van Doorn.

For more information about the ULI Europe Young Leaders programme, sponsored by LaSalle and PIMCO, visit europe.uli.org/councils/young-leaders.

The Young Leaders Retreat takes place 26-28 September 2024 in Stockholm.

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Notes to editors:

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

In Europe ULI has almost 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks.

For more information on ULI, please visit https://europe.uli.org