CHICAGO-Angela Roseboro has been at her job as chief diversity officer for Jones Lang LaSalle for about a year and a half, coming from a similar job at General Electric subsidiaries. Having come from the corporate side, she tells GlobeSt.com that she still sometimes can’t get over how the commercial real estate industry is still mostly dominated by people of a certain color, and a certain sex.

It’s not like it’s a secret – go to any industry conference and you’re bound to see most people attending look like each other. Roseboro, who launched JLL’s first internal Women’s Forum last month, says she’s working to add more women and people of color into the industry, and that there’s plenty of good business reasons to do so.

GlobeSt.com: Why do you think minorities still haven’t assimilated more into commercial real estate?

Roseboro: I think part of it is that real estate is not one of those popular things that people major in during college, it’s not a typical thing that women or people of color look to when they look at a possible career. Getting into real estate is typically through word of mouth, so it’s folks who look like each other, or through family connections.

GlobeSt.com: How are you working to change this attitude?

Roseboro: You’re starting to see more women come into commercial real estate, but because it’s male-dominated, they have to learn how to navigate through that environment. That’s why we are not only recruiting in different areas, we’re also seeking professionals in different careers who are highly skilled and competent who can be the trailblazers for women in the CRE industry, we need people who are focused on getting through that environment.

GlobeSt.com: Why is it important to diversify the industry?

Roseboro: One way we know this is needed in the industry is what our customers think of us. Our clients in the corporate world, typically they’ve had diversity inclusion starting 20 years ago, so now you’re seeing this maturation of women getting to the level of decision-maker. If you bring five white guys from the commercial real estate world into a pitch, and that room is diverse, they’ll notice that you’re not, and there’s a dynamic that goes along with that. A company wants to mirror their clients, you don’t want them commenting on your lack of diversity. Our CEO has noticed this, and has said we’re either going to lead or fall behind.

GlobeSt.com: How has the move to diversify been working at JLL?

Roseboro: We’re in our fourth year of having a chief diversity officer. What I’ve done in the position is look at how we can make changes in focus. I have the ear of the CEO and look strategically at new workplace trends, business trends and customer trends, and gather a different perspective at how people view us. I look at areas where some might not, such as, ‘Here’s what’s happening in Harlem, there’s a lot of development here,’ or “There’s more women owning businesses now, here’s how we can penetrate that space.’ As I said, you’re starting to see more women at the top, and we want to make sure we’re connecting in a way to allow us to win business.

GlobeSt.com: Is it a hard sell to try to get minorities into the business?

Roseboro: When we say Jones Lang LaSalle or CBRE, people in our industry know who that is, but people outside our industry don’t know what those are, so it’s our job to reach out to those areas who don’t know commercial real estate. We go to clubs and college campuses with recruiting plans, and let potential employees know that we have an environment that is supportive. We have 12 different business lines, and we can find a fit for anyone. We also hold internal training and support, such as our recent Women’s Summit.

GlobeSt.com: Tell us about what the Summit was, and how it worked out.

Roseboro: For the summit, held Sept. 27-28, we brought in 50 women from across the firm to focus on our relationships. This is a relationship business, and we brought them together to get to know one another. You’d think that with very few women in the industry, women in our company would know each other, but they didn’t, but now they are networked and even are working on two projects on how to recruit more women and how to create more professional workshops. One of the ideas they came up with is how to brand the women at JLL both internal and externally, to give our women of real estate a face, at how they are highly competent and doing great things. They said they’d help run the campaign. We plan on staying connected post-event, and keep the development flow going. We’re not going to change the culture within the next year, but we gave them the tools for change.

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