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Nonprofits | Philanthropy 2025: GHANIM, ISAM

Ghanim returned to ChildFund International in 2022, becoming its ninth president and CEO. He previously was vice president for the Africa region, vice president of global operations and executive vice president for programs before leaving to serve as Search for Common Ground’s president in 2018.

ChildFund, previously named the Christian Children’s Fund, spent $169 million in 2024 on programs focused on basic education, nutrition, early childhood development, health and sanitation, emergencies and micro-enterprise. The 85-plus-year-old nonprofit operates in 23 countries. Its programs and services reached 24.3 million children and families in 2024.

ChildFund has taken a strong stance against online sexual abuse of children, running a national campaign in the United States called #TakeItDown to build support for legislation to force technology companies to protect children online. In May, President Donald Trump signed the Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN) Act.

Born and raised in Sudan, Ghanim earned a master’s degree from the University of Khartoum and began his international development career with CARE Sudan. He serves on the board of InterAction, a U.S.-based alliance of international NGOs and partners. .

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Real Estate 2025: LAUSTER, RONALD

President since 2018, Lauster manages a wide array of projects at the firm with $725 million in fiscal 2024 revenue. W.M. Jordan took on the second phase of the Norfolk-based Nauticus renovation

and expansion, and Old Dominion University’s $184 million biological sciences building, the university’s largest academic building now under , for which the company says it won a $142 million contract. In October 2024, construction started on the $107 million Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital; W.M. Jordan says it received a $90 million contract for the project.

Lauster also was an adjunct professor at Tidewater Community College, where he volunteered on several advisory committees and is an alum himself.

A graduate of the Civic Leadership Institute in Hampton Roads, he earned a bachelor’s degree in technology from Old Dominion University and graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He serves on the boards of the Hampton Roads Chamber and Virginia Chamber of Commerce and is vice chair of Bon Secours Hampton Roads Foundation’s board.

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Real Estate 2025: SCHALL, BENJAMIN

Before becoming CEO in 2022, Schall joined AvalonBay as president in 2021. He also sits on the publicly traded trust’s board of directors.

AvalonBay acquires, develops and manages communities around the country, primarily focusing on metropolitan areas in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest and California. The company reported over $2.9 billion in 2024 revenue and more than $21 billion in total assets. As of March 31, it owned or held direct or indirect ownership interest in 309 apartment communities, of which 19 were under development, in 11 states and Washington, D.C., including a recent $620 million acquisition in Texas.

Prior to joining AvalonBay Communities, Schall was CEO and president of Seritage Growth Properties, a spinoff of Sears Holdings, and before that, chief operating officer of Rouse Properties, where he oversaw operations for 35 regional malls across

21 states. Schall received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College.

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Real Estate 2025: LEON, MILES

As leader of one of the largest development companies in the southeastern United States, Leon is responsible for all company operations and new business development. Founded in 1906, Nusbaum has a portfolio exceeding 30,000 units.

Among other deals, the company is handling Texas convenience store chain Buc-ee’s expansion into the commonwealth, which includes the new Rockingham County location — the first in Virginia — that opened June 30. The chain has plans for at least two more locations in Virginia: one in New Kent County and one in Stafford County.

In March, Nusbaum negotiated LS GreenLink USA’s purchase of 96 acres in Chesapeake, where it is building a $680 million advanced cable manufacturing and port facility.

Leon earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his MBA from the University of Miami. He serves on the Old Dominion University Real Estate Foundation and Downtown Norfolk Council boards, among other civic duties.

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Real Estate 2025: ROY, KIM

In 2017, Roy became the first nonfamily member to lead the then-80-year-old Hitt company. Interested in building from a young age, she graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in and joined Hitt in 1999 as an assistant project manager.

Founded in 1937, Hitt has more than 2,000 employees across 14 U.S. office locations. The company reported $8.7 billion in 2024 revenue and ranked No. 10 on Engineering News-Record’s list of the top 400 general contractors this year, a jump of 16 spots from 2024.

Hitt’s recent projects include a $1 billion expansion of Boeing’s facilities in Charleston, South Carolina, for which Hitt is partnering with BE&K Building Group. In January, Hitt broke ground on its new six-story, 270,000-square-foot headquarters in Falls Church, expected to be completed in late 2026.

Roy is also president of Hitt Contracting Foundation, a nonprofit she helped launch focusing on the company’s philanthropic initiatives, and she serves on Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering advisory board.

