JBN Philadelphia Networking & Happy Hour
JBN hosted a Networking and Happy Hour at Howl At The Moon on Thursday, February 15, 2024, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
JBN January Event: Justin Rosenberg & Jeff Benjamin
January 24, 2024
Justin Rosenberg, Founder, Honeygrow
Jeff Benjamin, Co-founder, Vetri Group
Networking and Real Estate panel with Dan Berger and Jonathan Morgan
October 11, 2023
A very special thank you to Clarke & Cohen Property Loss Consultants and Public Adjusters for sponsoring the event.
Dan Berger:
Dan grew up in property management and is happy to have found his home, and second family, at Berger Communities. After earning his JD and MBA degrees from Temple University and being licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Dan returned to his real estate and property management roots because of his love of working with people.
As CEO of Berger Communities, Dan focuses on championing the company culture, building relationships, acquiring and developing multifamily properties, securing financing, and setting the company’s strategic vision. He strives to ensure that the company’s apartment communities are great places to live, and that Berger Communities is an outstanding place to work. Dan’s proudest accomplishments include the company’s steadfast growth, as well as the achievement of record-highs in both resident and employee engagement.
Dan makes a priority of being involved in the community. He is currently Treasurer of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) Philadelphia Chapter, JFRE executive committee member, member of the Jewish Federation Board of Trustees, Vice President of the Benchmark School Board of Trustees, and was past President of the Pennsylvania Apartment Association. In addition, Dan has founded and is President of hope+door, a non-profit charity dedicated to providing financial support to families facing eviction and homelessness due to an unexpected financial emergency.
While not at the office or a property, Dan is with his wife, Ashly, and their two children, Isabella and Hudson. He also enjoys long-distance running, all Philadelphia sports, and spending summer weekends at the Jersey shore.
Jon Morgan:
As President and Founder of Morgan Properties JV, an affiliate of Morgan Properties, Jonathan handles the day-to-day management and operations of the company’s portfolio and oversees acquisitions and capital markets. His responsibilities involve sourcing, underwriting, negotiating and closing acquisitions, dispositions, recapitalizations, and refinancing all transactions consummated by Morgan Properties. He also sources and establishes Morgan Properties’ joint venture partnerships with institutional investors.
Since its inception in 2011, Morgan Properties JV has been one of the most active and fastest- growing multifamily investors in the country. Under Jonathan’s leadership, the company has purchased over $10 billion in acquisition volume and over 75,000 units, asserting its proven track record of creating value for its investors through value-add repositioning, rehabilitation, and professional management expertise.
Prior to joining Morgan Properties, Jonathan worked at Apollo Real Estate Advisors where he focused on investment activities involving high-yielding debt opportunities and equity investments in real estate assets and real estate operating companies.
Prior to joining Apollo, Jonathan worked at Bear Stearns in the commercial mortgage-backed securities division. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
He was recognized with Real Estate Forum’s 50 Under 40 award two years in a row, Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 recipient, Multifamily Executive’s Rising Star, one of Philadelphia Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs of 2019 and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 in Greater Philadelphia.
Jonathan is currently the President of the Pennsylvania Apartment Association (PAA) and the Chair of the Jewish Federation Real Estate Group (JFRE). He also serves on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) Board of Directors, The Haverford School’s Board of Trustees, Young Presidents Organization’s (YPO) Executive Committee for the Philadelphia Chapter and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) Corporate Counsel.
Networking lunch featuring Stanley Middleman, CEO, Freedom Mortgage
June 15, 2023 | 1 Logan Square
Stanley “Stan” Middleman is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Mortgage Corporation, one of the largest full-service independent mortgage lenders in the country. Freedom Mortgage was founded in Mount Laurel, NJ and has since relocated its headquarters to Boca Raton, FL. The company is one of the top Veterans Administration (VA) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lenders nationally. Stanley has just become one of the owners of the Phillies!
An evening at CHOP with Madeline Bell, President and CEO and Dr. Paul Offit
April 25, 2023 | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Madeline Bell is the President and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), which is one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the United States and was ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ 2022 list of America’s Best Large Employers. Ms. Bell champions change with empathy and integrity, inspiring the nearly 24,000 employees and other workforce members in the hospital’s $3.8-billion-a-year health system and research institute to create breakthroughs that have worldwide impact. For more information and to listen to her podcast, Breaking Through with Madeline Bell, visit chop.edu/madeline.
