Launching a social mobility network with 150 members
Posted on: 21 April, 2025
“We want to inspire people like us, because in the real estate sector, there aren’t many people that look like us.”
Name: Kadra Abdi
Company: CBRE
Kadra Abdi is a third-year apprentice with CBRE: a company she initially encountered through a social mobility programme called Career Ready.
“They connect schools from low socio-economic areas to companies to help them get experience in the workplace. They also give you mentoring and opportunities to upskill through masterclasses. I was on that programme for a year and at the end of the year I got an internship with CBRE.”
This internship would eventually pave the way to an apprenticeship with the company, and the launch of CBRE’s first social mobility network.
Learning to love real estate
Kadra acknowledges that she wasn’t initially enthralled with real estate as a sector, but she puts this down to not knowing how it really worked:
“I wasn’t interested in real estate to start with, but the internship was paid so that was my initial motivation! But then I found it interesting and I really liked CBRE, so I decided to apply for the apprenticeship.”
Kadra now has a much better understanding of what real estate entails, and she feels that an apprenticeship gives her good exposure to its variety:
“I like how flexible and diverse real estate is, and I feel like with the apprenticeship, you can rotate into so many different teams and it’s so different. One day I’ll be doing consulting, one day I’ll be in valuations, the other day I’ll be in investments. There’s so much variety and I like that it’s a people sector because I’m very sociable, so I like talking, meeting new people, dealing with clients. It’s a mix, which is what I like. And buildings. Who doesn’t love buildings?”
Kadra credits CBRE with giving her as much exposure as possible to all the areas of the business:
“I don’t do residential, but I still get invited to residential events like apartment launches. I like that CBRE lets you float around everywhere, and get insights into different teams.”
An online university with a sense of community
Like all apprentices, Kadra has to balance her busy role at CBRE with her studies at UCEM. She appreciates the clear structure of the learning, and even though she is “a people person”, she feels there’s plenty of support available through UCEM’s 100% online model:
“I like that when I’m studying it’s very structured and the modules are very interesting. There are group chats and we discuss all the modules and assignments. So it’s kind of like a little community. Even though we study online, we still have that sense of togetherness. I think that’s what I love about the uni.”
Kadra has also discovered an advantage with online learning – visibility of other people’s questions:
“If I’m struggling with anything, I can just email or put a message in the forums and usually they come back to me quickly. It’s also helpful because you can see other people’s questions, so sometimes I don’t even need to message. I can just see what’s already been asked and answered. Or, if I’m doing an assignment, I can look at all the questions because I know that I have similar questions to other students.”
Setting up a social mobility network
Having entered the sector through a social mobility programme, Kadra felt a strong sense of responsibility to help other people like her access similar opportunities.
Together with another apprentice who joined CBRE through the Career Ready programme, Kadra started a social mobility network at the company, even persuading the CEO to become the executive sponsor. Launched only a year ago, the network already has 150 members, a committee and an advisory board.
“We want to inspire people like us, because in the real estate sector, there aren’t many people that look like us. And especially in our areas, you would never hear about real estate. I’m a black female Muslim. It’s easy to assume I’m the diversity hire, and it’s harder for people like me to fit in, but real estate companies are slowly diversifying and it helps when people like me show others that they can do it too.”
Through the network, Kadra and her team go into schools to educate young people about the sector, and advise them on how to start their careers. They also hold focus groups for senior leaders within the business, to talk to them about social mobility and the barriers that need to be overcome.
The network has recently expanded to host events:
“We hosted our first-ever Business Insight evening and we had over 100 students attend. We had a panel discussion, a photo booth, and a networking segment. We also gave them an overview of CBRE, and we actually had someone go on to apply for the apprenticeship programme afterwards! We were just being ourselves – not making it too corporate. We spoke to them honestly about the pros and cons of the apprenticeship route.”
Promoting apprenticeships on the right platforms
Working, studying, and running an expanding social mobility network might sound like a full plate, but Kadra still manages to find time for public advocacy of apprenticeships. She regularly posts about her apprenticeship journey on social media, and regularly replies to messages from people wanting to know how they can get an apprenticeship place.
“I get so many LinkedIn messages. I make TikTok content as well. A ‘POV: As a real estate apprentice’ post I made got 75,000 views and loads of people were messaging me asking how they could get into apprenticeships.”
Kadra believes the built environment could be more effective at promoting apprenticeships through social media if they selected the right platforms for each audience group:
“If you want someone that’s 50, Facebook. If you want someone that’s 18, TikTok. If you want someone that’s 23, Instagram. You have to find the right platforms for the right people.”
