How do we accelerate the success of women in commercial real estate? Wendy Mann, CEO of CREW Network, joins Monica Luera, Trademark’s VP of Development, on Leaning In to discuss advancing gender equity in the industry.
This episode explores CREW Network’s groundbreaking research, leadership development initiatives, and global expansion strategy. Wendy and Monica highlight success stories and practical steps for creating a more inclusive industry.
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Transcript
Monica Luera: Hi, I’m Monica Luera, Vice President of Development at Trademark. Welcome to another episode of Leaning In. Today we’re thrilled to welcome Wendy Mann to the podcast. Wendy is the CEO of CREW Network, a 14,000 plus member global organization dedicated to transforming the commercial real estate industry by advancing women. Wendy is also the president of CREW Network Foundation, leading the only foundation focused solely on creating a diverse talent pipeline for commercial real estate.
With nearly 30 years of leadership experience, Wendy has held roles at prestigious organizations like NAIOP and the US Chamber of Commerce, while also teaching and authoring in the field of association management. Beyond her professional achievements, Wendy is a storyteller at heart, hosting a public radio show that explores the art and impact of storytelling.
Wendy, thank you for being here. Can you share your journey and what led you to become the CEO of CREW Network?
Wendy Mann: So, my career has been predominantly over the years, 40 years in fact, of service in membership organizations. And I was living and working in the DC market and was working for another commercial real estate association when I got a tap on the shoulder and someone said, hey, would you be interested in this role? And I really was not planning to make a move, but it just looked like an opportunity I should take advantage of.
In fact, when they asked me to interview, the search firm contacted me and said, would you be willing to interview, I actually at first said no because the organization is located in Kansas, and I didn’t want to move. And they said, just put that aside. But once I went through the interview process, I knew it had a lot of potential and just something felt right about it for me, where I was in my career, and my passion for mentoring and growing women, which I had done my whole career in all of the jobs I’ve had.
Monica Luera: So, Wendy, what are some of the biggest challenges facing women in commercial real estate today? And how is CREW Network addressing these issues?
Wendy Mann: So, number one is parity, pay parity. Number two is advancement and elevated roles and growing women leaders in the industry. And then the third is attracting and building talent and the diverse talent pool for the future. And so first, we address a lot of this in our research, and we do a benchmark study every five years to benchmark the status of women in commercial real estate.
Over the last 10 to 15-year period since we’ve been doing it, what we’ve noticed is that the C-suite level of women in C-suite and commercial real estate has remained about 9%. It’s not expanding. So what we’re doing on that is we’re offering new and different leadership programs to develop women leader skills. So our philosophy is we want women to have the skills, the leadership skills, and demonstrated leadership skills and be poised and ready to take on positions or compete for those positions when they come available. So, our leadership certificate program, our ongoing leadership development at our leadership summits that we have, those are all ways that we can build.
In addition to that, we do a fair amount of industry content to make sure women have the latest and greatest in what’s happening in the industry. And we do that through webinars and industry briefs we do. Those are the ways that women are contributing and building content and sharing their expertise as well. So that’s the growth and opportunity side.
The parody side, we started the CEO DEI commitment, and we have well over 100 companies signed on, but there’s so many more that should be signed on and committed to making sure. And we’re not policing the organizations, we’re asking you to make a commitment and have the integrity to follow through.
And women, in the last study, the gap between women’s salary and men’s was 10%. The gap between salary plus bonus was even greater. And the saddest part of that was it hadn’t moved since 2015. We had progressed, I think we went to 11% in the 2020 study, but it went back again. And so, I think the point that I would make on that is that until companies make a commitment to do salary administration studies and assess and create comparable pay, it’s going to be difficult for women to reach parity.
So, we ask at CREW Network for companies to position the salary opportunities, equal work for equal pay. And what I say always is a dollar is a dollar no matter your gender. So just make sure every dollar you pay a man, you’re paying a woman too. I think we’re getting there. Progress doesn’t happen in a day and turning a big ship that’s been instilled in a long time in the industry.
