Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Charlotte celebrated their annual Impact Awards celebration. The awards honor those who have had a meaningful impact on CREW Charlotte.
Laura Ward, principal at Bernard Robinson & Company, received the Groundbreaker Award This award honors a member who has joined the organization within the past 18 months and has actively become involved with a committee and the organization as a whole. Laura served as a member of the sponsorship committee for 2022 and will fill a co-chair role for the membership committee in 2023.
The Carrie Sharp Power Connector award was given to Peyton Maynard, business development manager at Jenison Construction. This award is given to a member who intentionally builds and strengthens connections between CREW members and sponsors. Peyton can be seen at nearly every event and is constantly making introductions and connections among attendees.
Shawn McMillan, owner of diamond sponsor McMillan PLLC, was the winner of the Member-to-Member business award. This award is given to someone who consistently helps build business for other CREW members or sponsors. Shawn is firmly committed to the mission of CREW Charlotte and he looks for every opportunity to utilize a CREW connection on a business deal.
The next award is the Career Advancement of Women. This award goes to someone who consistently helps to elevate and advance other women in commercial real estate. This year’s winner, Dawn Chanland, professor of management at Queens University, leads CREW Charlotte’s Authentic Leadership Program and through this program has helped several members become better leaders in the industry.
Liz Ward, founder of Give Impact Advisory Services, was recognized with the Entrepreneurial Spirit award. Liz embodies an entrepreneurial spirit as someone who started her own company that specializes in affordable housing and upward mobility solutions.
The Men Empowering Women award is given to a man who makes a conscious and intentional effort to support women within the commercial real estate industry. Dave Rushing, vice president at All American Relocation, was selected as this year’s winner. Dave served on the membership recognition committee this year and went above and beyond in promoting women for award nominations throughout the year.
Jennifer Miles, global account director at Cushman & Wakefield, was the winner of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion award. This award honors a member who tirelessly advances the DEI efforts of the organization. Jennifer was a founding member of the DEI task force in 2021 and co-led the task force for 2022. She is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the organization.
The winner of the 2022 Circle of Excellence award was CREW Charlotte Executive Director Patty Trepp Drummond. The award is given to someone who delivers excellence and is performing to the highest standards for the organization. Patty has consistently helped elevate CREW Charlotte within the community, fostered relationships among members and found creative new ideas for the organization
As we wrap up 2022, there is so much for CREW Charlotte to celebrate. We are closing the year with almost 400 members and were able to retain more than 82% of our members for 2022. We donated more than $20,000 to scholarships for women in commercial real estate. Scholarship funds were awarded to Queens University, UNC Charlotte, Winthrop University, and the CREW Network Foundation. CREW Charlotte nominated members for 33 awards and 16 of those nominees were award winners. CREW Charlotte had a successful mentor program with 15 pairings. We concluded one session of the Authentic Leadership Program and kicked off another. We offered two Diversity, Equity and Inclusion trainings for our leadership team. Our DE&I task force also launched cohorts to create inclusion – prism, pride, and persons with disabilities. We also had our first ever male board member for the Charlotte chapter.
CREW Charlotte was fortunate to have Mary Wilken, COO at Insite Properties, serving as the president for 2022. In 2023, Stacia Neugent, a tax partner at GreerWalker CPA & Advisors, will take the helm. The 2023 executive committee is rounded out by Katie Barker (Morningstar Properties), Virginia Luther (The Spectrum Companies), and Patty Trepp Drummond (CREW Charlotte). The other board members for 2023 include Sherri Commander (Lincoln Harris), Mellissa Oliver (Pulte Group), Keiko Pace (Stephens Office Systems), Rob Phillips (Bennett & Pless), Scarlett Powell (AVI-SPL), Myranda Sieverding (Elliott Davis), Nikki Thornton (Coldwell Banker Commercial MECA), and Lisa Vogel (Boston National Title).
CREW Network is the premier business network dedicated to transforming the commercial real estate industry by advancing women globally. CREW Charlotte has now grown its membership to nearly 400 individuals.
