MEET THE TEAM
HANNA AFOLABI MRICS
Founder of BWRE
Hanna started BWRE as a way to connect with other black women in the property industry as she struggled to find women like her in her immediate network. She is passionate about racial and gender equality and hopes the group will help black women connect and support one another.
Hanna is the Managing Director and Founder of Mood and Space (MAS) a
development company that supports clients in creating their development vision and strategy as well as efficiently managing the processes to deliver great buildings and urban neighbourhoods. She specialises in development management for large scale regeneration projects in urban areas. Her experience includes working as Development Director for East Wick and Sweetwater - a circa £860million mixed-use regeneration scheme on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which includes
1,859 homes and 20,000 sq ft of non-residential area.
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Hanna is also the vice chair of the University of Greenwich’s Construction, Property and Surveying Practices – Industry Advisory Board and is a member of Estates Gazette's Diversity & Inclusion Content Advisory Panel.
RIM ADEM MRICS
Committee Member - Strategy and Partnerships
Rim is an Associate Director at CBRE with experience across various sectors. During her time at CBRE, Rim has worked with public and private sector clients delivering solutions which have ESG at the core of their strategy. Rim specialises in the residential sector, with a focus on maximising the delivery of affordable housing through innovative funding solutions. Rim has been awarded the CBRE Rising Star Award and listed as a Rising Star in the Women of the Future, Leading with Kindness List as published in the Financial Times.
As a mental health first aider and the Co-Chair of CBRE’s REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) Network, Rim is constantly striving to achieve racial equity and create safe spaces such that colleagues from all backgrounds can thrive within the real estate sector.
NATALIE CARTER
Committee Member - Strategy and Partnerships
Natalie Carter is an award-winning senior associate in the Real Estate team at Greenberg Traurig LLP. Joining the firm in 2018, Natalie has acted in multiple high-value and high-profile transactions including the financing, acquisition, disposal and development of a high value commercial properties across London. Committed to providing a clear pathway for other Black people pursuing a corporate law career, Natalie works with various charities and organisations including the Black Solicitors Network and Urban Lawyers, where she originally designed their annual conference.
Since 2015, over 2000 students have attended. On top of this, she is the co-Founder of Black Girls Book Club, the UK’s premier Book club for black women creating a safe space for black women to enjoy literature. Over 200 events have been hosted with celebrity guests such as June Sarpong, Malorie Blackman, Afua Hirsch and Dorothy Koomson. Natalie is a trustee of the Creative Land Trust and was appointed as a judge for the annual renowned BookSeller Awards
GEORGINA MANLY
Committee Member - Strategy and Partnerships
Georgie Manly is the Retail Customer Propositions Director at Landsec, responsible for the creative direction, strategy, and delivery of new and enhanced Guest experiences across the retail portfolio. With a solid background in creative strategy and experience innovation, she has designed world-class customer-centric experiences and brand propositions for FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies across a broad spectrum of industries including Hospitality, Retail, Office, Public Sector, and Charities.
Alongside her main role at Landsec, she is the Chair of the Diaspora Network where she advocates for equality and the advancement of ethnically diverse colleagues in her workplace, and better experiences for the ethnically diverse communities they work in.
LOLA AKANDE MRICS
Committee Member - Membership
Lola began her real estate career in 2015 at Cushman and Wakefield, having joined the graduate scheme and completing 4 rotations across Valuation, Transaction Management and Retail Agency and Investment. She qualified as a Member of the Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors in 2017 under the Valuation pathway and has since focused her career in the commercial real estate Investment sector.
Currently she works at IQ student accommodation. By joining BWRE, she hopes to connect with more black women in the real estate industry and help advance the careers of those just starting out.
NICOLE CAMPBELL
Committee Member - Membership
Nicole Campbell is a Senior Asset Manager at The Crown Estate leading the asset management of Fosse Park Leicester, the largest Shopping Park in England. Nicole is responsible for maximising value and performance of the assets under her management. She takes a unique approach to her role, ensuring her asset strategies not only align to The Crown Estate’s purpose ‘to create lasting and shared prosperity for the nation’ but also to her own leadership purpose of ‘making places accessible to all’, by delivering value beyond just financial.
