Chuck Palley - Advisory Committee President
Chuck Palley has 40 years of experience within the building construction industry, over 30 of which have been at Cahill. Chuck served as President of Cahill Contractors from 2005 and assumed the role of Vice Chair in 2018. Chuck has been a leader in the Bay Area construction industry, serving as a past president and current board member of the Construction Employers’ Association (CEA).​






​Monte Wilson - CIWI Project Director and Advisory Committee Member

Monte Wilson has over 25 years of real estate consulting and development experience in the Bay Area including twelve years of direct real estate, economic and community development experience in San Francisco/Bay Area markets implementing large scale, urban infill community revitalization projects with an emphasis on mixed-income/mixed-housing type, HOPE VI, HOPE SF communities.

In 2011, Monte formed Monte Wilson/Community + Real Estate Development, a San Francisco-based Local Business Enterprise (LBE) consulting firm specializing in creating and implementing the following targeted scopes: Community Engagement and Workforce Development/Local Hire, Community Benefits Plans, Real Estate Development/Project Management/Construction Management services and Economic Development, providing direct services to San Francisco's small and emerging firms (M/WBE focused) including extensive technical assistance and partnering/collaboration/contracting opportunities on large-scale public/private projects.


​Rod Roche - Advisory Committee Member

​Rod Roche is a Partner at G&M Realty Ventures, LLC.  Rod is an accomplished Real Estate Development, Construction, and Project Management Executive successfully building major capital improvement projects from concept to completion in both the public and private sectors.  Although his experience spans over 30 years, the vast majority of which is in mixed-use development, he also has experience in multifamily and affordable housing as well as in retail and solar. Rod is the Co-Chair of the Urban Land Institute San Francisco Region Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee, a member of ULI’s Mixed-Use Development Product Council (UDMUC Purple), a member of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, a member of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), and a senior member of the African American Real Estate Professionals (AAREP) – Bay Area Chapter.




Dean Rubinson - Advisory Committee Member

Dean Rubinson has been the Director of Development at Ellis Partners since 2005.  Dean manages all company development projects, oversees the development team, and provides expertise on entitlements, design and construction matters.

Dean has managed a broad range of urban redevelopment projects and successfully completed the rehabilitation and repositioning of office and retail complexes, including Oakland’s Jack London Square and 1100 Broadway/Key Building as well as Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. Dean has been a primary point of contact with many of the city officials, clients, and community groups and is skilled at consensus-building amongst diverse interest groups.  He has served on numerous boards and committees on behalf of Bay Area educational institutions, primarily advising on real estate and .facilities issues.

Dean holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University.  Dean is a licensed civil engineer and has practiced as a consulting engineer for over eight years on complex infrastructure projects throughout the U.S.  Dean is a member of ULI.


Norris Cooper - Advisory Committee Member (CIWI Alumni)

Norris is an Oakland native who graduated from Skyline High School. Following his high school graduation, Norris went to Cal Poly SLO in pursuit of a Construction Management degree. While at Cal Poly, Norris landed an internship with Cahill Contractors facilitated by CIWI for the summer of 2014. Following the Cahill internship, Norris was able to work for DPR, Hathaway Dinwiddie, XL Construction, and Specialty Construction. Collectively, Norris had (2) years of internship experience which made him a great candidate to work for Truebeck Construction in the Bay Area. During Norris’ time at Truebeck, he worked on (6) tenant improvement projects, managed interns, and got involved with the firms diversity efforts.

As Norris progressed in his role at Truebeck, he became more curious about the greater real estate industry and how construction is one of many facets of getting a project delivered to the market and end user. This spurred Norris to become a member of Urban Land Institute (ULI) to gain more exposure. Eventually, Norris landed an internship with Ellis Partners for the summer of 2021 while concurrently applying to Berkeley’s Master of Real Estate Development and Design. Norris has recently finished his master’s and moved to Seattle to work for Holland Partner Group as a Development Associate.


Laura Barbosa - Advisory Committee Member (CIWI Alumni)

Laura Barbosa, a first generation college graduate, joined CIWI in 2019 where she interned remotely for the William J Worthen Foundation while finishing her undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Merced. In 2021, she came on as program manager to assist Monte Wilson in delivering the program and managing the payroll services. She brings a unique perspective from her experience on both sides of the program as participant and administrator. 

Currently, she works for Sares Regis in the Commercial Real Estate division as an Assistant Project Manager. She is an accredited LEED Green Associate and is working on earning LEED Accredited Professional status. She assists in managing a variety of projects and is most excited by the design and construction phases. Laura plans to continue growing her construction industry knowledge and project management skills so that she can drive the implementation of sustainability into larger built spaces.


Diane Oshima - Advisory Committee Member

Diane Oshima has worked for the City of San Francisco for 40 years as city planner, serving 30 years at the Port of San Francisco. As the former director of the Port’s Planning & Development Division, Diane developed and managed the Port of San Francisco Waterfront Plan, which has guided creation of new parks and public access network, the Giants ballpark, rehabilitation of the Ferry Building and the Port’s historic piers, and new neighborhoods in Mission Rock and Pier 70.  Diane retired in 2021 but continues to work with the Port as an advisor and on special project assignments.  





Matt Irwin - Advisory Committee Member

As the vice president of Cahill Contractors, a woman-owned general contractor in the Bay Area, Matt provides executive leadership to construction projects across all sectors while leading Cahill’s self-perform efforts in concrete and wood-framing. Matt joined Cahill in 2006 and has spearheaded successful education, multi-family residential, and renovation projects in San Francisco and on the Peninsula.

Advisory Committee