Federal Realty, Host Hotels Score Highest for Women on Boards of Directors
Only two DC-area, publicly traded real estate companies have more than one woman sitting on their Board of Directors: Host Hotels and Resorts and Federal Realty Investment Trust, both based in Bethesda.
According to an annual study conducted by 2020 Women on Boards, which is an organization committed to achieving women holding at least 20% of all corporate board seats by 2020, Host Hotels has the most women on a Board of Directors, with three of nine board seats held by women. Two of FRIT's seven seats are held by women.
There are four publicly traded companies on the list of Washington-area companies with no women on their Board of Directors. The remainder have just one woman on their boards, falling into 2020's "token" category.
Gender equality is clearly an issue people in DC commercial real estate care about; the above picture was taken at last month's CREW DC awards, where hundreds attended to celebrate women's achievements locally. But there's still a ways to go. In CREW's 2010 benchmark study on women in the industry, only 9% of women held C-suite (CEO, president, COO, CIO) positions. CREW is finished collecting data from its latest survey, and will release the findings early next year.
