UNITE Speakers

September 20 & 21, 2023  |  Prior Lake, MN

Cynthia Adams
Cynthia Adams

Cynthia is CEO and Co-Founder of Pearl Certification, a vertical SaaS firm that provides investment grade data on a home’s performance features to increase its value in the refinance or real estate transaction. Cynthia is also the co-founder of the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council and a twenty-year veteran in energy efficiency and green construction. Voted 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council, she is also the 2018 winner of the Linda Wigington Leadership Award from the Building Performance Association, and she serves on NAR’s Sustainability Advisory Group. Cynthia has been a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Energy Council and Executive Committee on Energy Efficiency. She has been certified as a USGBC LEED Accredited Professional and NAR Green Designee. 

Marvin Anderson

Marvin Anderson

Marvin Roger Anderson, retired Attorney at Law and former Minnesota State Law Librarian, has been and continues to be a community activist and key figure involved with ongoing efforts to celebrate the past, present and future of Saint Paul’s African American community of Rondo. He is the co-founder of the Rondo Days Festival established in 1983 and was instrumental in the creation of the Rondo Commemorative Plaza in 2018.

Mr. Anderson was a co-founder and first president of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers (MABL); a board member and past chair of the Archie Givens Collection of African American Literature at the University of Minnesota; he has served on the Board of Directors/Trustees for the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, Minnesota Humanities Commission, Regions Hospital and the US Bank Community Advisory Board.  As a passionate advocate for the Rondo community, Mr. Anderson works with local area high schools and colleges as a lecturer on Rondo’s historical past, present and future. He does oral interviews for local historical organizations and is collecting stories, artifacts, and memorabilia for a Rondo museum. He has curated historical exhibits and has been a consultant for other organizations interested in the accuracy of Rondo historical era.

Mr. Anderson currently serves as the Project Director of the Rondo Commemorative Plaza and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Rondo Center of Diverse Expression. As Board Chair for ReConnect Rondo, he is instrumental in helping the organization lead a restorative movement to revitalize Rondo with an African American cultural enterprise district connected by a land bridge.

Keith Baker

Keith Baker

Keith Baker is the executive director for ReConnect Rondo, Inc., an umbrella advocacy organization committed to addressing racial disparities in Minnesota. Keith is leading the organization’s mission to revitalize the Rondo Community with a land bridge that reconnects Rondo and creates Minnesota’s first African American cultural enterprise district. Keith has more than 35 years of experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. His 18 years with the Minnesota Department of Transportation included oversight of federal and state professional technical contract administration and construction compliance monitoring. Keith served as a member of the Ramsey County Blue Ribbon Commission in 2010, which was at the forefront of elevating Minnesota’s ranking as 50th in the nation for racial disparities. Over the years, he has identified and executed strategies supportive of equitable development, entrepreneurism, ownership, business and workforce, and opportunity access. As a strategist, connector, and influencer, Keith has a reputation for seeing the big picture, along with the connective links needed for genuine progress.  He’s known for skillfully navigating within constrained environments, creating outputs that result in equitable outcomes. These characteristics were instrumental in the successful orchestration of a collective impact approach that ensured equitable inclusion of minority- and women-owned engineering and architect firms on the billion-dollar U.S. Bank Stadium project. 

Katie Clancy
Katie Clancy

Katie Clancy (aka The Happiest Person in Real Estate) is Sales VP at William Raveis RE and co-owner of Cape House Properties Real Estate and Remodeling. Once broke and broken she found success by leveraging humanity across every aspect of her work. Today she leads a $30 million+ real estate team, is 2022 Cape Cod & Islands REALTOR® of the Year, national industry speaker, podcast host, and soon, author.  

Eric Fowler

Craig Grant headshot

Eric Fowler (he/him) is a Senior Policy Associate in Fresh Energy’s buildings department and brings his expertise to focus on policies supporting building electrification and market transformation, as well as improvements to energy efficiency that facilitate fuel switching. Eric joined Fresh Energy in 2021 and played a key role in growing the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition, housed at Fresh Energy. Before joining the buildings department, Eric also supported Fresh Energy’s Public Affairs Team and has had a leadership role in advancing multiple state legislative priorities.  

Before Fresh Energy, Eric spent 6 years in workforce development at the Chicago Jobs Council, where he advanced policy research, managed external communications, and led advocacy to reduce transportation barriers to employment. Eric has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gustavus Adolphus College.   

Craig Grant

Craig Grant
As the lead Subject Matter Expert of NAR’s upcoming rebuild of
ePro, 2023 RIS Media Newsmaker as an Industry Futurist, over 150 in-person & virtual speaking engagements around the world each year, including sessions for NAR, several state conventions, franchises, CRS & other key industry events, Craig Grant is considered one of the most sought-after technology, marketing & cybersecurity speakers around.
 

