We at Hartman Simons are thrilled that
firm partner Lori Kilberg was recently elected as president-elect of the Commercial
Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, the industry’s leading advocate for the
advancement of women in commercial real estate. Lori will become president of
the organization in January 2015 and will serve a one-year term. In January
2014, she will begin her third year on CREW Network’s Board of Directors and
will serve next year as president-elect.
In this Four on Friday, we chat with Lori
about her goals for the organization, the state of women in commercial real
estate and how she got involved with the CREW Network. Many thanks to Lori for
her time!
Have you had a chance yet to think about
what your goals may be as CREW president?
Kilberg: My first goal is to continue to positively impact the commercial real estate
industry by continuing the momentum we have achieved over the last few years by
increasing our membership — we are on our way to 9,000 members with 74 chapters
in the United States and Canada — and opening up leadership opportunities to
our members through targeted leadership training.
How long have you been involved with CREW,
and how did you become active with the organization?
Kilberg: I moved back to Atlanta in the summer of 2001, after living in
Pennsylvania for eight years and working remotely for our predecessor firm,
Altman, Kritzer & Levick. My husband, who was with Trammell Crow at the
time, introduced me to Char Fortune, who was working with him and was a past president
of CREW Atlanta. (Char is currently with Avison Young).
Char sponsored my
CREW membership, for which I will be eternally grateful. I owe my involvement
to my husband, Jim, who knew that joining CREW would be a great way to make
valuable contacts and friends in the commercial real estate industry in
Atlanta. He has always been my greatest supporter, but may now regret the
extent to which I took his advice! Be careful what you wish for, Jimmy!
This is a broad question, but what's your
assessment of the progress women have made in commercial real estate?
Kilberg: Without a doubt, women have made great strides in the industry, and
many have advanced to positions of influence. However there is still a great
discrepancy between the number of men and women in the C-Suite. Our industry research
indicates that this is due in part to lack of sponsorship — having those people
who will actively advocate for the advancement of women in their companies.
CREW Network is
working tirelessly to advance women through its industry research, sponsored by
CBRE, and its innovative “Bridging the C-Suite Gap” mentoring program, which is
sponsored by Cassidy Turley. Finally, our leadership development programs are
crucial to giving women the skills they need to advance in the industry.
If any of our readers are interested in
becoming involved with CREW, what's a good way for them to do that?
Kilberg: Call me! I mean that. I can be reached in my office at (770) 216-1345. Also,
please visit the CREW Atlanta website at www.crewatlanta.org.