Senator Bill Hagerty was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020 and is currently serving his first term representing the state of Tennessee. He serves on the Senate Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Foreign Relations; Appropriations; and Rules and Administration.

On the Banking Committee, he chairs the Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance. On the Foreign Relations Committee, he chairs the Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development. He also serves as chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

Prior to his election to the Senate, Hagerty served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, the world’s third-largest economy and one of America’s closest allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Hagerty’s background in international affairs, economic development, and finance has shaped his work in the Senate on issues related to capital markets, foreign policy, and U.S. competitiveness.

From 2011 to 2014, he served in the Governor’s Cabinet as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, where he led a major reorganization of the department and helped advance Tennessee’s economic growth and foreign investment strategy.

Before his career in public service, Hagerty built a career in business, private equity, and economic development. He began his career at Boston Consulting Group, where his work took him across five continents, including three years based in Tokyo. He later became a venture capital and private equity investor, serving as an executive and board member for a range of companies, including publicly traded firms.

(BA, Vanderbilt University; JD, Vanderbilt University Law School)

Ross Perot Jr. serves as Chairman of The Perot Companies, which manages the various Perot family interests that include real estate, oil and gas, and financial investments. Additionally, Mr. Perot is Chairman of Hillwood, a Texas-based, leading global real estate development company he founded in 1988.

That same year, Mr. Perot developed Fort Worth Alliance Airport, the country's first industrial airport, through a unique public-private partnership. The airport now anchors AllianceTexas, a 27,000-acre master-planned, mixed-use community in North Texas. The area is home to the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, an integrated testbed for both surface and air mobility technology to test, scale, and commercialize. Since its inception, AllianceTexas has become home to 590 companies, generating nearly $130 billion in regional economic impact and creating more than 66,000 direct jobs.

As an aviation enthusiast, Mr. Perot completed the first helicopter flight around the world in less than 30 days in 1982 and served as a pilot in the United States Air Force. Mr. Perot then became chairman of the Air Force Memorial Foundation, leading the 14-year effort to build the United States Air Force Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Perot is co-founder of Perot Systems Corporation and served in various roles within the company including CEO, Chairman of the Board, and member of its Board of Directors. Perot Systems was acquired by Dell Inc. in 2009, at which time Mr. Perot joined their Board of Directors, where he served until 2013.

Mr. Perot currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and on the boards of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Hoover Institution, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a Board Member Emeritus for Vanderbilt University, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and St. Mark's School of Texas.

(BA, Vanderbilt University, 1981)

Representative Mike Flood is serving his third term representing Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District. He currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee, where he is also Chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee.

In addition to his chairmanship, Rep. Flood is a member of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee and the Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity. He also serves as Chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus and is a member of the House Republican Policy Committee.

Rep. Flood has long been active in Northeast Nebraska economic development and community efforts. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, advancing its mission to open the doors of educational opportunity for families with financial need. He has also previously served on the Board of Directors for Invest Nebraska, which is committed to growing Nebraska’s economy by assisting entrepreneurs and investing capital in companies with growth potential.

Currently, Rep. Flood is a member of the U.S. Strategic Command Consultation Committee and a councilor for the Aksarben Foundation.

In 2005, Mike was elected to represent his hometown and surrounding Madison County in the Nebraska Legislature. In 2007, his colleagues elected him the youngest Speaker of the Legislature in Nebraska history. He served in the state legislature until 2013, and returned in 2020, before he was elected to Congress in 2022.

(BA University of Notre Dame, 1997; JD University of Nebraska, 2001)

David R. Malpass served as the 13th President of the World Bank Group from April 2019 to June 2023. During his tenure, he focused on policies to increase economic growth, reduce poverty, improve living standards, and address rising government debt burdens. Under his leadership, the Bank Group mobilized a record $440 billion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, a sharp global economic slowdown, unsustainable debt pressures, climate-related challenges, and disruptions in food, fertilizer, and energy markets. The Bank Group also more than doubled its climate finance to developing countries, reaching a record $32 billion in fiscal year 2022.

Before joining the World Bank Group, Mr. Malpass served as U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, where he represented the United States in international forums including the G-7 and G-20 Deputy Finance Ministerial meetings, the World Bank-IMF Spring and Annual Meetings, the Financial Stability Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Malpass was an international economist and founder of a New York-based macroeconomics research firm, and served as chief economist at Bear Stearns. He also held senior policy roles in the U.S. government, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Developing Nations, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Economic Affairs, Senior Analyst for Taxes and Trade at the Senate Budget Committee, and Staff Director of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

Mr. Malpass has served on the boards of the Council of the Americas, the Economic Club of New York, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the Manhattan Institute, and Gary Klinsky Children’s Centers, and he is the author of numerous articles on economic development.

(Colorado College, B.A.; University of Denver, M.B.A.; Georgetown University School of Foreign Service) 

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).

Anthony Chereso is Chief Executive Officer and President of The Inland Real Estate Companies, LLC, one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate, finance, and alternative investment groups. Since inception, Inland has closed more than $80 billion in financial and diversified commercial real estate transactions, raising more than $30 billion in capital, and currently manages a diverse real estate portfolio of approximately $16 billion across 42 states.

Mr. Chereso joined Inland in July 2022 as Chief Financial Officer. In this capacity, he oversaw the acquisition of Inland’s majority interest in Devon Self Storage Holdings, one of the largest privately owned national self-storage operators and development companies with more than $2 billion in assets. The acquisition also included Powell Insurance Services.
Prior to joining Inland, Mr. Chereso worked as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (“IPA”), the foremost alternative investment trade association, where he was the leading voice for critical legislative and regulatory issues with an unwavering commitment for the advancement of the alternative investment industry. Under his leadership, the IPA was involved in the drafting of the Treasury rules for Qualified Opportunity Zones.

Previously, he co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of FactRight, a leading third-party independent securities due diligence and research firm and has held roles in capital markets at various real estate investment companies. Additionally, he worked in corporate finance, tax, and audit with Verizon Communications (formerly GTE) for nearly 20 years.

Mr. Chereso has over 30 years of experience in retail investment, underwriting, finance, tax, audit, commercial real estate, due diligence, capital markets and the alternative investment industry. He serves on The Board of Directors for organizations including: The Real Estate Roundtable; NAREIT Public Non-Listed REIT Council, Better Government Association of Chicago and the 100 Club of Illinois. He is a member of the Wheaton Lions Club, Conservation Foundation, and supports Wellness House.

(BA, DePaul University School of Business)

Ryan McCormick is Senior Vice President and Counsel at The Real Estate Roundtable, where he is responsible for managing the organization’s tax policy activities. Ryan coordinates the Roundtable’s Tax Policy Advisory Committee, a group of 150 leading real estate tax experts, including in-house tax directors, general counsel, and chief financial officers of Roundtable members and senior partners from national law and accounting firms.

Ryan joined the Roundtable in May 2013 after serving nearly 11 years in the U.S. Senate as a tax and economic policy advisor for Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Bob Graham and Bill Nelson. In the 112th Congress, Ryan was Staff Director of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth. As staff director, Ryan guided and oversaw all aspects of the subcommittee’s activities, including bipartisan hearings on tax reform.

In addition to his service in the Senate, Ryan previously practiced tax law at Miller & Chevalier (“shev-a-leer”) in Washington, D.C., the oldest tax law firm in the country. He is a graduate of Georgetown University; Sciences-Po (“see-ons pō”) in Paris, France; and the University of Texas School of Law. From 2000 to 2001, Ryan researched tax reform in West Africa as a Fulbright Scholar.