Advisory Boards

Broker Advisory Board

Ken Baris

Ken Baris is the president of Jordan Baris. At the age of 22, Ken was the youngest CRS in the nation and later earned the CRB designation. An industry leader, Ken with a partner developed and licensed to Top Producer Systems, Top Presenter — an interactive multimedia listing presentation that was awarded the best new software product of the year by NAR when it was launched. In the media, Ken has been heard on radio and seen on CNBC and "NBC Nightly News" as a real estate expert. Frequently in the press, he has been quoted in editorial sections of USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Real Estate News, Real Estate Business and The (New Jersey) Star-Ledger. As an author, Ken has been published in The Real Estate Professional Magazine, Real Estate Business, Real Estate Today and various industry newsletters. As a speaker, Ken has addressed professionals at numerous national conferences on topics such as Practical Technology, Selling on the First Day Out and Unlocking the Power of the Web for Brokers. Established in 1952, Jordan Baris Inc. is one of the premier full-service real estate brokerages in New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area and has a team of more than 200.

Dan Barnett

Dan Barnett joined NRT, LLC as Senior Vice President of Marketing in January of 2008. In this role, he is responsible for enhancing and expanding national marketing initiatives in order to strengthen the company's position in its 35 markets through vendor relationships, online marketing, advertising initiatives and niche marketing programs. Prior to joining NRT, Barnett enjoyed a distinguished career at HSBC Finance where he developed robust online marketing programs for the company's consumer and mortgage lending division. During this time he oversaw strategic partnerships, lead sourcing and analytics, and online customer service. In addition, Barnett led the company’s consolidated REO operations, including a national network of real estate agents, attorneys, property preservation and settlement vendors. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, and his M.B.A. in marketing and strategy from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management

Jim Cahill

Jim Cahill is executive vice president/chief information and technology officer at Terra Holdings, LLC, which owns and operates Brown Harris Stevens, Halstead Property and several other real estate firms. Jim's original responsibility was to design systems for the 70-person, one-office firm. Subsequently, Jim was given all Web development and online marketing responsibilities as well as the C.I.O. duties, required to grow the firm to its current size of over 40 offices and 2,500+ agents, staff and managers. Jim was also the co-chairman of the technical advisor committee for NYMLS.com, responsible for developing and launching New York City's first cooperative residential listings website. The site included listings from almost every Real Estate Board of New York residential real estate firm. Jim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma in Information Technology from New York University. Additionally, he earned a Masters degree in Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology. Jim is a licensed real estate agent in the state of New York.

Sherry Chris

Sherry Chris was appointed president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC in October 2007. Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, which is the fifth residential brand for Realogy, launched in July 2008. Sherry was most recently chief operating officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Overall, Sherry has more than 27 years of real estate experience, including significant senior management positions in the areas of sales and marketing and new technologies, and franchise management. A native Canadian, she began her real estate career in Canada and held increasingly senior positions with Royal LePage for 16 years before taking on executive roles with Real Living (Ohio) and Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty. She joined Realogy in 2006. Well known within the real estate industry, Sherry is a frequent speaker at real estate and technology conferences.

Dan Elsea

Dan Elsea is the president of brokerage services for the Real Estate One Family of Companies. Dan has been in the real estate business for more than 25 years in a number of capacities within the company from commercial and residential sales to branch and division management. He and his brother, Stuart, share the leadership of the company and its affiliates. The company is in its third generation in Michigan, having begun as Elsea Realty in 1929 under Staunton Elsea, Dan and Stuart's grandfather. Real Estate One brings in $2.4 billion annually, and is the 13th largest brokerage in the nation, employing 1,500 agents.

Dick Fulton

Dick Fulton is the executive vice president of Coldwell Banker Bain | Seal, the No. 1 Coldwell Banker global affiliate in GCI for four of the last five years. Coldwell Banker Bain | Seal represents the greater Pacific Northwest region with offices from Seattle, WA to Portland, OR. Dick has been in the real estate business for over 30 years. After receiving his master's degree in counseling, he began selling real estate, taking on the role of managing broker in 1984. In addition to managing the Lake Union and Magnolia William A. Bain Association offices (now Coldwell Banker Bain) for 20 + years, he has also held several elected positions with the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). Starting as a director in 1996 he moved into a leadership role as the chairman of disciplinary committee for 6 years then became the 2005 chairman of the Board of Directors for the NWMLS. As chairman he attended multiple conferences across the country gaining a national perspective on industry-wide issues.

