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I am in real estate. I chose this career journey to build communities. I am an emerging leader who happens to be a woman. When I look around in the industry, I see there isn’t a large contingency of women in leadership capacities. The gender imbalance  in real estate is an eye opener and a catalyst for my involvement with ULI Toronto’s launch of the #SheWithHe initiative. The initiative is a movement primarily focused on the inclusivity of women and men working together for gender parity. The #SheWithHe Pledge was inspired by a conversation between WLI Toronto leaders and experts in leadership who were influenced in turn by the UN Women’s campaign, #HeforShe.

On the morning of February 4^th, 2016, real estate professionals and leaders gathered at the Cassels Brock law office in downtown Toronto to participate in the launch of the #SheWithHe Pledge. The event was an opportunity to  listen and engage with real estate leaders about gender relations in corporations. Although the focus was on gender, the initiative laid out the steps towards an important proxy for a leadership campaign that’s wider in scope aimed at promoting a demographic makeup in the real estate industry that is reflective of the broader population.

The event sold out in days and was supported by some of Canada’s leading real estate and professional firms, with Kingsett Capital, Cassels Brock, and Matrix Search Group sponsoring the launch. The audience was made up of professionals from a wide range of organizations, including DREAM, Choice REIT, Build Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, Distl, Diamond Corp, and AECOM.

This is why I attended. I am a huge advocate for gender equality in the workforce because I believe women need to be taught why it is critical for them to be “at the table” and I wanted to hear from leaders in real estate on how they are working together for gender parity.

Chandran Fernando, Principal of Matrix Search, opened the conversation. He highlighted that although women comprise over 50 percent of the workforce in Canada, less than 18 percent of women are in senior management positions and less than 5 percent are in C-level positions. There is a significant disparity and  there are several variables that create this imbalance. It’s not about gender talent differences.

“Men and women need to recognize that there is an imbalance of gender parity in real estate,” Fernando told the crowd. “This is not because there is a lack of talented women, but several other factors that impede: unconscious biases that we all possess, corporate policies that are not focused on human relations but an old system of governance and, more specifically, accessibility to opportunities for women and diverse talent. Leaders must consciously create and support opportunities that will structurally guide women to raise their hands, get involved, and lead by example.”

Jane Gavan, the CEO of Dream Global REIT, astutely pointed out that women need to learn not to derail from challenges despite of the unconscious bias that exists within. She stated that women will embrace their internal leadership traits when we teach females to embrace this from childhood. Also, it is imperative that business leaders encourage and embrace the advancement of women and have to be conscious about opportunities to include women at all levels. Businesses need to reflect the community culture platform. Men and women need to embrace the talent within all people. Women need to assert their involvement, which is another primary step to be recognized by leaders. It is not gender that defines assertiveness, but attitude.

Huw Thomas, CEO of Smart REIT, highlighted another perspective that also supports the inclusion of women at the decision making level. He said that women have a large purchasing power in commercial real estate development. Therefore, their opinions are fundamental in the decision-making process. It is not enough “for women to be included, they need to be in the power position to influence the right economic functions and this will encourage other women to follow suite.”

John Morrison, President and CEO of Choice Properties REIT, took the position that it is about a woman’s community structure in her upbringing that will largely shape how she perceives her power position in the world. My upbringing is a reflection of his beliefs. I am a fortunate young female who learned from a young age specifically, to raise my hand, share my knowledge and apply my voice and talent into this industry as me. This is not an easy task but one that I am learning to own. The #SheWithHe campaign is so much more than an event to raise awareness on gender imparity. It is a testament to the changing world of real estate development and one that I am so proud to be a part of.