Leann Mester, director of corporate marketing and communications, and chair of the DEI Council, at Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE: DOC), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworks: 2023 Conference in Las Vegas on June 28-29.
Mester commented on steps that ESG practitioners and communicators should take to prepare for questions from key constituents. She stressed that preparation is the key to success and said Physicians Realty likes to take a cross functional approach to preparing for questions to ensure the leadership team has everything at its disposal.
Meanwhile, Mester said the REIT seeks to have “very authentic” internal ESG communications that are driven by the interests of the team, especially in relation to the social aspects of ESG. The messages and the issues that Physicians Realty is tackling are things that its team is already deeply committed to, “so it comes from that place of authenticity and has that groundswell of team support,” she said.
Mester added that being a small team allows you to be nimble and ensures that everyone is involved in creating an ESG strategy who needs to be.