Connecting Commercial Success & Community Revitalization with Inna Khidekel, Partner, Bridge Investment Group

Passion. Alignment. Ambition. Hard Work. Featured guest Inna Khidekel tells host Aaron Strauss that these elements – along with a heart of service, a head for business, and an entrepreneurial spirit – are at the core of her own impressive career and the incredible success of her firm, Bridge Investment Group.

Learn how Bridge, under Inna’s leadership, became the revolutionary ambassador for integrating environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors into profitable investment strategies. Discover how identifying the disconnect between potential tenants, the real estate industry, and government subsidies inspired the investment firm to prioritize the advancement of true social and economic mobility, and, ultimately, became the basis of the firm’s record for transformative investing.

Other topics include:

    • The emergence, impact, and continued relevance of ESG investment strategies and the variety of metrics Bridge uses to measure success;
    • How being an owner-operator offers an edge in today’s efficient real estate market and which niches Inna believes remain untapped;
    • Why Inna thinks current capital flows are supporting the real estate market despite the compression of a variety of non-property asset classes;
    • How demographic-driven sectors – affordable housing, multifamily, senior housing –  are capturing the interest of savvy investors;
    • Why Inna advises new grads to be fearless when joining a fast-growing firm in a fast-growing industry and to embrace every opportunity to learn.

A Partner in the Client Solutions Group at Bridge Investment Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Inna Khidekel is responsible for business and product development across Bridge’s global institutional client base. She serves on the Investment Committees of the Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing and Bridge Office strategies, chairs Bridge Gives, Bridge’s charitable giving committee, and is a member of the firmwide Bridge ESG Steering Committee. Inna is a prominent voice in the industry regarding a private sector solution to the US affordable housing crisis and helped to devise a new paradigm for impact reporting that provides actionable intelligence and transparency on community revitalization. Her work helped Bridge Investment Group’s Workforce and Affordable Housing strategy win ESG Private Fund of the Year, as well as to be recognized by UN PRI for real-world impact in addressing the “missing middle.” Inna also initiated Bridge’s partnership with TOIGO and PREA Foundation, to support diverse leadership in finance, and serves on the leadership committee of the Bridge Women’s Network (BWN).

Inna is a frequent writer, commentator, and blogger on the real estate industry. Most recently, she won the REFI US Awards and the Harvard Business School Women’s Rising Star Award and was recognized by Crain’s New York as a 2021 Notable Woman on Wall Street and as a Woman of Influence by GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum. Inna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in Finance and Legal Studies & Business Ethics, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Society New York.


The Dealmakers’ Edge with A.Y. Strauss highlights the stories, successes, and struggles behind major commercial real estate investors. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at commercial real estate leaders and their unique edge.

Hosted by Aaron Y. Strauss, Managing Partner at A.Y. Strauss

Aaron Y. Strauss is one of the leading legal advisors in the commercial real estate industry, providing insight and guidance for billions worth of transactions during his career. As our firm’s founder and managing partner, he has positioned A.Y. Strauss as one of the region’s most respected law firms for commercial real estate owners, lenders and sponsors, serving the needs of our clients with the utmost in care, integrity and transparency.