Kathleen McCarthy Baldwin is the former Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate. Blackstone is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally with a nearly $600 billion real estate portfolio and $339 billion in investor capital under management (as of March 31, 2024), owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, residential, office, hospitality and retail.

Kathleen also previously served as Global Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Real Estate. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, she worked at Goldman Sachs, where she focused on investments for the Real Estate Principal Investment Area. She began her career at Goldman Sachs in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group.

Kathleen received a BA from Yale University. She is currently serving a three-year term as Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable, the industry’s top federal advocacy organization. She also serves on the boards of City Harvest and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, and is the President of the Board of Trustees of The Nightingale-Bamford School.

Jeff DeBoer is the founding President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable. He has been at the forefront of national policy affecting the real estate industry for the past 40 years.
The Real Estate Roundtable represents the leadership of the nation’s top 150 privately owned and publicly-held real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms, as well as the elected leaders of the 18 major national real estate industry trade associations. Roundtable member portfolios contain over 12 billion square feet of office, retail and industrial properties valued at nearly $4 trillion; over 5 million apartment units; and in excess of 6 million hotel rooms. The 18 national trade associations participating with the Roundtable represent more than 3 million people directly employed in the real estate industry.

Mr. DeBoer also chairs the National Real Estate Organizations, a 18 member real estate trade association coalition focused on industry communication, advocacy and diversity efforts as well as the Real Estate Industry Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC), an organization dedicated to enhancing communication between the industry and federal policymakers on terrorism threats, building security, and major incident reporting. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) and for several years he co-chaired the Advisory Board of the RAND Corporation’s Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy. Mr. DeBoer previously served on the Advisory Board of Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute.

Mr. DeBoer has discussed real estate and economic policy issues numerous times in Congressional testimony as well as on FOX News, Bloomberg Television, MSNBC and CNBC; and his editorials have been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. In 2010, Globest.com named Mr. DeBoer a “top 10 Industry Newsmaker of the Decade”; in 2013 Commercial Property Executive named him one of the “30 most influential people in real estate”; in 2016 Real Estate Forum honored him as the “Voice of the Industry” and one of the nation’s top CRE bosses; in 2017 Washington Life Magazine included Mr. DeBoer in its “Power 100” list of Washington DC’s most influential unelected, non-governmental people; and since 2017, The Hill has placed Mr. DeBoer on its annual list of the top lobbyists in Washington DC, a list it called: “the players at the top of their game, known for their ability to successfully navigate the byzantine and competitive world of federal policymaking.” In 2024, in recognition of his positive influence on national public policy, Commercial Property Executive presented Mr. DeBoer with its Lifetime Achievement award.

Mr. DeBoer earned degrees from Washington and Lee University School of Law (JD) and Yankton College (BA).

Anthony E. Malkin is chairman and chief executive officer of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. He joined its predecessor entities as president in 1989 and was named chairman and CEO in 2013. Mr. Malkin has been a leader in existing building energy efficiency retrofits since he oversaw the groundbreaking project at the Empire State Building, in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, Johnson Controls, JLL, and Rocky Mountain Institute. He led the development of standards for energy efficient office tenant installations which is now known as the Tenant Energy Optimization Program at the Urban Land Institute.

Mr. Malkin is a board member of APi Group Corporation, The Real Estate Roundtable and Chair of its Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee, a member of the Climate Mobilization Advisory Board of the New York City Department of Buildings, and the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York. Mr. Malkin is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Partnership for New York City’s Innovation Council.

In 2024, Mr. Malkin received BOMA’s Henry J. Muller Achievement Award that recognizes individuals, institutions, and companies who have substantially improved or had a major impact upon the New York skyline. Mr. Malkin is a fixture on Commercial Observer’s annual Power 100 list, and a thought leader with features on CNBC, TIME, the Washington Post, and the New York Post, among others.

Mr. Malkin received a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Harvard College.

Committees: Appropriations; Foreign Relations; Judiciary; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Select Committee on Ethics

Senator Chris Coons has been representing Delaware in the United States Senate since 2010 and is well-known for his pragmatic and bipartisan approach to legislation. He has received the Legislative Action Award from the Bipartisan Policy Center and is ranked among the top three most productive Senators by GovTrack.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Coons helps shape federal funding priorities across a wide range of domestic and international programs. He also serves as Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and is a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, where he works on U.S. foreign policy, global security, and international economic engagement.

