JOANNA LANG Outline Financial Toronto, ON
As co-founder and managing partner of Outline Financial, Joanna Lang is widely regarded as one of Canada’s most dynamic and successful mortgage professionals. Over the past year alone, Lang funded more than $174 million in residential mortgage volume, making her one of Canada’s top mortgage brokers. In more than two decades in the industry, Lang has distinguished herself by providing a high-touch, customized service experience that puts clients’ financial needs first. She is known for her expertise in managing complicated, multi-million-dollar deal structures and is deeply passionate about mentoring young women in the mortgage industry. She also contributes to industry platforms like Women in the Mortgage Industry and has worked with charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Sunnybrook Hospital and Ovarian Cancer Canada.
FARHANA KABIR Deservia Realty Brampton, ON
MICHELLE RISI
Royal LePage Connect Realty Prior to founding Deservia Realty in 2013, Farhana Kabir was a multi-award-winning Re/Max agent. She now leads an all-female brokerage dedicated to “encouraging women to believe in their potential and maximize opportunities at all times.” Thanks to Kabir’s support, a number of Deservia employees have gone on to realize their dreams in the real estate and mortgage industries. While real estate has come a long way from its male-dominated roots, Kabir believes the process can be accelerated by women referring business to other female entrepreneurs Farhana and pooling theirKabir ideas rather than competing with one another. “Deservia is a big Founder/CEO supporter of women in business in general,” she says, “so we don’t mind sharing our business expertise within and outside of our industry.”
LAURIE SANDERSON Gowling WLG Ottawa, ON
With more than 25 years of experience, Laurie Sanderson is a recognized expert in the area of commercial leasing, representing a wide variety of both private- and public-sector landlords and tenants. Sanderson is consistently recognized for her real estate expertise in the Chambers Global Guide, the Best Lawyers in Canada list and the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. She served on the board of directors for BOMA Ottawa from 2007 to 2013 and was a member of its executive committee for four years.
Pickering, ON
Michelle Risi is arguably one of the most impactful women working for the Royal LePage brand. After 20 years as executive vice-president of the company’s largest franchise, Royal LePage Your Community, during which she expanded its reach to 10 locations and more than 1,000 Realtors, Risi acquired Royal LePage Connect in 2018. She now operates six Connect locations across the GTA, leading a small army of nearly 300 agents, all of whom, along with those from Your Community, are trained and coached at the Real Estate Academy she founded. Raised by a strong female entrepreneur and fellow Realtor, Risi says her mother set an example that “nothing is unreachable,” but she admits that working mothers today often still face resistance. “Like the example set for me by my mother, I choose to ignore that and go after what I want anyway,” she says.
www.repmag.ca
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