Lela Goren

Goren, the founder of New York-based a real estate development company the Lela Goren Group, undertakes large-scale development projects that are meaningful to her- often breathing new life into once forgotten buildings and transforming them into magical spaces.

Her eclectic career path is astounding – a distinguished developer for over 15 years, (she is the recipient of the 2016 Women Builders Council Developer of the Year Award) Goren is also an intellectual property lawyer with a master’s degree in international law. Before attending law school, she played professional basketball for the University of Jerusalem.

Whether Goren is acquiring properties and building them with the support of her in-house team or most recently serving as vice chair at WeWork, at the heart of her work is a desire to create “physical spaces that inspire communities to have innovative collisions that may lead to establishing social change.”

She began her training in real estate development and investment with Extell Developments. “This is where I learned about what to do and what not to do,” she says.