Elizabeth Canela

VP, Project Management

Elizabeth Canela (Liz) is Vice President for Totem, overseeing project management and community outreach for our developments. From 2013 to 2018, Liz worked in the San Francisco and Brooklyn offices of Forest City, during which time she was named one of the 30 Commercial Real Estate Professionals Under 30 by the Commercial Observer.

In San Francisco, she led the community engagement strategy for the successful public approval of Pier 70, a 28-acre mixed-use development project, which included the negotiation of the community benefits and workforce agreements that govern the project during construction and its operations, including local hiring goals by future tenants, contracting goals, and pre-apprenticeship programs.

In Brooklyn, she served as the on-the-ground representative for many of Forest City's projects including East River Plaza in East Harlem, Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island,Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, and Pacific Park Brooklyn. She was the company’s liaison to the Pacific Park Brooklyn Community Benefits Agreement’s non-profit leaders, played a crucial role in the ramping up of operations at FC Modular, and managed community outreach, lease up, and stakeholder management with the City of New York for three affordable housing lotteries in Downtown Brooklyn.

Liz holds a B.A. from Duke University in History and African American Studies and an M.A. in American Studies from Purdue University. Previously, she worked in the English Learners Learners (ELL) division of the NYC Department of Education and taught introduction to African and African American Studies at Purdue University while pursuing her graduate degree. She serves on the board of the Brooklyn Book Festival and lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé and baby girl, Nellie. She's thrilled to be raising her daughter in the same place she was born and raised.