The Fordham Real Estate Institute (REI) hosted the latest event in its ongoing series, “She Builds,” recently week at the Lincoln Center campus, featuring MaryAnne Gilmartin, founder and CEO of MAG Partners and special adviser to REI’s Executive Advisory Council of industry and business leaders.

The conversation was led by Michael Patrick Davidson, a speaker, consultant and coach with more than 30 years of experience leading global corporate real estate divisions at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.

Among other topics, Gilmartin discussed how focusing on the quality of her work landed her in the corner office in a male-dominated industry; the importance of being both a mother and a woman with a meaningful career; naming her multifamily projects after historical women of the city; and her unofficial role as “chief talent officer” at MAG Partners, an urban development company dedicated to diversity and inclusivity.

“I’ve built my career trying to bump up against what people think of as a developer and identify more with ‘placemaker,’” said Gilmartin. “If I use the word ‘developer,’ I refer to myself as a ‘civic developer’ because what we do is contribute to civic life and with that comes a great responsibility.”