Hanna Afolabi, founder of Black Women in Real Estate, discusses the organisation’s ongoing Phenomenal Women campaign.
Black Women in Real Estate is currently spotlighting exceptional black female executives who are leading the way in the built environment. What inspired you to launch the Phenomenal Women campaign this year?
One of the things that we consistently talk about is how we can increase retention and the overall number of black women entering the industry. One way to do that is to share the stories and increase the representation of women who are already succeeding in the space. So this year we selected five senior black women: Olaide Oboh, executive director at Socius; Caroline Pillay, director at CAP Regeneration Consultants; Angela Duru, partner – property and asset management at Gerald Eve; Banke Odunaike, who is now chief cultural officer at CBRE; and then Lara Oyedele, the current president of the Chartered Institute of Housing and chief executive of Black on Board. All really high-profile women doing amazing things.
Was it a difficult selection process?
When I first set up BWRE, I did a LinkedIn stalk, and I did a similar thing this time: a deep dive into everyone who’s in my network who would be perfect for this. I have known Coraline for a little while, and she’s just such an amazing woman, so encouraging. When I set up Mood and Space, she was one of the first women I called. I knew Lara through Caroline. Angela was mentioned to me, and I just went on LinkedIn and said, “Angela, I really want you to be part of this.” Banke, I had been on a panel with a couple of years back, but one of our committee members also works at CBRE and suggested Banke. And Olaide I’ve met on the networking trail a few times. So I reached out to them and said I would love for you to be part of this campaign. But once we started reaching out to the network, we actually identified more and more women. So I’m really excited to be able to do this again and share their stories next year, and onwards.
It seems they’ve all been really enthusiastic?
Their response has been so heart-warming, because they are such busy women. They were extremely eager to get involved. For them to give up their time to share their journeys, I know that it’s going to be impactful to the future generation of women coming up behind them. What we wanted to do really is to say to the next generation: look what these ladies have achieved. Stay within the industry, because you can definitely achieve it too. And this industry actually does welcome you, because there are people here who are thriving.
Have you personally learned anything through experiencing this campaign with them?
All of their stories are super inspirational, but the funny thing is that none of them are conventional. Caroline started out as a nurse, which I didn’t know until we interviewed her. And Lara was homeless as a young woman. The reason she came in to housing is because she wanted to be the person giving someone the keys after she first got her home. So the first thing I’ve learnt is their resilience is just absolutely amazing. Their creativity and positive mindset as well. You know, some people can feel knocked back or challenged by their diversity. But these ladies have actually, genuinely used it as a super power. That has been a consistent theme for me throughout, and I’m hoping that other women take inspiration from their journeys.
And people can do so by reading their stories on the BWRE website?
All of the stories are up on the website, and then, in September, we will be releasing the full podcast, so you get to hear little bit more – the full 45 minutes of us having a conversation and really delving into the detail.
Then the culmination of the campaign is a live event in October?
Yes – luckily it falls within Black History Month. We are hosting a panel on the evening of 18 October, at Cushman & Wakefield’s offices, where all of the phenomenal women will be present to talk about their journeys. That gives those within the industry the opportunity to meet them and ask questions of them in a room filled with people who are celebrating these stories and celebrating diversity and their success. It’s all free and it’s open to all. Everyone is welcome. The RSVP for the event is up on our website, and we are encouraging as many diverse people as possible. I’m really excited for the event.
We’ve been talking about phenomenal women, Hanna, but you are no slouch in that department. The website describes how these five women are all “paving the way for other black women to enter and thrive in the industry”, and that’s exactly what you do with BWRE. As you approach the fourth anniversary of founding it, has it surpassed your expectations?
Thank you for saying that. BWRE has gone beyond my wildest imagination – I honestly had no idea this was where we’d end up. When we started, I was just looking for friends, to be honest. It sounds so sad, but I just really wanted to find some other black women in the industry. As it has grown from strength to strength, the passion that I feel dedicating my time and myself to this is really about the women out there who might feel just how I felt four years ago or, the women who are just excited to be in a space where they don’t feel they have to have their guard up. We hope that the rest of the industry continues to get behind our mission and objectives and support the work we’re doing.
Read more and get involved at www.bwre.org
