The Last Word: Annemarie De La Vega on Gender Equity in CRE

“A lot of growth comes from being a caterpillar before the butterfly emerges.”

Annmarie De La Vega
Executive Vice President
De La Vega Development
.…on what needs to be done to achieve gender equity in CRE, via BisNow.

Here's "who said what" in Dallas Innovates Every Day.De La Vega was one of the voices at BisNow’s annual Women Leading Real Estate event last week at The Westin Dallas Downtown

With a goal of promoting diversity and spotlighting female leaders in commercial real estate, the event featured a panel discussion led by CLA principal Dee Estep on leadership strategies and how to inspire more women to join the industry.

“The more diverse our business [becomes], we learn more, we have a different voice,” Billingsley Co. SVP Marijke Lantz Flowers said at the event, according to BisNow. “We’re making progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

One hot topic was the impact that inflation, interest rate hikes, and a potentially looming recession have been having on CRE, with some projects losing momentum due to economic uncertainty.

“There will be seasons of life where you thrive and other seasons of life where you feel like you just can’t keep all the balls in the air,” De La Vega noted, according to BisNow. 

But that’s just one more reason to encourage other women to get into the business and make their mark—moving both their careers and the industry forward, the attendees agreed.

“In order to serve others, you have to do interpersonal work, you have to dig deep,” De La Vega added. “It’s an amazing responsibility to use the God-given gifts to encourage and inspire others to rise and make a difference.” 

You can read more about last week’s event here.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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