Mike Montsko

As president of the Weichert Lead Network, Mike oversees Weichert, Realtors' state-of-the-art customer contact center. Prior to his promotion, he spearheaded the huge technological initiative that created Weichert's industry-leading contact center. The only one of its kind in the industry, the Weichert customer contact center uses sophisticated technology to deliver responsive personal service to online and 800-number customers seven days a week. In 2005 and 2006, Mike was listed as one of the "100 Most Influential Real Estate People" by Inman News.

Beverly Thorne

Beverly Thorne is chief marketing officer for Century 21 Real Estate LLC. She leads the planning and execution of the domestic marketing strategies in support of market share growth for the largest real estate franchise organization in the world. Beverly is responsible for leading the strategy development and program execution of all consumer, broker and agent marketing programs. She oversees the optimization of a National Advertising Fund with the overall goals to increase preference for the brand, to generate qualified customer leads, and to grow market share.   earned her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has worked extensively in the areas of consumer marketing, strategic branding and event marketing management over her 20-plus year career. Most recently she was with JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she served as senior vice president, customer marketing for the Home Finance business unit. Prior to that, Beverly worked at AT&T for nearly two decades in a series of increasingly senior roles, planning and executing marketing and communications strategies nationwide.

Mark Woodroof

Mark Woodroof is managing partner for Prudential Gary Greene and has been active in the residential real estate brokerage business for nearly 24 years. In March 2000, Mark became a principal at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. This new entity was formed with partner Marilyn Eiland by acquiring the residential assets of Gary Greene, Realtors Better Homes and Gardens and four Prudential affiliates, ultimately creating a market-leading force of more than 1,100 associates in 18 owned and nine affiliated offices throughout the greater Houston area. Mark and Marilyn are actively involved in the leadership and daily operations of the company. Mark has been involved with the Houston Association of Realtors since 1991, serving as its chairman in 1999. He has also been active with both the state and national associations serving on numerous committees and is a past director of the Texas Association and current director of the National Association of Realtors as a large broker representative.

Agent Advisory Board

John Ames, CPA

RE/MAX First Realty

John and his wife, Lisa, are RE/MAX brokerage owners in St. George, UT. He is a BYU graduate with bachelor's and master’s degrees in accounting with a dual minor in business management and economics. His team of eight is consistently No. 1 in the Southern Utah Market and has ranked Top 10 in the Utah / Mountain States Region, 7 of the past 10 years.

Glennda Baker-LeBlanc, President

Glennda Baker & Associates, Inc.

In residential sales and marketing for nearly 20 years, Glennda specializes in the purchase and sale of homes all over the Atlanta area. She and her team specialize in the purchase and sales of homes from Buckhead to Cumming, Peachtree City to Gainesville, Dallas to Augusta and everywhere in between.

Dru Bloomfield, Realtor

Realty ONE Group

Dru specializes in residential real estate. Her business comes from a healthy mix of referrals and a vibrant online presence. She blogs at AtHomeInScottsdale.com and communicates through a variety of social media platforms. Active in the Realtor community, she serves as chair of the Scottsdale Association of Realtors® Technology/MLS Committee and is a member of the Arizona Association of Realtors® Technology Committee.

Julia Carnahan, Realtor/Owner 

The JC Group at Keller Williams Heritage

In 2009, Julia started with RE/MAX in San Antonio. Working two jobs as an IT consultant and Realtor, Julia sold $704,425 as a part-time agent. In June 2010 Julia moved to Keller Williams Realty for the growth opportunity, began investing in Zillow advertising and achieved $2,228,000 as a part-time agent. 2011 brought a stellar year placing Julia as a Keller Williams Double Gold Award winner and No. 1 individual agent at Keller Williams.

