Elena Chan

Elena joined Whitestone in 2022 as an Associate.

She is originally from Tajikistan and brings real estate experience as well as 20+ years of international development work to focus more on commercial real estate development in the Kansas City metro area, that she calls home for the past 12 years. 

She is passionate about the empowerment of people and sustainable approaches to social, economic and community development. She is familiar of working with diverse board of international development organizations and experienced in program management, grants administration, project design, evaluation, and research.

While in Kansas City, she successfully directed the revitalization of an urban core social enterprise into a profitable and a sustainable business that funds Mission Adelante’s community programs in KCK. She currently serves on the board of the social enterprise.

Her most recent assignment was with Della Lamb Community Services in KCMO, she was able to assist in identifying and securing temporary and permanent housing for 334 evacuees from her neighboring Afghanistan. She established new partnerships with more than 20 property management companies as well as the property owners and the state housing authorities for housing solutions for the newly arrived refugees.

She earned her BA in Secondary Education/Linguistics from Tajik State University in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.