<p><span class="p-body">Gisella Haidar, a student in the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-real-estate-development.html" target="_blank" title="MS in Real Estate Development">MS in Real Estate Development</a> program at the Schack Institute, moved with her family from her native Argentina to Texas at the age of 16. Speaking no English, she strove hard to prepare for the SATs and graduate from high school on time.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Her diligent efforts paid off—she attended Texas Christian University as an economics major on a full scholarship, graduating as a Chancellor's Leadership Scholar. She has since worked in the real estate industry in investment sales and capital markets for a decade, selling over $1.2 billion USD of real estate, and is a senior vice president at NAI Global Capital Markets.</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">Haidar shared that her passion for the transformative potential of real estate developments that shapes and defines communities led her to want to encourage socially responsible developments that create sustainable growth while reducing disparities in economic and social outcomes.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Schack's MS in Real Estate Development was the only program of its magnitude that offered Haidar a flexible class schedule and part-time options in order to pursue her goals. &quot;I did not want to stop working while in school, and felt this program best suited my needs,&quot; she explained. &quot;Schack also has many professors who are top industry leaders and work at their companies during the day and then teach night classes.&quot;</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Haidar&nbsp;then shared that while she has had many great professors at Schack, her favorite is Manish Srivastava. &quot;He truly cares about his students and devotes a lot of time to helping students reach their maximum potential,&quot; she revealed. &quot;A lot of times I feel intimidated because he trusts us more than we trust ourselves, but this is what helps us give our best.&quot;</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">Haidar started her career in commercial real estate in 2012 as the only female in a pool of ten analysts. As a Latina, she was also the only minority. Fast-forward to today, and not much has changed—most times, she is still the only woman and only minority in the boardroom. &quot;While our industry has made significant advances in recruiting women, the work does not stop there,&quot; she argued. &quot;There is a lot more we can do to achieve true gender diversity in commercial real estate.&quot; Haidar is convinced that mentorship is the only way to get there.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Recently, companies and industry organizations have spent vast resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives targeted at hiring. However, initiatives to get women into C-suite positions and leadership roles are lacking.&nbsp;&quot;Events like&nbsp;<a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/events/schack-institute-of-real-estate-division-events/national-symposium-of-women-in-real-estate.html" title="Women in Real Estate">WiRE</a>&nbsp;at SPS are essential in creating a stronger community of women and providing opportunities to connect students with female industry leaders who can serve as mentors,&quot; posited Haidar.</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">While Haidar has been in the real estate industry for approximately ten years on the investment sales side, she felt she was missing out on the transaction side of the business—the best part of the process, according to her. &quot;I hope to transition into that side of the business and help bring an economically robust and sustainable future via socially responsible investing,&quot; she mused.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Haidar is also considering the realm of affordable housing, but eventually she wants to work with economic development corporations to bring socially responsible investing and help transform communities.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">An&nbsp;<a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-real-estate-development.html" title="MS in Real Estate Development">MS in Real Estate Development</a>&nbsp;from NYU SPS can open doors that you may have never imagined were possible. See where you can start the next chapter of your career with a degree from the&nbsp;<a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/schack-institute-of-real-estate.html" title=" Schack Institute of Real Estate">Schack Institute of Real Estate</a>.</span></p>