Resources & Research

The NAIOP Research Foundation commissioned this report to identify best practices for promoting DEI within CRE firms. The study draws from existing studies on DEI, as well as interviews with a representative sample of practitioners at CRE firms that have pursued DEI initiatives. The authors also interviewed faculty and staff at undergraduate and graduate real estate programs to examine how universities are working to diversify their programs and how firms can partner with them to expand the talent pipeline.

Increasingly, integrating racial equity in the development life cycle is becoming a high priority, and the industry is recognizing that an elevated focus on equity can have benefits for financial and social returns. 10 Principles for Embedding Racial Equity in Real Estate Development shares 10 guiding ideas that can help developers, investors, and other practitioners make racial equity a central part of their real estate practice. Each principle distills insights from industry leaders and includes specific best practices that can be applied to different sectors, markets, and geographies.

After reviewing testimonials and conducting extensive research, the 2017 CREW Network Industry Research Committee selected 10 employers in the commercial real estate industry to interview for case studies. These case studies profiled the organizations’ representation of women employees, top executives, and board members. They explore employee programs, networking and interest groups, mentoring and sponsorship programs, and flexible work arrangements.

We aspire for our organizations to be meritocratic. Studies show that bias reduces meritocracy and disproportionally so for people from underrepresented groups. For our teams, companies, and industry to be more diverse and utilize the full talent pool, we need to improve business practices to improve meritocracy.

These actions enable us and our organizations to move from supporters to committed to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Break down the work in small steps and celebrate each success.

This roadmap is a guide for local associations to plan and identify activities that will identify, engage and mentor leaders representing the diversity of the local community and real estate market. The guide is not limited to a step-by-step approach, but instead includes broad action areas and a list of possible activities and available resources in each area. Tools and training for many of these activities are and will be available, however this roadmap is a useful tool for association staff and leaders to reference as associations work to be more inclusive of diversity.

On October 20, EisnerAmper, Mosser, and StepStone Group brought together a diverse panel of executives in the real estate investment space for Part II of our three-part DEI in CRE webinar series, to share personal insights on navigating their career paths, what they’ve learned along the way, and how they are reimagining the future. Our own Lisa Knee, a Partner and Leader of our Real Estate Practice, moderated, and panelists included:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are front and center in discussions for companies of all sizes and industries. But even with the best intentions, many people are still struggling to understand all of the ways that they can make positive contributions to their company's DEI efforts. Making sure that interviews and hiring practices are expanded to include as diverse of a team as possible is critical, but that is only one area of importance. It is equally important to ensure that you are leveraging a diverse group of suppliers and vendors to support your business - an increasingly important demand as consumers of their business are more and more diverse.