Dr. Paul Offit is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at CHOP. He is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Offit is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of virology and immunology, and was a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, and a founding advisory board member of the Autism Science Foundation and the Foundation for Vaccine Research, a member of the Institute of Medicine and co-editor of the foremost vaccine text, Vaccines.
Networking with Bart Blastein
March 22, 2023 | The Pyramid Club
In his more than 40 years in the real estate industry, Bart Blatstein has earned the reputation as one of the region’s most respected and innovative commercial real estate developers. Through his vision and steady guidance, Tower Investments Inc. has become widely respected for its aggressive and creative urban investments in major projects, as well as its expertise in all aspects of planning, design, construction, financing and leasing. Among the company’s many signature projects, Tower Investments redeveloped Northern Liberties, creating the award-winning Piazza and Liberties Walk communities, and establishing this once barren neighborhood as the place in Philadelphia to live, work and play.
Wine-tasting Social featuring Mike Sielski
February 21, 2023 | Lapstone and Hammer
Mike is an award-winning sports columnist. He discussed his newly released book about sports legend Kobe Bryant, The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality
Speaker lunch featuring Jeffrey Solomon, Chair and CEO, Cowen
November 14, 2022 | The Pyramid Club
Jeffrey Solomon is a true industry leader, having been at the helm of Cowen--a major full service investment firm--for over a decade. A rapidly growing investment bank, Cowen was recently acquired by TD Bank to accelerate their US footprint.
Speaker lunch featuring Richard Green CEO, Firstrust Bank
September 21, 2022 | The Linc
Richard J. Green joined Firstrust Bank in 1978 as General Counsel. In 1986, he joined the Bank’s Board of Directors, became President and CEO in 1995, and Board Chairman in 2015 succeeding his father Daniel B. Green and grandfather, Samuel A. Green before him.
As Firstrust’s Chairman and CEO, its assets have grown to $4.5 billion and is considered one of the strongest, best capitalized banks in the country.
Speaker lunch featuring Michael Forman, CEO, FS Investments
May 9, 2022 | Naval Yard
Michael Forman is the Chairman and CEO of FS Investments, an alternative investments asset manager. Michael founded FS in 2007 after a successful career as both a corporate and securities lawyer and a serial entrepreneur. The firm is an outgrowth of Michael’s simple vision: help investors access alternative sources of income, growth and diversification formerly available to only large institutions and the wealthiest individuals.
Over the last 13 years, FS Investments has grown from a small, innovative start-up to an organization that manages nearly $25 billion in assets and a growing suite of solutions designed to help financial advisors, individuals and institutions achieve a variety of financial goals. With five offices and over 350 employees, the firm has been recognized as an industry leader. FS Investments was named one of “Philly’s Coolest Companies” by Philadelphia Magazine in 2015 and one of Greater Philadelphia’s Healthiest Employers by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2019.
Speaker lunch Featuring David Adelman, CEO, Campus Apartments
David Adelman is a Philadelphia-based entrepreneur and active private investor. Mr. Adelman made his first investment more than thirty years ago, investing just two-thousand dollars in Campus Apartments, a student housing business. Since then, under his leadership, Campus Apartments has become a leader in the industry with more than two-billion dollars in assets under management across 18 states.
Mr. Adelman’s strategic vision and business savvy drove Campus Apartments to redefine the college living experience, and today, the company is widely recognized as a leader in the industry and is a go-to-partner for colleges and universities, developers and investors. Mr. Adelman’s strength lies in his ability to structure deals and raise institutional capital from global investors.
Looking Ahead to 2026: Angela Val (President & CEO, Visit Philadelphia)
April 3rd, 12-2 PM
Pyramid Club
As president and CEO of VISIT PHILADELPHIA®, Angela Val is charged with building Greater Philadelphia’s image, driving visitation, and boosting the economy through day and overnight leisure visitation. The tourism marketing agency’s work supports local businesses, creates jobs, generates taxes, and ultimately enhances residents’ quality of life.
A recognized trailblazer within Philadelphia’s tourism and hospitality industry, Val brings more than two decades of destination-marketing experience to her role, which she assumed in June 2022.
Previously, Val served as the chief operations officer at Tempest, an integrated marketing agency helping destination organizations and convention and visitors bureaus across the country strengthen their local communities. She was responsible for establishing policies that fostered company culture and vision and implementing business strategies.
In 2021, Val led Ready. Set. Philly! as executive director, initiating the yearlong collaborative initiative with the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to reopen and reinvigorate the city’s economy following the COVID-19 pandemic.