Women’s participation in the labour market in Cyprus has increased over the last decades. As a working woman in the modern era, what are your findings?

I think it largely depends on the sector and career each of us chooses but times have changed especially in the last decades. Personally, when I started my career 20 years ago in real estate and banking, I was negatively impressed by how few women were working in these sectors. This resulted in me not having a strong female role model in any of the firms I worked in until I joined PwC in my late 30s. However, over the last decade I have seen how general attitudes towards women have changed, at least in terms of the workplace, and I am convinced that it is now understood and accepted that gender and different nationalities bring balance to the workplace through different ways of thinking, work ethics and other creative and constructive differences.

8 March is a day of remembrance and honour for the struggles for women’s rights. To which woman/women would you dedicate this day and why?

I dedicate this important day to my mother, who was a role model for me as a working woman as she held the very responsible position of Chief Operations Officer in a large corporation while taking care of her family. Note that the company she ran manufactured race cars, which was considered a strictly male club. Yet, she was held in enormous esteem by the 45 employees under her charge. She earned the respect of both her subordinates and the ownership through hard work, talent and her unique ability to be both strict but fair. I was very fortunate to have had her as a role model growing up.

What measures can be taken to combat discrimination and defend women’s rights at work?

A competent and strong human resources department is a priority to ensure that discrimination is not part of the company culture and recruitment process. In addition, it is important for a company to have strong women in leadership positions as role models, however, what is paramount is that each employee has strong mentors regardless of gender who can help with their career development. In fact, my best supporters and mentors throughout my career have been men.

How would you describe the role of women in modern society in one word?

Opportunity

Who is Who

I started my career in 2003 as a Chartered Surveyor with Knight Frank based in London, focusing on commercial property. There I was involved in transaction analysis, equity fundraising, investor relations and corporate structuring in different jurisdictions. After the 2008 financial crisis I started working on commercial real estate secured non-performing loan portfolios, first at Lloyds Banking Group and then for four years at PwC as a Director, before setting up my own company in the real estate advisory services sector. A valuable experience that I used to create Altia, the fastest growing real estate company in Cyprus.