Award Recipents
2022 Rising Star Award Winner
The Rising Star Award is presented to a member with less than 10 years’ commercial real estate experience, whose industry initiative stands out.
Tatiana Zalar
Associate, Bennett Jones LLP &
Toronto CREW Board Secretary
Tatiana Zalar is the recipient of the 2022 Rising Star Award for her deep involvement in Toronto CREW, progressing through successive leadership roles to the Board of Directors after chairing the Professional Development Committee, where she started the now annual Book Club, and volunteering on other committees including Real Jobs Day.
In addition to her dedication to Toronto CREW, Tatiana's legal career has also grown progressively to working across the continent, closing transactions worth millions of dollars, and working as a guest lecturer and recurring speaker within her field.
Tatiana truly embodies the spirit of service, giving back to others through Toronto CREW, and community volunteer work.
2022 Circle of Excellence Award
The Circle of Excellence award recognizes individuals who consistently deliver excellence, and whose efforts demonstrate integrity, and innovation, and serve as thought leaders, change agents and champions of diversity.
Anna Kennedy
Chief Operating Officer, KingSett Capital &
Toronto CREW Past President
Anna Kennedy is the recipient of the 2022 Circle of Excellence Award for her tireless support of Toronto CREW and the advancement of women of all backgrounds in the commercial real estate industry over her 40-year career.
She has opened doors for Toronto CREW by promoting us as the organization of choice in advancing women and diversity within the industry. Her chapter commitment is a contributing factor in the growth of our membership to over 400 members, along with the individual successes of various members.
Along side her volunteer contributions are significant accomplishments in her own career at Oxford Property Group and KingSett Capital.
Once she retires at the end of November, we are grateful that Anna is willing to continue her leadership and influence at Toronto CREW, and in Board of Director roles at Jona Capital, the University of Toronto, and the C.D. Howe Institute.
2020 Rising Star Award Winner
The Rising Star Award is presented to a member with less than 10 years’ commercial real estate experience, whose industry initiative stands out.
Michelle Hunte, Walmart Canada
Michelle Hunte is a natural leader that stands out in any room (virtual or otherwise). She leads with empathy, compassion, inclusivity, and purpose. When it comes to Toronto CREW and CREW Network – Michelle has quickly become the biggest champion and advocate – taking on more and more responsibility – and she does this without being asked or nudged. Her self-starter, can-do attitude has been exemplified in her ability to serve as our delegate to CREW Network this past year where she has served with the utmost intention and dedication. She also serves as a member of the CREW Network Foundation Committee, as the Vice Chair of Real Jobs and has been instrumental in the ideation, formation and launch of our newest committee – IDEA – Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Allyship – where once again she has taken the initiative and ownership of the platform she has to advance and elevate the platform for all women in our industry. Michelle is a stellar example of what it means to commit to and see things through. Armed with this attitude, we know Michelle is well poised to continue leading within CREW and beyond. Congratulations Michelle!
2020 Engagement/Volunteer Award
The Engagement/Volunteer Award is presented to a member who has shown intense dedication to committees and Toronto CREW activities over the past year, in turn promoting the advancement of women in commercial real estate.
Karen Sweet, Accenture
Karen Sweet is a savvy businesswoman who demonstrates to all at Toronto CREW her abilities, and dedication through hard work and enthusiasm to do committee work whenever something needs to be done. Karen is also passionate about what CREW represents in its role to build women to succeed in the heavily male dominated world of commercial real estate. Karen has a long history supporting Toronto CREW, from years of work as a Director of Education & Professional Development on the board to leadership positions on the Programs Committee and PDC Committee and an engaged member most recently of the Data & Analytics Committee. She is the first person to jump in and volunteer her time and effort, but more importantly, she never drops the ball on the work she undertakes - this has made her career and volunteer work stand out. She is always the first to put her hand up, is reliable, cheerful, and enthusiastic and therefore, highly deserving of the engagement/volunteer award. Congratulations Karen!
2020 Tribute Award Winner
The Tribute Award is not based on nominations but is determined by the Board of Directors and presented to a member whose contributions and commitment stands out above and beyond and exemplifies our Toronto CREW mission.
Anna Kennedy, KingSett Capital
Anna Kennedy has provided outstanding contributions to Toronto CREW. She started by co-creating the Toronto CREW Women’s Leadership Program which has been extremely successful, and which encouraged our leadership to create a wider series of professional development programs. Her next step was Treasurer of the Board, followed by President. At every step, she provided great support to the organization and to the leaders and members she worked with. Even now, after finishing her year as past president, she has taken on leadership of the new Past Presidents committee with enthusiasm. Anna’s continuous support and advancement of Toronto CREW is significant is an inspiration as a leader in our industry. Congratulations Anna!