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Real Estate 2025: LITTON JR., T. RICHARD

Litton oversees the day-to-day operations of the commercial and management company, which currently boasts $20 billion in properties, with diversified property portfolios including office, retail and properties.

Litton also manages Harbor Group International’s transaction group, chairs the firm’s investment and credit committees and is a member of its executive committee.

In June, HGI purchased a portfolio of 3,590 units in 11 garden-style apartment communities in South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee for $625 million, as well as other purchases in Massachusetts and Texas earlier in the year.

Last year, Harbor Group International’s credit platform reached $5 billion in assets under management. The firm manages a range of real estate debt investments, including whole loans, Freddie Mac structured debt products, preferred equity investments and mezzanine loans.

Litton previously was a corporate law partner at Kaufman & Canoles.

A University of Virginia School of Law graduate, he is a founding director, as well as secretary and treasurer, of the Tidewater Friends of Foster Care board and chair of the Access College Foundation board.

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Real Estate 2025: LUGG, RICK

In January, Lugg became Virginia Realtors’ new head, succeeding Terrie Suit, who retired last fall. Martin Johnson, the organization’s chief external affairs officer, served as interim CEO.

Virginia Realtors represents nearly 35,000 Realtors and is billed as the state’s largest trade association. Lugg joined the organization in 2009 and was most recently its chief financial officer and chief operating officer, after working in management roles at Circuit City. As COO and CFO, Lugg was behind Virginia Realtors’ rebranding and website redesign in 2017, and he helped steward the association during the height of the 2009 financial crisis. He received Virginia Business’ Virginia CFO Award for small /government agencies in 2019.

Lugg also was a programmer analyst in the Air Force and earned a bachelor’s degree from Troy University and an MBA from the University of Richmond. He serves as a small business mentor for the Richmond chapter of SCORE.

Virginia Realtors sends out monthly home sales reports for the state. This year, sales have been “sluggish,” according to the association’s May report, although sales prices are still rising.

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Real Estate 2025: LOWHAM, MARK C.

Since 2011, Lowham has led the Washington, D.C., office of the luxury company, where he sells to the rich and famous. In 2025, he was once again named to T3 Sixty’s Swanepoel Power 200 list, a ranking of the country’s top leaders in residential real estate. He is ranked among the top 100 agents at Sotheby’s International Realty worldwide.

As a listing agent for some of the most expensive homes in the Washington, D.C., area, Lowham represented the seller of The Cliffs, a McLean home that went for $25.5 million to a mystery buyer in October 2024. He also sold his own McLean home in March for $6.15 million, down from the original listing price of $7.95 million.

Lowham holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. He also serves on the Teach for America D.C. and Virginia Advisory Board.

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Real Estate 2025: SCHOPPMANN, KYLE M.

With more than 20 years of experience in sales strategy, training and professional development, Schoppmann leads six offices in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. She joined CBRE in 2007 as managing director of brokerage services in New York City, and in 2020, she was promoted to the giant’s mid-Atlantic division.

She also is part of CBRE’s global Executive Inclusion Council, a senior leadership team committed to the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, and is a founding member of the Washington chapter of Chief, a private professional network for women executives. In 2023, she was featured in Washingtonian magazine’s list of the D.C. region’s most powerful women.

Schoppmann received her bachelor’s in at Duke University and her MBA in finance from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

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Real Estate 2025: SHRIVER, EVAN

Shriver became Atlantic Constructors’ CEO in 2020, taking over from its founding chief executive, Art Hungerford. Previously, Shriver was executive vice president of operations at the industrial and commercial contractor. In April, ACI was acquired by Texas-based TriplePoint MEP, a major mechanical services provider. In a July article in The CEO Magazine, Shriver noted that the move gives his company the opportunity to grow even faster.

ACI announced in February plans to build a $25 million fabrication plant next to the company’s Chesterfield headquarters. ACI has been part of major projects for Microsoft, Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health, as well as the restoration of Richmond’s Altria Theater.

A mechanical engineering graduate from Virginia Tech, Shriver also earned an MBA at James Madison University. Before joining ACI in 2013 as a project management director, he was a senior project manager at H.T. Lyons, Riddleberger Brothers and Comfort Systems USA.

Outside of work, Shriver is a board member of Communities in Schools of Chesterfield and serves as its community partnerships chair.

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