Carolyn Medina often traveled to Boston for networking events with her colleagues in the commercial real estate development sector. The real estate lawyer at Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP saw few Rhode Island faces in the crowd. So she decided to start the Rhode Island Networking Group, a subset of the New England Women in Real Estate organization. Medina recently took some time to speak with Providence Business News about the new organization.
PBN: Can you tell us a little about your new group?
MEDINA: Our new group is the Rhode Island Networking Group of New England Women in Real Estate (NEWiRE). We are a [group for networking] of commercial real estate professionals working in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. RING is technically a subgroup of NEWiRE, a Boston-based group dedicated to promoting the professional advancement and business opportunities for and among women in the commercial real estate industry. NEWiRE is also a member of the Commercial Real Estate Women Network, which has a similar mission on a national level, and has more than 6,000 members.
Like NEWiRE, RING is specifically targeted for professionals in the commercial real estate industry with at least three years experience. Typical members would include commercial real estate developers, attorneys, architects, civil and environmental engineers and landscape architects. There are some larger-scale, multifamily developers, both private and public, but the group is not primarily for residential developers or Realtors.
NEWiRE has more than 400 members and maintains a full calendar of networking and professional development events. It has a number of subgroups, which focus on specific industries and types of real estate development. Ours is the only group with a geographical focus.
PBN: Why form a Rhode Island chapter?
MEDINA: When I joined NEWiRE and began attending its events in Boston, I was impressed by the types of events the group hosted. They had both large-scale events featuring national speakers such as Karl “Chip” Case, one of the founders of the Case-Shilling index (which tracks housing starts and sales to give a general sense of the housing market in major metropolitan areas nationwide) as well as smaller events which were either educational/skill builders or purely social. All of these events were excellent.
The women I met were seasoned practitioners who shared a collaborative spirit and who spoke again and again of the referrals they had made or received through NEWiRE. Many times when I would mention that I was from Rhode Island, they would note how many NEWiRE members had indicated a desire to do more projects in Rhode Island.
I met very few other Rhode Islanders, however, and I came to believe that it would be worthwhile to have a Rhode Island-based group both to give Rhode Islanders the opportunity to network and get to know each other, and to better organize the talent and resources that we have here in Rhode Island to tap into opportunities that may originate in Boston.
PBN: How did you become involved in forming the group?
MEDINA: I approached the NEWiRE Steering Committee and described what it was I wanted to do, and from the beginning, they were very supportive and encouraging. With the support of my firm, I invited many of the professionals we rely on in our real estate practice, as well as some of our real estate clients, to an event at Partridge Snow & Hahn. Members of the NEWiRE Steering Committee, along with members from the CREW Network Board of Directors, were there to describe NEWiRE and CREW Network in more detail and answer questions.
There was a great showing, and from there we organized our current committee. We then held a second event, hosted by Tatiana Coulombe Wildeman of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP, which was similarly successful and continued to expand the group. Now we are ready to expand the group even further for future events.
PBN: Do you have to be a member of NEWIRE to join? Do you have to be a woman?
MEDINA: At this point, because we are still introducing our group, you do not need to be a member of NEWiRE to attend our events. We hope, however, that attendees will familiarize themselves with the requirements for membership in NEWiRE, as membership will eventually be required for continued participation. Current NEWiRE members should now be receiving notice of RING events through the NEWiRE calendar, mailings and e-mail distribution list and may attend any RING event.
As for being a woman, like NEWiRE, our group is open to anyone who meets the criteria for NEWiRE membership and supports NEWiRE’s mission, including men – and I would note that NEWiRE has male members and men have attended both of the RING events that we have held so far.
PBN: How do people get involved?
MEDINA: The best way for people to get involved is to come to one of our events. Our next event will be a “Dine-In” casual dinner [for networking] at CAV Restaurant on July 15. Detailed information about this event is available at www.newire.com under “Calendar.” People can also register by e-mailing Laura Domenico at laura@newire.org (please include “RING July Event” in the e-mail). If someone is interested, but cannot attend and would like to be included on invitations to future events, they can also e-mail Domenico.
