Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network and CREW Foundation recently won the Award of Excellence in the 2008 Associations Advance America (AAA) Awards program, a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) & The Center for Association Leadership.
CREW received the award for its CREW Careers: Building Opportunities program, which was selected out of 100 entries. This program is now in the running to receive a Summit Award, ASAE's & The Center's top recognition for association programs, to be presented in ceremonies at ASAE's 9th Annual Summit Awards Dinner at the National Building Museum on September 23rd.
CREW Careers: Building Opportunities is an educational program which provides high school-aged girls with hands-on lessons and experiences to showcase the opportunities for women in commercial real estate, a significantly male-dominated field.  Twenty-eight local CREW Network chapters are producing CREW Careers: Building Opportunities in major markets across the country and will reach over 1,000 young women this year.
CREW Careers student participants work side by side with leading commercial real estate businesswomen to discover the skills and process involved in developing raw land or re-developing existing buildings into fully operational commercial real estate properties.  The interactive sessions, site visits, and design challenges introduce participants to the variety of professions involved in commercial real estate transactions.
Now in its fifth year, CREW Careers: Building Opportunities is organized by CREW Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CREW Network. The program is one way that CREW is working to change the many disparities between men and women in commercial real estate, particularly in terms of compensation and promotion potential.
"The CREW Careers: Building Opportunities program truly embodies the spirit of the AAA's campaign. It is an honor and inspiration to showcase this activity as an example of the many contributions associations are making to advance American society," remarked 2007-2008 AAA committee chair Matthew D'Uva, CAE, president of SOCAP International.
"CREW is thrilled to be acknowledged for its CREW Careers: Building Opportunities program," said Charlotte attorney Nancy Olah (Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP) and Seattle broker Shawn Rush (CBRE), national co-chairs.  "This unique, educational program has been instrumental in getting young women into the commercial real estate industry, and we are honored that the ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership has recognized our efforts."