""Guardian Real Estate Services LLC,"":http://www.gres.com/ a Portland, Oregon-based real estate management, investment, and development firm, announced last week a new ""commitment"":http://www.gres.com/Apartments/module/website_documents/website_document%5Bid%5D/51912/ to social equity and diversity.
[IMAGE]""We know that committing to social equity and diversity is the right thing to do for our society,"" said Tom Brenneke, president of Guardian Real Estate Services.
[COLUMN_BREAK]""We also know research shows organizations that actively pursue responsible efforts to these goals are organizations that become stronger, both internally, and in their industry. This 'double bottom line' emphasis is important to our company,"" Brenneke said.
Twenty-four percent of Guardian's more than 1,000 employees are ethnic minorities, and 47 percent are women, according to a press release from the company.
Additionally, 60 percent of the company's executive management team are women.
Guardian's newly-announced commitment includes intentions to continue to promote diversity within the company.
Guardian also announced plans to intentionally seek out minority firms to meet supply needs and to encourage its vendors to work with minority firms as well.
""As one of the country's largest affordable housing developers, the company comes in daily contact with the challenges faced by individuals and families confronting unequal treatment due to their income and/or ethnic status,"" the company stated in its press release last week.
Guardian was founded in 1971 and currently manages more than 18,000 multifamily units dispersed between 280 properties.