And then finally, one of the other pillars of the organization that’s been really important is attracting new and diverse talent, young women to the industry. And what we find is, what the challenge is, some of them come in eager and bright eyed and talented and smart, and they experience the disparities and maybe perhaps the culture of certain companies are not as they had hoped or believed, and therefore they leave. And we want to make sure that we’re bringing young women in and we’re encouraging that through our career programs.
Many of our chapters, if not all of them, do a CREW Careers Program to create awareness about careers for high school students, which we think you have to get even younger. You can share your story because I’d be eager to hear that. And then we do UCREW at the university level, which is a program that our chapters host, and it’s a way for us to transition young women in real estate programs, which includes architecture, construction, all the aspects.
And that’s the beauty of CREW. We represent 36 disciplines. So it’s not just real estate finance. It’s not just real estate development. It’s all the facets that require you to… we always say in CREW, you can do a deal from start to finish with CREW. And that’s because we have all those disciplines represented.
So, I think if we’re building the talent, diverse talent, if we’re creating talented leaders for the future, and we’re bringing parity, those are three things that are game changers for the industry long-term.
Monica Luera: I 100% agree. And just speaking about the research and the briefs, every time I go to a leadership summit or the convention and we put out the new brochure or the new package, I always bring copies. I always put it on our HR or CEO’s desk and say, hey, here’s some new information. And Trademark is one of the companies that Terry Montesi signed the CEO pledge for action. So, we made a commitment to do that.
And we talk about the six initiatives that go into that, including looking at pay equity, making sure we have senior leadership, that we’re investing in advancing women. Because we’re a big supporter of, we sponsored CREW Network’s Leadership Summit that happened to be in Fort Worth this year. And then we’re a big sponsor in the local Fort Worth chapter, which I’m obviously very involved in as a former past president and have the honor of serving as a CREW Network Foundation Champion Director this year.
So, CREW’s really been amazing for me. And so, I love everything that the research brings, the fact that you all are helping benchmark and show pay equity and where there’s also opportunities, and then even the leadership programs that you have. I was fortunate to do the leadership certificate program, and it came at a perfect time when I was mid-career trying to figure out, okay, how do I level myself up, and being able to take those classes about executive presence and negotiations and all of that, just CREW Network has been life-changing for me. And everyone I meet knows that and I tell them that all the time. And it’s so important that we do give back and really try to show the young men and women that are coming up like, hey, there is so much more that you can do. And CREW is a great role model in that for young leaders.
And it’s cool to see, even in our chapter, how many more younger new people are joining the industry because I always tell them, don’t come into this organization thinking that you’re going to just get a deal right away. That’s not what CREW’s about. CREW’s about advancing you as a woman or a professional in the industry. And as you learn to grow in your industry, you’re going to rise up. And that’s when you start getting in positions where you can make decisions and choose the people you’re working with. So, huge advocate of CREW and all of the opportunities that you’ve provided.
Wendy Mann: Well, Monica, I want to acknowledge what you’re saying because I hear that story from lots of women. We have 14,500 members globally. We have 85 chapters now. And I’ve heard that story over and over again of how CREW has changed women’s lives. And it makes me proud because our purpose is to accelerate the success of women in commercial real estate globally.
Now, I don’t want men to feel left out too because I will say there’s two specific ways that we engage with men. One is allyship, and as you mentioned your CEO signed the pledge. That’s allyship. That’s support. And we have so many male CEOs who have signed on. And we have, I don’t know if many people know this but I just want to put it out there, 96% of our membership is women, 4% is men. So there are men who join, and they join because, number one, they’re allies, they support women, and I think also they’re really astute in understanding CREW’s value and how it can transform them whether you’re male or female.
But our purpose is really to accelerate the success of women, but we welcome everyone because we’re an inclusive organization. And I’m so glad to hear your passion and commitment because that’s also part of the journey. There’s no magic beans. You don’t just join CREW and think things are going to happen. You become engaged and bring it into your life fully. So, it sounds like that’s really been your experience, which is terrific.
