March 2022 Presidential Message
Monday, March 21, 2022
by: Thor Emblem, GSH Group

Section: President's Message




Phil Hartman once said, “if you ever have a little girl (daughter), you become an instant feminist”.  I don’t know if that is true for everyone, but having a daughter had a profound impact on me.  That is not to say that I didn’t value my mother, my four sisters, my aunts, my female friends, my wonderful wife, or any of the other fabulous women in my life before my daughter, Maddy, came along. But after she was born, my feelings intensified.  When my daughter was about five years old, she was watching me fly a flight simulator and she asked “daddy, can girls be pilots too?”  I replied “heck yes!  They can be the best pilots”.  I stopped what I was doing and started showing her videos of Patty Wagstaff, one of the greatest stunt pilots of all time.  Later, we wrote to Ms. Wagstaff.  She was kind enough to send my daughter two signed pictures that hang on her wall to this day, a decade later.  Since that day, I have made a concerted effort to show my daughter role models of successful women.  Whether it’s my friend Jaimi, an executive at a mechanical company, or historical figures like Kate Sessions, the “Mother of Balboa Park”, or famous Californians like physicist and astronaut Sally Ride, I want her to be familiar with female heroes. I want her to know she can do anything she aspires to, and I never want anyone to make her feel limited by her gender.

On International Women's Day (March 8, 2022), BOMA San Diego held our March membership meeting.  There was a sell-out crowd filling the University Club’s ballroom.  The program was centered on the hurdles overcome by and the achievements of female property managers.   As well as a celebration of the inspiring women of BOMA San Diego.  The panelists were Sonia Miro of Kearny Real Estate, Alina Talbot of Street Properties Inc., and Cheryl Mossa of American Assets Trust.  The panel was moderated by Teresa Henning of American Assets Trust. They shared their experiences in navigating their professional landscapes careers as female industry leaders. The program was inspiring, and I was so glad that I brought my daughter along to experience it.   She now has even more heroes to venerate and emulate.  On behalf of BOMA San Diego, I want to thank the Programs and Seminars committee and our speakers for a fantastic program.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality and is an opportunity to fundraise for female-focused charities.  As such, in addition to our program, we held a silent auction to benefit the San Diego Women’s Foundation.  We raised $1,800.00 and, on behalf of BOMA San Diego, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Community Service Committee for putting the fundraiser together and to the generous donors who created the baskets for auction. This was a truly special event, and I am incredibly proud I got to share this experience with my amazing daughter.