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“Relationships do matter and they are windows of opportunity.” This statement was just one of many pieces of advice given by Karen Pitre, Special Advisor to Premier Kathleen Wynne on Community Hubs, as she spoke candidly with CBC’s Mary Weins at ULI Toronto’s 2015 Women’s Leadership Initiative Championship Celebration.

The theme of the event, held on June 4 at McCarthy Tetrault’s downtown Toronto office, is best summed up by Pitre’s statement. At this event one could build new relationships or strengthen existing ones — the windows of opportunities were endless.

Attendees were given a rare opportunity to mix and mingle with Toronto’s most powerful women leaders in real estate and land development. Brampton’s Chief Planning and Infrastructure Services Officer Marilyn Ball, Waterfront Toronto’s VP Meg Davis and KingSett CFO Anna Kennedy were only a few of the many heavy hitters in attendance.

The night began with Co-chairs Godyne Sibay, Partner McCarthy Tetrault and Metrolinx’s Chief Planning Officer Leslie Woo who introduced this year’s WLI Champions. This group included Emma West, partner at Planning Alliance and Toni Rossi, West Divisional President, Real Estate and Lending at Infrastructure Ontario. Both women have been appointed as the new Co-Chairs of the WLI team.

As the night went on, attendees were privy to an intimate and unplugged conversation between Karen Pitre and Mary Weins on topics ranging from provincial politics to education to healthcare. They also spoke about Pitre’s non-traditional career path that brought her to the position she’s in today and how it influences her management style. It was this point that really resonated with the audience.

Build Toronto’s Salima Rawji brought the night to a close with an inspiring statement. “Take advantage of this moment, get to know the unsung heroes sitting next to each and everyone one of you tonight. Find out about the interesting, challenging and magical projects that we, the women of real estate and development in the GTAH, are working on, the City-Region we are building, the legacy we are leaving.”

This event proves that women have been in real estate and land development for many years and our presence will only strengthen with the increasing popularity of events like these (this year’s event sold out well in advance with over 150+ ). The WLI Championship Celebration event enables women to both start and strengthen relationships with other women and provide each other with many windows of opportunity.

Karen Pitre’s career path is similar to many of the leaders that attended the event. Thus, it is the support, encouragement and learning opportunities that we can impart on one another that will ensure our continued success in this industry.