Dear Future Women Leaders... by Kaela Fenn-Smith, MD ESG Consultancy at CBRE

To mark International Women's Day, Estates Gazette has run a series of letters from women leaders in Real Estate, to younger women considering a career in this industry. 

Kaela Fenn-Smith, Managing Director, Sustainability & ESG Consultancy | UK & Ireland, was invited to submit a letter.

Read Kaela's words below... 

 

Kaela Fenn-Smith

 

Real estate: is it all hard hats and hi-vis? Or perhaps long days thrashing it out in a boardroom? After 30 years in the industry, I’ve known it to be both but it can be whatever you want it to be, because the built environment supports every aspect of our lives. It’s also an industry where you can make an impact commercially and through a purpose-led career. 

Opportunities have broadened since I started my career at CBRE in Canada in 1993. Now, via several moves – from changing the landscape of London through development to engaging with property leaders across our industry for gender balance – I find myself leading CBRE’s UK and Ireland ESG consultancy team and sustainability services. 

My role is to understand and advise on what good looks like, and how our clients get there. The landscape has changed dramatically; with ESG now being the driving force behind all decision-making across the sector. I have loved building and growing CBRE’s UK&I ESG consultancy team, which is now 95-strong and delivers strategy and implementation across portfolios and the life cycle of the asset for investors and corporates. 

For someone starting out now, the CBRE apprenticeship scheme offers pathways in not just real estate but also marketing and communications, HR, finance, project management, building surveying, quantity surveying and my passion – environmental, social and economic impact. 

During my 30 years in the industry, its offering to women has progressed leaps and bounds. CBRE is focused on increasing female representation to the most senior levels and I am proud to work for an employer that is removing the barriers that often disproportionately affect women at work by introducing a range of enhanced benefits across the spectrum of supporting women, families and carers and, importantly, a culture that values and supports women. 

When I go home at night to my two teenage daughters and husband, we’re all proud of what my career has allowed me to personally influence.

Wishing you all the best, Kaela

 

Find out more about working at CBRE

Explore current career opportunities at CBRE