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The GSP Team

The GSP Team

01

Jesse Baerkahn

Investments + Planning + Strategy

What do you do at Graffito?

I get to touch all aspects of our business, from drafting contracts and SOWs for new projects, to supporting the team on our most complex strategy + leasing assignments, to working with Melissa and Noah on our new business lines. I also take out the trash every Monday and Friday, have approval rights on all of Drew’s GSP merch ideas, and develop the itinerary for our annual food crawl.

What is your educational + professional background?

I’ve been a small business lawyer, artist/musician manager, and ran a student directory business, the latter of which I started while an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I attended law school at Northeastern University here in Boston, a truly progressive place that advanced my passion for social justice, taught me how to read a contract, and brought me together with a classmate turned business partner who first dragged me over to Kendall Square for a real estate project in 2004.

What are some “ins” and “outs” in 2024?

In: espresso tonics, New Balance, electric bikes, raw milk
Out: espresso martinis, Reebok, electric scooters, almond milk

02

Melissa Castro

Operations + Strategy

What do you do at Graffito?

I oversee operations and new business strategy at Graffito SP. At my core, I’m a creative problem solver and people manager. On a day-to-day, I support the team, focused on driving productivity and stewarding our DEI efforts.

What is your educational + professional background?

Most recently I was the Director of Business Development at CommonWealth Kitchen, Greater Boston’s food business accelerator. In this role, I worked with small businesses and entrepreneurs who are predominantly women, immigrants, and people of color. I hold a B.A. in Marketing and Communications from UMass Amherst and an M.B.A. from Babson College. Before business school, I spent 9 years working in NYC for several digital marketing agencies focused on the financial services sector in hybrid project management and client services roles.

What is a New Year’s resolution are you most looking forward to keeping (or not!) in 2024?

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions because they lack flexibility, instead, I set intentions. New Year’s Intentions focus more on how you approach life, versus what you can accomplish. Here are a few that are on my list:

  • Remember, nothing is personal, permanent, or perfect
  • Spend my free time alone more intentionally
  • Enjoy the progress and forget perfection
03

Tania Celestin

Retail Leasing

What do you do at Graffito?

From outreach to transaction, I work to support the relationships of our landlord clients with primarily local, independent operators as tenants.

What is your educational + professional background?

I was born and raised in Boston and I hold a BS in Business Administration & Management with a concentration in Business Law from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. I have a background in luxury retail, artist representation, and international travel as a former flight attendant for Delta Air Lines. The pandemic allowed me to shift gears and I worked as a residential Realtor at Gibson | Sotheby’s International Realty prior to joining Graffito.

What is a New Year’s resolution are you most looking forward to keeping (or not!) in 2024?

My goal is to be more consistent with my health & fitness, and being proud of how much I’ve improved by the end of the year. Putting this on record so I stick to it!

04

Dave Downing

Retail Leasing

What do you do at Graffito?

I lead Graffito’s leasing practice, which includes early-stage retail advisory work through detailed lease negotiations for both Landlords and Tenants.

What is your educational + professional background?

Prior to joining the Graffito team full-time in 2012, I helped oversee the development of Watermark Kendall East, a 144-unit mixed use residential project in Kendall Square, Cambridge MA. This role offered me the opportunity to build skills in permitting, client relations, budgeting, team coordination, leasing and tenant fit-up management. I hold a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern with a concentration in Finance and Marketing.

What is a New Year’s resolution are you most looking forward to keeping (or not!) in 2024?

My resolution is to actually use my gym membership(s) this year! Personal health continues to be the driver of both personal and professional success and enjoyment. Looking forward to a healthy and productive 2024.

05

Wendell Joseph

Pre-Leasing + Planning

What do you do at Graffito?

I lead our team’s pre-leasing and planning initiatives that expand and deepen our work in supporting our clients in the critical ground floor design and strategy phases of mixed-use development projects.

What is your educational + professional background?

Most recently, I was a project planner at Toole Design Group, a full-service transportation planning and engineering firm, where I led/supported active transportation plans, corridor studies and street designs, and equity frameworks. Previously, I worked for Sasaki and the City of Cambridge as a planner on a wide range of projects including neighborhood and public realm planning, community needs and benefits, and development review. I hold a Master of Architecture from Andrews University and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

What are some “ins” and “outs” in 2024?

In: Curiosity, Creativity, Consistency, Concerts, Cocktails, Candescence, Community
Out: Ego, Excuses, Emptiness, Eggplant, Envy, Exclusion, Entitlement

06

Drew Katz

Creative Services + Branding

What do you do at Graffito?

I lead Graffito ID (GID), Graffito’s creative services and branding division. GID helps our colleagues and clients tell stories through branding, environmental graphics, and website design. As a photographer, I’m also busy documenting our projects from the land and air. Most importantly, I make sure that my colleagues have all the GSP swag that they need.

