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For International Women’s Day, we are celebrating the industry leaders who continue to break gender barriers

A woman breaking barriers. pathdoc/Shutterstock

Roughly a century ago, women across the globe weren’t allowed to participate in anything outside of the four corners of their homes. We weren’t allowed to vote, inherit a property, apply for a loan, open a bank account, become an accountant or lawyer, and much much more.

Throughout those years, we have had prominent figures who dedicated most of their lives to fight for women’s suffrage, including Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Ida Wells, Frida Kahlo, and Yuri Kochiyama, among others.

They have paved the way for women of today to enjoy all the benefits that were severely, even sometimes violently, restricted. But this, unfortunately, is an ongoing battle that we still face today.

That is why at the Asia Real Estate Summit (ARES) held last November 2019, we wanted to give some of the most influential and inspirational women leaders of the industry a platform to showcase their successes, their insights, their line of work.

We were pleased to have 16 female speakers and one female emcee join us at the highly informative two-day event, from having just five female representation at the summit in 2018. These women have shown us that we, too, can be heard in the technology sector where it remains to be mostly male-dominated, according to the Insider.

Whereas in the real estate sector, Real Estate Express revealed that women have gone up in numbers, but the divide still exists, from being underestimated by their male colleagues to experiencing sexist dress codes to struggling with the gender pay gap. However, with such powerful women still fighting to be heard in their respective industries, all is not lost.

Showcasing women in power. ApinBen4289/Shutterstock

The strong female line up at the summit clearly demonstrates just how the real estate sector has fully embraced women in power, enabling them to take the lead in introducing the benefits of connected technology to the industry.

Among them is the head of agency and performance at Google Thailand Kim Rellinger who shared the importance of finding common ground between the real estate and technology sectors to deliver digital experiences.

“Advances in digital technology have made it possible for consumers to get information in an instant and make their lives easier. We see opportunities for [real estate] brands to use technology to deliver helpful, yet immersive digital experiences without interrupting their real-world experience," she explained.

The co-founder and director of female-owned and female-focused company BuildHer Collective Rebeka Morgan shared that their brand utilises social media to form a more personalised bond with their target audience, particularly since people, in general, prefer to connect with the person behind the brand.

Meanwhile, head of enterprise product and international service at AIS Asnee Wipatawate focused on 5G, referring to it as an enabler as it will allow businesses to incorporate massive automated deployments, which the networks of today are still lacking in capability.

Yet, these are just some of the key points these female leaders discussed at the summit.

Asia Real Estate Summit 2019

For International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, it is our great pleasure to honour these women, along with their valuable contributions to the industry:

Day 1 speakers

On the panel titled Tech Disruptors: solutions that are transforming the way we build, to the way we live

• Joelle Chan, programme director at management consulting firm Beca Singapore (moderator)
• Prof. Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, founder and director of interdisciplinary research group MIRALab at the University of Geneva, director of institute for media innovation and visiting professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (panellist)

On the panel titled 5G: Unleashing a new wave of connectivity

• Asnee Wipatawate, head of enterprise product and international service at Bangkok-based telecommunications company AIS

On the panel titled How to tell a digital tale that will grip your audiences

• Emma Felice, content creator of Tokidoki Traveller on YouTube
• Rebeka Morgan, founder and director of female-owned and female-focused Australian company BuildHer Collective

On the panel titled The "Sharing Economy" phenomena: how will it impact Asia’s major cities?

• Catherine Ainsley, global head of partnerships at luggage storage solution Stasher
• Mich Goh, head of public policy in Southeast Asia at Airbnb
• Sigrid Zialcita, chief executive officer at nonprofit trade group Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA)

On the panel titled Asia’s tech hubs: the next wave of business success

• Wendy McEwan, head of marketing and communications at real estate consultancy Knight Frank Asia Pacific

On the panel titled Disruptive tech in the hands of the youth

• Prof. Aileen O. Vicente, project leader of FireCheck, an urban mapping fire prevention software, at the University of the Philippines Cebu
• Kribashini Shannon, founder and director of BuildHer Collective
  Petra Bührer, chairwoman of IBM Technical Expert Council

Day 2 speakers

As a keynote speaker on The Future of Digital Immersion

• Kim Rellinger, head of agency and performance at Google Thailand

On the panel titled Cyber risks: is smart tech safe?

• Jittida Haputpong, vice president of business development at keyless access solutions provider igloohome

As a moderator on the interactive session titled Visualising the next generation of real estate businesses

• Pacharee Pantoomano, co-founder of marketing and public relations agency BrandNow.Asia

As a moderator on the interactive session titled Leveraging fintech in Asian real estate markets

• Philippa Allen, chief executive officer and founder of compliance consulting firm ComplianceAsia

Master of Ceremonies

• Tina Ryan was the first female DJ in a local radio station in the Philippines who has now become a prominent figure in the events field locally and abroad