Speakers
Daniel G. Sullivan
Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the Economic Mobility Project
Daniel G. Sullivan is an executive vice president and executive director of the Chicago Fed’s Economic Mobility Project. His research has been primarily in labor economics, especially issues related to displaced workers and alternative work arrangements.
Sullivan joined the Chicago Fed as a senior economist in 1992, after serving as an assistant professor of economics at Northwestern University. He also taught at Princeton University and is currently a lecturer at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. From 1994 to 2007 Sullivan led the Bank’s applied microeconomics group, from 2007 to 2019 was director of research and from 2019 to 2021 was director of economic outreach.
He has published articles in leading academic journals including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, the Journal of Political Economy and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. He received a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.
Lauren G. Henderson
Sr. Economist, Director • Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated
Lauren Henderson is a Sr. Economist for Stifel Financial. She focuses on the research and analysis of economic trends and activity, world economies, financial markets, and monetary and fiscal policies. She has been with the Stifel Economics Department for nine years and provides commentary and interpretative analysis on economic data, as well as supportive insights for economic forecasting. Her reports provide support across all business lines at Stifel Financial. Additionally, she has also been quoted in the business press.
Henderson is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). She holds two degrees from Loyola University Chicago in marketing and economics, and earned her MBA with a focus in economics from Loyola University Chicago. She is based in Stifel’s downtown Chicago office.
Rob Martinson
President of The Garrett Companies
Rob Martinson serves as the President of The Garrett Companies, leading the organization’s strategic growth, investment vision, and operational excellence. With over 25 years of real estate and construction experience, Rob has held diverse roles in investment oversight, construction, financial analysis, and development. Under his leadership, The Garrett Companies continues to expand its national presence while maintaining a culture of innovation and excellence.
Rob Langrick, CFA, CIPM
Chief Product Advocate, CFA Institute
Rob Langrick, CFA, CIPM, is Chief Product Advocate of the CFA Program based out of the New York office. He was previously Head of Practice Analysis, overseeing annual curriculum updates to the CFA Program. Before joining CFA Institute, he lead Bloomberg’s finance education division where he built and launched Bloomberg’s certification product. He began his career as a sell-side equity research analyst in London and after earning his MBA from Dartmouth worked in the private equity diligence unit of Bain & Company in New York.
Chris Hentschel
Senior Director of Investments, The Garrett Companies
Chris Hentschel works with various departments within The Garrett Companies to identify investment opportunities, manage risk effectively, and develop financial strategies that maximize returns, are strategically aligned with the long-term financial health of the company, and enhance our investment portfolio. He plays a pivotal role in optimizing financial assets and is focused on financial strategies that align with the company’s financial objectives and growth targets.
Fatimah Hijjawi, CFA
Financial Advisor and Partner at Morgan Stanley
Journey began as the group's intern in 2018, and upon graduating summa cum laude from DePaul University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management in 2019, she transitioned to a full-time Client Service Associate. Growing in her roles, Fatimah became a Consulting Group Analyst in 2021 and then assumed the position of Financial Advisor and partner on the team in 2023. Fatimah was awarded her CFA Charter in spring of 2024 and is an active CFA Charterholder. She passed Level 1 in spring of 2019 and Level 2 in fall of 2023.
Fatimah is Palestinian and was raised in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Switzerland. She speaks French and Arabic and now lives in the South Loop with her two cats, ShibShib and MishMish. Fatimah enjoys running along the lakefront trail and participating in marathons to support various causes and charities. Fatimah is a guide for visually impaired athletes with Achilles International.
Casey Ruys, CFA
Manager of Portfolio Construction for Constellation’s Investment Office
As the Manager of Portfolio Construction for Constellation’s Investment Office, Casey Ruys is responsible for the monitoring and analysis of portfolio positioning, liquidity management, trade proposals, and performance attribution across ~$27B in trust assets. Prior to Constellation, Casey managed ~$2.6B of Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) portfolios for BMO Global Asset Management’s U.S. Multi-Asset Team as a Senior Associate Portfolio Manager. Before her role on the investment team, she worked for BMO GAM as a Product Strategy Analyst, supporting marketing and distribution of the firm’s retail and institutional products.
Blake Shaffer, CFA
Director, Corporate Capital Markets
Blake is a Director in JLL’s Corporate Capital Markets and Net Lease practice, advising clients—from Fortune 10 corporations to private equity portfolio companies—on capital strategies to optimize and monetize real estate portfolios. His expertise spans capital structuring, financial analysis, and transactions including sale-leasebacks, net lease sales, build-to-suits, and structured financings such as synthetic and credit tenant leases. He has extensive experience across industrial, office, retail, and data center assets nationwide.
Previously, Blake was a commercial credit analyst at MB Financial Bank (now Fifth Third), underwriting $100M+ in commercial real estate loans. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance and a Certificate in Leadership Studies from the University of Iowa, earned his CFA charter in 2019, and is a licensed Illinois real estate broker. Blake is an active member of the CFA Society Chicago and its Member Engagement Advisory Group.
Nathan Branaman
Capital Markets Analyst, the Garrett Companies
Nathan Branaman supports the design, development, and implementation of financial strategies through effective capital management and asset optimization. He works closely with a variety of departments to identify investment opportunities, build scalable methods of financial analysis and initiatives to improve portfolio performance, risk management, and return on investment.
AJ Poynter
Investment Analyst, The Garrett Companies
AJ Poynter supports the Investments team with the pursuit of potential assets through site identification, demographic and economic impact analysis, and interpreting data related to potential investment-risk trends that could impact the outcome of the project. This role is crucial in maintaining our competitive edge, ensuring our investments align with Garrett criteria, and providing expertise in markets we are both currently in and look to expand in.
Tarek Zaher
SMIFC Managing Director & Co-founder, Professor of Finance, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University
Dr. Zaher is the Managing Director & Co-founder of SMIFC, and president of SMIFC South Corporation. Dr. Zaher has held a number of academic and professional positions with the industry. He is currently Professor of Finance at Scott College of Business, Indiana State University. He also provided consulting services to a number of international institutions including the World Bank, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Academy for Educational Development in the United States and the Ministry of Work in Dubai. He has also offered a number of seminars in investment and international financial management at a number of institutions around the world.
Dr. Zaher is Advisor of the Investment Club at Indiana State University. He also manages and supervises other international portfolios for individuals and institutions. Dr. Zaher’s research has been published in numerous prestigious professional and scholarly journals, including the Journal of Financial Research and Journal of Banking and Finance. Dr. Zaher received three research awards from professional conferences and one research certificate of excellence. He was also recognized by the Scott College of Business as the winner of the faculty research award in 2002 and the winner of the exemplary service award in 2004, and received "Under the Buttonwood" award in 2018 for my role in growing the SMIF consortium.