It’s hard to believe summer is over but I am looking forward to an exciting year ahead with WX.  WX was as busy as ever with a packed calendar this past year, thanks to our hard-working Board, and to our dedicated committees. Looking back, we were thrilled to present our April Perspectives panel, “Building Your Own Success – Entrepreneurs of WX,” which provided fascinating first-hand insights into the lives of multiple successful women entrepreneurs. Members were also treated to a vibrant discussion on the development of the Cornell Technion Campus on Roosevelt Island.  Karen Backus did a terrific job moderating the panel with Miriam Harris, Senior Vice President of the EDC, and Kathy Dove, Vice President of the Cornell NYC Technion Campus.  It is amazing how many WX members are involved in this ground breaking project!  Maria Kastanis and the program committee are putting together another year of terrific events so stay tuned to your e-mail and the WX website for announcements.

At the heart of WX is our Scholarship Program, which this past year has expanded beyond the traditional six schools (Baruch, CUNY, Columbia, Lehigh, UPenn and NYU) to include scholarships to women studying in real estate related programs at an additional five schools (Harvard, Cornell, Yale, NY Law and MIT). If there are any other schools with real estate programs that you think may be appropriate for scholarship, please touch base with Paula Schaefer or Beth Sapery, the devoted leaders of our scholarship committee.  We also continue to be proud supporters of the Young Women’s Leadership School of Harlem.

As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance our scholarship initiatives, we are pleased to announce the establishment of the WX Charitable Fund, Ltd.  The Charitable Fund is a tax-exempt organization that will allow WX to increase its commitment to scholarship.  Many thanks to Carmen Bowser for her tireless efforts in seeing this complex process through to a successful conclusion.  We would also like to recognize Carmen for her generous donation to the Charitable Trust, our first ever! 

Suzanne St. Pierre has successfully kicked off our Mentoring Program, which provided a platform for young women in real estate to connect with WX members who acted as their mentors. We hope to grow the program this year as we strive to continue to provide more value to our scholarship recipients and our members.

A highlight of the fall was the Annual Gala.  We honored Cia Buckley of Dune Real Estate Partners and raised a record amount of funds for our scholarship efforts. This year, we are excited to honor Joanne Podell, who has been a leader in the retail space and an active member of WX.  We hope you will join us on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at University Club to celebrate her achievements.  For the first time a portion of the dinner ticket price, as well as sponsorships and journal ads, will be tax deductible so please help us spread the word about this exciting news.  Last year’s inaugural silent auction was a big success and we will look to build on that momentum this year.  If you would like to make a contribution to the silent auction, please contact our dynamic dinner chair Allyson Martin.  

Building Our Network of WX Members

We continue to add terrific women to our membership, which now stands at over 200 women, and growing. Our Membership Committee has worked hard to ensure that WX’s membership reflects the diverse nature of our industry. Please continue to recommend women you believe are compelling candidates for WX membership, or feel free to invite them to one of our upcoming breakfasts at the Harvard Club.

Enhanced Technology to Enable Our Communications

We hope that you enjoy our newly expanded event registration system, which offers improved functionality through our easy-to-use calendar, membership database and online dues payment tool.  We will be communicating with you about new member profiles and added website functionality as we continue to grow the system.

We Welcome Your Input

The leadership of WX is committed to fostering new opportunities to network, reconnect with colleagues and hear stimulating speakers at breakfasts and panel discussions with your continued support. We look forward to your attendance at events and, as always, we welcome your input.  Please feel free to contact me via email with your ideas, concerns or thoughts as to how we can make WX even stronger.

If you have any questions, please call us at 212.414.9309.

See you at our Welcome Back reception on Thursday, September 13 at the Eventi Hotel!

Best wishes, 

Cheryl Boyer