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Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 9:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church | 435 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
(Streamed Live on this website, YouTube and Facebook)
According to the report 2024 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Businesses[1], 14 million women-owned businesses comprise 39.1% of all US businesses, employ 12.2 million workers and generate $2.7 trillion in revenue. Between 2019 and 2023, the rate of women-owned businesses grew nearly twice as fast as that of men-owned businesses. Despite making up ground, women still face unprecedented challenges in accessing business capital. Only 1.9% of venture capital dollars go to companies with all female founders.
This issue is most troubling in the real estate sector. “While more companies are thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion, underrepresentation continues. Women make up about 36.7% of the commercial real estate industry, and the percentage has remained about the same over the last 15 years, according to a 2020 study by the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network. At the same time, companies in the top 25% for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their industry medians, reports CREW.[2]”
Despite a crippling affordable housing crisis, qualified women developers in metro Atlanta face roadblocks in the form of leadership opportunities and access to start-up and working capital needed to execute their business models. But a movement is building.
The Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN) was formed in 2007 and has grown to a national nonprofit organization with 24 chapters coast to coast focused on empowering women in the affordable housing industry. WAHN held its first national conference in Atlanta this year and teamed with ULI Atlanta’s Women’s Leadership Initiative last month to dig deeper into the topic of women’s access to capital.
At the December 4 Atlanta Regional Housing Forum, we will welcome representatives of the WAHN Atlanta chapter and other women in the region’s affordable housing sector to discuss capital constraints, public- and private-sector engagement, and potential policy and other solutions to level the playing field.
[1] 2024 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses; Wells Fargo, Women Impacting Public Policy
[2] 10 Inspiring Women in Affordable Housing, Affordable Housing Finance
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