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our vision
Breaking Ceilings Breaking Ground is a platform highlighting
women real estate developers across North America.
Our goal is to bring focus to women in the real estate development industry by celebrating and promoting their achievements and contributions. The platform will feature a podcast with interviews and success stories of women who have made significant strides in this traditionally male-dominated field. The podcasts will culminate in a book that encapsulates our journey over the next year.
This platform seeks to inspire future generations of women to explore real estate development as a career while fostering a supportive community for those already in the industry.
Molly McCabe
Molly McCabe is the CEO of HaydenTanner, a development and investor advisory firm accelerating impact and sustainability in the built environment. A veteran of commercial real estate finance and capital markets, she serves as a bridge between risk and return, visionary development and the bottom-line, to create financially and environmentally resilient buildings and vibrant, sustainable cities. Experienced in leading through complexity, she has also helped launch and guide several start-ups, new ventures and change management initiatives.
Molly sits on the boards of The Freshwater Trust, City Craft Foundation and is co-founder and board member of The Lotus Campaign, providing housing-driven solutions for homelessness.
Past Chair of Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Responsible Property Investment Council, founder of a VC funded, commercial mortgage-backed securities firm, and manager, institutional real estate capital markets group. Author: “Practical Greening: The Bottom Line On Sustainable Property Development & Investment.” “Financing and Driving Value: Responsible and Resilient Property Investing in the New Millennium.”
Industry leader on investment, climate change, social-impact and resilience. Mom, dog-lover, amateur “handy-woman,” serial entrepreneur (currently focusing on the intersection of climate and prop tech).
Jill Ferrari
Jill Ferrari has 27 years of experience in urban redevelopment. Her background includes private real estate acquisition and development, legal practice, consulting, and community development. In 2019, Jill co-founded Renovare Development, a majority woman-owned commercial real estate development company focused on transformational projects that serve a deep community need. Currently, Renovare has over 100 million in the development pipeline throughout Michigan, including attainable single-family housing projects and mixed-use developments containing childcare facilities, grocery stores and workforce centers. Renovare was named the 2025 “Developer of the Year” by Michigan RE Journals.
Jill has been active throughout her entire career in the advancement of women in commercial real estate. She was named a Crain’s Detroit “Notable Executive in Real Estate” in 2021, a Globe ST Magazine “Woman of Influence” in 2021, a 2017 “Woman of Distinction” by the Wayne State University Council on the Status of Women and a 2016 winner of the Melvin Simon Award from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation. She is a founding board member of the Women’s Sustainable Development Initiative, whose mission is to support emerging women commercial real estate developers who are Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color. She is a current member of the Michigan State Bar Association.