Monica Luera: Yeah, I always joke that the reason why I got, not the reason why I got so involved, but my company went and presented at one of our local luncheons, and I was, of course, in charge of putting together the presentation, and they said, hey, we got a couple tickets, who’s going to come? And I was like, hey, can I come to the luncheon? And our developer at the time was like, of course, you absolutely should come to this organization luncheon.
And I walk in and I’m like, holy moly, who are all these women? Where have I been? And there were men. And I think at that time there was even maybe some male board members or committee chairs. And just, wow, like where has this been all my life?
Wendy Mann: Yeah. I call that the awakening, when you kind of go, wow, this exists, these are my people. That’s awesome.
Monica Luera: Yeah. And you mentioned that as of now, CREW Network has 14,500 members and over 80 chapters. I know this year there were three or four that got added on. So where do you think the membership will continue to grow or what markets do you see CREW Network expanding into next?
Wendy Mann: So, CREW has made a commitment to global expansion, and that includes North America and Europe. That’s been our focus the last several years. And I think we have to walk before we run, but I will tell you a nice statistic, which I didn’t know, but Jenny on my staff told me this. This past year, we added six chapters, and that’s the most that we’ve added in a single year since 1996.
And the reason I point that out is because the growth that we’ve experienced over the last five years has been phenomenal. And that’s transitional for the organization, too, because we’re seeing the different things that are needed and whatnot. So in North America, we added Mexico City as a chapter. In Europe, we added CREW UK as a chapter. We have an affiliate, two affiliates there, CREW Ireland and CREW France. And they’re affiliates until they incorporate as a chapter, but they’re part of the network as affiliates. And that’s sort of our term for getting to grow, getting to the point to have a significant number of individuals to transition into a corporation of a chapter.
And so, I see our continued growth. I think great possibilities in North America remain. They’ve added three chapters from the US in the last year or two, and there’s still some that are cultivating along. It takes some time. This is the beauty of this too.
I’m sorry, I’m going to switch gears because you were asking about this. Sometimes women approach us. So we just found out there was a group of women forming a real estate group in Costa Rica. And someone from Cushman & Wakefield, who’s a gentleman, ended up going down there on some kind of business trip and heard from some of the women that he was working with about this group they were forming. He goes, you should call CREW Network. So, they reached out to our board president, someone on staff, and maybe two other volunteers and said, hey, how do we get involved with you? And so, now that’s percolating along.
So sometimes it happens where they’re already starting to form as a group, but they want to become aligned with us. And sometimes it’s just a couple of women approach us and say, hey, how can we start this? And that’s how I know Memphis was percolating along that way, Tulsa. So there’s still, and Louisville came on board, I think, two years ago now. So, there’s still smaller markets that we’re reaching into that are as hungry as every other major market to have a place for women to grow together.
And in the European space, we have interest right now in Poland. And there’s conversations happening in Germany, and we have someone in Italy we’ve spoken to. So it just sort of cultivates along until it becomes ready for formation. So, we’re working that. And coming into the future, I think the board is looking at a more intentional strategy for targeting where it’s going to be the best bang for our buck and the commitment we want to make.
But it’s all good. And I think wherever there’s women in real estate, and we’re seeing a real hunger and a real brand awareness in Europe now, which is, that’s what I say, it’s like the cornfields. If you build it, they will come. And that’s from the Field of Dreams, by the way, just saying in case you’re not a movie buff. But I think what we’re finding is we participate in a major industry meeting over there called MIPIM, and we’ve been doing that now since 2019. And I’ve seen how much it has changed our brand in the European markets. And again, people are approaching us and saying, how do we get involved? So, I think it’s just a matter of time before we coalesce and have that critical mass to have a more prominent place in Europe as well.
Monica Luera: Well, and speaking of 2019, when we were talking earlier, we talked about how CREW came under this unified brand and you offered it up to all these chapters to say, hey, we’re redoing, rebranding our logos, our holistic brand guidelines. Here’s an opportunity for all you chapters to do that. And Fort Worth hopped on it, because I was like, we need to be connected. It shows the bigger power that we are as an organization.
