Karen (Gerry) Burges ’86 Creating a Positive Ripple Effect in San Diego
Ripple effect: a situation in which one event or person produces effects which spread and produce further effects.
Growing up with six siblings, Karen (Gerry) Burges ’86 always had a strong sense of family and community. If you ask anyone that works in the real estate industry in San Diego to describe Burges in one word, the consistency in their response is no surprise—“community.”
With two older siblings, Burges was third in line to leave the comforts of home to pursue a college education—something that her parents felt strongly about providing for each of their seven children. Leaving the Bay Area was not an easy decision for Burges. She had grown accustomed to being surrounded by family throughout her entire life, so she wasn’t sure how she felt about leaving home.
“One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the encouragement to apply to schools away from home,” recalls Burges. “It helped to push me beyond my comfort zone and recognize that some of the most meaningful experiences and relationships in my life would be formed in situations that weren’t initially easy.”
One such experience that changed the trajectory of her life was the decision to take a tour of the University of San Diego while visiting her older sister who lived in San Diego.
“I was pretty shy when I was younger,” says Burges. “The small, family feel of USD gave me the confidence to move away from home, while still feeling like I was in a familiar place.”
In her senior year, as Burges prepared to graduate, she spent time exploring job opportunities in a number of fields.
“I majored in international relations because I wanted to work for the State Department,” says Burges.
During a visit to USD’s Career Services department, she saw a job posting for a marketing assistant position with the Phair Company, a San Diego-based real estate development company. The position caught her eye.
“I had every intention of landing my dream job working in international relations,” recalls Burges.
When Burges met with the company’s president, Jeff Phair, she recognized a strong similarity between the company’s culture and what she enjoyed so much about the family feel of USD. Burges applied for and was offered the position. She jumped into her new role with both feet and began learning from Phair, someone she credits as being one of her early mentors.
“We never had a formal discussion about him mentoring me,” recalls Burges. “I just tried to emulate what he practiced in business and in the community.”
Phair played an instrumental role in helping Burges discover what many refer to as one of her best qualities—bringing the community together. During this time, Phair was also serving as president of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOPSD). He gave Burges the opportunity to work alongside the NAIOPSD Board to help grow their membership. Burges recalls that NAIOPSD only had about 50 members at that time.
“The NAIOPSD Board taught me that you need good people and strong leaders to build a community,” says Burges.
While Phair showed Burges what it meant to be a good leader, it was another NAIOPSD president, Jeff Burges, that showed her how to be a leader herself.
Reflecting on her early memories with Jeff Burges (now her husband), Burges says, “He treats people with respect and empowers them to be good leaders.”
With his guidance, Burges began exploring ways to build the NAIOPSD membership.
“I love that the San Diego community always gives back,” says Burges.
That is when the idea of a formalized mentor program within NAIOPSD started coming into focus.
“Over 100 NAIOPSD members signed up in the first year to mentor up-and-coming real estate professionals in San Diego,” says Burges. “I knew we were onto something when the membership numbers started to increase and other professional organizations started reaching out to us for help to create their own mentorship programs.”
With the success of the first NAIOPSD mentor program behind her and other professional organizations knocking on her door, Burges formed her corporation Association Management in 1990 to help other organizations in the community, including CREW, ULI, CCIM, SDCCAR and SIOR. Burges became the go-to person in San Diego to help professional organizations create a sense of community within their specific industry segment. Today, NAIOPSD has over 750 members.
Increasing membership numbers is not what fuels Burges’ passion for what she does every day.
“Helping people is beautiful,” says Burges. “We are making a collective impact in the community and I love that!”
Charlie Abdi, ’83 CEO of Finest City Realty Advisors, has spent over 30 years working alongside Burges. As a former NAIOP Board president, Abdi shared that “under Karen’s leadership, she has promoted years of educational programming and countless events encouraging real estate entrepreneurialism. “She has helped raise money for community charities and through the NAIOPSD Foundation, Karen is continually pouring time and treasure into our Marine Corps families, university scholarship programs and masterfully produces the NAIOPSD University Challenge Event annually. She is a true industry leader.”
The respect between Abdi and Burges is very mutual.
“Charlie Abdi is a dear friend who, along with other NAIOP leaders like Chris Pascale ’83, successfully spearheaded the charge to establish the NAIOP University Challenge event,” says Burgess. “This event funds the many scholarships NAIOP San Diego grants and provides excellent real-life exercise for San Diego students.”
Today, much of Burges’ time is spent working with two of San Diego’s largest professional organizations, SIOR and NAIOPSD.
“We have established, through the NAIOP San Diego Foundation, three pillars within NAIOPSD that focus on support: homeless veterans, local universities and special forces Marines,” says Burges. “San Diego has become the largest Military community in the nation. Our service members sacrifice so much for us and we want to make sure they know how much we appreciate them.”
“Transitioning from the military can be very difficult for veterans,” says Bobby Morales ’24 MSRE, a candidate in USD’s Master of Science in Real Estate program. “Burges recognized certain traits in me that would translate well into the real estate industry and she gave me the confidence I needed at a time when I was unsure about what to do when I finish my career in the Military. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.”
Morales, who is still an active-duty Marine, is pursuing a career in real estate development, thanks to the guidance of Burges.
“The Adopt-A-Marine'' initiative, a program that connects volunteer NAIOPSD members with a specific Marine to “adopt” before, during and after deployment, was so popular that the group ended up adopting the entire battalion,” says Bret Morriss, a retired Marine and managing partner at Cast Capital Partners. Since the inception of the program, NAIOPSD’s members have supported the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion over multiple deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“NAIOPSD members have taken care of family members in times of need, celebrated the safe return of these brave men and women and have also mourned with them during tragic losses,” says Burges. “NAIOPSD members are not only supporting the Marines but their families as well.”
As a permanent tribute to the Marines, NAIOPSD members came together in 2010 to design, fund and erect a monument at Camp Pendleton to honor the fallen Marines of 1st Marine Raider Battalion (MRB). The granite slab pinnacle sits atop a base of precast concrete with the names of 1st MRB Marines who have been killed in action engraved in the stone.
“This is a wonderful example of the human side of San Diego business,” says Burges. “While we all need to make money, giving back sometimes provides the greatest worth.”
“Karen's ongoing commitment to making NAIOPSD and its influence better every year has been prevalent throughout my time with the organization,” says Morriss. “NAIOPSD would not be what it is today without Karen's ongoing dedication to its mission, members and the community.”
“Being able to help San Diego’s Military community is not only patriotic, but it helps to bring the NAIOPSD community together to give to a cause that is at the forefront of their minds,” says Burges. “Helping these Marines will be a long-term (permanent) project for us.”
Burges shared an excerpt from a letter she received recently that details the appreciation for the support that NAIOPSD has provided.
“Your continued support far exceeds anything I have witnessed in my more than 14 years of active service. The Marines have been amazed by the generosity of NAIOP San Diego. The gift that got us through the darkest hours of combat was the knowledge that there are Americans like you dedicated to our nation’s service members. It is gracious people like the members of NAIOPSD that comprise the fabric of our society and make our country great. GOD BLESS.”
The Toreros are proud of alumna Karen Burges for the positive impact and ripple effect she has created within the San Diego real estate community.