Roberta Sydney is a highly respected executive and thought leader with three decades of experience in financial services and real estate development. Roberta offers her expertise as an Independent Director and Advisor for companies in a range of industries, notably real estate technology, wealth management and manufacturing.
As a senior executive and board member, Roberta has helped numerous companies achieve significant growth, including large, traditional organizations, emerging companies and venture capital-backed startups. At wealth advisory firm Tiedemann Advisors, she draws on her experience in facilitating and guiding high-growth opportunities for financial services companies. She is also a Director and Chair of the Nominating/Governance Committee at Kiavi, a leading fintech solutions company for Real Estate investors.
Roberta's additional advisor and board roles include serving as Chair of the Boston chapter of Tiger 21 and as an Advisor for pioneering real estate technology companies Cobu, RentalBeast and Embue. She is also a Trustee and member of the Advisory Board and...Roberta Sydney is a highly respected executive and thought leader with three decades of experience in financial services and real estate development. Roberta offers her expertise as an Independent Director and Advisor for companies in a range of industries, notably real estate technology, wealth management and manufacturing.
As a senior executive and board member, Roberta has helped numerous companies achieve significant growth, including large, traditional organizations, emerging companies and venture capital-backed startups. At wealth advisory firm Tiedemann Advisors, she draws on her experience in facilitating and guiding high-growth opportunities for financial services companies. She is also a Director and Chair of the Nominating/Governance Committee at Kiavi, a leading fintech solutions company for Real Estate investors.
Roberta's additional advisor and board roles include serving as Chair of the Boston chapter of Tiger 21 and as an Advisor for pioneering real estate technology companies Cobu, RentalBeast and Embue. She is also a Trustee and member of the Advisory Board and Neuroscience Advisory Committee for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and previously served as a Director at real estate company, Plaxall, Inc.
In 1999, Roberta founded Sydney Associates, Inc. as a multigenerational family business focusing on real estate development, asset management and property management. As CEO, she employed an entrepreneurial approach in the acquisition and development of residential and commercial properties and successfully managed nine million square feet of property. After stepping down as CEO in 2016, she served as Chairperson until 2019.
Roberta is a sought-after speaker on governance and real estate topics. She has spoken at leading universities, such as Harvard Business School and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and at events held by renowned organizations, including The MIT Center for Real Estate and Women Corporate Directors.moreless
Roberta Sydney shares ten practices companies can implement to meet the challenge of creating a culture of inclusion in a fully or partially virtual workforce.
Sydney Associates, Inc. is a midsize real estate developer, asset and property manager, and multigenerational family business founded by Roberta in 1999. She served as Chairperson before a successful exit and earn out in 2019.
As CEO of Sydney Associates, Inc., Roberta led regulatory compliance, investor relations, as well as tenant servicing for operations, brokerage and leasing. Under her leadership, she ensured shareholder returns of more than 15%. She was crucial in maintaining strong relationships with major tenants, including Bank of America, Trader Joe’s and CVS.
State Street works with leading institutional investors from around the world. The firm offers comprehensive financial services including investment management, investment research and trading and investment servicing.
Sydney Construction Company
President
1997 - 1999
Boston, MA, USA
Sydney Construction Company was a family construction company founded in 1967 based in Boston and led by Roberta until she decided to set up her own enterprise.
BayBank
Senior Vice President | Consumer Lending and Mortgages
1993 - 1996
Boston, MA, USA
Established in 1894, BayBank held a strong retail banking presence in Massachusetts, with 205 locations at the time of its 1995 merger with Bank of Boston. The two banks formed BankBoston, which was later acquired by Fleet Bank.
Business Consultant
Independent Consultant
1990 - 1992
Los Angeles, CA, USA
During this time, Roberta worked with senior housing real estate development and high technology firms as an Independent Consultant. She advised the companies on strategic analysis, planning, and provided them with relevant marketing feasibility studies.
Leisure Technology, Inc.
Director | Forward Planning
1988 - 1990
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Leisure Technology, Inc. was a real estate development company that specialized in the planning, development and marketing of retirement homes across New Jersey, New York, California and Florida.
The Boston Company is an asset management subsidiary of Mellon that specialises in working with institutional and retail clients. Roberta began her career with The Boston Company as an Investment Performance Analyst.
