Elizabeth Birch
Vice President, Business Development, CBRE
Washington, DC 20036
Legal, corporate, nonprofit, real estate expert. Former HRC President. CEO of Elizabeth Birch Company. Keynote speaker, progressive leader.
Phone (202) 550-7129
Legal, corporate, nonprofit, real estate expert. Former HRC President. CEO of Elizabeth Birch Company. Keynote speaker, progressive leader.
Specialties
Tenant Rep, Tenant Rep (Office)
Property Types
Office
Markets
Washington, DC
Languages
English
Bio
Elizabeth Birch has had an extensive career that spans the corporate, legal, nonprofit and commercial real estate worlds. Elizabeth is a lawyer licensed to practice in Washington, DC and California. She began her career at a major San Francisco-based law firm specializing in commercial litigation and intellectual property law. She served as the Chief of Litigation (worldwide) & Human Resources Counsel for Apple Computer, Inc. from 1989 to 1995. She also served as the General Counsel to Claris Corporation, Apple’s wholly-owned software subsidiary. In 1995 and for a decade more, Elizabeth served as the President and Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization. Under her leadership, HRC blossomed into one of the largest, strongest and most effective nonprofits in the country. During this period, Elizabeth and her team employed innovative techniques in management, communications, marketing, media, advocacy and development to deliver transformational and inspiring growth year after year. Since HRC, she has been able to bring her extensive corporate and nonprofit expertise to a wide variety of clients. Elizabeth is passionate in the belief that, next to talent, real estate planning and execution will have the most profound effect on an organization’s ability to accomplish its vision and mission. While heading HRC, she led the organization’s $36M Capital Campaign to establish HRC’s Headquarters at 17th & Rhode Island in Washington, DC. To this day, the building has served as a stirring and iconic symbol for human rights while providing the organization with a valuable legacy asset. Since 2005, Elizabeth has served as the CEO of the Elizabeth Birch Company. She has provided corporate and nonprofit guidance to a wide variety of Fortune 500 and major nonprofit organizations. She has been a keynote speaker at multiple corporate and organizational events. In recent years, she served her client, Peris Construction, as a business development executive thereby exposing her to the commercial construction process. She is also CEO of Elizabeth Birch Company, a Women/LGBT-owned and certified Commercial Real Estate Advisory. Elizabeth is excited to bring her considerable breath of experience to her CBRE clients. She is deeply committed to every project and to guiding her clients through the process from concept and careful planning to buildout. Elizabeth received her law degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law and her BA in Political Science and Oceanography from the University of Hawaii. She has a Honorary PhD from the University of Hawaii in Humanities as recognition for her work in the area of civil and human rights. Elizabeth is a well-known leader on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and among progressive leaders. She has advised the Clinton and Obama Administrations, Members of Congress, and the Pentagon. As an educator and communicator, Elizabeth has achieved high visibility, with appearances on programs such as Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Good Morning America, the Today Show, 20/20, This Week, Face the Nation, Nightline, Crossfire, the Larry King Show, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and profiles in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer. Elizabeth lives in Washington DC and is the parent of twins, Anna and Jacob.
Education