The Case for Advocacy Groups, Mentoring Programs

PARK CITY, UT—There are many ways to ensure your organization is building a culture that supports women empowerment. One key method is advocacy programs, according to speakers at a mentorship panel at this year’s GlobeSt. ELITE Women of Influence conference held in Park City, UT.

Among speakers on the panel was Karen Tepera, managing director of client services at Greystar. Eleven years ago, Tepera saw that there were still few non-Greystar female executives in her client meetings and she wanted female leaders to have more than a seat at the table. She actually wanted to build a new table altogether. Backed by Greystar’s entrepreneurial spirit, she did just that.

The vision was to create a leading global organization for female executives, with the goal of connecting top multifamily leaders to share experiences and best practices, discuss industry trends, and nurture the leaders of tomorrow. The goal, she said, was to be more intentional. “Women needed to meet each other and share their skills and experiences.”

When she founded WAM (Women Asset Managers) in 2009, it was created through a grassroots effort. “I observed in meetings that there were very few women executives in a group of many men. At the same time, I noticed that it was common practice on Friday afternoons for the men to play golf while the women stayed behind.” She asked herself, ‘What can we do to create some Friday afternoon fun for women that don’t play golf?’”

The first year, a monthly Friday lunch was launched and was comically called “Pretend Golf Day.” The idea was to meet for lunch followed by a movie, she explained. “The reality is that the women had lunch and skipped the movie in order to get back to their work demands. A year later, WAM was born and a decade later, “it has surpassed all expectations.”

Her story is just one example of what can happen when “we make our company try harder,” explained moderator Michelle Needles, SVP of Enterprise Solutions at Colliers International.

Mentors are another important tool, but it is important to select the right one, according to Carmen Decker, president of the western region at Kimco Realty, who said that one of the more important things when looking for a mentor is to find someone you can relate to. Advocating for yourself is also key, she said. It is really about building a bench for your organization today and years into the future, she explained. “[Mentoring] provides your existing leaders for an opportunity to grow their experience base to include development of team members, which again helps to further prepare your organization for whatever the future brings.”

Retention and recruitment are equally important benefits of building a mentoring program, she continued. Mentorship builds strong talent, but it can also help to nurture a professional’s experience at a company and encourage continued growth. Combining these two tools—advocacy groups and mentorship programs—will build a solid foundation for any company seeking to build out diversity and inclusion.