Additionally, he co-founded and leads the Senate Human Rights Caucus, the Senate Competitiveness Caucus, the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, the bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, the Senate ALS Caucus, and the Senate Chicken Caucus.

Prior to his tenure in the Senate, he served as New Castle County Council President and County Executive. He also worked as an attorney for W.L. Gore & Associates and has a notable history of community service, having founded the Delaware chapter of the national “I Have a Dream” Foundation and launched its AmeriCorps program.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Political Science from Amherst College in 1985, a Master of Arts in Ethics from Yale Divinity School in 1992, and a Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School in 1992.

(AB Amherst College, 1985; MAR Yale University, 1992; JD Yale University, 1992)

Josh Parker is Ancora’s Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He leads the Board of Directors and sits on the firm’s Investment Committee. As Chairman and CEO, he is responsible for overseeing all firm strategy, policies and procedures as well as day-to-day operations.
A national leader in the anchor institution and innovation sectors, he has unique investment experience spanning adaptive re-use, urban redevelopment, life sciences, venture, innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives, university-leased real estate and mixed-use development.

After a stint in NY theatre, Josh began his real estate career in Durham, NC. In the two decades since as a serial entrepreneur, he experienced industry success that includes developing a combined 5 million square feet totaling over $4.5 billion in value.

Josh has played a pivotal role in leading high-profile innovation initiatives that have transformed communities and driven economic growth. As a key leader in the development of the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis, he helped revitalize over 200 acres of underutilized industrial land, attracting 6,200 jobs and creating more than 2 million square feet of innovation space—including 250,000 square feet specifically designed to support startups. In Downtown Durham, he was instrumental in its revitalization and expansion, contributing to major projects such as The Chesterfield, an adaptive reuse of a 350,000 square foot historic building featuring office, lab, and retail spaces and the West Village, a 600,000 square foot mixed-use development near Duke University.

He has served on non-profit, and government appointed boards including The Duke School (Finance Committee Chair), Real Estate Roundtable (Chair of Tax Policy Advisory Committee), Urban Land Institute (past Vice-Chair University Development & Innovation Council), National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (Council Member), member of the Economic Club of Washington, DC, and the Council on Competitiveness (Executive Committee and Commissioner on the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers).

Edward C. “Ed” Forst serves as Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration, where he oversees the federal government’s real estate portfolio, acquisition programs, and technology services.

As Administrator, Forst leads an agency responsible for managing approximately 360 million rentable square feet of federal real estate, overseeing more than $126 billion in products and services, and supporting the operations of agencies across the federal government. He was sworn in on Dec. 24, 2025, and brings nearly four decades of experience in financial services, real estate, and executive management to the role.

He is also Acting Archivist of the United States National Archives.

Before joining GSA, Forst held senior leadership positions across the private and public sectors, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield and senior roles at Goldman Sachs. He previously served in the U.S. government as an advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Forst’s leadership at GSA has focused on improving federal real estate management, reducing costs for taxpayers, strengthening acquisition efficiency, and ensuring the federal government’s property portfolio better supports agency missions.

(B.A., Harvard University; M.B.A., The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)

Sen. Peter Welch was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022. He previously served as Vermont's sole U.S. Representative from 2006 to 2023. As senator, he has continued his work to lower costs for working families, combat the impacts of climate change, and invest in rural America.

Sen. Welch is a member of the Senate Committees on Finance and Rules and Administration. He is also a member of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Judiciary Committees, where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittees on Rural Development and Energy and on The Constitution, respectively.

During his time in public service, Sen. Welch has been a voice for rural interests in real estate. He recently played a crucial role in reintroducing the bipartisan Farm Ownership Improvement Act, which aims to help producers compete in the farm real estate market by launching a pilot program for a pre-approval or pre-qualification process for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Direct Farm Ownership loans.

While serving in the House, Sen. Welch was a co-sponsor of the RER-backed Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to begin collecting potentially billions of dollars in unpaid sales taxes for online purchases.

Prior to being elected to Congress, Sen. Welch served in the Vermont State Senate (1980-1988 and 2002-2006), where he served as Minority Leader and President Pro Tempore. Earlier in his career, Sen. Welch was a partner at the law firm Welch, Graham & Manby and worked as a public defender.

