Nathaalie Carey, Nareit senior vice president for industry affairs and social responsibility, said REIT CEOs are committed to moving ahead on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, and that the main goal of 2021 will be to take action.
In the second installment of a two-part video, Carey discussed the role of Nareit’s new Dividends Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DDEI) CEO Council. She noted that its 30-plus CEO members are “absolutely committed” to enacting change.
“I’m very happy about that, but we have a long way to go to make sure that we can create initiatives that are going to be supported, scalable, and that we can implement to make the change that we’re looking to make,” she added.
Meanwhile, Carey also highlighted the need to invest in the future of the commercial real estate workforce, including trying to get minorities to become more aware of real estate as a field, and making real estate more appealing to students.
“Trying to figure out how we appeal to students of color, to get them to be interested in this field, is something I think we’re ready to tackle head on,” Carey said.