Deborah Dent, who previously served as executive director of The Cincinnati International Wine Festival, will lead ULI Cincinnati, an organization focused on shaping the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities. Deborah assumes the position from Lydia Jacobs-Horton and will work with Kim Fantaci, ULI Cincinnati District Coordinator, to continue expanding ULI Cincinnati engagement and impact in the community.

Lydia Jacobs-Horton, ULI Cincinnati’s former director and CEO of JAKE Advisors, said, “ULI Cincinnati will benefit from Debbie’s unique blend of experiences and expertise.”

In her role at the Wine Festival, Deborah strategically maximized assets of the non-profit to creatively cultivate fresh ideas, spearhead initiatives and develop new partnerships to make broad-reaching positive impact. Deborah is also co-owner of CityView Office Lofts in OTR and founder of Aim Straight Up Marketing.

Dent was attracted to the director of ULI Cincinnati position because it would utilize her background in marketing, events, real estate and running multiple businesses.

“ULI’s mission commitments are to connect, inspire and lead. I have a passion for and experience in all three,” Dent said. “I’m excited about discovering what issues are most critical to the region and how our local members will collaborate to help solve community and real estate challenges.”

Cushman & Wakefield, a gold sponsor for ULI Cincinnati, continues to offer the non-profit a space in its offices.

ULI Cincinnati, which has 280 local members, is part of the Urban Land Institute, an international network of more than 45,000 professionals across disciplines of real estate development, finance, design and policymaking.