Women in Real Estate
March is Women’s History Month – We are Celebrating Women in Real Estate!
There are so many remarkable women in real estate who have overcome challenges, shattered glass ceilings, and set new standards for excellence within the industry and within the Greater Louisville Association of REALTORS®.
Did you know 66 percent of all REALTORS® today identify as female?
However, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, when the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) first started in 1908, its membership was entirely 100% male until Corrine Simpson became the first female NAR member in 1910.
Slowly, female agents across the nation started to follow in Simpson’s footsteps, taking the real estate market by storm. It would be 1992 before the National Association of REALTORS® had its first female President, Dorcas Helfant.
A message from 2024 MSI President Stacy Durbin
Our Local History
Margaret D. Fox and Hattie Henn were the first two female REALTORS® in the Association (Louisville Board of REALTORS) in 1942. The Louisville Association’s Women’s Council was organized in 1946.
Our first female President Elaine Schiff elected in 1973, and second female President Dorothy Davis elected in 1979, opened the doors for the 19 female GLAR Presidents and 8 MLS Presidents that would follow and numerous other women in leadership positions a the Greater Louisville Association of REALTORS®. Their leadership has been instrumental in shaping our culture, growth, and successes as an organization.
Our Industry Trailblazers
Our GLAR Past Presidents
Our MetroSearch, Inc. MLS Presidents
Our Officers & Directors
Our GLAR Professionals
Quotes from our Leaders
Video Messages from our Leaders on Women’s History Month
Spotify Playlist
Women’s Contributions to Real Estate
Breaking the Glass Ceiling (AExperience, Feb. 6, 2023)
Shattering the Glass Ceiling in Real Estate (Economists’ Outlook, Sep. 28, 2021)
Career Choices in Real Estate: Through the Lens of Gender, Race, and Sexual Orientation (National Association of REALTORS®, Mar. 30, 2021)
Women Continue to Conquer Commercial Real Estate(link is external) (GlobeSt, Jul. 25, 2022)
Progress of Women in Real Estate, 50th Anniversary(link is external) (Chicago, IL: Women’s Council of REALTORS®, 1998)
Highlighting our Industry Partner – Women’s Council of REALTORS (WCR), Louisville Chapter
WCR History
Women’s Council was created because for the first 20 years of its existence women were barred admission from many local REALTOR® associations. This separate group was founded as a “women’s division” and formed at the Annual Convention in Milwaukee in November 1938 by thirty-seven women from 9 states. Today Women’s Council is a nationwide community of 13,000 real estate professionals.
About WCR- Louisville
The Women’s Council of REALTORS® of Greater Louisville is a network of successful REALTORS®, advancing
women as business leaders in the industry and in the communities we serve.