Founded in 1999, Tiedemann Advisors is one of the largest independent investment and wealth advisors for high-net-worth individuals, trusts, families, foundations and endowments.
Kiavi offers reliable and simplified hard money loans and rental loans for real estate investors of all experience levels to grow their portfolios. It's technology empowers real estate investors to unlock value in every aged home.
Locatee is the leading workplace analytics solution that empowers workplace leaders to make fact-based decisions about their real estate portfolio by transforming complex data into space utilization insights.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is based in Boston and is part of the Beth Israel Lahey Health system. It is one of the world’s top teaching hospitals as part of Harvard Medical School.
Rental Beast is a real estate technology company that helps streamline the real estate market with its SaaS platform to enable agents, brokers, landlords and tenants to work more effectively.
Plaxall is a family-run company that specializes in commercial real estate and plastic thermoforming manufacturing. Roberta also served as Chair of the Compensation Committee.
Roberta Sydney joins the On Boards podcast to discuss the significant importance of board governance and the myriad ways it can improve a company or organization.
Roberta Sydney, a nationally recognized leader in board service, is featured in a new book titled “The Courage to Advance: Real Life Resilience from the World’s Most Successful Women in Business.” She shares her story in this podcast interview.
Roberta Sydney joins Proptech's Blueprint: Conversations with Champions series to discuss the developments and the evolution of real estate technology made during her time at the Sydney Associates and her strategies for maintaining construction projects and creating positive relationships with clients.
Roberta Sydney, along with other business leaders and board members, was invited to share her thoughts on how she views leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, she discussed the role of the board during the pandemic and offered suggestions on what boards need to do in this moment.
Roberta Sydney joins the IMN’s Podcast Series to discuss the current trends that are apparent in the hospitality sector in the wake of a global health crisis and the place of family offices in the current environment.
Roberta Sydney joins Sue Hawkes in a conversation in which they discuss the length of Roberta's impressive career, how she carried her skills with her during her transition to CEO and entrepreneur to board member and advisory roles as well as the obstacles that women face in the industry.
Roberta Sydney joins Candy O'Terry to discuss her experience founding and running Sydney Associates, her experience serving on boards, at times the only female board member, and the importance of building strong business relationships.
In this article that discusses the notion that women say sorry too much, Roberta Sydney says that she first considered the implications of speech after engaging in professional coaching in the early 1990s: 'I think a lot about my language and I really think about it when I write...I use oops instead of sorry if I send out an email. I don’t feel like I’m apologizing. To me it feels more innocuous.'
NACD Directorship Certification is a designation that keeps pace with the ongoing changes in corporate governance, positioning directors to meet the biggest boardroom challenges.
Roberta is accredited as Silver Level Executive by the American College of Corporate Directors. To reach this level of certification, Roberta contributed to the organization by sharing her valuable expertise, knowledge and experience gained throughout her career as an executive and board member.
Roberta is a Member and Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors and obtained the Cyber Certificate through the organization. This course focused on the cyber-security threat landscape, responsibilities of the board and management in cyber-risk oversight and featured cyber-crisis simulations.
Roberta is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and is certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The license is issued to candidates who meet the regulatory requirements for real estate brokers and salespersons.
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Publications
The Courage To Advance: Real life resilience from the world’s most successful women in business
Featured
Oct 2021
The Courage to Advance is a collection of 36 stories about how the world’s most successful women have overcome significant challenges to reach the top of their professions. Roberta Sydney is featured in the chapter 'Picking Up the Mantle', which discusses the unexpected familial responsibilities she took on at a young age and the professional hurdles she faced before achieving renowned success.
Seeing the present as a 'massive transition point', Roberta Sydney urges companies to recognize a great opportunity to rethink their workplaces and prioritize worker well-being. Notably, she discusses how the female presence in the workplace has changed and how a remote or hybrid workforce will require leaders to think differently about creating cohesion, spreading culture and inculcating values.
"Generalists—rather than specialists—make for great board directors in private companies to keep board size small, be better prepared to govern in times of uncertainty, and communicate effectively with one another and the management team," Roberta says in an article for NACD, in which she discusses the value of generalists on a directorial board.
In an article written for NACD, Roberta Sydney discusses what a CEO looks for in a quality member for the Board of Directors with the goal to advise those hopeful for a board appointment.
