Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Wells Fargo Executive Vice President Georgette Dixon headlined a celebration of women’s societal contributions at the National Association of Real Estate Brokers’ Midwinter Conference.
Wells Fargo sponsored the session, which included “The Fireside Chat with Women of Impact” featuring Lyles and Dixon.
The chat took place on the heels of the organization’s 2023 Women Investing in Real Estate (W.I.R.E.) report which found that between 1990 and 2019, Black women increased homeownership by 5.6%, becoming the largest segment of new Black homeowners.
The report also found that Black women enjoyed significant educational, employment, and entrepreneurial gains.
The report documented the economic gains that paved the way for the success enjoyed by Black women, who comprise 6.3% of the nation’s population, 52% of the African American population, and 12.5% of all women. Moreover, 63.4% of African American women over 16 are active in the labor force, and 89.3% of Black women have graduated high school or its equivalent.
Black women are also making tremendous strides as entrepreneurs. According to recent data, businesses owned by Black women grew by 50% between 2014 and 2019, with Black Women accounting for 42% of all women who opened new businesses during that period. In 2021, 17% of Black women were starting a new business — 7% more than White women and 2% more than White men.
Dr. Courtney Johnson Rose, president of NAREB, said the report allows the organization to develop programs and initiatives to help Black women become homebuyers.
Noting that March is the launch of Women’s History Month, Lyles said, “This month is a time that I encourage the women that are in our city, no matter what your employment is or where you are right now, to know that we care about where you’re going, not where you’ve come from.”
Dixon recalled moving to a segregated community in Greenville, South Carolina, and becoming a student leader at Tennessee State University. There, she led the fight to prevent a merger with the University of Tennessee at Nashville, which would have jeopardized its HBCU legacy.
Dixon added that she was able “to become a school leader and to go to college and become a leader, and all of that led to the corporate career that I have today.”