Our fifth annual showcase of senior female leaders includes those who are having a profound impact on the physical retail environment and in leading the next generation of destinations and investment.
While the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is clear in terms of creating diverse leadership, the list as ever continues to be a reminder that there is still a very long way to go in terms of ensuring better leadership representation in both retail and real estate.
With a new administration in the US, and under pressure from some lobby groups, a number of North American retailers and corporates have also dropped or reduced their DEI initiatives and programmes, emphasising that the pursuit of fair representation within companies is far from the finished article.
MAPIC has endeavoured to ensure that the event is an effective platform for female representation and our list will no doubt cause many of you to think of others we could or should have included, so please do let us know who you think we should feature in future articles.
Driving value, building growth: 25 for 2025
Cindy Andersen, managing director, Ingka Centres
Ingka Centres has pioneered retail investment in real estate ever since the first urban Livat format opened in Hammersmith, London. Since then there have been a host of projects and acquisitions in San Francisco, Toronto, Paris, Munich and Brighton, plus Indian and Chinese projects, as it mixes between major lifestyle centres and downtown formats. Andersen – a long-time IKEA executive and frequent MAPIC speaker – has constantly reaffirmed the company’s commitment to physical shopping, while the Ingka Group has invested heavily in sustainability across its businesses and broadened its offer into flex offices, F&B and wellbeing.
Giny Boer, board director, retail and leisure
Dusseldorf-based Giny Boer is now a supervisory board member of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, BrewDog and Frankfurt School of Finance after stepping down as C&A Europe CEO in 2024, three years after replacing Edward Brenninkmeijer, who stepped down at the end of 2020. Boer says she is passionate about supporting women in leadership positions and “believes in clear, empathetic, respectful communication to create an environment where people feel empowered to become their best selves.” She also spent over 20 years at IKEA.
Dee Corsi, chief executive, NWEC
Dee Corsi took over as head of London West End BID, NWEC, in September 2022 and has had a big role on her hands to help reinvigorate the UK capital, notably Oxford Street. NWEC has been heavily involved in a range of improvement projects and in lobbying for tax-free status to be reinstated for goods bought by foreign nationals, while the West End has recovered from its post-pandemic slump and has restored itself as one of the world’s leading retail destinations.
Helen Dickinson, CEO, British Retail Consortium
Helen Dickinson is a well-known protagonist for UK retail and was appointed as the chief executive of the BRC in 2012. Dickinson leads the team and sets the strategic direction of the BRC, which has more than 5,000 members, which make up around 60% of the UK’s retail market share.
Inês Drummond Borges, chief transformation officer, Sonae Sierra
Inês Drummond Borges joined Sonae Sierra in 2021 to take charge of the company’s commercial, cultural and digital transformation. Previously, she was marketing director for Portugal and Spain at Worten, Sonae’s electronics retailer, where she played a central role in the design and delivery of the company’s digital transformation process, from 2015. Ana Guedes de Oliveira is executive managing director, asset management. Since 2009, she has managed the company’s real estate development area, and is also a member of the sustainability committee. In 2002 she took charge of the company’s investment management activities.
Judith Everett, chair, UK Green Building Council
Judith Everett became chair of the UK Green Building Council, the membership-led industry network for the sustainability of the built environment, from The Crown Estate in June 2024. Previously she had served at The Crown Estate for 11 years, sitting on its group leadership team as executive director of purpose, sustainability and stakeholder. Prior to joining The Crown Estate, she worked with Shell, Scottish Enterprise, Columbia Threadneedle Investments and AstraZeneca.
Joanna Fisher, CEO, ECE Marketplaces
As CEO of ECE Marketplaces, Joanna Fisher has been responsible for the entire shopping centre business of the ECE Group since January 2021. For more than 20 years, the management of shopping centres has been her core business at ECE and she is a regular speaker at MAPIC events, while she is an advisory board member at MEC Metro-ECE. She is also chair of the European Council of Shopping Places.
Rita-Rose Gagne, CEO, Hammerson
As CEO of UK-based retail developer Hammerson Rita-Rose Gagne has successfully repositioned the REIT and divested non-core assets, after spending nearly 14 years with Canadian investor Ivanhoe Cambridge. She has overseen a major transformation of the Hammerson business, which has consolidated its retail assets and diversified its portfolio and recently announced record results.
Michelle Gass, president and CEO, Levi’s Strauss
Michelle Gass has been LS&Co’s president and CEO since the start of 2024. She is also on the company’s board of directors. She joined in 2023 as the company’s president, responsible for leading the Levi’s brand and the company’s global digital and commercial operations until the board of directors appointed her CEO in 2024. Prior to joining LS&Co, she was CEO of Kohls.
Jenny Hammarlund, senior managing director, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Jenny Hammarlund is a senior managing director at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Based in London, she leads the real estate investment group in the UK and Europe as well as global strategy and value creation. She is responsible for overseeing investment activity, strategy and overall portfolio management, and she also led the integration of Cadillac Fairview’s international investment team into OTPP in 2024. She previously held positions as managing director at HIG Capital and director at KKR where she was focused on sourcing and executing real estate investments across Europe.
Kajsa Hernell, managing director, Nordic Council of Shopping Centers
Kajaa Hernell has been managing director of the Nordic Council of Shopping Centers since 2018, after working across a range of industries, most recently with Stockholm-based Sveriges Textilhandlare, supporting the Scandinavian fashion sector.
