Where Are All The Women CRE Leaders?

The evidence is clear (and mounting): companies helmed by women tend to financially outperform those with less diversity at the top. But despite that, women are still dramatically underrepresented in corporate America—and commercial real estate is no exception.

According to CREW’s 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Benchmark Survey, women represent about 36% of commercial real estate professionals—an amount that’s remained largely unchanged over the last 15 years—and hold just 9% of C-suite positions. And while more and more women are ascending the leadership ranks within CRE, the progress is slow. RETS’ most recent survey notes that women in commercial real estate have made “incremental” strides in promotions and compensation equity: while four years ago, just 13% of survey respondents had reached the C-suite, 21% of those surveyed this year over the age of 55 had achieved senior leadership gigs. Those numbers belie the so-called “opportunity gap” that prevents women from ascending beyond mid-level roles, experts say.

“The business case for gender equity is clear, and to the industry’s credit, strides have been made—particularly over the last decade—in raising more women into senior- and executive-level roles than ever before,” Dipika Patel, managing director of national housing company Homz, says. “But there is still a long way to go, and the perception of commercial real estate as being male-dominated can be intimidating to younger women interested in pursuing careers in the industry, particularly if they feel that their growth trajectory may be finite.”

Commercial real estate is hardly an outlier: according to McKinsey’s latest Women in the Workplace report, conducted in partnership with LeanIn.org, women are still dramatically underrepresented in corporate America. The report’s authors say that’s especially true in senior leadership, where just one in four C-suite leaders are women (and only one in 20 is a woman of color). The survey, which collected information from 333 participating organizations that collectively employ more than 12 million people, also noted that for every woman at the director level who gets promoted to the next level internally, two women directors are leaving their firms.

“We’re amid a ‘Great Breakup,’” the report’s authors say. “Women are demanding more from work, and they’re leaving their companies in unprecedented numbers to get it.”

In addition, women leaders are switching jobs at the highest rates McKinsey consultants have ever seen, and at higher rates than men in leadership. And “that could have serious implications for companies,” the report’s authors say. “Women are already significantly underrepresented in leadership. For years, fewer women have risen through the ranks because of the “broken rung” at the first step up to management. Now, companies are struggling to hold onto the relatively few women leaders they have. And all of these dynamics are even more pronounced for women of color.”

But tides are changing, with many large CRE firms publicly announcing plans to achieve greater representation of women both within their rank and file—a move necessary to address the opportunity gap—and at the C-suite level. JLL, for example, says it plans to achieve 40% female representation at its top two management levels by 2025. This year alone, the brokerage giant added Alison Flynn Gaffney, president, healthcare; Meaghan Elwell, president, industrials; and Katy Redmond, managing director, integrated portfolio services.

“The good news is there is diversity in thinking and backgrounds entering the industry in unprecedented numbers, like no other time in the history of commercial real estate,” says Courtney Ettus, chief marketing officer of Crexi. “And that is leading to a more diversified industry overall, which means we are able to think about, express, and do business differently than before…When I’m hiring, the most important thing is diversity of thought and cultural fit. I don’t mean that they look or sound or think like me—I mean they are passionate about what we do, that they want to make a difference, and it’s not just a job they want to do yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Skills can be learned—but that approach is something that has to be innate.”

Ettus says she entered her role with “zero CRE experience” but recognized the asset her 20-plus years of experience in marketing across segments from from fashion to big oil to for profit education, banking, finance, credit, and consumer goods would be to the role.

“I saw a huge opportunity (with Crexi), and I went for it,” she says. “And what I’ve learned coming up in the business is that my intuition was right, and to trust that.”

Two broken feet at Fort Knox put an end to Kerri Davis’s dream of practicing international law with the Army as a JAG officer. But Davis, now chief executive of proptech firm Fortress, says she pivoted quickly, jumping into a commercial real estate role with a team of four at Elmington and working alongside the company’s founders day to day.

“I had to overcome a lot of challenges: believing in myself as much as (founder) Cary (Rosenblum) did, learning to empower others to get things done, even if it wasn’t to the level of improvement that I wanted, and battling a huge imposter syndrome as I continued to grow,” she says. “But I was insanely lucky to find myself surrounded by founders. They were all incredibly passionate, driven and focused on creating something special…(and) Cary valued my passion and commitment to excellence. He saw something in me that I certainly didn’t see in myself, and he constantly pushed me to take on new and different roles, specifically leadership roles.”

