2023 Spring Issue - 42

PHILANTHROPIC IMPACT
" My giving recently has been to support the growth and
development trajectory of ULI Asia. "
-Benjamin Cha, HKR International
For some governors, giving is also a way
of recognizing ULI leaders who have been
influential in their own lives and careers.
John R. Williams, president and chief investment
officer of Irvine, California-based
Avanath Capital Management and of both
the ULI Silver Multifamiliy Council and the
ULI Orange County district council, is a longtime
ULI governor as well. Williams made
one of his donations to the Institute to
honor the memory of the late James J. Curtis
III, onetime ULI Foundation chairman and a
Life Trustee.
" I always considered him a good friend
and mentor, " Williams explains, recalling
that he got to know Curtis through doing
business with him in San Francisco, and
that their work together at ULI helped their
friendship to grow.
Contributions to Support Growth
and Change
John R. Williams, president and chief investment
officer, Avanath Capital Management.
Other governors are focused on the Institute's
growing global influence. Benjamin
Cha, former chief executive officer of Grosvenor
Group Asia Pacific and currently a
board member at HKR International, has
held a variety of key posts at ULI, including
serving as a global governing trustee,
Global Board member, and member of ULI
Asia Pacific's Executive Committee. Cha
says he was drawn to ULI by the organization's
multidisciplinary nature-besides
developers, " you have people from academia,
architecture, planning, engineering,
and, increasingly, sustainability " working on
solving problems and improving the quality
of life in the world's cities.
He is also enthusiastic about educaBenjamin
Cha, former CEO of Grosvenor
Group Asia Pacific and HKR board member.
42
URBAN LAND SPRING 2023
tional programs such as UrbanPlan, which
gives high school and college students, as
well as public officials, the opportunity to
participate in a simulated real estate project
and learn about the challenges of development.
His former company, Grosvenor,
helped support the rollout of UrbanPlan in
Hong Kong.
Cha feels strongly about building ULI's
presence throughout Asia, where the organization
has a fraction of the members it
has in North America and Europe.
" My giving recently has been to support
the growth and development trajectory of
ULI Asia, " he says. " What ULI is doing in
Japan, in Hong Kong, the growth in China,
the growth that we expect from launching
ULI India-I think there's just a lot of potential,
and a lot of support that the organization
needs. "
Pressman emphasizes that governors'
contributions are also investments in
the future of the planet, and the positive
change that ULI's efforts can bring to
improving life in the world's cities. That is
the theme of the current " Our Cities, Our
Future: the Campaign for the Urban Land
Institute, " which aims to raise more than
$100 million in philanthropic investments.
" By the end of 2080, it's projected that
80 percent of the world's population will
live in 10,000 cities, each of which will have
more than a million residents, " he explains.
" And we'd like to think that those cities are
going to be great places to work and live
and play, to raise families, to grow old and
be safe and secure, and live in a sustainable,
equitable, diverse environment. That's
why people are stepping up to put their
money behind an effort like this. " UL
PATRICK J . KIGER is a Washington, D.C.-based
journalist and author.
BENJAMIN CHA
AVANATH
2023 Spring Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Spring Issue
