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Bisnow
Allen Matkins’ Jennifer Jeffers, Rockaway Construction’s Sheena Fitzpatrick, Related California’s Thu Nguyen, Eden Housing’s Susie Criscimagna and city of San Francisco’s Leigh Lutenski
Despite long-term progress for women in the commercial real estate industry, workplace bias and credibility challenges linger as diversity efforts slip at many of the industry’s leading companies.
Innocent-seeming remarks such as “young lady” can be off-putting and even belittling, Eden Housing Vice President of Real Estate Development Susie Criscimagna said at Bisnow’s San Francisco Women Leading Real Estate event.
Criscimagna was once addressed as such earlier in her career, despite being in her 30s at the time. She laughed off the comment with colleagues but noted that it’s important for organizations to have ongoing discussions and training sessions about harassment and bullying, especially for women in leadership positions.
“You never know when it’s going to be necessary, but knowing that I have that kind of support from my colleagues, my organization and my peers across the industry is really nice,” she said.
Bisnow’s annual analysis of 99 major commercial real estate firms found that women and people of color held fewer C-suite roles than a year ago, the first decline since tracking began in 2020, which advocates and employment attorneys attribute to companies retreating from diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices under the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI.
Other panelists talked about the importance of confidence for women in CRE. Showing up to meetings and speaking with command and clarity are pillars of successfully navigating the workplace, said Leigh Lutenski, director of development for the city of San Francisco.
“I work on a lot of different projects, and people are always talking to me about new things,” Lutenski said. “It’s incumbent on me always to speak with clarity, to make sure people know where they stand and where the city is positioned.”
The field of CRE is also an arena packed with expert negotiators and imposing figures, and instead of trying to mirror the formidable individuals sitting across the table, success means finding a niche and style.
“I can’t superimpose a different personality,” Lutenski said. “I need to be authentically me, and that’s been really my secret to success. I’m not going to be aggressive to fill that archetype, and that works for me.”
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Bisnow
The honorees of Bisnow’s San Francisco CRE Power Women Awards
Real estate can be a business of rejection, and the word “no” is often the default, which can weigh especially heavily on marginalized individuals, said Thu Nguyen, vice president of development for Related California. Turning that statement on its head and using it to build resilience can become a strong advantage for women in the field, Nguyen said.
“If you work really hard and lose but learn from it and keep going, that becomes a real strength in real estate, where on a daily or weekly basis it feels like you’re going to lose a client, a deal or a specific deal point. But it’s not the end of your career. You have to say, ‘All right, next,’ and go out there again.”