McLean Fonvielle

University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School

“I am an outgoing activity lover who craves exercise, family-time and travel.”

Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a ski instructor.

Undergraduate School and Major: Washington and Lee University, Business Administration

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Lincoln Property Company, Development Associate

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Kenan-Flagler’s MBA curriculum or programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I chose UNC Kenan-Flagler because of the incredible real estate program and alumni network. UNC Kenan-Flagler real estate alumni have had incredible success in the Washington, D.C. area, in particular. The school is well-regarded and known well in the D.C. area for alumni’s achievements.

What are some advantages you’ve seen in earning your MBA in Chapel Hill? Earning my MBA in Chapel Hill is an advantage for me from a real estate perspective because of the growing markets of Raleigh and Charlotte, as well as Asheville and Wilmington. Significant population growth in the state has made North Carolina a target market for all national firms. I believe it will be attractive to employers to have a knowledge of the state and most recent real estate developments.

What has been your first impression of the Kenan-Flagler MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best Kenan-Flagler story so far. The UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA students and alumni are incredibly friendly, thoughtful, and hard-working. I had the pleasure of working with a UNC Kenan-Flagler alum in real estate before coming to school here. He took me under his wing and helped me learn about new real estate sectors I was not working on directly. He also helped me join the DC Real Estate Group, a group of D.C. real estate professionals under 40-years-old who are in the associate to VP level. Here, I grew my network tremendously and make life-long friends. Outside of work he began inviting me to social events with friends and fun dinners.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Kenan-Flagler? I am most excited for engaging different sports clubs. I love exercise, competition and making new friends through sports.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was a panelist at the 2024 State of Downtown DC Forum with Mayor Muriel Bowser, the chief of police, the president of Brookfield and others. The panel addressed the state of downtown D.C. post-COVID and what the future looks like for the city. I was a panelist to specifically represent developers working on converting office to residential in the downtown zone and give insight on the housing in downtown tax abatement application. At Lincoln Property Company, I was the development manager of two office to residential conversions three and five blocks from the White House. These are a few of the first developments with many more to come to reach Mayor Bowser’s goal of adding 15,000 residents to downtown D.C. by 2028.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? I want to do mixed-use real estate development.

DON’T MISS: MEET UNC KENAN-FLAGLER’S MBA CLASS OF 2026