18 OCTOBER 2024
Since joining Grosvenor in 2023, Natasha Forde has helped spearhead the continued digital transformation of Grosvenor’s customer services as part of their wider innovation drive. Amidst building a new team and creating new digital platforms, she’s also become very involved in championing diversity and inclusion in the property sector and at Grosvenor.
Here Natasha shares why she’s passionate about encouraging more people to consider a career in property, and creating working cultures where everyone can be who they are.
I'm the first person to hold this role and I feel the business has trusted me and my knowledge.
I'm in charge of our digital customer platform, which is any application or digital asset that directly interacts with our customers. I run the product management side.
For me, it’s taking all my 17 years of experience and smashing it into one amazing role.
One year on from my appointment, the business is using the concepts and learnings I’ve brought with me, which is really great.
Grosvenor might be a 340-year-old company, but it’s firmly focused on innovation and looking to the future. The collaboration across the business and across different teams has been wonderful.
At Grosvenor I feel like I fit and can help lead the way for the rest of the industry to follow suit.
Throughout my career, I've worked tirelessly to get to where I am.
Being a black woman in tech is hard. Being a black woman in tech at the level I am is even harder. And being a black woman in tech in real estate – wow.
A lot of the time when I walk into an industry conference, I'm the only one that looks like me. I hadn’t realised there was such a gap in the real estate sector. When I stepped into the role, things like that made me a little bit sceptical about whether I’d be able to make an impact.
But a year on, I see myself being at Grosvenor for a long time. I feel like I fit and that I can make a difference. And that is a great thing.
It is really, really important to me to show there are lots of different roles in this sector for talented people from all backgrounds.
Everyone who is talented deserves that door to walk through
That’s why I’m loving being a co-chair of the Race Equality Culture Network at Grosvenor. The work we’re doing is part of the reason why Grosvenor was recently awarded Bronze Trailblazer status by Race Equality Matters. It’s a great testament to everyone’s dedication to drive equality in the sector.
For me, it's all about creating awareness within the business and really improving working environments for ethnic minorities.
To give you one example, I used to feel it wouldn’t be acceptable to walk into a corporate workplace without my hair in braids. Sometime when I share things like that, people are shocked by it. But that's actually my world, and for many people that's their world as well.
I’m proud to be able to play my part in championing a more diverse and accessible real estate sector where everyone feels valued equally for who they are and what they represent.