Jeannie Nguyen is a vice president and relationship manager with National Bank of Arizona’s real estate banking group in Tucson, Ariz. She specializes in investor and developer commercial real estate relationships exceeding $5M. Jeannie is the 2014 president of Tucson CREW. She is also involved with National Bank’s Women’s Financial Group and Angel Charity for Children, Inc.
One of AZCREW’S main objectives is to champion success of women in commercial real estate through leadership, relationships, education and excellence. What kind of movement toward leadership roles are you seeing among the Tucson chapter’s members? How does this compare to the industry five, 10 or even 20 years ago?
Tucson CREW is dedicated to the advancement of women in commercial real estate and we are certainly seeing evidence of such. We have members in senior positions such as senior/managing partner, principal, senior vice president and CEO. Growth is happening. Twenty years ago, one would have walked into a board room and probably witnessed 25 percent, or less, representation by women. That gap is closing but does still exist at some levels of senor leadership.
Tucson CREW, in unison with CREW Network chapters nationwide, have put forth focus to assist women in empowering themselves to attain greater levels of leadership and personal and professional confidence. At the chapter level, we provide opportunities to assist individuals with this through multi-faceted opportunities including involvement in chapter leadership roles, structured luncheons offering programs designed to increase marketplace and subject matter knowledge, ability to build networks and foster relationships. Participation in CREW, and CREW-related activities affords an additional level of individual and company visibility as well.
How does Tucson crew make an effort to affect gender inequality among leadership in the CRE industry? Are there any other obstacles or challenges Tucson crew is working to overcome?
At the national level, CREW Network performed a benchmark study which addressed gender inequality among leadership in CRE. Based on the research, between 2005 and 2010, women at the SVP/VP/managing director/partner level increased from 20 percent to 24 percent. In 2010, male counterparts were noted at 27 percent, versus 25 percent in 2005. However, the greatest inequality remains at the C-suite level (president, CEO, CFO, COO). Of women surveyed in the 2010 benchmark study, only 9 percent of women respondents held C-suite positions compared to 22 percent of their male counterparts.
In answering one question of how to increase women leadership at the highest level, CREW Network has deployed a mentoring program known as “Bridging the C-Suite Gap.” This executive mentoring program allows mentees to work with mentors to create executive development and action plans to achieve development and career goals. The ultimate goal will be to see more women attain the top tier of leadership. In Tucson CREW, we have one member as a current participant in the national-level program and a second member who is a recent graduate.
Locally, Tucson CREW is working to make an impact not only with its members but also the next generation of young professionals. While our chapter has had a long history of reaching out to both high school and college students, through an annual event intended to introduce them to areas of commercial real estate, we recently elevated this approach to the next level. Through our partnership with University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management and College of Architecture, Tucson CREW members have dedicated additional time and energy to become increasingly involved with students through panel participation and networking events.
This year, Tucson CREW began its first formal mentoring program. Seven Tucson CREW mentors are mentoring six students for a one-year period. Through these different touch-points, it is our chapter’s goal to not only cultivate professional and leadership development but also to expose students to the many career possibilities within commercial real estate.
What is the most important thing people need to understand about Tucson crew?
We are a vast resource of knowledge and talent. Further, our chapter is one small part of a larger 9,000-member base that encourages networking, deal making and cultivating of ideas and resources.
