Chloe is just getting started on her life…and she’s taking thesteps to build it one brick at a time. On Saturday, September20, she attended the second annual CREW Careersâ„¢ Day at TheUniversity of Texas at San Antonio College of Business, along withabout 25 of her BFFs, where she not only learned about the manyopportunities in commercial real estate, but made her decision oncollege.
“Momma,” she said when she got home. “I’m going to UTSA forcollege.” Her mother was thrilled. She is about to finish up her owndegree and embark on her law degree next year. “I have stressedto my children they willgo to college – it is notan option. It was such ajoy to see the passion shehas for it after CREWCareers,” said Chloe’smom.
The event, sponsoredby Commercial Real EstateWomen (CREW)and Girls Inc., broughtto life the commercialreal estate industry in aninteractive day of learningfor teenage girls.Hands on activities gotthe them involved in designingthe interiors oftheir own candy stores and petstores, discovering the ways retail centers are put together and tenantedand experiencing the real cost of credit. Keynote speaker andteen etiquette expert, Margaret Houston of The Protocol School ofTexas, covered first impressions, eye contact and body language.
Commercial real estate remains one of those professional fieldsdominated by white males. Not only are there fewer women inleadership positions, they make less money. The CREW Careersmentoring program was developed for many reasons:
- To help achieve parity – to bring more young women into the commercial real estate industry, helping achieve the CREW Network goal of achieving parity between men and women.
- To achieve diversity – to lay the necessary groundwork for increased gender and ethnic diversity within the commercial real estate industry.
- To give back – to help girls, particularly underserved girls and girls of various ethnic backgrounds, realize and understand the exciting and rewarding career opportunities available in commercial real estate.
- To assist CREW Network in advancing the success of women in commercial real estate – by helping to create a world where women and girls of diverse backgrounds have unlimited opportunities for economic self–sufficiency and professional success.
- To make a difference – by helping young women see new opportunities for self improvement, motivating them to reach for new horizons, and providing them with another path to economic self sufficiency.
CREW Careers tookplace in 28 cities in NorthAmerica. Through theprogram, more than 850girls learned about thefacets of commercial realestate: design, architecture,brokerage, leasing,development, law, appraisaland many otherfields.
“The tour of the construction site was invaluable and an experiencethat most of the girls have never had. The CREW workshopfacilitators all did a wonderful job of bringing to life the world ofinterior design, finance, retail leasing, and development,” said AnnetteRodriguez, president, Girls Inc. of San Antonio. “The ripplescreated on Saturday will go further than we will ever know.”
But it was not just the girls that got all the benefit. CREW volunteersand supporters also had the opportunity to get somethingout of the activities. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity tobe part of such and extraordinary event,” said Claudia Ayarzagoitia,marketing manager for HPI Retail Properties. “I can’t thank CREWenough for inviting me to participate. I salute GIRLS Inc. for reachingout to these girls and making a difference in the lives.”
Chloe’s mom agrees. “This trip has really made a difference in mydaughter’s life.”