So, I think seeing all this growth is a testament to something that you wouldn’t necessarily always think, oh, let’s all just use the same logo. And it’s one big group of organization of chapters and seeing you all expand to Mexico City was super exciting because that’s not too far from Texas.
And our head of VP and experience, Stephanie Ruiz, who’s a CREW member locally, she went and took a couple of our marketing directors for two of our big properties to help expand Trademark’s brand awareness in Mexico City. And I’m like, perfect, now there’s a chapter there, like we can leverage or connect with those people too, and want to go to a leadership summit there too one day.
So, it’s exciting to see all the new chapters and organizations or areas in which CREW is expanding, because you’re right, there’s a lot of groups forming and it’s nice to be under the CREW Network umbrella and leverage the resources that we have.
Wendy Mann: Exactly, and there’s a lot of strength in a singular brand that’s building a powerful organization to impact women and build women. So, it’s great to hear.
Monica Luera: Yeah. In line with growing our membership, how does CREW Network cultivate strategic partnerships within the real estate industry? And what role do these partnerships play in advancing the organization’s missions?
Wendy Mann: So, we have a partnership program, and to us that’s the allyship. Most of them are major companies that have come on board as a partner and sponsor. And I think there’s a couple aspects to this, that their company has made a commitment to women and to gender diversity and maybe perhaps the CEO pledge. But I think it behooves companies to align with an organization like CREW. It gives them an advantage because it shows the potential talent that we are on board with this organization, and we commit and support women in the industry, and it helps them attract more diverse talent.
And young people these days, and you, to me, Monica, still are very young by the way, but young people are questioning, who do I want to work for? And they want to work for companies that share their values, and diversity and inclusion are huge values. And there’s value and bottom line results ROI for companies who invest in a diverse workforce. And we had, there was a statistic, and I want to say it was McKinsey Institute, McKinsey Company did a study, and they said that boards that had one or more women on had 10% better bottom line than companies that didn’t. And to me, that’s the reality. That’s real data that’s saying, women are going to add to your bottom line.
And so, I think that when there’s companies that see that kind of data and understand the value and the ROI, and then they come to CREW and they say, we want to be part of you because we want to support what you’re doing, we want to contribute to help advance your initiatives, and we want to attract talent that’s diverse to our company, and we want to put it out into the universe that we are committed to both attracting and growing diverse talent. And that’s sort of, I think, the most important fundamental things because real estate, let’s be honest, is a really bottom line kind of business. It’s got to pencil out. And so, I think the more we can show that ROI is there financially as well as from a holistic organization standpoint, the more that people are going to commit to wanting to align with us as allies.
Monica Luera: And as I was mentioning earlier, allowing or supporting your employees and memberships and CREW and, again, them learning to be better leaders, you’re growing the next generation. So better leaders, better professionals, it’s going to help your organization no matter what.
Wendy Mann: Absolutely. And that’s why I’ve been on a soapbox this year, in case you didn’t know, but I’ve been putting a lot of messages out there to allies and leaders and saying, look, you know what, you gotta support the development of your women. Pay for them to go to the CREW convention. Pay for them to go to the leadership programs. That is an investment that’s going to pay off to you down the road.
Number one, it’s going to make them see that you actually value them and want to help them grow within your company, and it’s going to keep them. It costs more to hire new talent than it does to retain. So, it’s just been something that has concerned me, let’s say, is that maybe companies aren’t seeing the value and they need to understand that sending women to CREW is going to increase exponentially whatever they’re investing in so many ways and domino effect within the company.
And when the company becomes a raving fan and the individuals have the opportunities, they become raving fans, it changes everything culturally within the organization. Because they’re all saying, I love this company. Not only is it a great place to work, but they’re investing in me. And by that nature, investing in the future of the company to have more talented folks. It’s a win.
Monica Luera: Yeah. Could not agree more. Wendy, could you share a success story from a CREW Network member that illustrates the positive impact of the organization?
