Leslie Cohen
Needham, MA -NAIOP Massachusetts, the commercial real estate development association, elected a new president and board members, along with a new leadership council.
The board includes the principals of many of the region’s leading commercial real estate firms.
Leslie Cohen, COO and head of asset management at Samuels & Associates, was elected president of NAIOP Massachusetts for 2020. In this capacity, she will work closely with NAIOP staff and chapter leadership to guide the organization.
Sara Cassidy of AEW, who served as the 2019 president, will serve as board chair; Tom Andrews of Alexandria Real Estate Equities becomes president-elect; Jessica Hughes of Tishman Speyer will serve as treasurer; and Patrick McMahon of Federal Realty Investment Trust becomes secretary.
Cohen has been part of the Samuels team for more than 17 years. She previously served as the president of CREW Boston (formerly NEWiRE) and has served on the board of trustees and the building committee at the West End House in Allston, on the building and grounds committee at Tufts University, and, for the second time, will co-chair Heading Home’s Housewarming event.
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In 2013, Cohen was selected as a Boston Business Journal’s 40 under 40 honoree. In 2014 and 2018 she was honored as one of Bisnow’s Power Women in Commercial Real Estate.
“NAIOP is the voice for an industry that plays a critical role in the region’s economy and competitiveness. Our members are innovative, engaged in their communities and focused on ensuring that Massachusetts is a great place to work and live,” said Cohen. “At the same time, we have a great opportunity to foster diversity across the field. I look forward to collaborating with other senior NAIOP leaders to implement new initiatives that will cultivate a broader pipeline of talent interested in all aspects of the commercial real estate industry.”
