海角视频

Yasmin Rehmanjee, Partner and Co-Director of our New York Office, has been appointed as the Vice Chair of ULI New York鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Leadership Initiative. Join us as we chat with Yasmin on her appointment and her work at 海角视频.

In this interview, we speak with Yasmin Rehmanjee, a partner at 海角视频 with over two decades of experience leading some of the most complex and iconic structural engineering projects globally. We delve into Yasmin鈥檚 vision for ULI New York’s Women’s Leadership Initiative and insights for women in their careers. We also chat about her work at 海角视频 as the New York Office Co-Director and partner, managing large-scale projects.

Yasmin鈥檚 appointment as Vice Chair of ULI New York鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Leadership Initiative is a testament to her exceptional leadership and commitment to advancing the role of women in the industry. Her vision for the future includes fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment, where diverse voices are heard and valued.

Leadership, to me, embodies a multifaceted approach. It’s about understanding nuances, weaving connections, influencing outcomes, guiding behavior, fostering collaboration, leading from behind, and delegating. Effective leaders recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t suffice. Instead, they adapt authentically to each individual, acknowledging their strengths, weaknesses, and passions.

Partner and New York Office Co-Director, Yasmin Rehmanjee

Yasmin Rehmanjee on her vision for the ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative

Can you share your vision for the Women’s Leadership Initiative and any specific goals you hope to achieve during your tenure?

“I’m very excited to be taking on the vice chair position for the WLI group in New York City this year. What I’ve loved about it is what I want to ensure that we continue doing more of. Which is really creating this place and space for women to get together, have the ability to network, meet mentors, meet advocates within the industry, and be able to share with the younger women who are entering into the industry. One of the other things that we try to do is also create this platform to showcase women and the amazing work they’re doing here in New York City and elsewhere, and to really be able to celebrate it with the community.”

What advice would you give to young women aspiring to leadership positions in the industry?

“One of the things I would encourage, not to just young women, but all young people coming into the industry is to really, think about our work and the work that we do as a very long-term play. So, always thinking of yourself as a sponge, especially at the beginning stages of your career, you’re never, ever going to stop learning. Then just thinking and being patient with yourself, with your learning and just absorb as much as possible and not being too much of a rush in terms of progressing and thinking of short-term things to sort of maybe even progress in your career, but really, really invest in becoming extremely good at what you do.

One of the other things I would encourage, particularly young women coming into the industry is to raise your hand when you’re interested in something or want to do something always express what your what your ambitions are, what your aspirations are. I would also encourage women to find mentors and advocates within their firm, and maybe even outside, because you need someone at the top table to be speaking on your behalf. So, you need to find that within your organization.”

Yasmin on her position as 海角视频’s New York Office Co-Director and her work leading large-scale projects at 海角视频

Yasmin’s involvement in ULI is a snapshot of her leadership initiative. As the New York Co-Office Director, Yasmin sets strategic direction and champions diversity, equity, and inclusion through her leadership of 海角视频鈥檚 North America Equity Committee. She is also a dedicated mentor and educator, having taught at prestigious institutions like MIT, Yale, and Purdue University.

As NY office co-director, how do you cultivate an inclusive, forward-thinking office culture?

“One of the ways, Robert, my co-office director and I try to do that is honestly to include as many of the New York office members as possible in a lot of the initiatives we take. For example, we recently moved a New York office. It was a huge undertaking, moving the biggest office in the United States. So as soon as we knew that we were about to move, we formed what we called an implementation committee, which included a lot of the facilities team and some members of our staff. But then and I think this was more importantly, we created an engagement committee that was not led by Robert and me, but by other members of the staff, where we got an immense amount of input from our team through the engagement committee about, almost every aspect of the new office. We engaged our own team members to do the lighting design, the acoustic, etc. so it was very much, a project that was undertaken, we felt, by almost the entire office. And that is how we ensure that there’s inclusivity. We make it by the people.”

What are some of the most rewarding aspects of your work at 海角视频?

“The most rewarding thing and 海角视频 is definitely with people, and it’s across just about everything I do. I’m a structural engineer, so starting with that aspect of my work, I still meet with my teams to go over, technical design and engineering work that they’ve done that I like to sort of have my finger on, and understand what they’re doing.

But I love having those conversations and being able to share what I’ve learned, but also to learn from them because it’s not a one-way street. I also really love, in my role as partner and project principal on my project, working with the various project directors and project leaders on ways to lead and manage not just projects, but people as well. That’s where the magic happens, right within what we do.”

Can you highlight any upcoming projects or initiatives that you are particularly excited about?

“In terms of initiatives, one of the things that I’m super-duper excited about right now is designing for circularity. It’s just beginning to grow in the United States and there’s been a lot of talk for a very long time where everyone’s sort of like, oh, we should implement circular design in our projects, in the work that we do. But for the first time in New York City, the New York City Economic Development Corporation has actually required design teams to implement circular design principles into design. It’s such an amazing place to be within the design realm, because we’re so used to designing things from scratch for a sort of finite period of time, we have buildings that we design for 50 years or 100 years, but circular design is sort of breaking that paradigm.

It’s a real shift in thinking about extending life of whatever it is we’re building or constructing for as long as possible. I like thinking of it, in terms of a Lego set. You have all these pieces, you put them together, you disassemble them, and then you can create something really, really fascinating, completely different with the same set of pieces. That’s one of the things that circular design really encourages. I think it’s just something that the construction industry should have been thinking about a very long time ago and we’re finally doing it, and I think it’s really important.”

Learn more about and Yasmin‘s work below!