About

Damla Gerhart serves as Executive Regional Director of the Midwest region, overseeing key markets including, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis and St. Louis. In her role, Damla is responsible for driving growth, furthering talent strategy and enhancing strategic advisory services to clients.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Damla was Principal and Regional Managing Director for Avison Young’s Central Region, where she oversaw key markets and served as market leader for the Chicago office. She led strategic initiatives and drove growth through talent development, recruitment and strategic acquisitions. Damla’s leadership spanned multiple sectors—retail, office, industrial and hospitality—and encompassed capital markets, investment sales, real estate development, construction, project management and commercial property management.

With nearly 20 years of experience in commercial real estate, Damla joined Avison Young after her role as Senior Managing Director at CBRE, where she led brokerage advisory teams in downtown and suburban Chicago. She previously served as the Americas Lead for CBRE’s Workplace Strategy & Design business, spearheading business development, revenue growth and thought leadership. Earlier in her career, she was Vice President in JLL’s Strategic Consulting group, collaborating with global clients on workplace innovation and change management. Damla’s foundational experience includes roles as a financial auditor at Ernst & Young and an HR generalist at Kimberly-Clark Corp., contributing a broad skillset in accounting, human capital, client service and consulting to her leadership roles.

Damla is actively involved in civic and industry organizations. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow and a member of The Chicago Network and International Women’s Forum. Damla is the Advisory Board Co-Chair for Roosevelt University’s Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate and on the Advisory Board of the Chicago District Council for the Urban Land Institute. She actively engages in commercial real estate industry groups including NAIOP, ULI and CREW and holds board positions with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and The Civic Federation. Additionally, she is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Executives’ Club of Chicago. Recognized as a leader in her field, she was named one of GlobeSt Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence in 2020 and honored by ConnectCRE in 2024 for Women in Real Estate.

Education

• Purdue University, Bachelor of Science in Accounting
• Purdue University, Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Purdue University, Master of Science in Human Resources Management

Affiliations

• Illinois real estate brokers license 
• CoreNet Global – Masters of Corporate Real Estate Certification 
• LEED Green Associate 
• Six Sigma Green Belt