Whether it be at an industry event, in the classroom, or online via Zoom or the RETI.us portal, one thing that fuels Craig is to help today’s real estate professionals embrace and get over their fear of technology so that it can work for them and not against them. 

As his motto, “Advanced Real Estate Technology & Marketing Instructed at Pre-K Level” states, Craig is able to take extremely complicated topics & present them in a way that the average non-technical person not only understands but is able to apply & improve their business. 

Kim Harvey

Kim Harvey headshot
Kim Harvey is the Director of Sustainability in the Minneapolis Health Department at the City of Minneapolis. He is responsible for the development of policy and programs that support the city’s Climate Action Goals and elevate racial and environmental justice initiatives.   With a background in urban planning, Kim leverages the resources of the community and city to create a more resilient, equitable and healthy community through public policy and collaboration with local utilities, community residents, business, and government

Kim joined the City of Minneapolis after working at the Minnesota Department of Commerce where he led the development and implementation of solar policies and incentive programs that supported more than 4,000 new solar installations resulting in 60 MWs of distributed solar.   

Kim earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Real Estate and Finance from the University of WI - Madison and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of MN.   

Since March 2021, Kim has been an appointee of President Joe Biden to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) where he advises the White House and other federal agencies on Environmental Justice policy and programs and served on the working group that developed the Justice 40 guidelines 

He can be reached at Kim.Havey@minneapolismn.gov 

Larry Kraft
Larry Kraft

Larry Kraft is a Minnesota State Representative. He represents most of the city of St. Louis Park, was first elected to the House in 2022 and currently serves as vice-chair of the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy committee. Prior to serving in the State Legislature, Larry was a St. Louis Park City Council Member, serving as an at-large member from 2020 - 2022. He also co-hosts the City Climate Corner podcast, which explores how small and mid-sized cities are tackling climate change. 

Larry has 25 years of high-tech business experience, having held leadership positions in a variety of organizations, from startups to large public companies. In 2013, Larry changed careers to focus on climate action. From 2014-19, Kraft led the national nonprofit iMatter, which supported high school and middle school youth leaders as they pressed local governments to take action on climate change – including in St. Louis Park, where high school students from the environmental club lobbied the city council and initiated the process that resulted in the city’s Climate Action Plan. 

Kraft is married and has two kids. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in business administration, both from Cornell University. He loves swimming, traveling, and cross-country skiing and is an ice cream fanatic. 

Robin LeBaron
Robin LeBaron

Robin LeBaron is the president, and co-founder of Pearl Certification, a national firm that is transforming the way homes are bought and sold in the U.S. by certifying high-performing homes and creating a platform that connects homeowners with the professionals who build, improve, sell, and finance high-performing homes. Prior to co-founding Pearl, Robin served as the Managing Director of the National Home Performance Council, a national non-profit organization created to promote energy efficiency upgrades in U.S. homes, where he led national efforts that developed energy efficiency, real estate home data, and certification standards, and authored guides on best practices in energy efficiency for the U.S. Department of Energy and other stakeholders. He previously served as the executive director of Hope Community, Inc., a non-profit based in East Harlem, New York, that built and managed 1,200 units of affordable housing, including the first affordable LEED Silver multi-family buildings in New York City. 

Teresa Lopez
Teresa Lopez

  • Licensed mortgage banker over 25 yrs.—funding residential & development loans
  • Driving new regulatory and legislative policies for high-performance financing programs and incentives in Washington DC. Stakeholders include the DOE (Department of Energy), HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), Fannie Mae, The Appraisal Foundation, legislators, and energy policymakers
  • Published author of "Green Energy Money for Residential Properties"
  • Awarded two U.S. patents for Green Loans
  • Developed national curriculum quantifying value for green homes

Ifoma Pierre
Ifoma Pierre

After surviving three near death encounters in his native country of Trinidad – including almost losing his ear in a gang fight at age 14 – a 17-year-old Ifoma Pierre turned his life around. He received a craftsman diploma from John Donald Technical Institute and started making various types of clothing which he sold on a wall eight hours away by boat in the sister island of Tobago. 

Pierre met and married the love his life Hazel at age 22. But after a bad property deal took their life savings, they decided to start over in New York City and moved into a basement rental so small his nine-month old’s room was a closet. 

Pierre humorously thought himself the “perfect candidate” when he answered a newspaper ad to make money in real estate with no experience or money required! When the opportunity didn’t work out, he quickly realized a license would lead to better opportunities, but it would be three years before his first sale. Despite the slow start he continued to invest every dollar he had on personal development books, coaching and tools and by 2018, Pierre was named one of the Top 20 Rising Stars in Real Estate under 40 by the Long Island Board of REALTORS®.

Pierre has been an International Corporate Trainer and is a John Maxwell Certified Speaker Trainer & Coach. 