Wendy Mann: Actually, I have two. One is short, so I’ll start with that one. But we have a member who’s been a member for probably 25 of the 35 years we’ve been around. And we use her testimony a lot because it matters, and her name is Claire Roberts. She’s from Min CREW, and she said that her first deal that she got done in CREW paid for a lifetime of membership in CREW, that she made so much money that it actually paid off the investment of her membership for her lifetime. And when you hear a story like that, you realize, number one, how financially successful you can be in commercial real estate, number two, how CREW facilitates those opportunities of women working together.
And that basically was our founding principle was we were forming a business network for women to give and get business to and for each other. And that’s what is our strength today. So that is one example I would say for women to know that it may take time to get that first deal, but doing that deal as part of your CREW Network is going to make you financially able to commit to the organization long-term.
Then the other thing I think is one of the things that we’ve always said is that there are no cold calls in CREW, and we promote. We are a multidisciplinary organization, so you can do a deal from start to finish with CREW. And what I love about this is the second story I’ll tell you is that every year we honor, we have an award we call the Member to Member Impact Award. And last year, the award went to a group of women, I want to say it was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that they actually had done a deal from start to finish with all CREW women, and it had a tremendous impact on a part of the community that had been blighted, and they had really transformed that community. So not only did it support the city and their growth and development, but all these women were able to take part in making such a transformational commitment.
So, when I hear stories like that, and then I will tell you that constantly whenever I go to CREW chapter meetings, I hear CREW changed my life. When a woman can say an organization like ours changed their life, the trajectory of their career, their financial ability to take care of themselves, or when they went through a divorce, their CREW people were there for them. So, it goes beyond, the relationships are so deep that it goes beyond just business to all of those personal we have your back kind of situations. And that is fundamentally what sets us apart from so many other organizations.
And before I took this job, I was working for another real estate association, as I said, and there was kind of a comment that someone would make that it was a bunch of women whining about, drinking wine and whining. And I have to tell you, I want to dispel that myth because these are powerful women making business deals that are phenomenal. And so much business happens at our organization that I think that’s the stories we want to be putting out there. And that’s why we have the Member to Member award, so we can celebrate the success of women which hopefully leads to more success for women.
Monica Luera: Absolutely, and we actually had our awards gala locally last night and we give them Deal of the Year which recognizes member to members. And the winner, there was eight CREW members, eight CREW members in our Fort Worth chapter that did a deal together. I’m just like, wow. Connecting for sure.
So, are there any upcoming initiatives or programs from CREW Network that you’re particularly excited about?
Wendy Mann: Yeah. One of the big things that is a huge strategic initiative, we talked a little bit about leadership development, and the organization had, we had leadership summits, we had a leadership certificate program, but when we stepped back and said, long term, what do we need to be providing for women? We want CREW to be part of their leadership journey from the time they’re an emerging leader until they’re a C-suite woman.
And so the board made the decision to invest in, and we’re investing a quarter of a million dollars to develop a cradle to grave leadership program for women. And so it starts with emerging leaders, and there’s going to be a series, and it’ll be in person and digital and all kinds of learning formats and all kinds of learning styles.
But it’ll be when you come into CREW as an emerging leader, there’s this set of programming and content for you. And you get a certificate at each stage that you accomplish. And I don’t know the whole vision yet, I do sort of know the vision, but it’s a multi year program. So over the course of your emerging leader, and we consider emerging leaders up to maybe 30, 35, you have these set courses. So it might take you three years to get through all of the content for that. And then there’s a mid-level manager track. There’s a executive women track. And then there’s a C-suite track. And by looking at across all of those, you go from…
So there’s no reason to ever leave CREW because there’s going to be something for you throughout your entire career. And it’s all about building up your confidence, your competencies, your career path, and all of that, and so that you can be an asset to the company at every stage of your career. And if companies see this as a very positive way to invest in women and grow talent from within, it’s going to be highly successful.
