Real Estate Almanac

Women Executives

The top women executives list, a subset of the Swanepoel Power 200 ranking, acknowledges women leaders who hold the most power in the residential real estate brokerage industry.
Executives Legend
The color legend to the right illustrates the various backgrounds for the top executives in the residential real estate industry.

1

Susan “Sue” Yannaccone

President and CEO, 
Anywhere Brands
As president and CEO of Anywhere Brands, Yannaccone oversees the largest cadre of real estate brokerage brands in the world, including Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty, Century 21, ERA, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Corcoran Group. She has become the strong No. 2 at the nation’s largest real estate enterprise, which has over 195,000 U.S. agents at company-owned and franchised offices who do over $636 billion in annual sales. With Schneider, she has helped the firm trim expenses and tighten operations, which resulted in a $10 million net profit through the first nine months in 2023.

2

Helen Hanna Casey

Company Leader, 
Hanna Holdings
Casey has helped Hanna Holdings solidify and expand its presence as the nation’s largest privately owned brokerage. Founded by her parents in 1957, the firm has nearly 13,000 agents at company-owned and franchised offices who do over $40 billion in annual sales. In 2023, Casey relinquished her daily CEO role to third generation Hoby Hanna.

3

Jill Jacobi Wood

Co-President, 
Windermere Real Estate
Wood co-leads Windermere Real Estate alongside her brother OB and husband Geoff. The trio helms a family-owned company founded by Wood’s father in 1972. She oversees operations for the Seattle, Washington-based firm, is responsible for growing the firm’s franchise brand, and runs seven family-owned Windermere offices. The firm reportedly has more than 7,000 agents throughout the western United States and Mexico.

4

Pamela Liebman

President and CEO, 
Corcoran Group
Liebman leads Anywhere Real Estate’s newest franchise brand, Corcoran Group, as president and CEO. The brand, designed to serve megacities and leisure markets in the U.S. and around the world, sold its first franchise in 2020 and has grown into a network of over 4,000 U.S. agents who do over $33 billion in annuals sales. Liebman previously managed the day-to-day operations of the New York City-based offices of this powerhouse for two decades.

5

Susan Daimler

President, 
Zillow Group
As Zillow Group president, Daimler leads the firm’s Premier Agent business as well as its mortgage and StreetEasy businesses. In her role, she oversees the divisions that fuel the bulk of Zillow Group’s significant annual revenue. Through the third quarter, Zillow Group’s residential (of which Premier Agent provides the bulk of revenue) and mortgage divisions brought in nearly $1.2 billion in revenue combined. Daimler joined Zillow in 2012 when the company acquired her Buyfolio platform, one of several startups she has co-founded over her career.

6

Christy Budnick

CEO, 
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
Christy Budnick runs Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the flagship franchise brand for HomeServices of America. In this role, she oversees the nation’s fifth largest real estate franchise brand, which has over 50,000 affiliated agents who do over $146 billion in annual sales. She previously served as the president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty and is known for her practical and logical approach to the real estate profession.

7

Liz Gehringer

President and CEO, 
Anywhere Franchise Brands
Gehringer plays a key role in the growth and operation of Anywhere Real Estate’s franchise wing. In her role, she oversees Coldwell Banker Affiliates, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, and ERA Real Estate. Gehringer became president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates in 2021. Before becoming chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Affiliates in 2018, she served as a senior vice president at Coldwell Banker parent Anywhere Real Estate. She entered leadership at the company in 2006.

8

Tracy Kasper

2024 President, 
National Association of Realtors
UPDATE: A day before launching the 2024 SP 200, Kasper surprisingly resigned her position as 2024 NAR president. A broker from Idaho who has been on NAR’s board of directors since 2016, she assumed her position early in August 2023, when her predecessor Kenny Parcell resigned. The turnover among NAR leaderships continues a trend of turmoil at the top of the association, which grapples with allegations of sexual misconduct and continues its legal battles related to several high-profile compensation lawsuits. To learn more about NAR and its future, get complimentary access to the leading chapter of the 2024 Swanepoel Trends Report, “Why NAR Must Fundamentally Change or Fail.”

9

Bess Freedman

CEO, 
Brown Harris Stevens
Freedman is in her 10th year as CEO at Brown Harris Stevens, the country’s 20th largest brokerage with more than 2,700 agents doing over $10.4 billion in annual sales. BHS, which celebrated 150 years in business in 2023, operates as the brokerage wing under parent company Terra Holdings. Freedman, who previously practiced law, is an active member of the Real Estate Board of New York Board of Governors.