The experts we talked to were unanimous in their belief that effective female leaders approach problems differently than their male counterparts. They also tend to communicate more clearly with creativity, tenacity, and transparency.

When Stephanie Wiggins interviewed to become chief investment officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust—a role she went on to hold for more than 18 years—she was initially distracted by all the things she hadn’t done before that the role required. She says she had previously been “an underwriter at a desk somewhere, just chugging through deals.” But she quickly realized one of her greatest strengths: problem-solving.

“I remember going to the interview with the CEO and saying, I know real estate but everything else you need me to do? I have no idea,” says Wiggins, now Head of Production, Agency Lending at PGIM Real Estate. “But I’m going to learn at a pace that will blow your mind. I don’t take no for an answer and I find a way or make a way through any adversity, period, the end.”

Julie Baird, president of First American Exchange Company, began her career as an attorney in private practice in San Francisco and eventually moved into an in-house role at First American. She says she settled into commercial real estate because she was drawn to the potentially collaborative nature of deals, where “in theory everyone could walk away satisfied.” For Baird, the ability to see creative solutions and speak candidly and openly with her team are crucial for the business to succeed.

“Women tend to be more creative and in tune to our surroundings,” Baird says. “We have the ability to sort of observe and adjust and find win-win solutions with multiple parties—and that plays so well in commercial real estate where you’re dealing with family dynamics, lenders, landlords, tenants, and so on. There are a lot of moving pieces and understanding what those competing pieces are is critical. Whether you’re managing a team or leading a large real estate transaction, that ability to collaborate and let people feel heard, and to solicit input so when you make decisions nobody’s feeling surprised or shut out is really key and it’s something women are so good at.”

Baird says that as she’s made difficult decisions in her role, she’s conducted candid monthly all-hands meetings that delve into the state of the company and the market. And “that feedback has been very helpful,” she says. “We’re all adults, and we are all motivated by a desire to understand the business and where we’re going. I don’t believe in sugar-coating or hiding the ball—and the best female leaders I’ve seen share that trait.”

“Women are excellent at collaboration and communication and showing humanity, really,” Baird says. “And at the same time, we have to be very intentional about figuring out who we can talk to to help us navigate issues, understand our strengths and weaknesses and give us good feedback so we can improve.”

But while empathy has long been regarded as a woman’s superpower, some leaders agreed that it can also blunt advancement.

“We often care too much about what other people will think or feel about what we do or say,” Davis says. “If we are working hard, with passion for the goals of the company, then we should never hold ourselves back for fear of how it will impact or fall upon others…(My advice is to) work hard and smart with passion for what is right. Be direct, and don’t worry about toes. If you are truly focused on what is best for the company, and the company’s goals, then toes shouldn’t matter.”

Cultivating what Ettus calls a “personal board of directors” is also critical to combat the feedback gap for women and people of color. Research from McKinsey shows that women are 20% less likely to receive actionable feedback that can help them grow at work—but the leaders we spoke to unanimously agreed that to rise, women must create peer groups of trusted advisors and colleagues to help them process tough issues.

“You have to find your own board of directors—people who will actively contribute to your career so you have resources to handle a situation in a way you might not have before,” Ettus says. “You want to be really intentional about how you curate your board so you have what you need to be successful and take control of your self-advocacy.”

That process can and should start early in a leader’s trajectory: Hurd notes that at the beginning of her career, if she had “even the slightest bit” of a personal connection she “just grabbed onto it.”

“I wanted to talk to them about everything, to ask them questions about their experience. And that was such an important part of my growth,” she says. “So many people look at mentorship as people who can open doors for you—but I didn’t want anything from them but their time. I wanted to know who they were, how they got where they are, what challenges they had to overcome. Asking those questions instead of just asking for something is crucial.”

“The industry today is very different than it was 25+ years ago, when I first entered the business, and opportunities to advance to executive positions were few and far between,” says Janet Woods, President, Savills East. “My advice for women looking to ascend to the C-suite is to take advantage of the advancements made with respect to providing them with pathways for growth. Today, young women entering the industry are likely to have access to female mentors who have experienced success and disappointments over long careers—finding a mentor, an advocate is crucial.”

Davis advises women ascending the CRE leadership ladder to constantly ask themselves, “What is the worst that could happen?”

“Want to ask for a raise or promotion? Do it,” she says. “What’s the worst that could happen? Want to ask to participate in a special project? Do it. What’s the worst that could happen? Want to join that circle of men standing outside the conference room, chatting about the weekly goals? Do it.”