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Graaskamp Patron Advisory Board

Patrick Waite

Patrick Waite

Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Equity Lifestyle Properties

Patrick Waite is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE: ELS), which owns and operates a $15 billion portfolio of manufactured home resort communities, RV properties and marinas across the United States and British Columbia. Mr. Waite is also a member of the company’s Management Committee.

Prior to joining ELS in 2013, Mr. Waite held various executive positions from 2004 to 2013 with Helix Funds LLC, a Chicago-based private real estate investment company with more than $2 billion of assets under management. In 1997 Mr. Waite co-founded Continental Communities LLC, a privately held owner of manufactured home communities, for which he managed the acquisition program. Mr. Waite began his career with ELS as the Director of Acquisitions in 1993.

Since 2023 Mr. Waite has served as Vice Chairman of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), the national trade organization representing companies and organizations involved in the manufactured housing industry based in Washington D.C. From 2017 to 2018 he also served as Chairman of the National Communities Council, which represents the interests of manufactured home community owners to MHI. Mr. Waite is a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Board of Advisors for the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Mr. Waite holds B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.