10

Kamini Rangappan Lane

President and CEO, 
Coldwell Banker Realty
Lane took over the top spot at Anywhere Real Estate’s company-owned offices affiliated with its Coldwell Banker brand in March 2023. As president and CEO, she oversees more than 52,000 agents in over 700 offices in more than 50 U.S. markets. Before joining Coldwell Banker, Lane was a president at Sotheby’s International Realty and various Compass regions. The Harvard Business School grad also has experience in marketing, communications, and fashion.

11

Merri Jo Cowen

CEO, 
Stellar MLS
Cowen leads the nation’s third largest MLS in Stellar MLS, which serves over 80,500 subscribers in Florida and Puerto Rico. In 2023, Stellar developed a data share agreement with Alabama’s Gulf Coast MLS and Georgia’s First MLS. She is a current director and twice past president of the Council of MLS (CMLS) and is dean of the CMLX certification program.

12

Teresa King Kinney

CEO, 
Miami Association of Realtors
Kinney leads the Miami Association of Realtors, the nation’s largest local Realtor association with over 55,000 members and operator of the US’s seventh largest MLS. In 2023, she helped coordinate a three-way data share with Alabama’s Gulf Coast MLS and Florida’s Stellar MLS. It also partnered with BeachesMLS in South Florida to integrate with MLS-owned portal Nestfully.

13

Lacey Conway

President and CEO, 
Latter & Blum
Conway leads Louisiana-based Latter & Blum, which has over 3,100 agents who do more than $5 billion in annual sales. She became the company’s principal broker in 2005 and took over its leadership in 2020 from her father, who purchased the brokerage in 1986. The New Orleans-based firm has 32 sales offices across Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. Conway is also chair of independent brokerages group The Realty Alliance and on the board of managers for the Broker Public Portal.

14

Brenda Tushaus

CEO, 
Re/Max Results
Tushaus manages Re/Max Results, which has over 1,200 agents in Minnesota and western Wisconsin who do over $7 billion in annual sales. Prior to becoming CEO, Tushaus held a variety of positions over 16 years with the company, most recently as chief operating officer. In 2023, she expanded the company’s reach through a new joint-venture with mortgage company Kind Lending.

15

Tami Bonnell

Co-Chair, 
EXIT Realty Corp. International
As co-chair of EXIT Realty Corp. International, Bonnell leads a real estate brand with over 23,000 agents who do over $25.1 billion in annual sales. She joined the firm in 1999 and was president and CEO before transitioning to her current role in 2021. In 2023, she spearheaded EXIT’s expansion into Arkansas and Oklahoma. Bonnell is also an active member of the National Women’s Council of Realtors.

16

Katherine “Katie” Johnson

General Counsel and Chief Member Experience Officer, 
National Association of Realtors
With CEO Bob Goldberg stepping down in 2023 and president Tracy Kasper resigning in early 2024, Johnson is the association’s most powerful leader. She has navigated a difficult year for NAR, headlined by large competition and compensation lawsuits in which NAR is a defendant, as well as high-profile sexual harassment and misconduct allegations against the association. She will play a key role in NAR’s effort to right the ship in 2024.

17

Candace Adams

President and CEO, 
BHHS New England Properties (a HomeServices of America company)
Adams serves as president and CEO of the HomeServices of America-owned brokerage Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties, which has 2,600 agents in 63 offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. With over two decades at HomeServices of America, Adams has helped grow the BHHS brand’s entre into New York City and also serves on the residential brokerage board of the Real Estate Board of New York and a director of SmartMLS.

18

Shannon McGahn

Chief Advocacy Officer, 
National Association of Realtors
As chief advocacy officer at the National Association of Realtors since 2020, McGahn focuses on improving access to homeownership, ensuring fair housing for all, and promoting NAR research to inform policymaking. Before joining NAR in 2018 as its first woman executive of government affairs, she had a nearly two-decade Capitol Hill career serving as counselor to the U.S. Treasury Secretary and staff director for the House Financial Services Committee.

19

Stephanie Anton

President, 
Corcoran Group
Anton oversees the growth of the Corcoran Group real estate brand, whose affiliates do over $33 billion in annual sales. In 2023, the firm entered Canada and Europe with new franchises in Ontario and Italy. It also expanded its presence in Texas and New Jersey. Anton was previously managing director of global services for five of six Anywhere Real Estate brands.

