In early 2020, ULI Atlanta’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) set out to advance the mission of WLI by recognizing and bringing visibility to women leaders in the real estate and land use field in metro Atlanta – thus, launching the “The Leaders”. The goal of this endeavor is to recognize an esteemed cohort of women who have been selected by their peers as having demonstrated leadership and expertise in real estate development, land use, city building and their community.

WLI put out a call for nominations for women in the industry doing great work in their respective field and the real estate community answered by nominating over 100 colleagues and peers. The women nominated represented the private and public sectors ranging from city planners, developers, architects, engineers to designers. Through a selection process the first cohort of The Leaders was carefully selected.  During this process, one committee member noted, “I feel entirely unworthy of evaluating such impressive candidates – what an amazing group!”

While the industry has made some headway in promoting women, we still have more work to do in creating a more diverse and inclusive industry where all women and minority groups can be heard, seen, and have their expertise valued.

No longer can we use the “I don’t know any women in this industry” axiom as a reason to exclude their voice at the table. ULI is working hard to better align all ULI programs with our values of diversity and inclusion and specifically advance efforts that address racial inequality and gender diversity in our industry.

It is our sincerest hope that The Leaders can be an opportunity to broaden professional networks and make it easier for women to be at the table and in decision making roles now and in years to come.

As WLI continues to promote the advancement and visibility of women leaders in the industry, we are excited to introduce the following 2020 cohort of The Leaders. This group of esteemed champions have demonstrated professional and civic leadership in their cities and local communities.

Please join ULI Atlanta in congratulating and celebrating these amazing women for their contributions to real estate, land use, and city building. Bravo!

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The next opportunity to nominate for the 2021 cohort of The Leaders will open in Spring 2021.  For more information on this initiative, please click here

This article originally appeared in the August 11th edition of the Saporta Report.