Commercial and Multifamily People in the News May 11, 2023
(Michelle MacKay)
Michaelle MacKay Named Next Cushman & Wakefield CEO
Cushman & Wakefield’s Board of Directors accepted John Forrester’s intent to retire from his position as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective June 30, following 35 years of service to the company. The board appointed Michelle MacKay, currently President and Chief Operating Officer, to assume the CEO role on July 1.
Forrester will remain employed as a strategic advisor until December 31. Brett White will remain as Executive Chairman of the Board. Andrew McDonald, currently President of Cushman & Wakefield, was appointed by the Board to an expanded role of Global President and Chief Operating Officer overseeing all the firm’s service lines and regions.
MacKay joined Cushman & Wakefield as a member of its Board of Directors in 2018. Based on the firm’s strategic goals and her related expertise, she was appointed to the position of COO in 2020 and promoted to President and COO on January 1, 2022, with direct operational and management oversight of many of the firm’s service lines and regions, including the EMEA region, Global Occupier Services and C&W Services.
A seasoned commercial real estate executive with more than 30 years of experience at a variety of public and privately held companies, MacKay has served on three public company boards, including Cushman & Wakefield’s from 2018 to 2020. Previously, she served as Executive Vice President, Investments and Head of Capital Markets at iStar, Inc. a real estate investment trust that has since merged with Safehold Inc. She also has significant capital allocation and financial institution expertise, having served in leadership roles at UBS (previously Paine Webber), JPMorgan Chase and The Hartford Insurance Company’s investment arm HIMCO.
McDonald has been with Cushman & Wakefield for more than 20 years, most recently serving as President of Cushman & Wakefield since 2021, leading the firm’s largest business lines in the Americas and Asia Pacific regions. Prior to his role as President, Mr. McDonald held several senior leadership roles at Cushman & Wakefield after a 15-year career as a top brokerage professional, including Chief Executive for the Americas region, President of the Americas West Region and Regional Managing Principal of Southern California for Cushman & Wakefield.
nxtCRE Adds Kat Downen to Sales Team
Kat Downen joined the Sales team at nxtCRE, Miami.
Downen previously worked in sales and marketing at a California mortgage company and at an architectural metals firm, and has been a public school teacher and digital marketer.