20

Christina Pappas

President, 
The Keyes Company | Illustrated Properties
In 2023, Pappas became president of the 96-year-old family-owned Keyes Company. The former vice president, who joined the firm as an agent in 2011, works with her father, CEO Mike, to grow the Florida-based independently owned brokerage. Also in 2023, the firm added two Boca Raton-based brokerages, Boca Realty and Mizner Grande Realty, and partnered with industry data aggregator BHR.

21

Carrie Wheeler

CEO, 
Opendoor
Wheeler leads Opendoor, which has become the nation’s largest and only significant iBuying company. She has solidified the company’s position since taking the helm in 2022 by expanding a partnership with Zillow Group and Redfin. In 2023, Wheeler announced Opendoor’s intention to double down on home purchases and plans for a 2024 Super Bowl ad. Wheeler has nearly 30 years’ experience in private equity, having spent more than two decades at TPG Capital.

22

Margy Grant

CEO, 
Florida Realtors
Grant runs Florida Realtors, the nation’s largest state Realtor association, which has over 223,000 members in over 49 boards and associations. Before becoming CEO in 2019, Grant served as chief operating officer and general counsel for the association.

23

Mary Lee Blaylock

SVP, 
HomeServices of America
As senior vice president of HomeServices of America, Blaylock is the third most powerful leader in the large real estate enterprise. She joined the corporate leadership team from her role as head of the firm’s West Coast operations as president and CEO of BHHS California. Blaylock began her career with Edina Realty in 1993 and in 2004 she became president of HomeServices Relocation, a startup she grew into a global relocation business.

24

Michael Saunders

Founder, 
Michael Saunders & Company
Saunders built her firm into one of the state’s largest independently owned brokerage from a single office start in 1976. Her company, which she leads alongside son Drayton, today has 17 offices in southwest Florida with more than 650 agents. Saunders also serves on the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE) board of directors.

25

Dionna Hall

CEO, 
Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors
Hall serves as the CEO for Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors, the nation’s third largest local Realtor association with over 37,000 members, and BeachesMLS, which serves over 43,000 subscribers. In this position, she helps manage five regional boards across South Florida and Treasure Coast.

26

Rebecca Jensen

President and CEO, 
Midwest Real Estate Data
Jensen leads one of the country’s largest MLSs in MRED, which serves over 50,000 members in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. Jensen also chairs the boards of the MLS Grid, the MLS data-sharing initiative currently serving more than 29 MLSs, and the Real Estate Standards Organization. She is board vice chair of the Broker Public Portal. Jensen began working with MRED in 1998.

27

Ginger Wilcox

President, 
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
Wilcox took the helm of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, which has 12,200 agents who do over $28 billion in annual sales, in June 2023. Wilcox previously held the co-CEO spot at RealSure, a joint venture of BHGRE’s parent company, Anywhere Real Estate, and HomePartners of America. A third-generation real estate agent, Wilcox also has significant industry experience including stints at HomePoint, Trulia, Sindeo, and Capsilon.

28

Robin Sheakley

CEO, 
Sibcy Cline Realtors
The fourth-generation leader of family-owned Sibcy Cline Realtors, Sheakley leads this Cincinnati-based Midwest powerhouse, which did over $2.2 billion in annual sales in 2023. Its nearly 800 agents closed over 6,000 sides in Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana. Sheakley started with the company in 1996 and rose to president in 2018. She is a past chair of The Realty Alliance.

29

Hilary Saunders

Co-Founder and Chief Broker Officer, 
Side
Saunders plays a key role in operating Side, an innovative brokerage with a model to empower teams across the country with back-office and other support services they need to grow and amplify their own brands. The company has grown to serve over 500 partners in nine states and Washington, D.C. In 2023, Side expanded its partner company roster in Washington, further growing its Pacific Northwest market presence.

30

Neda Navab

President, 
Compass
Navab leads the operations at Compass, the nation’s largest brokerage with over 28,000 agents who do more than $225 billion in annual sales. The firm acquired large Austin, Texas-based brokerage Realty Austin in 2023. Before joining Compass in 2018, Neda worked at Google in a division focused on building smart cities. The Harvard Business School grad is a second-generation real estate professional.

31

Mayi de la Vega

CEO, 
One Sotheby’s International Realty
Cuban-American de la Vega co-founded the Coral Gable-based One Sotheby’s International Realty (ONE SIR) in 2008. She leads the firm as CEO alongside her son, Daniel, who serves as president. A top brokerage in Florida’s east coast, ONE SIR reportedly has 26,000 associates with a global presence in luxury real estate. She began her real estate career in the 1990s as a Coldwell Banker sales associate.

