SAN DIEGO—Bringing in legacy members to help mentor and support newer and younger members is a goal of CREW San Diego, incoming president Bree Wong, with SWS Engineering, tells GlobeSt.com. The San Diego chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women, which is dedicated to promoting, educating and supporting professionals in the field of commercial real estate, recently named its 2018 board of directors.

Under the board's leadership, CREW San Diego hosts informative programming focused on economic growth and market trends and frequently includes speakers from some of San Diego's largest and active companies sharing their plans for growth. CREW also hosts quarterly events dedicated to networking and business development. Additionally, CREW San Diego offers exclusive educational and professional development programs, including mentorship opportunities and candid conversations with successful commercial real estate professionals, as well as business to business deal-making.

The 2018 board will also have the special task of hosting the Global CREW Network Convention and Marketplace in October 2018, attracting thousands of commercial real estate professionals throughout the nation and beyond to the city and offering countless business, educational and networking opportunities.

We spoke with Wong about her goals with the organization in 2018 and the issues that are most prevalent for women in commercial real estate today.

GlobeSt.com: What are you goals in your new role with CREW San Diego?

Wong: We just last month held our transition meeting with the current board of directors and the incoming board. It was a half-day session when we went over where we are and where we want to be, getting input from people who are currently in these roles to help guide the people coming into those positions.

One of the things we will be doing is a formal strategic plan for the chapter. There are so many things people want to encompass. The overarching theme, however, was diversity—in all facets of gender, race and age. At CREW, our mission is to promote diversity in CRE, design and construction and support the success of women as equals in these fields. We have recently become aware that our membership is lacking the breadth of diversity that we wish to see. Though CREW represents commercial real estate “women,” it is not an exclusive women's organization, nor do we wish to come across as excluding participation from men in the industry. In the long run, our hope is to not need to mention “women” in our name, but to be recognized as a premiere CRE professional organization which supports and benefits our membership no matter their color, gender or birthdate.

One way we will begin nurturing the diversification of our membership is by conducting more local, philanthropic activities, reaching out to local middle and high schools and getting engaged with the students there; planting the seed early on that architecture, engineering, construction, etc., are lucrative, viable careers attainable by anyone who wants to reach for them. To accomplish this, we are currently researching other local organizations, charities and schools to discuss partnerships and programming options.

Additionally, despite hosting our own panels and education presentations, we are aware that many of our programs have not included speakers representing the diversity of talented professionals in our industry that we know exists. To mitigate that, we plan to approach the development of our programming and panels more collaboratively, ensuring equal consideration of all qualified professionals rather than the candidate who may be most well-known or top of mind.

There's a lot of mention of equality, making sure that the gender gap is being bridged, making it smaller and building awareness. There are far more men in C-suites and executive positions than women, and why is that? How can we make a shift and a change? Equal pay is part of that. I am advocating for actively doing a mentorship program, bringing in the more seasoned ladies who might not be as involved with CREW to help the newer ones. Also, CREW is now a global organization, and the annual network convention will be in San Diego in October 2018. High-level real estate professionals from around the globe will be here. There are lots of exciting things to show them, including startups and tours, and we're working with the network board to get those planned out and give visitors a good snapshot of where San Diego is on that map.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the issues the organization will be tackling in 2018?

Wong: Under my leadership, we will be tackling the issues facing CREW SD and many local CRE businesses such as strategic succession planning and helping promote women to more leadership roles. I believe identifying future leadership is pivotal for the success of any organization. The overarching success of these firms and their future leaders is contingent upon their professional preparedness and confidence to tackle future challenges. There are many recent studies on the key elements of a successful leader, and many point to emotional intelligence as an underrecognized quality. I think strong leaders have a clear north, and are able to relay that mission to the people around them in terms where people want to help achieve those same goals.

Also, as we're all aware, there has been a lot of recent press on sexual harassment. Some of my male friends and clients have asked me whether our industry is subject to it as well. Bottom line: it is. Without imparting too much of my personal thoughts or experience into this topic, I believe that the potential for these situations will drastically decrease as the industry's leadership further levels out. As more women enter the C-suite and secure executive leadership roles, I believe it will generate a subconscious shift in perception—that women are equal, qualified for complex roles and peers. Additionally, arming young women in our industry with a strong support network of successful women executives and encouraging confidence to pursue promotions and speak our minds will make feelings of inferiority obsolete, promoting the confidence to halt inappropriate behavior if and when it starts. Knowledge is power, and empowerment is important. I'm putting a strong emphasis on our mentorship program this coming year to help build a stronger support system and promote open dialogue between new and seasoned professionals working towards the common goal of equality.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the biggest areas of concern for women in CRE today?

Wong: I think it's going to be doing the local outreach to channel more women into this particular line of work, giving more recognition to and educating young girls and college students. I feel it's important to get in front of them prior to selecting a degree and career path.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about women in CRE?

Wong: I'm really thrilled with our members. We've recently acquired new, high-level members from major local players, such as Illumina and Qualcomm, and are conducting personal outreach to expand the breadth of our membership to engage key female leaders to benefit from and contribute to our organization. The key decisionmakers are young and intelligent, and they're excited to get involved. CREW members do a ton of B2B deals; there are at least two dozen deals each month where CREW members are referring business to each other. We want to promote an open and mutually beneficial network for all of our members, men and women alike. We want to give back, to be a resource when members are facing an issue in their company or even personally. We have a very supportive network of women; I'm beyond grateful for the group of clients, friends and colleagues I've found through my involvement with CREW and want to share that resource with everyone in our industry. CREW San Diego is growing into a positive, nurturing force in our local industry, and I believe we have the key leadership in place to continue our successes.

Instant Insights /

Collaboration Will Be Key for CREW-SD in 2018

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