Nicole’s eighteen years in the property industry spans Asset Management at The Crown Estate and prior to that, Retail Leasing and Lease Advisory services at CBRE, advising a variety of clients. One of Nicole’s recent achievements includes her involvement in the £168m transformation of Fosse Park, where an additional 140,000 sq ft of new retail and restaurant space opened in 2021. Social and environmental value delivered included the installation of approximately 500 Photovoltaic panels (the equivalent of powering 31 homes per year), 5,000 sq m of new planted areas encouraging richer biodiversity, working with the local community to deliver a sitewide public art project and supporting over 2,000 jobs at Fosse.
Nicole believes the property industry is not only a people business, it is shaping the future of the world and, one of the reasons why diversity is essential. Nicole has seen some improvement in diversity in the industry however, believes there is still work to do, to ensure the industry more readily reflects the country we serve. She’s passionate about creating equity within the industry, supporting apprenticeships and work experience within The Crown Estate, and school / university outreach work to attract the next generation.
JOELLE ALLOTEY MRICS
Committee Member - Events
Joelle Allotey is an Associate Director at Cushman and Wakefield and works as part of the Global Occupier Services Team. She provides strategic advice for a number of occupiers within the Financial and Technological sector, globally.
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Joelle has extensive experience working in Asset Management and has been responsible for diversification of numerous multi million pound portfolios as well as involvement in major regeneration schemes.
Joelle is passionate about young black women excelling in Real Estate and forms part of a number or organisations focusing on educating on and eradicating the hurdles to entry. As part of Black Women in Real Estate committee, she is focused on promoting and creating opportunities for upcoming talent and nurturing relationships with those already in the industry.
PHYLLIS AGBO MRICS
Committee Member - Events
After retiring from her first career as a GB Heptathlete, Phyllis entered the world of real estate, becoming a chartered surveyor in 2016. Her career started at CBRE, specialising in residential development post qualification. She advised on many important London developments, including Barking Riverside, a 10,800-home riverbank masterplan in East London. After seven years at CBRE, she moved to Crest Nicholson, taking the role of Land Manager, managing large scale masterplans including Arborfield Green, a new 2,000 garden village near Wokingham. Now at Stories, an exciting socially responsible developer, she works as a Senior Development Manager.
Stories is bringing a fresh approach to development that balances the industry’s responsibility to economic, environmental, and social outcomes. She a proud advocate for diversity in the workplace, having a strong involvement in CBRE’s REACH Network (Race, Equality and Cultural Heritage). She is currently a committee member for the Black Business Association within the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, charged with increasing visibility and bringing through grassroots talent. She also co-created the London Mixed Tag Rugby Property League and set up the Women’s Tag tournament at Surveyors 7s, continuing her love of sport and sharing its benefits in industry.
FAITH LOCKEN MRICS
Committee Member - Communications
Faith Locken is the founder of We Rise In, a business dedicated to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in corporate industries through professional training and development programmes.
Prior to founding her business, Faith worked in real estate and the built environment for over a decade in a number of roles including real estate valuation, agency, investment, and development. Her last role was as Development Manager at Countryside Partnerships where she managed the design and delivery of large regeneration schemes in London.
Faith sits on the board of a number of organisations, most recently she was made Non-Executive Director at RHP Group housing association.
ALLY REID MRICS
Committee Member - Operations
Ally is a chartered commercial property surveyor and registered valuer who has held roles in construction, valuation and property investment since 2013. She currently holds the role of Investment Manager for Landsec where she works to maximise the value of a real estate portfolio valued at £12.8bn.
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Ally is an advocate for reducing the barriers to entry within the real estate sector to create a more diverse and inclusive industry to work in. She is chair of Diaspora the Landsec ethnic minority affinity network and active in several community initiatives to improve visibility of minority groups and increase access to and progression within the industry.
LIONAH KAWONZA
Committee Member - South West England
Lionah Kawonza is a Senior Program Manager at Arcadis with experience in estate, project, and development management. She has predominantly worked with government clients and has a keen interest in affordable housing, sustainability and designing for the future. One of her most recent projects was the UK’s first Passivhaus Extra Care facility - a fully inclusive, dementia friendly scheme that allows older residents to retain their independence as well as remain firmly connected to their local community.
She is currently undertaking a distance learning MBA and has taken up a global programme management role managing a tiger team pilot to further improve employees experience within Arcadis. She is also programme managing Tent refugee initiative in Arcadis which provides employment, training and mentorship opportunities for refugees as securing a job is a critical milestone for refugees to building a new life in their new community.
Lionah joined the Black Women in Real Estate committee in 2022 to lead on the South West UK branch, after coming across our content on LinkedIn