Foundation for Innovation in Real Estate

Catalyzing high-impact innovation in Earth’s largest asset class.

6Active programs
15+Campus connections
50+Sponsors, donors & partners
6Industry event partners
Why FIRE matters

FIRE exists to create opportunities.

Through our initiatives, we connect emerging operators with experienced executives, innovators with owners and developers, students with industry leaders, and organizations with talent they would never have otherwise encountered.

Our programs

Connections that strengthen the industry.

FIRE creates opportunities for ideas, people, and technologies to grow and thrive across the real estate industry.

01

Academia

Strengthening the connection between higher education and industry.

02

EMTC: The Catalyst Network

FIRE’s community for growth-minded owners, operators, and sponsors.

03

FIRE Summit

The cornerstone of the FIRE community, designed for trust, candor, and meaningful connection.

04

Innovation Showcase

Physical built-environment innovation brought directly to industry events.

05

Mental Health

Education, awareness, and confidential resources supporting the people driving innovation.

06

Talent & Opportunities

Connecting innovative organizations with emerging and established talent.

Our team

People behind the work.

A committed team connecting the people, programs, and ideas advancing innovation across real estate.

Matt Knight speaking at a FIRE event

Matt Knight

Executive Director

Matt Knight is an early-stage investor specializing in technology for the built environment, with deep experience in commercial real estate. Most active at the pre-seed and seed stages in PropTech, Matt has helped build two separate PropTech venture capital funds in the past ten years.

Stephanie Gubiotti speaking at a FIRE event

Stephanie Gubiotti

Director

Stephanie Gubiotti is a real estate operations and technology executive, advisor, and community builder with deep experience across multifamily, PropTech, and investment platforms. She has led operational transformation, portfolio strategy, and technology adoption for owner-operators, while also advising early-stage companies shaping the future of the built environment.

Jaja Jackson speaking during a panel conversation

Jaja Jackson

Advisor

Jaja Jackson is a Senior Vice President at ICONIQ Capital on the Real Assets team, with a career spanning institutional investing, real estate operations, and platform innovation. Before ICONIQ, he held senior leadership roles at Airbnb and spent over a decade operating and managing multifamily portfolios. Jaja brings a long-term investor lens to the evolving overlap between short-term rentals, multifamily housing, hospitality, and flexible living.

Doug Holte at a FIRE event

Doug Holte

Advisor

Doug Holte is a business-builder, leader, advisor, and investor in real estate and venture sectors across four decades and three platforms – Hines, Irvine Company and Agile Workweek Investments. Doug is focused on innovative property strategies that harness the venture mindset, address dysfunctional systems, and integrate sustainable communities.

Sponsors, donors & partners

Supported by organizations moving the industry forward.

FIRE’s work grows through donors and mission-aligned partners who invest in stronger connections and practical innovation across real estate.

Interested in supporting FIRE?Start a partnership →
Event partners

Where the FIRE community meets the industry.

FIRE collaborates with leading real estate and technology gatherings to connect ideas, people, and practical innovation.

FIRE on Substack

The latest from the FIRE community.

News, program updates, field notes, and ideas shaping innovation across real estate.

Connected to the FIRE Newsletter
June 30, 2026

This Month at FIRE – June ’26

June was a month of momentum.

May 31, 2026

This Month at FIRE – May ’26

Summit 2026 and the programs moving FIRE forward.

May 2, 2026

This Month at FIRE – April ’26

It’s Summit time.

Get involved

There is a place for you in the FIRE ecosystem.

Progress happens when the right people bring their experience, curiosity, resources, and willingness to collaborate.