32

Natalie Hamrick

Co-President, 
Christie’s International Real Estate
Hamrick was promoted to co-president, Affiliate Services, along with Kevin Van Eck, co-president Affiliate Strategy in September 2023. She rejoined Christie’s International Real Estate in January 2022 as EVP, Americas after a brief stint at @properties as a VP of brand growth. She first started at Christie’s in 2011 as a marketing manager and has developed a strength in partnership management .

33

Emily Chenevert

CEO, 
Austin Board of Realtors
Recognized as an innovative association leader, Chenevert manages the Austin Board of Realtors. which has over 13,000 members. In this role, she coordinates the association’s Unlock MLS (formerly ACTRIS), which has approximately 20,000 subscribers and hosts the ScratchThat podcast. She is also board chair of MLS Technology Holdings, a four-MLS collaboration which owns Remine.

34

Kristine “Kris” Burdick

President of Brokerage, 
Howard Hanna Real Estate
After 19 years at Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, Burdick was promoted to president of brokerage operations in 2023. In this role she oversees the nation’s largest privately-owned brokerage, which has nearly 12,000 agents in 13 states who do over $37 billion in annual sales. Previously, president of Northern Ohio and Michigan, this industry veteran now oversees business and operational efforts for the firm.

35

Michelle Mills Clement

CEO, 
Chicago Association of Realtors
Mills Clement oversees the Chicago Association of Realtors, which has over 17,000 members. She is actively involved in advocacy for fair housing and antiracism in the real estate industry. Previously, she served as president and CEO of the Commercial Brokers Association.

36

Kymber Lovett-Menkiti

President, 
Keller Williams Capital Properties
Lovett-Menkiti runs Keller Williams Capital Properties as president. In this role, she leadsnine offices across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia doing over $2.4 billion in sales. As regional director for the Maryland/D.C. (MDC) region of Keller Williams since 2018, she oversees over 4,500 agents. She has served realtor associations both locally and nationally as well.

37

Deirdre O’Connell

CEO, 
Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty
O’Connell leads the day-to-day operations of Long Island, New York-based Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, which has over 800 agents who do over $4 billion in annual sales. With a background in public and employee communications for an insurance company, she came to Daniel Gale in 2007, when the firm acquired her real estate business.

38

Carolyn Cheng

COO, 
Royal LePage
As chief operating officer, Cheng oversees the development of new services for Canada’s 100-plus-year-old company Royal LePage, a division of Bridgemarq Real Estate Services with over 20,000 agents. COO since 2016, she has overseen the company’s introduction of new services since 2003. The London School of Economics grad is also an award-winning landscape photographer, who has shown her work In Canadian galleries.

39

DeAnn Golden

President and CEO, 
BHHS Georgia Properties (a HomeServices of America company)
A second-generation broker with over 25 years of industry experience, Golden has been president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties since 2022. She joined the company in 2004 and, prior to becoming CEO, had been Georgia Services SVP and Regional Manager. In 2019 she served as president of the Atlanta Realtors Association’s Executive Committee.

40

Elizabeth Nunan

President and CEO, 
Houlihan Lawrence (a HomeServices of America company)
As president and CEO of Houlihan Lawrence, Nunan oversees approximately 1,450 agents in 32 offices in and around upstate New York and Connecticut. She began her real estate career in property management before joining another HomeServices of America company, and joined Houlihan Lawrence as chief operating officer in 2018. Nunan also serves on the board of the Mid-Hudson MLS.

41

Amy Lessinger

SVP, Region Development, 
Re/Max
Lessinger became senior vice president for Re/Max region development in 2023. In this role, she leads a 65-member team and oversees strategic growth of Re/Max company-owned regions in the U.S. Her role entails recruiting, retention, franchise development, and sales. Lessinger joined the brand in 1998 as an agent in Reno, Nevada, and went on to become a broker-owner overseeing more than 130 agents in three offices.

42

Laura O’Connor

President and COO, 
JPAR Affiliated Network
As president and chief operating officer of the JPAR Affiliated Network, O’Connor runs the fast-growing franchise brand that has leveraged a fee-based model to grow to nearly 2,200 agents who do nearly $5 billion in annual sales in 27 states and Washington, D.C. O’Connor is a Rotary International member and founded a Montana women’s networking group to benefit local community non-profits.

43

Gretchen Pearson

President and CEO, 
BHHS Drysdale Properties
As president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties, Pearson leads 960 agents who do nearly $3 billion in annual sales. The Danville, California-based firm serves northern California and northern Nevada. Pearson also oversaw the launch of the Drysdale Community Foundation, which sees individual agents donating to a fund that benefits area nonprofits.

