Leadership Team

Dionne is the President and CEO of Laurel Street.  She establishes and manages the overall strategic direction, operations, and growth of the company and has more than 25 years of experience in real estate development, finance, and operations.

Prior to founding Laurel Street, Dionne served as Senior Vice President at Crosland and led the company’s affordable housing development and multifamily operations. Previously, she managed investments at NewSchools Venture Fund and Earnest Partners and built her skills in strategy, organization, and operations as a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dionne began her career in financial services as an Investment Banking Analyst at Salomon Brothers in New York.

Dionne serves on the Board of Directors for Cousins Properties (NYSE: CUZ) and the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) and as a Director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond – Charlotte Branch. She is also a member of the Charlotte Executive Leadership Council (CELC). Dionne is a Trustee for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and a member of the National Advisory Board for the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing, and ULI’s Affordable and Workforce Housing Council. She also serves on the Charlotte Community Advisory Committee for the Knight Foundation, Renaissance West Community Initiative’s Advisory Board and Real Estate Committee, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Childress Klein Center for Real Estate Advisory Board. She is a member of Leadership Charlotte Class 29.

Dionne earned a master of business administration degree from Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Spelman College.

Sylvia Sullivan is the Vice President of Finance and Operations for Laurel Street.  She leads financial management and business operations for Laurel Street. She is responsible for the oversight and management of daily business operations as well as corporate and project financial management. Her responsibilities include coordination with the CEO on financial planning, cash management, preparation of financial statements, coordination of third-party reviews, and management of payroll and benefits. She also provides oversight on project-level financial requirements. Sylvia has over 23 years of experience in real estate accounting and finance.

Previously, Sylvia was Controller at Northwood Ravin. There, she was responsible for general accounting as well as the development, construction, and management of market-rate multifamily projects.

Prior to joining Northwood Ravin, she worked as Finance Manager for the residential division of Crosland.

Sylvia earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the State University of New York and passed the New York CPA exam. Sylvia is currently completing her studies for a master of business administration degree from East Carolina University.

Colleen Forness is the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration for Laurel Street.  She leads human resources, marketing, IT, and administrative operations for Laurel Street. She is responsible for the oversight and management of the full employment cycle of the team. She manages staffing, benefit programs, payroll, and analysis of Laurel Street’s compensation structure. Colleen has over 25 years of experience in human resources.

Previously, Colleen was Vice President of Human Resource Operations at LendingTree. In that role, she was responsible for benefits, payroll, compensation, employee experience, training and development, community outreach, and HRIS.

Additionally, Colleen helped establish and ran the LendingTree Foundation for two years. Prior to joining LendingTree, Colleen worked as the Group Director of Human Resources at Baker & Taylor.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality at Corness University. Colleen is currently a committee member for the St. Jude Celebrity Dinner and Gala committee.