On December 1, 2021, four great Washingtonians will receive the region’s signature lifetime achievement award, joining the more than 125 Laureates in the Washington Business Hall of Fame who serve as role models to the next generation of business leaders. Their careers and backgrounds are as broad and diverse as their accomplishments are far-reaching.
The Learn About the Laureate series serves as an opportunity for the Greater Washington business community to get to know the 2021 Washington Business Hall of Fame inductees just a little bit better.
Check out Deborah Ratner Salzberg’s Q&A with JA below!
Deborah Ratner Salzberg
Principal,
Uplands real estate patners
JA: What was the hardest job you have ever done?
Ratner Salzberg: The hardest job I’ve done was being a working parent. I was constantly torn between my role as a mother—to fully be there for my children— and the responsibilities of my role as a company leader. Many days left me feeling that I wasn’t doing my best in either role. And I was a lucky working mom. I was able to have all the support I needed. My husband was the cook in the family. I had family and friends in town who could fill in when I traveled, and I had in-home childcare. Despite all of this, there were many days when I felt overwhelmed and underperforming as a mother and as a boss. As we all know, running a business is not a 9 to 5 job. It’s full-time, and clearly, so is parenting. I felt the responsibility of doing my best at home for my children and at work for my colleagues.
Memories of these times have come back during COVID, as I would be on Zoom calls watching parents balance work, childcare and home responsibilities. Many of these parents were single mothers and fathers, who had to supervise homeschooling during work hours. I can only begin to imagine the stress parents have been under for the past 18 months. My hope for today’s working mothers and fathers is that they will come out of this experience more resilient, and that as leaders we will be more understanding of the importance of home and work-life balance.
JA: Did you have a mentor or a role model over the course of your career?
Ratner Salzberg: I have had many role models and mentors throughout my life beginning with my father, who is an eternal optimist. He has taught me never to give up and always to give back. My father also instilled in me a confidence and belief that with hard work I could achieve so much.
I have a group of women who have mentored me throughout my career. They are my internal board of directors. There are not many women in real estate, particularly in real estate development, and there were even fewer when I began my career. Having my board of directors, this group of friends and advisors to whom I regularly go for support, has been invaluable to my career. They have helped me in my profession, my nonprofit work, and even given me family advice. I can’t imagine going through life without being able to reach out to them. They have advised me through difficult times and transitions, offered business insights, connected me with partners, and reinforced my father’s emphasis on hard work. One friend’s words quoting Louis Pasteur are always with me: “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
JA: Did you have a teacher or educator over the course of your education who had a lasting impact on your life?
Ratner Salzberg: This isn’t an easy question to answer. I believe most people would talk about teachers who had an incredibly positive impact on them—made them realize they loved a subject, taught them to open their minds to new ideas— but in my case, the teacher who had the biggest impact on me was far from my favorite. In 12th grade, I had a teacher who gave 17 of 22 students a D in French. We had been taking French since 4th grade. We had all done the work during the semester, and none of us thought we were that bad in French. It was my first D. The grade drastically impacted my ability to get into the college of my choice and was probably my largest life setback up to that age. Until I received the D, I had planned on attending a 6-year combined college and law school program. Although it felt like the world had come to an end and that my life was going to be dramatically impacted, I learned to pick up the pieces and move forward. My French teacher taught me resiliency and the importance of regrouping and moving forward after setbacks. I made it to college and to law school. It did take longer than 6 years, though!
“Every business should welcome diverse perspectives, backgrounds and opinions that make outside-of-the-box thinking and innovation more likely. ”
JA: If you could choose one person, living or dead, to have dinner with, who would it be?
Ratner Salzberg: This is a very interesting question. I would answer it differently at different stages in my life. If you’d asked me in my early years, my answer would have been William O. Douglas, the former United States Supreme Justice. Justice Douglas was a very liberal justice who amongst other things was a strong advocate of the 1st Amendment, developed the constitutional right to privacy, and was an early environmentalist.
Today, my answer would be Amanda Gorman, the United States’ first youth poet laureate and author of “The Hill We Climb,” recited at the Biden-Harris inauguration. The poem was incredibly moving and was delivered by Ms. Gorman with tremendous passion and grace. Ms. Gorman’s hope and optimism for this country’s future is inspiring. She, like our students, is our future.
JA: The global pandemic has caused young people to reconsider the connection between their education and an uncertain future. What should students be doing today to help prepare them for a successful tomorrow?
Ratner Salzberg: First and foremost, the pandemic has not changed the need for a strong education. Stay in school and learn the most you can from those around you. Try to find out what interests you and what things excite you–whether it’s computer science, welding, law, or fashion. Life is much more enjoyable when you like your job and you’re successful at it. Always remember that whatever you end up doing, you must do it well. Second, I talked above about my mentors and my personal board of directors. Begin identifying your board of directors now. It’s not too early to start. Your mentors will come from many places, including school, your community, and work.
JA: What can the Greater Washington business community do to build and sustain a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce?
Ratner Salzberg: This region has plenty of good-paying jobs, but not enough District residents and minorities are landing those jobs. There is a clear equity imperative, but also a clear business case. Every business should welcome diverse perspectives, backgrounds and opinions that make outside-of-the-box thinking and innovation more likely. A local workforce with stronger ties to local employers means lower job turnover and lower training and reorientation costs.
There are several actions employers can join to hire a more diverse workforce—actions that are being guided along by the Federal City Council, a business civic organization I chair. First, join in cultivating the pipeline of skilled workers you need by being directly involved in workforce training. The Federal City Council’s Employer for Equity program is helping to form industry partnerships to better communicate with DC training providers around the skills employers are hiring for. Second, be deliberate about hiring local. The Federal City Council and the DC Chamber together launched Hire Local DC, which is a coalition of employers committed to cultivating local talent. Third, be flexible on degree requirements. Revise requirements, like mastering a specific coding language rather than a bachelor’s in computer science. Fourth, start early to bring in young talent. Partner with local schools and universities. Careerwise DC and Urban Alliance allow students to go to school while working part-time with an employer and earning an industry-specific credential. Through workforce pipelines and hiring decisions, employers have uniquely powerful levers to close the racial equity gap.
JA: What is the one thing you want the Greater Washington business community to know about your company?
Ratner Salzberg: The company that I ran in Washington D.C., Forest City Realty Trust, was sold in 2018 to Brookfield Properties. Forest City was known for its expertise in placemaking, public-private partnerships, and mixed-use development. What was not as known about us was our core value of community involvement and civic responsibility. When Forest City entered a new city, we made it our job to become part of the community–to become the community’s partner. At our largest DC public-private partnership, The Yards, we took this value very seriously. We had a Director of Social Inclusion, Andre Banks, who worked to establish a Mentor-Protege program pairing established larger construction contractors with minority-owned businesses to perform work at The Yards. Andre ensured that we not just met but exceeded our mandated hiring goals on all our District projects.
Forest City gave its associates the opportunity to dream big, and we were fortunate enough to give others the opportunity to join in that dream. Together we created a new community at The Yards–one of the many mixed-use and mixed-income communities that Forest City created around the country.
You’re invited to support Deborah Ratner Salzberg’s induction into the Washington Business Hall of Fame. All proceeds benefit Junior Achievement of Greater Washington’s work to prepare local students to be future-ready.