Breaking Ceilings|Breaking Ground

Molly McCabe & Jill Ferrari

Every skyline has a story. Breaking Ceilings | Breaking Ground brings you the women behind them — developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators transforming commercial real estate across North America and shaping the next generation of great cities. Hosted by CRE veterans Molly McCabe and Jill Ferrari, each episode goes deep with industry trailblazers: the deals they've closed, the companies they've built, and how technology, community, and bold vision are changing what's possible. Whether you're already building or just getting started, this is the conversation you've been waiting for.

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    Carla Guerrera - Prosperity by Design

    Breaking Ceilings, Breaking Ground: Carla Guerrera on Innovative, Inclusive Real Estate Development Molly McCabe and Jill Ferrari sit down with Carla Guerrera, CEO and founder of Purpose Driven Development, to explore her pioneering work in inclusive, sustainable housing. Carla's projects hold community impact and profitability as complementary priorities — a through-line that defines her decade-long approach to development in Vancouver and across North America. Carla's path to development runs through law, urban planning, and social housing — a combination that shaped both her methodology and her mission. Purpose Driven Development partners with nonprofits, faith communities, and Indigenous organizations to bring forward projects that would otherwise never get built. At the center of the conversation: North America's first all-women-led, intergenerational housing development — housing for seniors, single mothers, and workforce women, built by an all-women team from design through construction. The financial architecture of that kind of project is anything but simple. Carla walks through how she stacks public capital, grants, municipal fee waivers, and discounted land to make impact-driven projects financially viable. It's a model that demands patience, precision, and a long view on capital — and she makes the case that the development industry needs more of exactly that. The conversation also covers the current lending environment and how tightening financing has created new pressures for affordable housing development. Carla is direct about the challenges and equally direct about the opportunities: patient capital, innovative partnership structures, and a willingness to stay in complex deals long enough to see them close. This episode is a clear illustration of what becomes possible when profit and purpose are built into the same project from the start — and a compelling case that the most complex, socially vital developments are exactly where women in real estate are doing their best work. Key Topics North America's first all-women-led, intergenerational housing developmentFinancing strategies for social impact projects: stacking public capital, grants, and partnershipsWorking with nonprofits, Indigenous organizations, and faith communitiesEnvironmental, social, and economic sustainability as integrated prioritiesThe case for patient, long-term capital in transformative developmentConnect with Carla Guerrera Website: purposedrivenroi.com Email: Carla@purposedrivenroi.com

    40 min

About

Every skyline has a story. Breaking Ceilings | Breaking Ground brings you the women behind them — developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators transforming commercial real estate across North America and shaping the next generation of great cities. Hosted by CRE veterans Molly McCabe and Jill Ferrari, each episode goes deep with industry trailblazers: the deals they've closed, the companies they've built, and how technology, community, and bold vision are changing what's possible. Whether you're already building or just getting started, this is the conversation you've been waiting for.