Todd Shipman

Todd Shipman

Todd is a connector of people and ideas. He sees the world as it could be and takes the risk to step into the unknown. Todd can vision how the collaboration between people, ideas, and change can evolve into something better for individuals, organizations, and the human capital within. As a Realtor, thought leader, startup CEO, he is committed to the business of organized real estate.  

Todd served on the Strategic Planning Committee 2022, at The National Association of Realtors as Chair 2014, worked to deliver The ReThink Experience, Think2020, The NAR DANGER REPORT and implemented a 3-year Strategic Plan. Serves as Chair / Vice Chair of the 2018/2022 Sustainability Advisory Group his group delivered a set of Strategic Priorities to the NAR Leadership Team, to be implemented across the organization and the industry. As Chair 2022/2018 Northstar Multiple Listings Service of Minnesota he has recently completed a CEO search He co-founded PicketFence.com - bootstrapped and coordinated a start up team to launch into the proptech space.  

Todd has twenty-seven years of experience bringing together smart enthusiastic property owners and buyers. He never underestimates the power, knowledge and skill required to project manage a successful real estate transaction. With 500 + successful transactions, he still focuses on working with each client personally, listening to the client’s needs and wants and giving them the benefit of his 26 years of experience.  

Aaron Smith
Aaron Smith

Aaron Smith is the CEO of the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) which represents a community of over 50,000 builders and their stakeholders across North America that are truly the early adopters and innovators in driving sustainable transformation of the homebuilding industry. Aaron has over 25 years of experience in home construction, building products, sustainability, and non-profit board leadership. He has worked for companies including Kohler, Uponor and ASSA ABLOY as well as startups in Silicon Valley and is CEO of GreenSmith Builders, which focuses on net zero build-to-rent properties. Aaron previously served on non-profit Boards for Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC), CT Sustainable Business Council, and co-founded the CT Collaborative - Living Building Challenge. Aaron completed his undergraduate studies at West Point and St. Cloud State University and is a 2016 graduate of the Yale University MBA program with a focus on Sustainability. He loves green building and sustainability as well as hockey, hiking, skiing, gardening, and spending time with his wife, Jennifer, 3 boys and 3 cats and chickens at their home in Minneapolis. 

Fawn Weaver

Fawn Weaver has been a serial entrepreneur for more than 25 years. As the CEO and founder of Grant Sidney, Inc, a privately held investment company, Weaver has often been active in her investments, serving in leadership capacities behind the scenes. Weaver is a popular TED speaker, as well as a US Today and New York Times bestselling author who has appeared on 100s of popular newspapers, radio, morning, and television talk shows across the US, including FOX Business, the TODAY show, The New York Times, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America and CNBC. She is a regular contributor to Inc. Magazine and has been interviewed by top shows in Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa, Italy, Belgium, Australia, Ireland, Poland, Spain and New Zealand on topics ranging from accelerating growth in business without losing your soul to creating a happy balance between work and family. 

Weaver is the first Black American woman to build a $1B+company from the ground up, who is not a celebrity. She serves as the CEO of Uncle Nearest Inc., a company she founded in 2016, which sits under the Grant Sidney umbrella. Uncle Nearest Whiskey is the fastest-growing American Whiskey brand in the US History, the best selling African American founded spirit brand of all time and was the most award-winning American whiskey (including bourbon) of 2019, 2020, 2021 and has now extended that winning streak to include 2022. 

Weaver launches her first company, a public relations and special events firm, in 1996. In addition to her firm, from 1998-2003, she served as Partner and Business Manager for G. Garvin’s LLC, the operator of G. Garvin’s Restaurant. Weaver developed the business plan, secured development and operational funding and was business manager for the first four years. 

Taking a six year break from entrepreneurialism, to learn what it was like to be the employee rather than the employer, Weaver held a variety of positions in the hospitality sector. She worked as the head of special events and catering for the world-famous Viceroy Hotels and as a General Manager for Dimension Development Co, the operator of more than 50 Marriott and Hilton brand hotels throughout the US.  

Zak Williams

Zak Williams is a passionate global mental health advocate, entrepreneur, father, professional speaker and son of beloved actor and comedian, Robin Williams. He focuses his time, expertise, and resources on sharing his personal journey from pain to purpose, supporting initiatives and campaigns seeking to remove the stigma of discussions aligned with mental health challenges, addressing any discrimination associated and creating access to quality care for all in need. 

Zak is CEO and co-founder of anxiety relief neurotransmitter nutrition company PYM and is an investor in technology and consumer packaged goods companiesFormerly, he was COO of the recommendation platform Crossing Minds, the Director of Business Development for media company Conde Nast, and the marketing lead for gaming and media platform N3TWORK. 

In 2020, Zak was proud to be keynote speaker at a reception at the United Nations General Assembly where he announced the launch of the #SpeakYourMind campaign, a global mental health movement intended to amplify the needs of underserved communities, too often unseen and unheard. 

Zak earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Linguistics from New York University.