'We Get Put Into Baskets': Women In D.C. CRE On The Added Hurdles They Overcome

Maybe one day there won’t be a need for an event highlighting women in commercial real estate, Convene Hospitality Group Senior Director Julia Broder pondered onstage Tuesday at a Bisnow event that was doing just that. 

But that day isn’t today.

Before an awards ceremony celebrating women leaders in the industry, Broder and fellow panelists discussed the extra hurdles that they, as women in a male-dominated industry, are overcoming to reach their goals.

“As a woman in commercial real estate, there are some extra steps that you often find yourself needing to take in order to climb to the same place,” Broder said at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in  D.C.

Much of that involves dispelling how the industry sees women, panelists said. 

“One thing that I see is — and it’s mainly among the male decision-makers — is there's a conversation around what women are good at,” Torrence Law Office principal and owner LaVonne Torrence Berner said.

“I see, ‘Women are great doers,’ but because women are deliberate — we make calculated decisions, we take the time to scope out a situation before we dive in — we're viewed as risk-averse, and so we get put into baskets that are associated with low risk, and oftentimes not necessarily the leadership roles,” she added. 

“That’s a misconception that a lot of us are jumping over to still get what we want.”

Women this year held 27.5% of the C-suite roles at the 100 major commercial real estate companies Bisnow tracks in an annual investigative series. 

And of those women in C-suite positions, 65% hold back-of-house roles like legal and human resources, rather than the higher-level executive positions that control the company’s financial decisions, Bisnow's analysis found. 

One way to change some of the ingrained perceptions that keep women back is for women to take on male mentees as well as female ones, Broder said. 

“By mentoring the next generation of men, we create a more inclusive perspective that creates more opportunity for the next generation of women,” she said.

“And then maybe there will be a day in the future where we don't need to have a women in commercial real estate event, because it's just such a given.”

Following the panel discussion, 45 women were honored in six categories, five representing different CRE sectors and one rising star category. 

The honorees, announced in early November, were selected by a committee made up of three of last year’s winners: BlackChamber Group Chief Financial Officer Samantha Giunta, Berkadia Managing Director Yalda Ghamarian Howell and JLL Vice President of Brokerage Ella Adkins.

The winners of each category were revealed at the event and are listed below.

Excellence In Ownership, Development And Operations Winner: Urban Atlantic President Vicki Davis

Excellence In Law And Accounting Winner: Skanska General Counsel Jennifer Castrillon

Excellence In Construction And Engineering Winner: DPR Construction Manager Jodi Paci

Excellence In Architecture And Interiors Winner: Shalom Baranes Associates Senior Principal Melissa Hendrix

Best In Brokerage Winner: CBRE Vice Chairman Cathy Delcoco

Rising Star Winner: Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners Development Manager Emily Alexander