Leadership

Budge Huskey

President and Chief Executive Officer
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Budge Huskey was promoted to president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC on January 1, 2013 after serving as president and chief operating officer since June 2010. Huskey succeeds Jim Gillespie who is now chairman emeritus.

As chief executive officer, Huskey oversees marketing, operations, learning and field services supporting 83,000 Coldwell Banker® sales associates in 3,100 offices in 50 countries and territories around the world. Huskey is a nationally recognized housing industry leader who regularly represents the Coldwell Banker brand in interviews with major media outlets.

Prior to joining Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Huskey had spent the previous 12 years in several executive positions with NRT, the nation's largest residential real estate brokerage.

Huskey began his real estate career as an agent in 1984 with family-owned Huskey Realty where he stayed until joining NRT in 1998 as a branch manager for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Longwood, Fla. He eventually became a district and regional manager in the organization's Central Florida region before being named in 2004 as president and chief operating officer of NRT's Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Florida.

He remained in this position until 2007 when he was promoted to executive vice president of NRT's Coldwell Banker Southeastern region. In this role he oversaw the strategic initiatives of more than 120 Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate and Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage offices in Florida, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Atlanta, which generated annual sales volume in excess of $10 billion dollars. He also was responsible for oversight of NRT's REO Experts, one of the nation's largest REO asset management firms.

Well regarded in the real estate industry, Huskey served as president of the Orlando Association of Realtors, where he was honored as Realtor of the Year, and director and committee chairperson for the Florida Association of Realtors. Huskey currently serves as a National Association of Realtors Director and serves on the Strategic Planning Committee. He won the 2006 Coldwell Banker Chandler Barton Award representing dedication and service to the Coldwell Banker brand. In 2011, Huskey was recognized by Inman News as one of the Most Influential People in Real Estate.

Huskey is a 1981 graduate of Mercer University who earned an MBA in 1984 from Wake Forest University.

Michael Fischer

Chief Marketing Officer
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Michael Fischer joined Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC as its senior vice president of marketing in February 2008. He was named Chief Marketing Officer in April 2010. Fischer reports to the Company's chief executive officer, Jim Gillespie.

Fischer oversees and directs the Coldwell Banker® brand's consumer marketing, including advertising, online initiatives, market research, public relations, internal communications and regional marketing activities. He also guided all aspects of www.coldwellbanker.com, as well as marketing activities associated with Coldwell Banker Previews International®, www.coldwellbankerpreviews.com and the brand's agent intranet www.coldwellbankerworks.com.

Fischer joined Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC after spending 15 years at Nissan North America, Incorporated, most recently as director of marketing communications. In this role, he led all strategic planning and creative development for Nissan and Infiniti division marketing activities including TV, print, marketing collateral, point-of-sale, and auto industry trade shows. He also oversaw regional marketing efforts, including coordination with dealer associations and field offices.

Fischer was promoted to that position at Nissan in February 2007 after previously serving as director of market research and brand management, as he guided consumer and market research and customer satisfaction programs. Along with other positions at Nissan North America, Fischer held marketing roles at Toyota Motor Corporation, Hill Holiday, Flair Communications, and Group Dynamics.

Fischer earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in 1981, and later earned an MBA in marketing and finance from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1992.

Nelson Bennett

Senior Vice President, Northern Regional Director
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Nelson Bennett was named Senior Vice President and Regional Director for the 19 state Northern Region of the Coldwell Banker system in November 2007. Bennett heads a group of 11 charged with providing comprehensive education, marketing and business council to more than 800 Coldwell Banker affiliated offices in New England, the Mid-Atlantic region and upper Midwestern portions of the United States.

Bennett joined Coldwell Banker in October 1992 and spent his first eight years as a Senior Business Consultant, a field position where he provided direct assistance to Coldwell Banker affiliated companies. He was promoted in 2000 to Vice President, Assistant Regional Director for the Northern Region.

The Gretna, Va., native attended undergraduate and graduate seminaries in North Carolina and Texas then served approximately ten years as an ordained clergyman in The Christian Church. Bennett is active in the real estate industry and graduated from The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School CEO Series Leadership program in October 2004.

Steve Bright

Senior Vice President, Western Regional Director
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Steve Bright oversees the Coldwell Banker Western Region and is responsible for more than 320 companies and nearly 525 offices in 17 states. He directs all field services and supports the Coldwell Banker franchisees in his region, including education, marketing and broker-owner consulting.

Bright has been associated with Coldwell Banker for more than 30 years serving in various capacities. Prior to accepting his current position in late 2007, Bright spent seven years in a similar role overseeing the Northern Region.

