The Last Word: Marc Intermaggio, CAE
Committee Teamwork Drives BOMA Goals & Engages Members Curious about how to get more value out of your BOMA membership? Take a cue from your colleagues who engage in BOMA committees that run the gamut from Codes and Regulations to Energy and Environment to Government Affairs. Choose one that fits your expertise — or get involved to learn about a new area and gain knowledge that may benefit your company.
Committee activities help drive BOMA’s mission, long-term goals and member engagement. By participating in a committee, you will expand your network, hear early warning signs about issues impacting commercial real estate, and help shape the policies of our organization and industry. Most committees are open to any BOMA member. Getting involved is as simple as contacting the appropriate committee chair. Visit www.bomasf. org and select the “Get Involved” tab to see when and where each group meets and whom to contact. I encourage you to dive right in and discover the advantages—and enjoyment— of committee engagement. Below we
highlight our various work groups, the chairs, and key goals for 2020. Commercial Real Estate Alliance for Tomorrow’s Employees (CREATE) – Chair: Tawni Sullivan, CBRE CREATE, formerly known as the BOMA San Francisco Foundation, works to expand and diversify the CRE workforce, partnering with other CRE associations to grow our industry’s talent pool. Says Chair Tawni Sullivan, “we focused this year on four areas of strategic development: governance re-structuring, marketing and communications to increase awareness of CREATE and the internship program, scalability of the program, and ensuring financial stability for the long term. We engaged an instructional design consultant who supported the development of consistent curriculum, including training for instructors.” BOMA-SF-PAC –Chair: Andrew Junius, Reuben, Junius, Rose, LLP The BOMA SF Political Action Committee (PAC) maintains relationships with elected officials, raises funds for electoral campaigns, and deploys funding to influence candidates and issues for the benefit of BOMA members. (Continued next page)
Events Committee – Chair: Erik Carlson, Able “We’ll continue to produce well-established financially successful marquee events (BOMA at the BALLPARK, Elmer Johnson Golf Tournament and Wine Tour, and the holiday party), evolving them to bridge multiple generations,” says Chair Erik Carlson. “We may also add smaller events and plan to expand the events calendar on the BOMA website, making it more interactive with meet-up groups and other BOMA committees. We also develop event sponsorship opportunities.” Careers Committee – Chair: Daisy Delmar, Boston Properties The Careers Committee’s goals are to promote awareness of commercial real estate careers to students and emerging professionals and to attract our next generation of talent. “We do this through our close partnership with the BOMA Fellows Program at SF State and other Bay Area universities,” says Chair Daisy Delmar. “The committee provides resources to students such as: informational interviews, building tours, workshops, job shadows, and a mentor program. We’re seeking volunteers to host building tours, job shadows or informational interviews to engage and inspire students.”
Codes and Regulations Committee – Chair: Eric Stein, Harsch Investment Properties This key panel interfaces with city agencies, analyzes building and fire code provisions and enforcement, and develops member training to ensure code compliance. “Our goal remains to keep members current on ever-evolving building codes and present the BOMA perspective to government leaders as codes are developed, often contributing to how they are ultimately drafted. The group is now monitoring zero emissions and what it takes to get there,” says Chair Eric Stein.
Education Committee – Chair: Cortney Shadel, Cushman & Wakefield The Education Committee helps identify topics and speakers for seminars, workshops and membership luncheons to provide timely, relevant information to members. Emergency Preparedness Committee – Chair: Bonnie Kalbrosky, Seagate Properties This vital committee is best known for its informative annual seminar that brings together public and private sector players to share best practices. But this group works year-round to help members create plans to deal with critical incidents, interface with public agencies, support first responder needs, and provide member and tenant education. “Attending our committee meetings provides members with a wealth of knowledge, as well as the opportunity to connect and collaborate with key public sector contacts in the San Francisco police, fire and emergency management departments,” says Chair Bonnie Kalbrosky. Emerging Professionals Committee – Chair: Andrew Gardner, Peacock Construction This committee develops training and networking opportunities for those who are relatively new to our industry. “Our main objective is to create a roadmap for those who are new to the industry and eager to engage in the real estate community,” says Chair Andrew Gardner. “We added a layer of structure that provides better volunteer opportunities, and we collaborate with each committee so that our members can select how they would like to continue participating in ‘Big BOMA.’ By the time they graduate from EP, we want them to have developed the personal network and industry knowledge needed to advance in their professional and BOMA career.” (Continued on next page)
Energy and Environment Committee – Chair: Ana Duffy, Hudson Pacific Properties Guiding members on best sustainable operating practices through educational programming is this committee’s objective. Chair Ana Duffy adds: “Our 2020 goals are: to Increase principal member engagement by publicizing meetings’ guest speakers and presentation topics and to be vigilant about emerging legislation, helping members understand requirements and navigate compliance. Earlier this year, we organized a BOMA-specific tour of the Recology recycling facility.”
Government Affairs Policy Advisory Committee Chair – Shayna Eskew, Alhouse Deaton This committee focuses on establishing new relationships and growing existing relationships with our City’s elected officials and department heads. Members of the committee also recently advocated for BOMA’s interests on Capitol Hill. (See photo at right from Capitol Hill.) Historic Buildings Committee – Chair: Jose Guevara, American Assets Trust This committee focuses on issues unique to older properties. “The committee looks forward to providing additional educational opportunities for BOMA members regarding new ordinance requirements that specifically impact historical properties,” says Chair Jose Guevara. “We intend to continue to learn about and tour some of San Francisco’s prestigious historical properties with the first tour of the year at 111 Sutter.”
Leadership Development & Nominating Committee – Chair: Blake Peterson, Transwestern The Leadership Development Committee remains focused on identifying candidates for the Board of Directors. “A strong, active Board of Directors will be particularly important in 2021 to provide support and leadership under a new Executive Director,” says Chair Blake Peterson. “Our committee’s goal is to nominate Board candidates that contribute to the Board of Directors’ balanced representation of our membership and industry interests.”
To learn more about committees, visit www.bomasf.org and select “Get Involved.”
BOMA SF delegation gathers to lobby for commercial real estate interests on Capitol Hill earlier this year.
Marc Intermaggio, CAE, is Executive Vice President of BOMA San Francisco and Executive Director/CEO, of CREATE whose mission is to recruit and train the industry’s next-generation workforce.
