Machen Advisory Group

Elizabeth Machen likes to point out that many of the professional real estate managers of her generation got there by chance. She was a legal secretary for 15 years and needed a change that allowed her to pick up her young children from school each day. Beginning as a property manager, Machen joined the Institute of Real Estate Management and pursued its prestigious CPM designation. Nearly a quarter-century later, she became the president of IREM, heading the 19,000-plus member real estate management organization. Under her direction, IREM has grown its membership by nearly three percent during just the past year and launched an upgraded website that will function as the search engine of the real estate management industry. For over five years, she has also led the Machen Advisory Group, and hopes that small entrepreneurs like her get recognized by the industry as a force in the marketplace. Machen does note that things have changed since she started. For example, the percentage of female IREM members who earn the CPM designation rose from 9 percent in 1983 to upwards of 50 percent today.

Debbie Riley

Senior Managing Director, Capital Markets

GE Capital Real Estate

Debbie Riley's career got off to a quick start. In her early teens she was already helping her parents manage multifamily properties of over 2,000 units. She has been climbing the corporate ladder ever since. Now the senior managing director of Capital Markets for GE Capital Real Estate, a position she has held for six years, Riley previously led the central region for the company's North America lending business. Over the past several years she has overseen the placement of over $3 billion debt in syndication. More recently, she reintroduced GEs conduit program. The company plans to increase its debt originations activity throughout North America and send its CMBS/conduit program to over $1 billion in the next few years. She believes women need to take such leadership roles and foster diversity as the industry becomes more publicly owned and managed. “Women often bring complimentary skills to the table in the areas of management and communication which can enhance the team-oriented and service role of real estate,” she says.

Nancy Olson

Partner

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

For seven years, Nancy Olson has led the Real Estate Group in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, a firm where nearly half of the associates are women. She believes women in leadership positions need to support, mentor and push others to achieve more. Four of her six team members are women and Olson also participates in a new Skadden program to assist soon-to-be mothers become working parents. In the past year, Olson represented Spectra Energy Corp. in their $1.5 billion acquisition of the Express-Platte Pipeline System and J.C. Penney with a $2.25 billion term loan by Goldman Sachs. This summer, she was named a leading lawyer in Chambers USA: Americas Leading Lawyers for Business. Still, even though the overall picture for women is brighter, Olson believes the playing field is not close to level.