Alexis Volen

FINANCE: Business, Company Culture Successes Highlight Year

Alexis Volen, as COO of CIRE Equity, has been described as a tactical executive, dedicated mentor, and inspiring leader. She has a demonstrated track record of successfully identifying, managing, and capitalizing on real estate investments in growth markets nationwide at all levels.

Volen was named by the San Diego Business Journal as 2022 Business Woman of the Year for large companies with 250 or more employees.

Outperforming Market

Under Volen's leadership, CIRE Equity has continued outperforming the market year after year and has been called the strategic and operational mastermind behind CIRE's success.

Her expertise in managing company assets and growing a high-performance team has helped lead CIRE's portfolio to include more than $500 million of retail, office, industrial and multifamily investments across the nation.

She directly oversees the company's internal asset, construction and property management, and its human resources and IT departments and has streamlined the company's systems and processes to ensure that they can support CIRE's continued expansion.

Volen also negotiated and executed the largest renewal in the CIRE portfolio with Harkins Theaters with a commitment from Hawkins Theaters to upgrade its theater. She also negotiated waivers from nationally recognized tenants to develop land for quick-service restaurants at various shopping centers, adding value to CIRE's overall portfolio.

Throughout the pandemic when others threatened tenants with evictions and pushed for collections, Volen implemented a campaign that focused on nurturing CIRE's relationship with tenants. She and her team called each of the tenants to communicate that CIRE was there to help.

Growing a Diverse Culture, Team

Volen is a critical driver in expanding CIRE's team and developing a culture of inclusivity and diversity.

She maintains a consistent open-door policy, providing immediate support to whoever may need it and schedules weekly one-on-one meetings with her team and encourages them to focus on their professional development and personal growth.

She recently received her Certification of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mastery from SDS Global Enterprises, furthering her and CIRE's commitment to that culture. As a result of that commitment, 50% of company leaders are women, and 51% are minorities.

Volen also earned a certification in BlueEQ Leading with Psychological Safety and introduced psychological safety and emotional intelligence workshops at CIRE.

During what's been called the Great Resignation that followed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, CIRE beat the market turnover rate with a turnover of only 10% in 2021 through Volen's initiatives in remote hiring and on-boarding and an improving employee benefits package.

Academic and Service Background

She earned a bachelor's of science degree in business management and a bachelor's of arts degree in psychology from the University of California San Diego and a master's degree in strategic management from the Indiana University Kelly School of Business.

At UC San Diego, Volen was a star rugby player, played on the National Team Rugby, and was twice named an all-American rugby player. She volunteers as a coach of UC San Diego's Women's Rugby.

Her other volunteer work includes serving as a board member of the Real Estate & Development Program at UC San Diego and on the Careers Committee and DEI (Diversion, Equity and Inclusion) Task Force of San Diego CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women).