Chicago, IL—Global real estate investment firm Heitman recently announced the appointment of Chasity Boyce as the firm’s head of Inclusion & Diversity, which is a new role for the company. Boyce will be responsible for setting the firm’s global inclusion and diversity initiatives and strategies.
Prior to joining Heitman, Boyce was a Diversity and Inclusion Manager for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. She has also served as Associate General Counsel to Illinois Governor, Bruce Rauner, where she advised the Governor and senior Illinois state leadership on public safety, child welfare, and educational agencies’ legal issues plus oversaw the Governor’s clemency process. She also practiced law as an associate attorney with O’Hagan LLC and SmithAmundsen LLC.
Boyce will report to Heitman’s Chief People Officer, Darrah Bixler.
“We are pleased to welcome Chasity to Heitman as our Head of I&D,” Bixler tells GlobeSt.com. “Her extensive experience and knowledge acquired throughout her career as a leader in diversity will help drive a culture of inclusion as we continue to leverage the insights, experiences, and diverse backgrounds of our global team.”
Last fall, Heitman’s senior management team held an off-site meeting to assess the status of inclusion and diversity at the firm and to brainstorm what should be its areas of focus. The team agreed it needed to hire an individual to help set these strategies and initiatives as well as monitor their progress.
“We are taking a full scale look at our operations,” Bixler says. This includes how the firm recruit talent, its training and development programs, the talent pipeline programs, how its employees are mentored, how it utilizes its resources “and hopefully, down the road, implementing a supplier diversity program to effect change in the firm and the industry at large,” she says.
Heitman plans to track and measure results through metrics, employee surveys, accountability standards and client service and performance, as well as evaluate areas for improvement. The company plans on regularly reporting these developments to its global management committee.
Boyce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Duke University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law.