The publicly listed REIT industry and Nareit firmly believes it is imperative that REITs and the publicly traded real estate industry continue to work toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplaces, businesses, and communities.
The U.S. REIT industry – through the properties it owns and operates – supports the employment of nearly 3 million people, making our DEI action both necessary and impactful.
We are committed to being actively engaged and creating lasting change. To see the gains we expect and demand as an industry, we will continue to:
- Prioritize DEI
- Make connections between DEI policies and business objectives
- Allocate resources and talent to the advancement of DEI
- Continue to engage our workforce, executive management, and stakeholders
We are proud that REITs have taken strategic steps to advance DEI efforts in recent years— an increase in board representation for women and people of color, the development of professional advancement programs, the implementation of DEI reporting, and more.
Last month, Nareit issued the results of the 2021 DEI and Workforce Development survey to our corporate members, and to coincide with this, Nareit also published an overview of DEI in the REIT Industry , including data points from the survey findings that show where there are opportunities for continued improvement in DEI, but more importantly and encouragingly, some significant progress.
Key takeaways include:
- Nearly 7 out of 10 REITs have at least one employee who focuses on DEI practices and policies.
- Total size of employee population correlates to meaningful policies on recruiting, retention, promotion, and pay equity for underrepresented groups.
- Goal setting + reporting = More diverse REIT boards.
- When Nareit’s DDEI Initiative was established in 2017, the focus of the industry was to increase gender representation at REITs, particularly at the board level.
- After three years, the proportion of men to women new on REIT boards is similar – demonstrating progress and the impact of this collective focus by the industry.
- Over the past two years, there have been gains for women of color at the board level. The number of new Persons of Color (POC) directors more than doubled in 2020.
- This improvement may be related to recent findings, which show that most organizations (68%) have a policy or practice related to increasing the number of individuals from underrepresented groups on the Board of Directors, and of those, 63% set goals and 63% report goals outside of the organization.
- Women are increasingly being promoted to or within executive management.
The REIT and publicly traded real estate industry is leading the commercial real estate industry in its DEI efforts, and setting the example for others to follow.
A recent Bisnow article explains the latest research from a team of their reporters about the state of DEI in the CRE industry following their four-part series that debuted at this time last year.
Last year, the report about REITs told a grim story – the headline read “ REITs Remain Overwhelmingly White As Diversity Push Falls Short .” A year later, Bisnow’s latest analysis of the full CRE industry’s DEI efforts finds that “The industrywide increase in diversity was driven overwhelmingly by publicly traded companies.”
In this analysis, REITs were acknowledged for the progress they have made— with specific focus on REITs that are a part of the S&P 500. An excerpt from the article follows:
Public Companies Lead The Way
The industrywide increase in diversity was driven overwhelmingly by publicly traded companies.
That is in part because publicly traded companies, including real estate investment trusts, have been pressured by some of their largest shareholders and other powerful institutions to increase their diversity.
The 26 commercial real estate-focused REITs in the S&P 500 have a total of 272 board members. Of those members, 43 are people of color, almost double the number of board members of color from this time last year, according to Bisnow's analysis. And 83 of those members are women, up from 79 last year.
There are 170 members of the C-suites at these firms, according to Bisnow’s analysis, 14 of whom are people of color, up from 10 when Bisnow reviewed the same companies one year ago. The number of women with “chief” in their titles has also increased, rising from 24 last year to 33 today.
The rest of the report looked at other industries, specific companies, and the make up of their board of directors and executive management team.
Bisnow recently debuted its Rise Initiative, which is “an annual honoree program dedicated to recognizing progress in DEI, but with a defined focus on measuring actual advancement.” Bisnow is calling on companies to submit their DEI programs here by Dec. 22, 2021 for The Rise Initiative.
In 2022, Nareit, the DDEI CEO Council, the Social Responsibility Council, and other leadership groups within the REIT industry will continue to focus on DEI as a strategic priority. We will deliberately and thoughtfully work on building the visibility and appeal of the REIT industry for diverse talent and vendors through strategic partnerships and a focus on education, exposure, and opportunities.
We look forward to continued partnerships with Nareit’s members and other organizations to help make the REIT industry inclusive of all and equitable for all.