Members of the Urban Land Institute's Women's Leadership Initiative, including Americas Chair Emma West, converged on Las Vegas for ULI's annual fall meeting, where they networked with industry leaders and public officials.
On Tuesday, the group held its WLI Americas Coffee Connect at the conference at Resorts World Las Vegas. Scores of members attended and West said the event was an important part of WLI's mission to increase the number and visibility of female leaders in ULI’s network. She is based in Toronto, where she is a partner at the planning and urban design firm Bousfields.
In addition to networking events, WLI hosted a discussion as part of the fall meeting's agenda. On Tuesday, West moderated a fireside chat with Debra March, who served as mayor of Henderson, Nevada, the state's second-largest city behind Las Vegas, from 2017–2023.
The group also presented a discussion titled "Transforming Las Vegas Chinatown: Placemaking and Placekeeping," that included a look at the history of the neighborhoods across the globe from Minjia Yan, a WLI board member and director of investment at Millennium Commercial Properties. Yan is working to reposition Las Vegas' Chinatown.
Established in 2011 and a ULI program, the Women’s Leadership Initiative has more than 40 chapters in eight countries.