What is your educational + professional background?

Shortly after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, I opened a fine art gallery in Boston’s South End. The gallery, which featured mostly formalist works heavily based in architecture and design, gave artist Shepard Fairey his first solo exhibition in the city. Since closing the gallery, I served as the Associate Publisher for the critically acclaimed periodical, New American Paintings, received an MBA from Babson College, and founded Creative Katz, an agency focused on creative direction, graphic design, photography, web strategy, content management, and project management for industries ranging from healthcare to hospitality. Before joining Graffito, I was Chief Creative Officer at an integrated agency offering creative services, public relations, and marketing for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

What are some “ins” and “outs” in 2024?

In: reading glasses, flannels and quarter zips, early dinners, overpriced polaroid film, Norway & Denmark
Out: milk made from nuts, graphic designers that wear suits, alcoholic seltzers, people eating and reviewing food in their cars on Instagram

07

Noah Koretz

Neighborhood Investments + Partnerships

What do you do at Graffito?

I am developing new frameworks for Graffito to work with clients and partners on joint ventures, direct investments, and other creative business structures that utilize Graffito’s unique relationships and capabilities to maximize values alignment and community impact for the communities in which we work.

What is your educational + professional background?

originally came to both real estate work and Boston itself to work as an attorney, where I became fascinated by complex neighborhood-scale development through my work on a legal matter involving some of the early-stage transformation of Kendall Square from heavy industry to R+D. I refocused my career from legal practice to project-based work in urban neighborhoods, and I was most recently the Director of the Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) at MassDevelopment, an innovative program that imbeds with local partnerships in neighborhoods in smaller, postindustrial cities to work on local small business and real estate growth. I have a BA from Cornell University, a JD from The George Washington University Law School, and a Masters in City Planning from MIT.

What are some “ins” and “outs” in 2024?

In: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, watching TV with subtitles, reading Robert Caro, homemade Korean food, organizing time around sit-down meals
Out: Dead and Company, Halloween in Salem, Instagram scrolling, non-dishwasher safe anything, political podcasts

08

Johanna Loughran

Finance + Administration

What do you do at Graffito?

I take care of all of the bookkeeping and business administrative tasks.

What is your educational + professional background?

I have been doing accounting and HR for the past nine years, working mostly with restaurants and cafes. I started my career working for a large company in Philadelphia and then moved back to Boston and fell in love with small businesses. BA in Psychology from the University of Vermont.

What is a New Year’s resolution are you most looking forward to keeping (or not!) in 2024?

For 2024, I am trying to drink 20oz of water when I wake up in the morning. It seems like a simple one but it is very easy to forget!

09

Brooke Porter

Creative Services + Branding

What do you do at Graffito?

As a graphic designer, I offer creative solutions that help define our clients’ (and our own) branding and storytelling. I specialize in creating and maintaining brand identity systems, as well as website design and development. I’m excited to further explore different types of design such as environmental and wayfinding graphics, and bring to life the unique stories of the spaces and clients we work with.

What is your educational + professional background?

Shortly after high school, I received an Associates Degree in Advanced Culinary Arts from the Connecticut Culinary Institute (I make a mean crepe). I worked in the restaurant industry for a little while, and eventually went back to school to pursue a graphic design degree. A two-year stint at Manchester Community College (CT) got me an Associates Degree in Graphic Design, and I then transferred to the University of Hartford from which I received a BFA in Visual Communication Design in 2015. While in school, I worked as a designer for three years at Sunrise Marketing, a small marketing firm in Hartford, CT. After graduating from UHart, I accepted a new job at marlo marketing in Boston, where I worked for more than four years as a senior designer and chief supporter of Drew’s candy habit. I joined the Graffito team in January 2020, and the future is wide open!

What are some “ins” and “outs” in 2024?

In: Lifting heavy in the gym, Pantone’s color of the year, butter, making the bed every morning
Out: I-93 traffic, kids at breweries (dogs: yes), Taylor Swift’s ubiquity, inflation

10

Angela VanArsdale

Retail Leasing

What do you do at Graffito?

I assist Landlords and Tenants through the leasing process and real estate transactions. This ranges from consulting on early stage planning, merchandising and rollout strategies all the way through to negotiating details of the lease.

What is your educational + professional background?

Prior to joining Graffito, I was a retail leasing broker at Newmark Knight Frank for 5 years. Previous to that, I was at Colliers International in a similar capacity for 5 years. My focus is on urban and urban edge areas advising both landlords and tenants through all aspects of the leasing process. I am a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Harvard Square Business Association. I hold a BA in economics with a minor in architectural studies from Tufts University.

What are some “ins” and “outs” in 2024?

In: Jordans, non-alcoholic drinks, Stanley mugs, social gatherings
Out: heels, margaritas, Yeti mugs, social media