2016 Inaugural Leadership Award Winners
EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP AWARD: This award is presented to a Toronto CREW member who stands out for her leadership qualities, her achievements and her commitment to her career, industry and/or her community in general. The winner of this award was actually nominated by three different CREW members.
NANCY PRENEVOST is Vice President, Legal at Oxford Properties Group where she has built a team of 37 legal professionals in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. Throughout the past 16 years of membership with Toronto CREW, Nancy has been involved in or led numerous committees. She was involved in bringing the Mentorship Program to Toronto CREW almost 10 years ago and she was the Chapter President in 2012. During her time as President, Nancy was instrumental in increasing the membership of Toronto CREW. In fact, many became members of Toronto CREW because Nancy told them that they needed to join this amazing group – and they were all so glad that they did. Nancy takes every opportunity she can to identify opportunities to promote women in the industry and to break down roadblocks in the industry that prevent women from advancing. Nancy is a true champion of Toronto CREW and the essence of what Toronto CREW was set up to accomplish. We congratulate Nancy Prenevost on receiving the Excellence in Leadership Award.
ENGAGEMENT/VOLUNTEER AWARD: This award is presented to a Toronto CREW member who has shown intense dedication to committees and Toronto CREW activities for at least 1 year and who, through such commitment to members, was able to promote the advancement of women in commercial real estate.
DIMPLE MEHTA, President of DM Management Consulting, has been an active force in Toronto CREW since she became a member in 2010. She immediately joined the Programs Committee, became the Co-Chair and then in 2014 became a Board Member. She has served on the CREW Network Communications Committee and is currently the Toronto Chapter Delegate. Dimple is also involved in BOMA, NAIOP and CoreNet and is a Board member of the Foundation for the Geneva Centre for Autism. One of Dimple’s most recent achievements and contributions to Toronto CREW was her idea that Toronto CREW needed a program geared towards women at the mid-point of their careers. She quickly engaged Anna Kennedy, Partner, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Kingsett Capital Inc., and through their leadership and dedicated committee members, the Women’s Leadership Development Program was launched and has now completed its very successful first year. We congratulate Dimple Mehta on receiving the Engagement/Volunteer Award.
RISING STAR AWARD: This award is presented to a Toronto CREW member who has worked in the commercial real estate industry for less than 10 years and whose initiative in the industry stands out.
COURTNEY STARR is a Property Manager with Oxford Properties Group – and in fact is part of the team that manages Oxford Properties’ Richmond-Adelaide Centre, including 130 Adelaide Street West, the venue of this year’s 20th Anniversary Gala. Courtney is a Queen’s University graduate who started at Oxford as an Assistant Property Manager and then was promoted to Property Manager in 2011. During her 4 years as a member of Toronto CREW, Courtney has been involved with the Programs Committee, and the Real Jobs Committee where she quickly moved from being a member, to Vice-Chair and now the Chair. This past year, the Real Jobs day hosted over 130 Grade 11 and Grade 12 female students for a fun and informative day focused on the various careers in the commercial real estate industry. Courtney participates in many Toronto CREW events and has attended the CREW Network Convention. She is someone to watch in the coming years. We congratulate Courtney Starr for receiving the Rising Star Award.
TRIBUTE AWARD: This award is not based on nominations, but is determined by the Board of Directors. This year the award has been named the MIRELLA IANNELLI TRIBUTE AWARD in honour of our fellow Toronto CREW member who lost her battle with cancer earlier this year. The Tribute award is presented to a member of Toronto CREW whose contributions and commitment to Toronto CREW stand out above and beyond and exemplifies our Toronto CREW Mission – to empower women to excel, influence and lead throughout their commercial real estate careers.
The Board of Directors felt very strongly that the inaugural presentation of the Mirella Iannelli Tribute Award should be given to the woman who initiated and founded the Toronto CREW Chapter, DANNY KLEMPFNER.
Twenty years ago, Danny contacted CREW Network, and then personally contacted three other senior women in the commercial real estate industry and together they launched Toronto CREW. Danny was the President of this Chapter in 1997, 1998 and again in 2002 and sat on the Board for the first nine years of the organization. She has been an active member throughout the past 20 years, involved in many of Toronto CREW’s Committees. She was the Co-Chair of the very successful 2004 CREW Network Convention, which was held for the first time outside the United States, in Toronto. She has spent the past 10 years being a mentor in our Mentorship Program and on the Selection Committee of the Scholarship Program where each year one of the Scholarship winners is awarded the Danny Klempfner Legacy Scholarship. Danny is the President of S&H Realty Corporation, a company she founded in 1984. We congratulate Danny Klempfner on her contributions to Toronto CREW and for receiving the Mirella Iannelli Tribute Award.