Roberta received an acknowledgement for her work in providing feedback for Robert Rosenberg's novel, Around the Corner to Around the World. She also worked as a beta reader for the novel.
Roberta is the author of "Find Your Volume Button: Moving Successfully from Corporate Leadership to the Entrepreneurial World" which was published by Ivy Exec, a leading career resources company.
WomenExecs on Boards (WEoB) is a global network of women who completed board governance programs at Harvard Business School and who are committed to work together to attain board positions and to advance the state of women on boards and in senior leadership positions.
Women Corporate Directors (WCD) is the largest community of female corporate board directors in the world. The organization has over 8500 members that serve on both private and public boards across the globe.
The National Association of Corporate Directors provides board members with practical insights through world-class education, leading research, and a growing network of directors. The NACD is the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices.
Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board
Member
2018 - Present
Cambridge, England, USA
Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board was set up by the university's real estate alumni to promote the field of study across the university and for alumni to network, grow and exchange ideas.
International Women's Forum is dedicated to promoting women's leadership across the world. The forum stands for worldwide equality and consists of over 7000 dynamic female leaders from over 30 countries.
The Private Directors Association is an organization made up of private company business owners, their executives & directors and aims to support directors to lead with confidence, knowledge and support.
C200
Member
2010 - Present
Chicago, IL, USA
C200 is a powerful community of the most successful women in business, representing companies with more than $1.4 trillion in combined revenue and employing more than 2.5 million people. Roberta previously served as a Board member, Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.
Founded in 1973, the Belfer Center is a permanent research center located within Harvard University. The Belfer Center focuses on research in the areas of Security, Diplomacy, Energy & Environment and Science & Technology.
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Awards & Endorsements
2020 Directors to Watch
Dec 2020
Roberta was listed as one of Private Company Director Magazine's 2020 Directors to watch for her work with private companies.
This program examines best practices for corporate boards and explores options and opportunities in corporate board service. Attendees gain a greater understanding of the role and responsibilities of corporate directors and the challenges they can expect to face in that role.
Roberta Sydney hosted a session with Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley to start the 2021 WomenExecs on Boards Symposium. In her keynote address, Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley shared her experiences and discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion at all levels of the federal workforce.
As a part of NACD-New England's Private Company Governance and Leadership Initiative, Roberta will be a moderator for a discussion regarding the preparation of companies for the work from home initiative and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed work trends.
In Part 3 of the FBA Family Business Panel, Roberta Sydney and others discuss how to handle the sensitive issues of compensation within a family business. The panel focuses on best practices and the importance of communication, while also highlighting the importance of outside consultation.
Family businesses are an exciting endeavor; however, they also pose some significant challenges, as the panel of Part 2 of the FBA April Family Business Panel illustrates through their experience and expertise. Roberta Sydney and the other panel members, discuss how to make the difficult decision of who to include in the family business, how bad decisions can hurt the business, and other topics.
In Part 1 of this FBA Family Business Panel, Roberta Sydney joined a panel of experts to discuss inter-family politics, generational transition, hiring in the family business, and many more relevant topics for business owners, family businesses, and entrepreneurs.
Roberta joined IMN’s Real Estate Webcast Series: Elevating the Role of Women in Real Estate to share her views on issues that women face in the work place, including pay inequality and a lack of leadership positions.
Roberta was a Featured Speaker at the Private Company Governance Summit held in May 2018, where she joined other prominent industry experts to provide insights on how companies and organizations should build their Board of Directors.
Roberta is the Co-Founder of the StartUp Partners program, an initiative that aims to help start-ups grow and succeed. Advisors are generally executives in the Boston area that are kept up to date with new trends and developments in technology which they pass on to provide valuable feedback to start-ups.
Marathon Daffodils is an initiative that aims to bring the spirit of spring to The Boston Marathon with many volunteers contributing to plant over 100,000 daffodils.
The press release also stated that Roberta Sydney was appointed to LendingHome's Board of Directors. Roberta was lauded and chosen for her 30+ years in the real estate industry.
Roberta Sydney was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of LendingHome. Sydney was lauded for her success as a real estate entrepreneur, CEO and senior corporate executive. "I'm looking forward to advising LendingHome,” she said. "I believe in the products and people at LendingHome and I'm excited to work with the team.”
