Karen Fish-Will, Principal and CEO, and Melissa Fish-Crane, Principal and COO of Peabody Properties, Inc., were recently named Outstanding Women of Family Business by The Warren Group editorial board. Fish-Crane accepted the awards for her and her sister at the 2018 Outstanding Women of Family Business dinner event, held Thursday, April 5, at Lombardo’s in Randolph.
The Outstanding Women Award is an annual award that honors the achievements, commitment, and dedication of female family business professionals who demonstrate outstanding leadership and commitment both in their businesses and in the communities they serve. Fish-Will and Fish-Crane are two of 12 Massachusetts family business leaders named.
At the helm of Peabody Properties, sisters Fish-Will and Fish-Crane foster a culture of fun, diversity and growth, encourage professional development, and promote the practice that personal values of community service to those less fortunate is not just good business, but the right thing to do. Peabody Properties was originally started in 1976 by their father, the late Edward A. Fish, who was considered one of the “founding fathers” of the affordable housing industry, and the family legacy carries on with his two daughters and resonates strongly throughout Peabody Properties today. This “dynamic duo” personifies true profiles in family business leadership in both the multifamily housing and real estate industries, and they advance their father’s legacy by shepherding projects (including Peabody Resident Services, Inc., and Peabody Veteran Supportive Housing) that truly make a difference in the lives of the people who call their communities home, while leading an organization that has received multiple “best places to work” awards.
“Once again, we’re excited to recognize and honor the hard work and dedication of this year’s recipients of the Outstanding Women of Family Business Award,” said Timothy M. Warren, Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “Each woman exudes generosity, innovation, as well as grit, and we are glad to have the chance to honor them at the awards gala.”
“We are so grateful to The Warren Group and the Family Business Association for this recognition,” said Fish-Crane, “and we congratulate all the other honorees. We are proud of how we’ve grown our business; together as sisters and co-owners, carefully guiding the company into a new phase of smart growth, originally started by our father, the late Edward A. Fish, who launched Peabody Properties in 1976. It is so important to us to carry on the family legacy with a mission-driven value to deliver exemplary service; supporting the company’s core values of F-I-S-H: Fiscal responsibility, Integrity, Stability and Humility. These guiding principles are what we expect all our employees to live by and are really the foundation of how we conduct our daily business.”
