
Lyneir Richardson
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Lyneir Richardson is co-founder and CEO of The Chicago TREND Corporation. He is an experienced commercial and residential real estate developer with over 17 years of experience in urban retail development.
Lyneir is also a Professional Practice Instructor in the Department of Management and Global Business at Rutgers Business School in Newark, NJ, and the Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED), where he leads capacity-building programs that have assisted over 400 entrepreneurs.
Lyneir has served as Chief Executive Officer of the primary economic development corporation in Newark, NJ, for two different mayoral administrations. He was Vice President of Urban Development at General Growth Properties, Inc., where he led the national initiative to bring quality shopping centers to ethnic neighborhoods in large U.S. cities. Early in his career, Lyneir founded Lakeshore Development Construction Company and was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Illinois Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He started his career as a corporate attorney at the First National Bank of Chicago.
Lyneir is a graduate of Bradley University and the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the International Economic Development Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Economic Development Council, New Growth Innovation Network, Newark Arts Council and the Cook County Land Bank, and has served as Vice Chairman of the Illinois Housing Development Authority Trust Fund Board and as a Commissioner on the Chicago Plan Commission.

Gretchen Kleinert
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Gretchen Kleinert is COO of The Chicago TREND Corporation. She joined the firm in January 2019, bringing experience in community and economic development, real estate economics, project management and program design. Prior to joining TREND, Gretchen was Vice President at RW Ventures, LLC, where she worked for nine years, providing thought leadership for complex, innovative economic growth projects and managing multi-firm project teams, a diverse array of client and stakeholder relationships and firm operations. She has also served as the Director of Research for World Business Chicago and as a Project Manager for S.B. Friedman & Company, a Chicago-based real estate and development advisory firm. Gretchen holds a BA in Statistics, with a second concentration in Economics, from the University of Chicago, and a Master’s degree in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

William J. McIntosh III
Director, Real Estate Finance and Small Business Services
William is the Director of Real Estate Finance and Small Business Services for The Chicago TREND Corporation. He joined the organization in November 2020 after working as a corporate banker with PNC Financial Services Inc. for seven years. At PNC he developed lending relationships with lower middle-market to large corporate institutions across the bank’s footprint. In addition to business development responsibilities, William served in roles within a diverse set of verticals including credit underwriting and portfolio management, equipment financing and debt capital markets. In his role at TREND, William supports economic development opportunities with his financial acumen and market knowledge and engages with diverse business owners across the Chicagoland area. William graduated from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, FL with his Master’s in Business Administration, with a focus on Finance & Accounting, from the institution’s accelerated Professional M.B.A program.