Laura Hines-Pierce, co-CEO, Hines
Laura Hines-Pierce is co-CEO of Hines, working with chairman and co-CEO Jeff Hines to help shape strategy and manage key risks. She is a member of the firm’s executive committee and a member of the investment committee. She joined Hines in 2012 and her responsibilities included zoning and entitlement, plus relationship management with equity partner Ivanhoe Cambridge. The company last year reiterated its commitment to retail real estate investment.
Annette Kroger, CEO Europe, Pimco
Annette Kroeger is CEO of Europe at Pimco (formerly Allianz Real Estate), with responsibility for Pimco’s real estate investments within the market area of Germany, Austria, CEE, Nordics and Ireland. Having joined Allianz RE in 2009, she became head of acquisitions in 2011 and in 2015 she was appointed CEO of Allianz Real Estate Germany.
Daniela Lauret, chief development officer, Klepierre
Daniela Lauret learned the retail business through design and master-planning, working for the French office of Wimotte & Associates before spending a decade at global practice Chapman Taylor. In January 2021, she took over as chief development officer at French real estate giant Klepierre.
Sara Lucas, member of the supervisory board, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Sara Lucas is a member of the supervisory board at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and has over 30 years of real estate and asset management experience in Europe, the majority of which in France. CEO of Grosvenor Property Europe from 2019 until year-end 2023, she is currently a consultant for Europe with Grosvenor and president of the French structure since April 2024. She previously led Grosvenor’s portfolio management activities for Europe. Prior to joining Grosvenor in 2011, she worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland where she was director in the real estate finance department. Prior to this, she was a director of Savills France.
Susie McCabe, co-CEO, McArthurGlen
Susie McCabe earned her stripes in retail, a long-time executive with Polo Ralph Lauren – where at points she was focused on its outlet business – before joining Under Armour as its SVP of global retail. Now she is co-CEO of designer outlet giant McArthurGlen Group as the business continues to expand its designer outlet portfolio.
Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of real estate, Blackstone
Kathleen McCarthy is the global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate, the largest owner of commercial real estate globally. McCarthy focuses on driving performance and growth for Blackstone’s real estate business. She previously served as global COO of Blackstone Real Estate.
Amy O’Brien, global head of responsible investing, Nuveen
Amy O’Brien leads a 20+ member team and is responsible for creating a holistic responsible investment vision and unified framework across Nuveen and TIAA. The framework establishes the firm’s overall philosophy in investment decisions and new product development.
Christina Ofschonka, managing director fund management, AEW
Christina Ofschonka is a managing director and senior fund manager at AEW, based in Frankfurt. She has overall responsibility for the management of AEW’s pan-European core funds, including fund strategy, portfolio construction and client relationships. Prior to joining AEW in 2016, Ofschonka worked as a portfolio manager at Alte Leipziger.
Sophie van Ooosterom, global head of real estate, CPP Investments
Sophie van Ooosterom became global head of real estate at Canadian pension fund giant CPP Investments at the start of this year. She has worked across a number of major investment groups, including Lehman Brothers, Silverpeak Real Estate Partners and, more recently CBRE Global Investors. In January 2021 she joined Schroders as global head of real estate.
Claudia Plath, CFO, ECE Group
Claudia Plath has been CFO of ECE since 2013. Her career at ECE began in 1996 as a controller. After five years, she took over management tasks as team leader in controlling in 2001. From 2004 onwards, she led the asset and corporate controlling division including the national subsidiaries. As managing director finance, Plath has been responsible for accounting, controlling, risk management, corporate finance, and asset management for all shopping centres since 2013.
Caroline Puechoultres, chief customer and retail officer, URW
Caroline Puechoultres is a seasoned retail professional, with a career history that spans Intermarche, Kaufman and, most recently, French grocery giant Carrefour. Now she is in charge of customer strategies, data digital and marketing at one of the world’s largest retail real estate groups.
Sabina Reeves, chief economist and head of insights & intelligence, CBRE Investment Management
Reeves is global chief economist and global head of real assets research for CBRE Investment Management. She is responsible for the firm’s 30-member real assets research team and has a specific role in selecting the economic scenarios and macro risk assessments that power the firm’s forecasts. Kim Hourihan is CIO at CBRE Investment Management, after joining the company in 2007. In her previous roles with the firm, she served as CIO for the Americas Direct real estate business, as an executive managing director and fund manager, and as the portfolio manager for two international sovereign wealth fund clients with total AUM with the firm of more than $4bn.
Vanessa Simms, CFO, Landsec
Vanessa Simms was appointed to the Landsec board in 2021 as chief financial officer after previously holding the same role at Grainger. UK REIT Landsec has refocused on investment in major retail destinations in recent years, after completing the major mixed-use redevelopment of the Victoria area of London.
Chin Yean Cheng, CFO, CapitaLand Development
Chin Yean Cheng is CFO of CapitaLand Development and oversees the functions of financial accounting and reporting, treasury and taxation. Yean Cheng was previously the general manager of CLA Real Estate Holdings, where she oversaw the company’s corporate functions and asset management. Also among the management, Goh Ah Moi is chief development officer and Lorraine Ng chief corporate officer.
