2018 Women In Real Estate, Professional Services: Michele Arbeeny, Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP

Name: Michele Arbeeny 

Title: Partner

Company Name: Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP

Real estate association / organization affiliation(s): The New York State Association for Affordable Housing

What are some of your biggest accomplishments in the last 12 months?

While my banking and real estate finance practice continues to grow, I’m pretty excited about the advancement of Windels Marx Women–an affinity group I chair within the firm, which includes all levels of women lawyers who organize around business development, networking and mentoring opportunities. Each quarter, we gather to share positive developments in our professional and personal lives, explore practice areas and the business of law, and identify opportunities to align our group with developments in various industries. As a result of our progress, we established a Mentoring Program that I also chair and we have established a scholarship at an area law school focused on diversity. These efforts were recently recognized by city and state New York where I was an honoree at their Diversity Summit, and which addressed the advancement of diversity and inclusion initiatives through various government programs, including MWBE.

What do you do like to do for fun?

I love cooking for the family and watching our children play soccer, baseball and hockey.

In one word, describe yourself: 

Determined 

How important is it for women to create a personal brand?

I believe it’s important to design a professional and personal life that amplifies what’s important to you. For me, I mix career and family obligations with pro bono work for the Brooklyn Arts Council, where I am on the Board of Directors. Arts and culture have always been an important part of my life, and by sharing the arts with others in my personal and professional network, it creates unique opportunities to cross-pollinate many different communities.