Women of Student Housing: Empowering Others to Succeed

Behind the scenes of the National Apartment Association’s CampusConnex in Orlando this February, about 30 women in the student housing industry gathered. Many were colleagues, coworkers and even competitors, vying for the growing share of the student housing industry. As with any gathering of competing companies, the air could have been tense. That was hardly the case, however, as many took the opportunity to not just get to know each other, but also to discuss how they can strengthen the industry. The Women of Student Housing is a new group of female professionals seeking to contribute to the greater good of student housing. The gathering at CampusConnex was the second in recent months, following a launch hosted by RealPage that took place at the National Multifamily Housing Council’s student conference. At CampusConnex, the atmosphere was relaxed and centered on moving the organization forward.  “It’s not about who you work for, it’s about empowering women and letting the barriers down,” said RealPage Vice President of Student Housing Whitney Kidd. “During the meetings, you’ll see people from rival property management companies talking and laughing together. We look at how we can help each other.” Providing women more opportunities to be heard in rental housing Similar collaboration is happening in other parts of the rental housing industry. About a day’s drive from Orlando, a group of women assembled at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans for an inaugural vacation rental industry women’s summit. Hannah Lau Zarley, vice president of operations for Kigo, said the unification comes at a time when women are changing the face of the industry through diversity and the roles they play. Last year, Zarley joined Hinote on Lodgify’s list of 19 women who are making an impact in the vacation rental industry. One goal of the collaboration is to provide women more opportunities to be h...