Cassandra Francis, has over thirty years of diverse real estate experience in providing urban planning, real estate strategic advisory, railroad, non-profit management, and construction project management services. Cassandra currently leads KARIATID, an international advisory services practice focused on real estate, construction, and urban planning. Previously, Cassandra served as Chief Real Estate and Development Officer for the South Shore Commuter Railroad and as President of Friends of the Parks, a park advocacy organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and improving Chicago area parks, forest preserves and natural areas.
Prior to this, Cassandra established the new Chicago office for Clayco, a privately-held national construction and development firm. Earlier, in her role as Director of Olympic Village Development for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid, she also led the team that tackled the complex issues of planning, building and operating the proposed, entirely new, mixed-use neighborhood of over 5,000 residential units and supporting retail and services, overseeing land acquisition, design, development, infrastructure and construction planning, financing, sustainability, security, emergency preparedness, transportation, community relations and demolition of a 1+ million square foot hospital campus.
Cassandra formerly was a Senior Vice President at U.S. Equities Realty in Chicago where she managed planning, design, development, and construction projects including leading the master plan for the location and conservation of the U-505 German submarine and exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. Prior to her tenure at U.S. Equities, Cassandra was a senior-level Transportation and Development Planner with Metra, Chicago’s regional commuter rail system, and a manager at The Habitat Company where she managed land acquisitions for the Chicago Housing Authority’s Scattered Sites Public Housing Development program.
Cassandra has extensive executive leadership experience serving on boards of directors of a publicly-traded national financial institution and numerous civic, non-profit and professional membership organizations including in executive, financial oversight, governance, HR, asset and risk management roles. Cassandra has been honored by membership in the Counselors of Real Estate® and Lambda Alpha International, an honorary land economics society. She is certified as a Certified Planner (AICP), an International Commercial Arbitrator, a Civil Commercial Mediator, and as a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP BD+C). She is a Designated Managing Broker in Illinois and Indiana. She has also been honored as a Fellow of the following institutions: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), and the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP).
