Real estate BAME leaders celebrated
BAME individuals from CBRE, Legal & General Investment Management, M&G Real Estate, Savills and Cushman & Wakefield have been recognised in two top 100 leaders lists.
EMpower’s ethnic minority role model lists, compiled by inclusion membership group INvolve, have singled out six individuals from real estate in the 200 business leaders it ranks as breaking down barriers at work and working hard to smash the ceiling for ethnic minorities in the UK, Ireland and Europe and people of colour in the United States and Canada.
Justin Carty, senior director at CBRE, is the highest ranked real estate individual in EMpower’s Top 100 Ethnic Minority leaders, in 21st position.
Carty is a funding specialist at CBRE and has advised on more than £10bn of transactions. He also founded CBRE’s multi-cultural network, is head of its race taskforce and a member of the CBRE UK diversity steering group. He is also vice chair of DiverseCity Surveyors, which focuses on promoting BAME issues across the property industry.
Fund managers LGIM and M&G also feature in the top 100 leaders list.
Justin Onuekwusi, fund manager and head of retail multi-asset funds at LGIM, is ranked 64th, while Sanjeev Sharma, chief property portfolio officer at M&G Real Estate is 69th.
Onuekwusi co-chairs the Legal & General inclusion team, which oversees eight LGIM employee networks, is a member of L&G Group’s D&I committee, and chairs the company’s investment diversity working group. He is also a founding member of #talkaboutblack, a movement facilitating breaking down the taboo of talking about ethnicity in society.
Sharma sits on the management committee of Real Estate Balance and is a member of the National Mentoring Consortium, which aims to promote equality and diversity in graduate recruitment and to enhance the employability of BAME students and students with a disability.
Future talent was recognised by EMpower at Savills, Cushman & Wakfield and CBRE.
Savills associate director Kuldeep Mehmi was ranked 55th in the Future Leaders list. He has been championing diversity in the workplace for more than eight years and is passionate about raising awareness of the barriers to entry for ethnic minority groups and driving change. At Savills, he is a committee member and lead PR representative for Savills’ ethnicity group.
Sadaqat Hussain (pictured), apprentice surveyor at Cushman & Wakefield, is listed 63rd in the list for the work he has done at the agent to increase awareness of different cultures by hosting a variety of events across C&W offices, including celebrating Diwali, Ramadan, Easter and Chinese New Year.
CBRE’s Judy Zhu took 79th spot in the top 100. Zhu, head of analytics in the agent’s valuation and advisory division, was selected for her commitment to promoting workplace inclusion and during her tenure as co-chair of CBRE’s Reach network has driven up membership significantly.
Suki Sandhu, founder and chief executive of INvolve, said: “Our EMpower Future Leaders List showcases the amazing ethnic minority talent working at all levels of business. These inspirational individuals are encouraging those inside and outside of their organisations to stand up and work together to increase opportunities for people of colour.”
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