The conversation around diversifying leadership in commercial real estate often includes the idea that women and people of color need a seat at the proverbial table.

Marcy Moneypenny, a Denver-based CRE veteran who has worked at brokerages like CBRE and Avison Young over a 35-year career, thinks it’s time to look past pulling up a chair and work instead on building a whole new table.

Moneypenny stepped down from her most recent gig as principal and managing director of Avison Young’s Denver office to launch her new initiative, coined The Moneypenny Collective. The coaching and advocacy platform is aimed at helping women “step up to stand out,” she told Bisnow.

“Playing it safe can only take you as far as ordinary,” she told Bisnow in an interview. “And we weren’t meant to be ordinary.”

The goal of helping women advance their careers in the historically male-dominated field is in response to large corporations scaling back their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Moneypenny said.

Her pitch to firms is simple: Bring in outside experts like her to fill the gap without adding permanent headcount.

Moneypenny doesn’t shy away from the current political climate, led by a Trump administration increasingly hostile to diversity efforts. But while the election and its ripple effects across the federal and corporate sectors weren’t the deciding factor in her timing, they were a clear affirmation.

“The current political landscape, and what that’s done to DEI, is one of the reasons I knew the time was now,” Moneypenny said.

While some commercial real estate firms have made slow gains with women and people of color growing their presence in C-suites for four consecutive years, leadership remains more than 70% male and over 85% white, according to Bisnow’s 2024 DEI Data Series.

A McKinsey study mentioned in the same analysis shows that companies with more than 30% women on their executive teams are significantly more likely to outperform financially, and those in the top quartile for ethnic diversity enjoy a 27% advantage over their peers.

Still, mounting political pressure has many companies softening the language around diversity efforts — replacing “DEI” with terms like “belonging”  — or quietly retreating from initiatives altogether.

Moneypenny, however, is betting that bold, visible leadership will define the future of the industry.

Too often, she said, women in competitive industries are rewarded for doing everything “right” instead of doing what’s bold — and that’s what she’s working to change.

The Moneypenny Collective platform offers coaching, workshops and public-speaking engagements for women in CRE.

Moneypenny has already started working with a growing group of former CBRE colleagues and other women who’ve since launched their own advocacy efforts. The goal: address a leadership pipeline problem that’s only getting worse.

According to a 2024 Deloitte report, 59% of CRE executives are expected to retire in the next decade, leaving 761,000 leadership roles unfilled — with only 28,000 qualified mid-career professionals ready to step in. With a median age of 49, the CRE workforce is the oldest in financial services.

“During my 35 years in commercial real estate, I’ve seen too many talented women struggle to advance their careers,” Moneypenny said. “Now, it’s my mission to equip women with the tools they need to seize the opportunities they so richly deserve.”