Gwyneth Coté has been on a mission: Add to the diversity of one of the world's biggest real estate industry institutions.

The task of making the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute more representative of the communities it serves has led the former real estate executive to work with staff and members to get the industry to share diverse viewpoints. And once the back-and-forth is underway, it could lead to more ideas and initiatives, according to Coté.

The president of ULI's Americas group, who manages the organization's staff in one of three regions around the world, said only 15% of the land use research group's nearly 40,000 members are people of color, which isn't representative of the communities or the built environment at large.

"ULI, as the preeminent global land use [group], has to lead the way and have our members step up and lead the way to address systemic racism and create more equitable communities for all," Coté told CoStar News. "Often times people who come to our meetings don't see other people that look like them and they don't feel welcomed, that has been the case in the past."

So ULI's fall meeting in Dallas last week, where the group hosted more than 5,350 people, featured lounges geared to different cohorts, letting executives gather in conversation over refreshments. The use of small spaces seeks to create big effects in how individuals with different backgrounds relate.

"By designating a lounge where people can feel they have their own space, it gives them a place to take a breath if they want to," she added. "It can be intimidating to come to a meeting like this where you can walk a long distance and not see anyone that looks like you."

The idea came after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a police officer while in custody in Minneapolis in May 2020. That prompted more calls for organizations to take specific steps to address racism across the United States.

The industry group, which helps set the tone for land use decisions, decided to try to move toward the forefront of those actions and had to "accept and acknowledge responsibility in the past for land use decisions," that contributed to inequalities and to work to drive change, Coté said.

With the U.S. population expected to become a minority majority by 2050, Coté said time is of the essence in bringing more diversity to the nearly 86-year-old industry group.

The effort is the latest chapter for Coté, who graduated from Swarthmore College and got her Master of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. She worked at Trammell Crow as it evolved into Avalon Properties and AvalonBay Communities, spending 15 years at those companies. She ended up as a senior vice president responsible for property operations of 19,000 apartment units east of the Mississippi River.

Now at ULI, Coté said she hopes one day there won't be a need for diversity initiatives at the organization, and that its membership will fully represent the communities in which the professionals serve. Until then, she said, these initiatives are in place to help bring equality into what has been a traditionally white male-dominated industry which includes developers, finance executives, engineers and architects.

A decade ago, the group's Women's Leadership Initiative began with a handful of female leaders and has grown to a cohort within ULI of 13,000 members globally, she said, adding her hope is that other diversity initiatives will follow suit.

Even though there has yet to be a formalized initiative related to race, with these efforts being primarily member driven, Coté said, it is being debated, and the Women's Leadership Initiative sets a model.