Diane Butler was the Co-Founder and previously Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Butler Burgher Group (BBG), a leading national due diligence commercial real estate firm. She currently is a Principal of Butler Advisers and MBA Developments.

She has more than 30 years of commercial real estate expertise in valuation, consulting and feasibility studies. Diane has significant experience in all types of multi-family housing, student housing, healthcare, single and multi-tenant office buildings, industrial, retail, mixed-use developments and master-planned communities, including expertise in Agency, FHA and Affordable Housing Appraisals and Market Studies.

Diane is a change agent and visionary acknowledged nationally for building organizations and growing revenue. As an entrepreneur and business consultant, her background includes:

• Real Estate Development, Acquisitions and Dispositions
• Investment Management and Consultancy
• Location and Footprint Strategy
• Market Research and Diligence
• Business Consulting
• Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions
• Property and Portfolio Financing Strategies
• Risk Management and Underwriting
• Valuation Counseling
• Board and Advisory Leadership

In 1998, she co-founded Trophy Investments with David Burgher, using their multi-disciplinary backgrounds to invest and develop various projects. This included grocery-anchored and strip shopping centers, office buildings, a self-storage facility, industrial and medical office buildings, specialty hospitals, multiple tracts of commercial land and the redevelopment of a 28-acre, 270,000 square foot mixed-use project in Fort Worth.

Diane served as Chairman of TREC (The Real Estate Council) in 2016 and previously was Chairman of TREC FightNight and Chairman of the TREC Foundation. She was the CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) National President in 2012, received the “CREW Entrepreneurial Spirit Impact Award” in 2016 and was honored nationally as a “CREW Distinguished Leader” in 2014. Diane was a Trustee of the CREW Foundation and was inducted into the “CREW Visionaries” program in 2007 for advancing women in CRE.

She received the prestigious “Michael F. McAuley Lifetime Achievement Award” from the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors and Real Estate Professionals in 2021. She was also recognized by Real Estate Forum among “Women of Influence in CRE,” honored by Commercial Property Executive as a “Top Woman Executive in CRE” and selected by Bisnow as one of “Dallas’ Most Influential Women in CRE.” Additionally, Diane has been recognized multiple times in DCEO Magazine‘s “Dallas 500” among “Top Commercial Real Estate Executives.” CREW Dallas honored her with its “CREW in the Community Award for Philanthropic Excellence” in 2018. Diane was honored as the “2018 Extraordinary Woman” by the Powerful Purses organization.

She is a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council, National Association of Corporate Directors, Appraisal Institute, Urban Land Institute, Dallas Assembly, Dallas Regional Chamber Executive Women’s Roundtable, and City of Dallas Housing and Acquisition Development Board.

Her non-profit leadership roles have included CREW Dallas, TREC, North Texas Appraisal Institute, Governor Greg Abbott’s Small Business Forum for Women, Texas Women’s Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, WINGS Advisory Board, Volunteers of America LPGA Classic and First Tee.

Diane is also a designated expert witness and has testified in various court cases concerning real estate valuation. She was born in Alligator, Mississippi, but as the saying goes, “got to Texas as fast as she could.” A graduate of Mississippi State University, Diane has a bachelor’s in business administration with a double major in finance and real estate. She holds the MAI, FRICS and CCIM designations.