NEWiRE president's message: Taking strides into 2014

Some accomplishments are quite sensational, like Prince Harry's recent trek to the South Pole as part of a three-week expedition for charity. Others may be less public, but are impactful nonetheless. That's why we prefer to make our own headlines at NEWiRE and share them with the people who matter most in our corner of the commercial real estate world. As a nonprofit organization, our mission is to advance women in the commercial real estate industry. That endeavor takes many shapes and forms. It is an ongoing quest that we tirelessly pursue. So it is mission-critical for us to stop every once in a while, take a look around, and make note of certain milestones as we reach them. Membership, for instance, is essential to NEWiRE. As we grow in numbers, our voice in the industry grows stronger. Our membership goal this year was to reach 450 in total membership. We surpassed that number and are now nearing 500 members! This is a direct result of more and more people recognizing NEWiRE as the preeminent professional group for women in commercial real estate in Boston. We are also pleased to report that more younger members are joining. It is exciting to see newcomers getting involved and participating in career-building activities such as our Mentor Program. This program has more than doubled in size with 34 pairings this year alone. Some are peer-to-peer matches, while some are seasoned professionals looking for guidance and advice from even more experienced colleagues with much wisdom and insight to share. What is even more significant about the size of our membership is that it makes NEWiRE the largest chapter within the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) network. With over 9,000 members and more than 70 chapters, CREW has a significant, national presence. The fact that NEWiRE represents about 18% of their total membership is pretty impressive. In addition, Judy Nitsch, founding principal and chairman of Nitsch Engineering Inc. and long-time NEWiRE member, has been elected 2014 president of CREW Network. She and the other members of the 2014 board will officially take office in January. We are very proud of Nitsch's achievement, which does even more to raise NEWiRE's visibility on a national level. Lastly, one of the great, everyday hallmarks of our success is the continued quality of our programming. Our events calendar is packed with fantastic opportunities for professional women in real estate to network, learn, and have fun. Our Project Spotlight Tours are wildly popular and regularly sell out. People are still talking about economist Barry Bluestone who was a hit at our annual luncheon. And our Legacy Member Lunch Series and Panel is unrivalled. This is why people join and remain in NEWiRE, and this is what contributes to our organization's steadfast rise to the top. Clearly, it is unrealistic to think that NEWiRE would even come close to competing with Prince Harry for headlines in the public domain. That's not what we are about. However, comparatively speaking, we ARE making a difference for women in commercial real estate. We ARE striving to be world-class. And we ARE taking confident strides into 2014. We invite you to join us on our journey. To learn more about NEWiRE and upcoming events visit www.newire.org, find us on LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter @NEWiREBoston. Gayle Bourdeau, vice president /associate senior underwriting counsel at Stewart Title Guaranty Co.-National Title Services, is the 2013-2014 president of New England Women in Real Estate (NEWiRE), Boston, MA.