Somewhere down the road, I envision taking it to companies and saying, hey, hire a CREW to come into your company and do a program for you because we have now all this great content and it’s not just standard leadership content but leadership in commercial real estate. So, we’re building in some partnerships with other organizations that have specific certifications or content that we want to complement the leadership skills.
And I’ll give you an example. So for example, like CCIM, they’re at the beginning and end of commercial real estate finance. That’s not our sweet spot, but we might partner with them to do some of that training and development as part of our leadership program. So, you’re getting not just the leadership piece, but some specifics to commercial real estate as well.
Monica Luera: And I think just again, because we do have so many memberships or so many members as well as so many different disciplines, there are so many of us that are involved organizations like CCIM or etc. So, you can not only do a deal with from beginning to the end with CREW members, but you also get exposure to say, hey, you know what, I may not want to ask this question like in my office, but you do this, right? So can we go have coffee, or yes, we drink wine, go have a glass of wine and talk about this, or can I bounce something off of you?
And again, I agree, no cold calls in CREW. And nothing has brought me greater joy in this office than when our senior leadership says, hey, can you go look on your CREW Network directory and see if you can find someone in this area about this? And I’m like, yeah, I’m on it. So, I love the resources and just being able to reach out to people from across the country.
Wendy Mann: You bring up a great point about our digital platform. We implemented that probably about eight years ago when I came on board. It was in process when I got there. But CREWBiz has become a hugely critical resource because if you have a client or if you’re wanting to do something in another market, all you have to do is go on to CREWBiz. Let’s just say you’re looking for titling or you’re looking for a lawyer in New York, you can go, and you’re in Dallas or you’re in Fort Worth, you can go on to the Open Forum community, which is accessible only to members, and say, can anyone recommend a lawyer in New York for me? And within minutes, you have six resources.
And by the way, that makes you look great in your company, and/or if you’re working on behalf of a client, the client’s like, whoa, this woman, she’s got all these resources for me. So, it’s always an advantage to you, however you leverage your CREW membership and those tools and resources. We’re building a world for women, accelerating their success, as I said.
Monica Luera: Wendy, what are some good resources for women in CRE, whether it’s books, websites, podcasts, things that they should be in tune with?
Wendy Mann: Well, first of all, Monica, I think everyone needs to be listening to this podcast, Leaning In, so get it at your local podcast center, wherever you go for that. There are a number of industry follows that you can make. I would go on to especially LinkedIn. There’s some great articles that are posted by commercial real estate folks on LinkedIn as well as Instagram.
I follow a lot of both business and real estate newsletters that get pushed. So, every morning I come in, and I have five to seven resources. And I’m a scanner. My staff is always saying, well, how do you read all that stuff? I said, look, I scan the headlines. If there’s something I need to know for my business, I stop and read it and/or pass it along to someone.
So, my recommendation to you is to look at all the resources for commercial real estate news, whether it’s GlobeSt or RealPage, wherever you go to get your real estate news. So, another one is strictly for women, and it’s all encompassing. It’s not just real estate, it’s called the Broadsheet. And what I love about it is it keeps me in tune with more global and business trends and perspectives on women in industry. I think it’s very informative. So I recommend that. I love that. It was actually Sharon Heron from CREW Dallas who actually turned me on to that, and I just really enjoyed having it.
And listen, you know what, there’s so many leadership books out there. I encourage you to find ones that are able to address in leadership coaching the most important skill sets – active listening, collaboration, and building your professionalism. Those are three things that I think the topic areas are really important. And we’re all a work in progress, I say, which is WIP, work in progress. We’re WIP until we’re RIP. So always be continuing to develop and learn. And even at my, I’m still learning and growing, and I still find out things that I don’t do well. And I still find things that I can work on.
I think the key to success in commercial real estate for any woman or any industry is self-awareness and willingness to grow and change as you need to recognize your full potential. And I would just encourage every person out there listening to this, if this strikes a chord in you, this is what CREW is about. So please join us. Please go to our website, it’s CREWnetwork.org, and find a chapter near you and join us in this and help us help you build your journey and your career.