44

Jillian Young

President, 
Premier Realty Plus
Young leads Naples, Florida-based Premiere Plus Realty as president. In this role, she oversees 1,500 agents who do over $3.3 billion in annual sales. Before becoming president in 2022, she served stints as chief operating officer and in the marketing department since joining the firm in 2018. She also served as a television host in the Orlando area with over two decades of experience in broadcasting.

45

Lori Arnold

Owner and President, 
Coldwell Banker Apex
Arnold owns and manages Coldwell Banker Apex, which has over 1,000 agents who do over $4.4 billion in annual sales. In 1982, she joined the company her mother founded in 1973, and her son and his wife now work in the firm as well. The Texas-based firm now operates 22 offices serving Louisiana and Texas. The company is the largest women-owned Coldwell Banker franchise in the U.S. In 2019, Arnold was the first woman to chair Coldwell Banker’s Multi-Office Brokers group.

46

Jennifer Lind

President, 
Coldwell Banker, Pacific Region
In her role as president of Pacific Region of Anywhere Real Estate’s company-owned Coldwell Banker-branded branches, Lind oversees 124 offices across California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. She has previously served in leadership positions at Windermere Real Estate and John L. Scott Real Estate, both in Washington state. She has served on NWMLS committees and held many roles at the Washington Realtors Association.

47

Shelley Tomlinson Johnson

CEO, 
The Tomlinson Family of Companies
Johnson leads the Tomlinson Family of Companies, which collectively has more than 925 agents, working in Coldwell Banker, Century 21, and Sotheby’s International Realty franchisees, who do approximately $3.9 billion in annual sales in Washington, Idaho and Montana. Johnson began her career in insurance and risk management at companies such as Traveler’s and Safeco. Her family has been serving the Inland Northwest’s real estate needs for four generations.

48

Jessica Edgerton

Chief Legal Officer, 
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
In 2023, Edgerton was promoted to chief legal officer at Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE), a global network of over 550 real estate brokerages. In her role, which also includes the title of executive vice president of industry and learning, she oversees the firm’s legal affairs and its online learning platform. She is also charged with building alliances to support diversity, equity and inclusion.

49

AnneMarie DeCatsye

CEO, 
Canopy MLS
DeCatsye has led the 22,500-member Canopy MLS, which serves Realtors in North and South Carolina, since 2001. She also manages the Canopy Realtor Association, the trade organization which owns the MLS, as well as a housing foundation and real estate institute. Having earned her J.D. in 1988, DeCatsye began working with Canopy as its in-house counsel in 2000. She is also a member of the Broker Public Portal’s board of managers.

50

Courtney Johnson Rose

President, 
National Association of Real Estate Brokers
In 2023, Johnson Rose became president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, which has approximately 20,000 members who focus on developing Black real estate professionals and on improving the homeownership opportunities of Black Americans. A real estate broker since 2002, Johnson Rose has led her family’s company, George E. Johnson Properties as CEO since 2019. She began her career as a project management consultant at Accenture and has a PhD in Organizational Leadership.

51

Denee Evans

CEO, 
Council of Multiple Listing Services
Evans leads the Council of Multiple Listing Services, the largest professional organization dedicated to the MLS industry. The association, with over 225 MLS member organizations and a collective 1.7 million subscribers, helps guide the industry by providing a voice to help the multiple listing service industry. Previously, she served as executive director of EnergyFit Nevada.

52

Amanda Stinton

CEO, 
Women’s Council of Realtors
As CEO of the Women’s Council of Realtors, Stinton leads the Chicago, Illinois-based organization’s efforts to support and empower a nationwide community of over 12,000 members. Stinton took over as CEO of the council in September 2023 after spending nearly 16 years at the National Association of Realtors, most recently as its director of leadership and sustainability.

53

Nykia Wright

Interim CEO, 
National Association of Realtors
Wright stepped in to lead NAR as interim CEO when Bob Goldberg stepped down in November 2023. Prior to this role, she helmed the Chicago Sun-Times as CEO, leading the noted newspaper through a digital transformation. She will lead the association while it conducts a comprehensive search for a permanent CEO.

54

Stacie Staub

Co-Founder and CEO, 
West + Main Homes
Staub leads West + Main Homes, which has approximately 420 agents who do approximately $1.4 billion in annual sales. The firm, which she co-founded in 2017, has offices in Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota, and North Carolina. In addition to ownership, the company has begun franchising its brand to other locations.

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