(AB Holy Cross College; JD University of California, Berkeley)

Representative Bill Huizenga has served as a U.S. representative since 2011 and currently represents Michigan's 4th Congressional District. Rep. Huizenga is a member of the influential House Financial Services Committee, where he serves Vice Chair, and also sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

As House Financial Services Vice Chair, Rep. Huizenga’s extensive experience across the committee’s jurisdiction drives policy initiatives pertaining to economic growth and stabilization; domestic monetary policy and interest rates; the allocation of credit; and the structure and functioning of domestic financial institutions. Federal agencies under the oversight of the House Financial Services Committee include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Reserve, the Department of Treasury, and the Government Sponsored Enterprises (Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac).

Rep. Huizenga is an original member of the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum (BFF), a group founded during the 118th Congress that is dedicated to sounding the alarm about our nation’s unsustainable debt trajectory and working together to get control of our fiscal future. He serves as the Republican Co-Chair, working with the group’s members to elevate the debt issue while providing members with opportunities to improve the fiscal policy debate in Congress.

Rep. Huizenga has previously served on each of the House Financial Services Subcommittees, including Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets; and Monetary Policy and Trade. During the 118th Congress, Rep. Huizenga served as the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, where he oversaw all agencies, departments, programs, and matters within the Financial Services Committee’s jurisdiction.

Prior to being elected to Congress, Rep. Huizenga served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009.

Rep. Huizenga began his career as a realtor and entrepreneur. Today, he co-owns Huizenga Gravel Inc. located in Jenison, MI.

(BA, Calvin College)

Representative Jake Auchincloss represents Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District, which includes communities from the Boston suburbs to the South Coast. He is serving his third term in Congress and serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, including the Energy, Environment, and Health Subcommittees.

In Congress, he has focused on issues including energy policy, health care, technology, economic competitiveness, and infrastructure — areas that directly affect communities, investment, and the built environment.

Rep. Auchincloss is also a member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition and has been an active voice on next-generation energy policy, including bipartisan work to advance geothermal energy development through the Hot Rock Act.

Before his election to Congress, Rep. Auchincloss served as a city councilor in Newton, Massachusetts, and as a Marine officer, with deployments to Afghanistan and Panama.

(B.A., Harvard University; M.B.A., MIT Sloan School of Management)

Senator Charles E. Schumer has represented New York in the U.S. Senate since 1999 and currently serves as Senate Minority Leader—the most senior official of the Democratic Party in the Senate and a key leader in congressional policymaking.

As Minority Leader, he is involved in all of the key issues facing lawmakers today, whether it is the budget, immigration, infrastructure or taxes. As the senior U.S. Senator from New York, he plays an unrivaled role in Washington as overseer of a financial industry that is his hometown's most important business.

Sen. Schumer was the key author of legislation in the Senate to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for six years, and played a pivotal role early in 2016 to pass the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015.

He previously served as Senate Majority Leader from 2021 to 2025, becoming the first New Yorker and first Jewish person to lead the U.S. Senate.

He also previously served on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee, which played a major role in development of the Dodd-Frank reform bill.

Before his election to the Senate, Sen. Schumer served in the U.S. House representing New York’s 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn and Queens for 18 years (1980-98). Prior to national office, he served in the New York State Assembly from 1974-1980.

(BA Harvard University; JD Harvard University)

A highly respected political journalist, Jonathan Martin
is POLITICO’s politics bureau chief and senior political columnist. His column chronicles the inside conversations and big-picture trends shaping politics.

Martin is among the most trusted reporters in the country with deep connections to the political leaders, power players, and movers and shakers in Washington, D.C.—and across the country.

He previously covered the 2008 presidential race for POLITICO, spending two years on the campaign trail. He then was on the White House beat for the first year of the Obama administration, traveling with the president across the country and overseas before returning to the politics beat.

Prior to assuming the role of politics bureau chief and senior political columnist at POLITICO, Martin was the senior political correspondent for The New York Times, serving as the publication’s top political reporter for nearly a decade. Before that, he was the senior political writer for POLITICO, where he was among the company’s first hires. Martin also worked as a political reporter for National Journal’s “The Hotline” and National Review. He is the co-author of “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future”, a New York Times bestseller.

His work has been featured in The New Republic, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as many more of the nation’s leading publications.

(BA Hampden-Sydney College)