Monica Luera: The best decision you’ll ever do for yourself is joining CREW Network.
Wendy Mann: Yeah, thanks, Monica. You are a testament to that. You should talk about your journey.
Monica Luera: Yeah, so my journey with CREW began when I transitioned from doing market research here at Trademark to joining our development team, helping with due diligence and serving as a development coordinator. Having my company go and present at a luncheon was very eye-opening. When I walked into that room with all the women there, I immediately joined, started chairing events and joining our programs committee.
And over the last 10 years, I’ve had the opportunity to gain leadership opportunities within CREW, serving on the board, serving as chapter president in 2019, continuing on, and now have had the opportunity to serve as a champion director at CREW Network Foundation. All along the way, participating in a leadership certificate program that you all offered really inspired and helped me learn to navigate my tenure at my company as well as my tenure in the industry.
I’ve been in commercial real estate for 18 years now, and just having the organization of CREW there along the way and really leaning into the mentors that I’ve gained, the friendships that I formed has really just helped me grow. And I tell people I would not be where I am today at Trademark or within my career if it hadn’t been for CREW. Starting as a receptionist, doing market research to now being a VP of development and helping on some of our mixed use retail projects has been life-changing.
Wendy Mann: And see, that’s the story of CREW. Coming in as the receptionist, catch-all person, and now you’re VP of development. That’s incredible. Congratulations. I’m so glad your CREW was with you.
Monica Luera: All the way. So Wendy, on top of being the CEO of CREW Network, you’re also the president of the CREW Network Foundation, which again, I have the honor of being a champion director for the foundation this year and in 2025. Tell us a little bit about the foundation side of CREW Network.
Wendy Mann: Yeah, the foundation is the charitable arm of our organization and was designed to do four things. One is the research to benchmark the status of women in the industry, to career outreach, and we say CREW careers and new CREW come through the foundation. And then our fourth pillar is the scholarships, which is probably the most tangible, proactive thing that we’re doing to contribute to the talent pool.
When I came on board in 2017, we were giving away 15 $5,000 scholarships. Today we’ve raised the stakes so high. We give away 40 scholarships, both to undergrad and graduate students, and the undergrads are $5,000 per semester for one year, and the grads are $10,000. And so we are making a significant investment in young women annually, and it’s a competitive process. When I came on board, I think we were getting maybe 80 or 90 applications. Now we get over 150 to 200 applications. So, we’ve broadened our reach in North America, we offer scholarships in both Canada and the US at this time.
But it has been, again, a way for CREW to support and encourage talent into our industry and support those women. In addition to the scholarship, they get to attend the convention, they get assigned a mentor. So, we are trying to have a holistic approach to making sure that if we’re supporting them financially with a scholarship, that we’re also helping them come into the organization as they are transitioning through their educational career.
Monica Luera: Yeah, I had the honor of being paired up with three young ladies at the Vancouver convention this year, and I just kept telling them, I’m like, y’all are so lucky to have found CREW so early in your career, and just so excited for them to learn about the organization and get to experience it. It was really cool to see them also be just amazed, walking the marketplace with them and seeing all these companies, and it was a really good time.
Wendy Mann: Well, you’re a great mentor, and thank you for your service on the board as a champion director. It’s a great way to, again, model, and you’re such a testament to the success you can have, so that’s great that you’ve been doing that. I know that you love volunteering.
Monica Luera: Yes, I love volunteering. Ask me and I’ll probably say yes. Wendy, thank you so much for joining the Leaning In podcast today. It was such an honor to do this in person. It’s good to see you and good luck in the next year.
Wendy Mann: Thankyou so much. It’s a pleasure and best wishes to Trademark and your role.
Monica Luera: Thanks so much for tuning in to the latest episode of Leaning In. We hope you enjoyed my conversation with Wendy Mann and gained some valuable insights. If you did, please be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite platform. You can catch all future episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Learn more at trademarkproperty.com. Until next time, thanks for leaning in with us.