500 Women in Property

Studio News / Culture / News 21 March 2023 Share

DesignInc Sydney is proud that three members of our team—Rachel Faber, Jennifer Forbes and Miriam Enoch—have been accepted into the ‘500 Women in Property’ 2023 program run by the Property Council of Australia (PCA).

‘500 Women in Property’ is an initiative of the Property Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committees across Australia. It requires a personal commitment from Property Council Members (women and men) to identify and champion women in their organisation or business sphere, who they believe would benefit from further networking and professional development opportunities. The program aims to accelerate more women into leadership positions in the property industry through sponsorship of high-potential talent.

Sponsors

Each participant has a ‘sponsor’—a DesignInc Sydney Principal or Director who undertakes to advocate for them, champion their skills and successes and help build their network and profile.

Rachel Faber—sponsored by Cameron Martin
Jen Forbes—sponsored by Michael Doak
Miriam Enoch—sponsored by Ian Armstrong

In a professional context, a ‘sponsor’ performs a slightly different role to a ‘mentor’. Both are important in maximising career growth: a mentor is a source of guidance and advice, but sponsors act where mentors usually advise.

About the programme

The program is entering its eighth year this year and the response to the program has been overwhelming, with over 3,000 women participating in the program nationally since its launch in 2016.

In 2023, participants are involved in a range of networking events (including launch and wrap-up), a sponsor briefing session, observation of a Property Council Committee and bespoke masterclasses. In addition, all participants have access to the new Property Council Academy Learning Management System (LMS), which includes a wide range of courses covering leadership, technical and role-specific topics such as time management, social media awareness through to technical topics like ‘Creating Great Places’.

As an Associate at DesignInc, and registered Architect, I am highly motivated by the process of designing facilities for the wider community, especially education sector projects. The 500 Women in Property program will provide a key component of my ongoing career development; the opportunity to expand my contacts within the industry; a forum to open conversations about future education projects.’
Rachel Faber, Associate

I’m excited to be part of the 500 Women in Property program. It’s important to me to keep learning and being inspired by other women doing well, and this is a great opportunity to meet new people within the industry as well as to connect with and learn from my sponsor. I’m keen to understand what it means to be a great leader from different points of view.
Jennifer Forbes, Associate

I am keen to further develop my skills outside of landscape architecture, to find ways to help make great cities and connect with like-minded people. Networking outside of my industry will allow me the opportunity to broaden other people’s perspectives of what landscape architects do and how we can help create better cities, better projects and a more sustainable environment.
Miriam Enoch, Associate