CPE Influence Awards Winners on Leadership, Giving Back

Commercial Property Executive celebrated the 2025 Influence Awards winners on Feb. 5. The event’s keynote speakers included Carter Andrus, COO of Prologis, and Shawn Clark, CEO of CRG. Both executives touched on the importance of people and how they have used their careers to lead and give back.

Andrus, CPE’s Industrial Executive of the Year Gold Award winner, opened the award ceremony. He said that, if it weren’t for the people and the journey itself, he wouldn’t be where he is today. Prior to working at Prologis, Andrus built his career at Colliers, where he was a senior vice president. This way, he got to experience both sides of the real estate table.

“It shaped how I think about real estate, not just as an asset but as a platform powered by people, data and long-term relationships,” Andrus said in his speech.

Looking ahead, the Prologis COO noted the company is prioritizing innovation as it grows its 1.3 billion-square-foot global footprint. He pointed to improving data accuracy and expanding the use of AI, which is already sharpening decision-making in areas such as revenue management and anticipating customer needs. The next chapter for industrial will be driven by e-commerce, near shoring and energy demand, he believes.

Andrus also talked about how important it was to align teams across the business and operate as one, while maintaining a customer-centric approach.

“Leadership matters more than ever,” he said. “I’ve learned the best outcomes come from investing in people and giving them the room to grow and holding ourselves accountable.”    

Intersecting real estate and giving back

Shawn Clark received CPE’s Gold Humanitarian Award. Following Andrus’ speech, Clark expressed how he has used his career as a way to raise awareness for a rare genetic disease that affected his grandfather and mother. The disease, known as Retinal Vasculopathy with Cerebral Leukoencephalopathy, is a mutation of a single gene that causes small blood vessels in major organs to die early.

CRG is the real estate development and investment arm of Clayco, where Clark also serves as chief strategy officer. In that role, Clark said he has been able to support RVCL research through the Clayco Foundation, which focuses on workforce development and rare disease research.

“It’s been incredibly rewarding work and a very fun and different hobby than my day-to-day real estate activities,” he said. “There is nobody else raising money for this or leading an effort to find a treatment or cure for it. I feel very blessed to have this opportunity.”

In total, Clayco has been able to raise over $14 million for research on RVCL through its Illumination event, which takes place around Halloween and draws more than 1,200 attendees each year. Over the last five years, the foundation has been working with a team in Michigan to research a treatment possibility. They are working with the FDA for a Phase I clinical trial in 2027.

“It’s been amazing to lead the research for this effort,” Clark said. “We’ve put together this global coalition to drive toward creating custom drugs. We are very far along in our research today.”