Inaugural Rise Initiative by Bisnow celebrates pioneers in advancing diversity, equity & inclusion in the commercial real estate industry

Honorees included CBRE, Bozzuto, Basis Investment Group, and more for building programs focused on action and measurable results

NEW YORK, May 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bisnow, commercial real estate's (CRE) largest news, events, and marketing services platform, held its inaugural Rise Initiative gala on April 28 in New York City. The Rise Initiative aims to spotlight the companies and individuals proactively taking action to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion within their ranks. The initiative honored nine companies Thursday evening, elevating their work to inspire and showcase best practices to the industry at large.

This year's honorees were:

• Savills' Junior Broker Development Program
• CBRE's Workforce Representation Program
• Related's DEI Task Force
• Basis Investment Group: The Basis Impact Foundation
• Artemis Real Estate Partners: The Artemis Summer Enrichment Program
• L+M Development Partners: Rise Up Program
• Gilbane's Economic Inclusion Task Force
• The HOK Diversity Advisory Council
• Bozzuto: Belonging At Bozzuto

Read more about the honorees & their programs here.

Executives from Ivanhoé Cambridge, Amazon, Artemis Real Estate Partners, Nuveen, The World Bank Pension Fund and other major players took the stage at Rise to speak on important discussions around strategies to attract, retain and advance diverse talent within CRE firms.

Kimberly Dowdell of honoree company HOK commented, "Bisnow has shown great leadership in launching The Rise Initiative to bring more awareness about diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion within the CRE industry. HOK established our Diversity Advisory Council in 2013 to help create a culture where people with all sorts of backgrounds, perspectives, skills and experience can thrive. We're grateful for being acknowledged as a changemaker for our efforts so far, but realize there is still much to be done. We look forward to working with and being inspired by our peers across the industry as we continue on this important journey together."

More than 300 industry leaders attended the gala with a palpable buzz and spirit of optimism amongst the crowd. Bisnow Vice President Natascha Bhuiyan created the program in 2021 with the mission to continue the conversation spurred by Bisnow's Race & Accountability series, an investigative news report that began in 2020.

Bhuiyan shared, "Our industry has a lot of work to do on the diversity front and given all the things that we can do, the truth is that we often end up doing nothing. As our speakers on stage said, 'hope is not a strategy' and 'diversifying is not finite.' Small actions matter. If we focus on the things we can control, like internal company initiatives, we individually make forward progress that adds up across the industry. I hope that The Rise Initiative becomes a place where we share the actions that we take–small and big–to change the face of CRE and inspire others to follow."

BentallGreenOak joined the initiative as a founding partner, working with Bisnow throughout the nomination process and planning of the event. Sonny Kalsi, co-CEO of BentallGreenOak said, "At the heart of The Rise Initiative is an industry-wide recognition that our efforts to drive progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion are better served through knowledge sharing and collaboration. We know we aren't alone in this mission and through our commitment to learning from and working alongside our peers across the commercial real estate sector, we firmly believe that change will come."

The inaugural gala was sponsored by Nuveen, Keller Augusta, Savills, BentallGreenOak, Cohn Reznick, Blace, Invesco & Avalon Bay.

Bisnow plans to continue and expand the initiative, with additional events and new geographies to be announced later this year. Bisnow CEO Will Friend expanded, "The Rise Initiative is a major step forward for Bisnow and CRE as a whole. As so many of our partners have told us recently, the time for action is now — the time for solutions is now. We are proud to promote these honorees and their paths of achieving DEI success. Bisnow is committed to change and we will do everything we can in the years ahead to continue building Rise."

About Bisnow
Bisnow is the world's leading B2B platform serving the commercial real estate professionals in more than 50 local markets. From events and news to branded content and recruiting solutions, Bisnow powers the industry to do more business. Learn more at www.bisnow.com.

To find out more about Bisnow & The Rise Initiative, email [email protected].

SOURCE Bisnow