CoreNet Global New York City Chapter (CoreNet NYC) is pleased to announce that one of its members, Chris Kelly, co-founder of Convene, won the CoreNet Global Young Leader of the Year Award at the Global Boston Summit on October 16, 2018. In June, Chris won the CoreNet NYC Chapter Leader of the Year Award.

Trailblazing the Future of the Real Estate Industry

Kelly is the co-founder of Convene, the fastest-growing network of full-service, tech-enabled meeting, event and flexible workspaces. Founded in 2009, Convene has locations in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago. Convene is currently partnering with the world’s most prominent property owners to address the increased demand from enterprise companies for highly amenitized, flexible-term meeting and workspace solutions. Real estate’s biggest and most established companies like Brookfield Properties, The Durst Organization, and RXR Realty have chosen Convene as their preferred partner to reshape the workplace and the day-to-day employee experience in their Class A office buildings. This year, Convene was recognized on Fortune Magazine’s Best Small & Medium Workplaces in the U.S. list, Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces in the U.S. list, and in Meetings & Conventions Magazine: Best Places to Work in the Meetings Industry, as well as Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list and Crain’s New York Tech 25 List. Kelly has been individually recognized as CoreNet NYC’s 2017 Service Provider of the Year, on Real Estate Forum’s 50 Under 40 List, as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Semi-Finalist, and the only person to be named to Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list twice.

Committed to Positively Impacting the Industry

Kelly’s constant commitment to speaking at various events and universities about the evolving real estate industry and the rapid pace of change has positively impacted the profession. In recent months, Kelly has spoken at various universities including MIT Center for Real Estate, Cornell Center for Real Estate, NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate and the Harvard University Advanced Management Development Program. In addition, he has also given presentations at several events including WORKTECH, RETHINK: Future of Real Estate, NAIOP, CoreNet Global Summit, Fast Company Innovation Festival and Barclays’ Year Ahead, among many others.

Within CoreNet, Kelly has been a member of New York’s Young Leaders Committee for more than a year. He has led initiatives that exceeded new member growth through various methods including establishing an outreach initiative with NYU’s masters in real estate program. In addition, Kelly spoke at the 2017 Global Summit in Seattle where he gave a keynote presentation called “Workplace-as-a-service: The On-Demand Future,” which touched on real estate trends and industry predictions.

“I am honored to be recognized at the Boston Summit and to receive this prestigious award,” said Kelly. “Being able to create positive change in the real estate industry amidst such a transformative period is both a responsibility and privilege. I am proud of all the dedication and hard work that my colleagues at Convene and my fellow members at CoreNet NYC have put towards the common goal of improving the evolving real estate industry. I look forward to continuing to work with all chapters of CoreNet to continue to do good work for the industry and its professionals. Thank you for this award and to everybody who has helped develop my professional career over the years.”

About CoreNet Global New York City Chapter

CoreNet Global New York City Chapter’s mission is to advance innovation and professional development for the corporate real estate sector, and to serve as a thought leader and forum for current industry issues. The organization’s more than 1,000 members represent corporate end-users and service providers from New York’s largest publicly held companies at the forefront real estate planning, development and innovation, including Fortune 500 companies generating over $1 billion in annual revenue. For more information about the CoreNet Global New York City Chapter, visit newyorkcity.corenetglobal.org

About Convene

Convene (www.convene.com) is the fastest-growing network of full-service, tech-enabled meeting, event, and flexible workspaces. Founded in 2009, Convene has locations in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago, with plans to expand globally. The company has been named one of America’s 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes, one of LinkedIn’s Most In-Demand Startups, one of America’s fastest growing companies and Best Workplaces of 2018 by Inc. Magazine, and the #11 Best Workplace in New York by Fortune Magazine.