Welcome to Archway's March Newsletter! In the spirit of Women's History Month, this newsletter emphasizes the voices of some of Archway's amazing women, focusing on our work and the challenges and opportunities women face in our industry.

Most of my career prior to Archway has been in the worlds of real estate development and investment banking, two industries where women have traditionally been under-represented relative to men. This is a shame for a host of reasons, obvious and otherwise. Aside from basic social and work environment benefits of having more women on a team, companies with more women in leadership roles have been shown to perform better than their peers. Research by the consulting firm, McKinsey, found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the bottom, while companies with more than 30% female executives were more likely to outperform others, according to research from two British universities. Additionally, S&P Global analyzed almost 6,000 new executive appointments, about 10% of which were women. They found that the stock price for companies that appointed female CEOs outperformed those that appointed men by an average of 20%.

Archway's leadership team is composed of 11 individuals, nine of whom are women. I feel privileged and proud to be a part of this team. Having been challenged by friends, family and colleagues to consider the perspectives of more women, I have been reading more books written by women that illuminate different perspectives for me. Recently, I read "Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men," by Caroline Criado Perez. This book is truly eye opening about the many biases women face in our built environment, our social world and of course the professional world. Interestingly, it was recommended by a male economist, Mohamed A. El-Erian. I also read "Lessons in Chemistry," a novel by Bonnie Garmus, about a single mother who in the 1960's went from research chemist to the star of a TV cooking show. This is a fun page turner and also painfully graphic in its depiction of the many biases women faced in the professional world not so many years ago.  

I am proud of the work we do every day at Archway to serve the many needs of our residents and also to be a better workplace for all of our employees. Having a greater awareness of the challenges and prejudices faced by our female colleagues can only help us get better by enriching and enhancing our decision making. Here's to Women's History Month and to the many incredible women who sacrificed more than they should have had to to help advance a more just and equitable world.

--Sebastian Corradino