Bic DeCaro, Certified Residential Specialist

Westgate Realty Group, Inc.

Bic has been in the business for more than 12 years, remaining with the same brokerage since the beginning of her career. Bic earned her Certified Residential Specialist designation and became an Accredited Buyer Representative in 2006. She works with a wide range of clients from first-time homebuyers to move-up buyers to savvy real estate investors. 

Kevin Kieffer, Broker Associate

Keller Williams Realty

Kevin and his wife, Naomi, are partners on a team and have more than 10 years in the business serving the Northern California real estate market. He has significant experience in REOs, short sales and traditional real estate sales. Since 2001 he has closed more than 350 transactions and is top producer for his Keller Williams market center in Danville, CA.  

Cyndi Lesinski, CEO  

The Lesinski Team, RE/MAX of Santa Clarita

Cyndi uses her knowledge, experience and personal skills to help people make sound life decisions in an ever-changing marketplace. For more than 10 years, she has been successful in helping people through life’s trials and tribulations with short sales, divorce sales and estate sales.

Kevin Lisota, CEO

findwell

Kevin Lisota is the CEO and designated broker of findwell, a startup real estate brokerage headquartered in Seattle. Before creating findwell, Kevin spent 8 years at Microsoft in various product management roles, leading marketing for products including Small Business Server, Windows Mobile and Visio. Kevin's career in real estate began in his days as a university student when he bought and managed a rental home with his father.

Scott Nordby, Owner

Innovate Real Estate Group

In 2003, Scott co-founded Innovate Real Estate Group with a vision to cultivate a company culture that supported both the personal and professional growth of his agents. Innovative Real Estate has ranked as one of the top 20 real estate companies in the Denver metro area in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Scott’s vibrant leadership is evidenced through both his productive and well-established agents, as much as by the company’s measurable success.  

Chris Speicher, Realtor®

The Speicher Team, RE/MAX Realty Centre, Inc.

Chris has extensive knowledge of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area and has more than 20 years of management experience working with some of the world’s leading companies like Black & Decker, Comcast, Home Depot and Microsoft. He’s a member of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors®, the Maryland Association of Realtors® and the National Association of Realtors®.

Not pictured: Eric Boyenga, Mike Edgar, J. Philip Faranda, Carlos Garcia, Tiffany Kjellander, Vera Koon, Mike Perna, Patricia Short, Brandi Pearl Thompson, Karen Van Ness and Brooke Wolford

Technical Advisory Board

Oren Etzioni

Oren Etzioni is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Washington in Seattle, the director of the university's Turing Center, the founder of three startups, and a Venture Partner at the Madrona Venture Group. He is the author of over 100 technical papers for a wide range of academic conferences. His work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, SCIENCE, The Economist, Business Week, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Wired, and The New Scientist. His most recent startup, Farecast, utilizes data mining technology to anticipate airfare fluctuations. He was the Chief Technology Officer and a board member of Go2net (acquired by InfoSpace in 2000), and a co-founder of Netbot (acquired by Excite in 1997). At Netbot, Etzioni helped to conceive and design the Web's first major comparison-shopping agent. In 1995, Etzioni and his student, Erik Selberg developed MetaCrawler, the Web's premier Meta-search engine. He also is a co-founder of Clearforest, an Israeli startup that is an international leader in text mining.

Hank Levy

Hank Levy is Professor and Wissner-Slivka Chair of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. Levy's research involves operating systems, computer architecture, distributed computing, and the Web. He is the author of two books and numerous publications, including11 best paper award winners from top conferences in computer systems. With his UW colleagues, he invented Simultaneous Multithreading, which is used in the Intel Pentium-4 ("Hyperthreading"), IBM Power-5, and other CPUs. Before joining the university in 1983, Hank spent 10 years at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he was a systems architect for early clustered computer and workstation products, and a member of the original design and implementation team for the VMS operating system. Hank was also co-founder of Performant, Inc., which was acquired by Mercury in 2003. He is a Fellow of the ACM, a Fellow of the IEEE, and recipient of a Fulbright Research Scholar Award.