Prior to his promotion to senior vice president, Bright served as vice president of operations from 1999 to 2000. Immediately after moving to New Jersey in 1996 when Coldwell Banker moved its corporate headquarters, Bright was appointed vice president of product development. From 1992 to October 1996 he served as vice president of affiliate services. Bright was vice president of franchise sales from 1987 to 1992. Prior to joining the senior management team, Bright spent five years in franchise sales with the Western region office.

Bright originally joined Coldwell Banker in 1979 as a real estate salesperson in the company-owned office in San Mateo, Calf. This office was the first suburban office opened by the original founders of the company outside the city of San Francisco.

Bright is a 1978 graduate of San Francisco State University and holds a bachelor's degree in business with a concentration in real estate. He has also attended the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, where he has taken numerous post graduate executive education courses.

Frank Lindsey

Senior Vice President, Southern Regional Director
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Frank Lindsey serves as senior vice president and regional director for the Coldwell Banker Southern Region, which encompasses approximately 400 Coldwell Banker companies in 14 states.

Lindsey began his real estate career in 1971 as a sales associate with Barton and Ludwig Realtors in Atlanta, Ga. a firm that was later acquired by Coldwell Banker. Throughout his career, he has held a variety of key positions with Coldwell Banker in brokerage, relocation and acquisitions. Active in the real estate industry, Lindsey has served as president of his local Board of Realtors and holds several National Association of REALTORS designations, including GRI, CRB and CRP.

Lindsey is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a major in real estate.

John Geha

President, Canadian Operations
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

In February 2009, Geha was appointed president of the Coldwell Banker Canadian Operations ULC. Currently, there are over 260 independently owned Coldwell Banker residential and commercial franchised offices in every province across Canada, except Quebec, and also in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

As spokesperson for the Coldwell Banker brand in Canada, Geha is a noted real estate authority who has been quoted in numerous trade and consumer media.

A Canadian resident, Geha is headquartered at the Coldwell Banker Canadian National Office in Burlington, Ontario, where he leads a seasoned management team.

Prior to his appointment, Geha was a renowned Management Consultant, active throughout the U.S. and Canada. In May of 1992, after 14 years of international and national Sales Management and Franchising experience, Geha co-founded Accresco Consulting Group, LLC (ACG), based in Toledo, OH.

Although previously based in the U.S., Geha is intimately familiar with the Canadian marketplace. Throughout a ten-year period culminating in his presidency in 2009, Geha served as Management Consultant to Coldwell Banker Canada's national operation, as well as working directly with independent franchisees in markets across the country.

Jim Gillespie

Chairman Emeritus
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Jim Gillespie stepped down from his previous role as CEO on January 1, 2013 and assumed the role of Chairman Emeritus.

Gillespie served as the company's CEO from April 2004 through December 2012. Prior to that, he served as chief operating officer for three years. Gillespie has been with the Coldwell Banker® brand since 1976. One of his crowning achievements was having the opportunity to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the Coldwell Banker brand's 100th anniversary on August 21, 2006.

As chief executive officer, Gillespie oversaw marketing, operations, learning, mortgage and field services supporting Coldwell Banker operations around the globe. As the public face of Coldwell Banker, Gillespie emerged as one of the real estate industry's most quoted executives and regularly appears on such prestigious media outlets as CNBC, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, PBS, and Bloomberg and has been interviewed countless times by other notable media outlets including the Associated Press, NPR, CBS Radio, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney.com, Forbes, Fortune and USA Today.

He was voted one of the most respected CEOs in America by CareerBliss.com in March 2012 and was annually recognized by Inman News as one of the Most Influential People in Real Estate.

Gillespie's career has included roles in almost every facet of the real estate industry. Prior to moving to the Coldwell Banker corporate office in 1997 as Vice President, Broker Services, Gillespie served as Regional Director for the Coldwell Banker Southeast regional office. Previously, he had run both the Midwest and Northeast regional offices in the same capacity. Gillespie has held various management and sales positions at Coldwell Banker including operating officer for the Coldwell Banker company-owned offices in Boston, president of the Coldwell Banker company-owned operations in Kansas City and vice president of real estate services for Coldwell Banker Relocation Services.

Gillespie began his career as a sales associate for Gallery of Homes real estate in the western suburbs of Chicago and after only six months was promoted to vice-president and office manager in one of its eight offices. Gillespie then served in various management positions with Thorsen Realtors which was later acquired by Coldwell Banker. In 1981, Coldwell Banker began its franchise program and Gillespie became one of the original ten executives chosen to run the residential affiliates.

Gillespie earned both a Bachelor of Science and master's degree from the University of Illinois. After three years as a mathematics teacher and four years working as a YMCA director, he obtained his real estate license and entered the business full-time.