At the end of this month, ULI Washington’s WLI Circles program closed out another successful year! During an in-person happy hour hosted on October 25th, WLI Circles participants were proud to gather outdoors to celebrate the second year of the WLI Circles initiative and the relationships we have cultivated over the past year.

Despite the threat of severe storms and 40 mph winds, 50 women gathered in an open-air amenity space at Westwood Metro Tower, a MRP Realty building, and were hosted by our generous event sponsor, DCS Design. It was an inspiration to hear the robust laughter and to be together in-person for the first time in 18 months. I was honored to welcome all guests and introduce Hannah Untereiner of Redbrick LMD, who singlehandedly created and managed the Circles program over the past two years. WLI will be forever grateful for her incredible commitment!

The WLI Circles initiative is comprised of 12 individual groups made up of eight to 10 women per group, all from a variety of commercial real estate sectors. Despite the challenges of gathering over the past year, these women made an ongoing commitment to 100 percent participation in their WLI Circles group for the betterment of their careers and leadership skills. Groups tackled topics such as leadership, culture, grit, negotiation, effective teamwork, work-life balance, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. We did most of this through the virtual world including one-on-one and group discussions, site tours, and happy hours. In fact, we even managed to work in a few outdoor lunches. All programming was meant to help form connections and build lasting business and personal relationships.

Thank you to all who stepped up to the challenge of being 2021 WLI Circles hosts: Barb Miller, Elena Romero, Ann Tyler, Diana Alexander, Kate Campbell, Alisa Rosenberg, Jessica Sawyer, Mallie Timiraos, Christine Roddy, Caroline Sullivan, Ruth Hoang, Martiena Schneller, Tanja Castro, Krista, Di Iaconi, Nicole Morrill, Sheila Nale, Stephanie Pankiewicz, Alex Johns, Aileen Horn, Elizabeth Pye, Doris Gantos, Roxanne Wallace, and LaGuardia Myers.

As we close out our incredibly successful second year, I look forward to adding more enthusiastic and motivated women to the 2022 WLI Circles program. Applications will be coming out in the next month. Register here to join ULI Washington’s e-newsletter which will notify interested members when the application is open. Let’s make our third anniversary even better!