Programs and opportunities for growth still AREW's focus.

Now in its 24th year, the Association of Real Estate Women (AREW) provides exceptional opportunities for career development and business networking among real estate professionals. Our members share an intense commitment to excellence and consistently work to enhance their professional knowledge and skills.

One of AREW's most compelling distinctions is its diversity. While most organizations represent a discrete real estate category or profession, AREW represents the full spectrum of the real estate community -- attorneys, accountants, developers, brokers, corporate real estate executives, bankers, property and portfolio managers, financial analysts, and marketers. That diversity is one of the keys to facilitating the productive networking for which AREW is known.

The levels of experience represented by AREW's professional members is another of our distinguishing characteristics. Men and women who are building careers in real estate have a direct opportunity to learn from and be mentored by seasoned, experienced executives at the pinnacles of their careers, making AREW an ideal organization for up-and-coming professionals as well as industry veterans.

AREW's programs are always rich in content, generous in value, and on top of the latest news in developments and industry trends. We host monthly luncheons, seminars, behind-the-scenes tours, fall and winter networking receptions, fundraising events and breakfasts with industry leaders, where members meet superstars of the industry in an intimate, relaxed setting.

Our members' commitment to the community is reflected in the activities of the AREW Charitable Fund, which includes the support for Women In Need (WIN), scholarships for graduate students in the real estate schools of City College of New York/Baruch, Columbia University and New York University; and community development grant programs.

AREW's luncheons are some of the best attended and well-known in the industry. Held on a monthly basis, they feature dynamic speakers -- movers, shakers, and deal makers -- who address topics of timely interest. Recent programs have explored exciting new developments, such as the Reuters Building, and the transformation of Colgate Center from manufacturing site to corporate destination; the story behind the rebirth of Harlem; the slow but steady renaissance of Newark and the long-awaited revitalization of Long Island City; New York City's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games; and the ambitious $1.5 billion plan to rebuild Lincoln Center.

Among many other luminaries, AREW luncheon speakers have included H. Henry Elghanayan, CEO and cofounder of Rockrose Development Corp.; Larry A. Silverstein, president of Silverstein Properties, Inc.; Manhattan borough president C. Virginia Fields; John J. Gilbert Ill, executive vice president and COO of the Rudin Management Company; Joseph J. Simone, president of Tishman Real Estate Services Company; Stephen M. Ross, chairman and CEO of The Related Companies, LP; and Jerry I. Speyer, CEO of Tishman Speyer Properties.

Seminars explore topics ranging from personal finance, health, and time management to solving the mystery of appropriate business casual dress for executives. Behind-the-scenes tours provide an opportunity to preview new and restored buildings and have included hosted tours of the Conde Nast Building, 42nd Street Studios, and Radio City Music Hall. (The new Reuters Building at Times Square is scheduled for a pre-opening tour this fall.)

Our 2001-02 season begins in September with our Fall Cocktail Reception, always a highly anticipated, high-spirited event. With our first luncheon of the new season on Tuesday, October 2nd, AREW is moving to a new venue, The Harvard Club at 27 W. 44th St., and will feature a one-hour networking reception prior to the luncheon and program. Also scheduled for the fall, the Charitable Fund is undertaking a fundraising breakfast with the goal of raising $25,00 for WIN.

While AREW has always moved with the times and each season brings new initiatives, AREW's traditions of hosting quality education programs, providing superb networking opportunities, serving as a catalyst for personal and professional growth, and making a difference in the community remain our organizations s focus.

As we approach the quarter of a century mark as an association, we continue to embrace our founders' objectives, which in the words of founding president Merle Z. Gross-Ginsburg, include "bringing together professional women engaged in real estate businesses, as well as owners and others in the field, by fostering greater involvement of women in our industry, providing educational programs, and bringing up important social issues."