At PeopleDem property we believe in celebrating our community by spotlighting black excellence in property. Today we are celebrating Mary Pierre-Harvey.
Mary is a Chartered Surveyor and the UK's first Black female Director of Estates and Campus Services at Oxford Brookes University. She is a married mother of five, the first Black female Non-Executive Director at Aspire Oxfordshire, a community youth leader, a safeguarding representative, and an advocate for racial justice and inclusion. Mary has been a guest lecturer at universities and a speaker at primary schools. She continues to share her career and leadership journey at Women into Leadership events across the UK and internationally.
Mary holds a Master of Science degree in Architecture from University College London and was the first person in her family to attend university. Throughout her career, she has worked at several high-profile, world-leading organisations, including the Palace of Westminster, Harrow School, English Heritage and Oxford Brookes University. Wherever she has worked, Mary has consistently been the most senior Black woman or the most senior Black person in the organisation. Beyond her professional achievements, she is an active community leader who advocates for young and elderly people at risk. She has also supported asylum seekers and refugees and is the founder and leader of a Caribbean community group and a youth music ministry.
Mary was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and was brought up by a single mother who was determined to give her daughter the education she had never received herself. Mary attended a Catholic convent school, where her early experiences helped shape the values that would guide her throughout her life.
In an interview, Mary reflected on the influence her mother had on her childhood and the importance of treating others with kindness and compassion.
“She always reminded me to treat others as I would like to be treated, and I don’t think I quite understood what that really meant until my adult life. She taught me from very young to be very respectful to orphans, the disabled and elderly. My mum was an orphan.
As a single mum, on her day off she would sometimes take me and my siblings to orphanages and homes for disabled children or adults to teach us to be respectful and compassionate towards those who were less fortunate than we were. She wanted us to learn that we shouldn’t sneer at them, but they ought to be reached out to, loved, and not treated any differently in fact, they should be treated equally.
My mother was a nursing assistant, and she could spot that someone needed help from miles away, and she would go and help. She led by example, showing us what it is like to care because we always saw her doing kind acts. I have followed that path to always keep an eye out for someone else in need. Give and help even when you do not have much; give of the little that you have. And those things are all very important to me, and they shaped who I am today.”
These early lessons in compassion, generosity and service became fundamental to Mary's character and continue to influence both her professional leadership and her commitment to supporting others.
During her secondary school years, Mary's friends aspired to become accountants, lawyers and pharmacists, but she wanted to pursue something different. She decided to enter the construction and property industry because it was predominantly white and male-dominated, with very few, if any, Black women like her represented within it.
Mary acknowledges that her A-level results were not the best, but they were good enough to secure her a place at university, supported by a scholarship from the Trinidad and Tobago government. She went on to study Quantity Surveying at the University of Greenwich. However, after a year of professional practice, she found the work so uninteresting that she decided to pursue further studies. She enrolled on a Master of Science degree at University College London, studying Architecture and Project Management.
Her experiences of racism came as a significant shock. Reflecting on her first day at the University of Greenwich, Mary recalled what it was like to study as a Black woman among predominantly white men. “The concept of who I was and where I came from was out of kilter. A colleague even asked me if we lived in trees and ate bananas!”
Despite these challenges, Mary continued to pursue her ambitions. Following her degree in Quantity Surveying at Greenwich and her MSc in Architecture at UCL, her career began to take off. She went on to work on high-profile projects, including the restoration of Westminster Abbey's Chapter House and Dover Castle's Great Tower.
Mary spent five years in the private sector, during which she achieved professional membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Her commercial acumen and excellent customer service subsequently attracted the attention of a housing association, which headhunted her to become its Head of Buildings. In this role, she was responsible for leading what was then the largest social housing development project in Europe: the development of Blackbird Leys in Oxford.
Mary's thirties brought further opportunities, including a relocation to London with her family. She took on roles at the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and English Heritage, where she became Head of Estates. At English Heritage, she was responsible for an impressive portfolio of historic properties, including Dover Castle, Westminster Abbey's Chapter House and Osborne House.
Mary eventually became Director of Estates at Harrow School, making history as the first Black person to hold the position. Her career continued to progress, but the demands of senior leadership came at a personal cost.
She worked exceptionally long hours during the week and at weekends, leaving her mentally absent at home. As a result, she completely missed signs of depression in one of her children, who needed urgent attention. Recognising the importance of being there for her family, Mary took a career break to care for her child and support them through some major examinations.
Despite her experience and qualifications, she was surprised by how difficult it was to return to paid employment after a year-long career break. Eventually, she accepted the role of Assistant Director of Strategic Estates at the Palace of Westminster, where she became the most senior Black woman in the organisation's professional services.
Her most recent professional challenge saw her take on the role of Director of Estates and Campus Services at Oxford Brookes University, where she once again became the first Black woman to hold such a senior position.
The role is an important one, encompassing a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including maintaining the university estate and providing the services essential to its smooth operation. It also requires the knowledge, experience and determination to deliver major capital projects within a large and complex organisation, alongside the interpersonal skills needed to gain the confidence of a wide range of stakeholders.
Throughout her career at several world-leading organisations, Mary has experienced discrimination, although she has been hesitant to reveal the details. When pressed, she speaks about what she considers unacceptable discrimination and emphasises her determination to encourage greater inclusivity in education and the workplace.
“I don’t believe that we will ever completely eradicate discrimination,” she says. “But we can, individually and collectively, do much more to promote equality and inclusion and effect zero tolerance for all forms of inequality and exclusion in workplaces. Let inclusion and equality start with me and spread like wildfire!”
Mary has first-hand experience of the inequalities that continue to affect the construction and property industries, particularly the disparities between male and female employees. Reflecting on her experiences as a Black woman working in these sectors, she has spoken candidly about the challenges she has faced.
“I have walked through the valleys of the shadows of racism, sexism, bullying and unequal pay, which I have experienced directly from white and male managers and which were meant to break and destroy me completely. They have only served to make me stronger, wiser, more empathetic and stand taller. One day, I will tell my story! It is my faith in God that has protected me and brought me out a much more compassionate person.”
It is through these experiences that we discover the core of Mary's character: the spirit that has kept her moving forward despite the tears and personal challenges that, she admits, have sometimes taken her to the edge. For Mary, compassion is a skill, and she believes the difficulties she has encountered throughout her career have helped her become more compassionate and more determined to make a difference.
Her deep faith has been a constant companion through difficult times and continues to guide her mission to make a difference in the lives of others.
“The reality is that you have to work harder to get the same job. There is progress in recognising the issues, which are more widely spoken about, but there is unconscious bias and we are all prejudiced, in one way or another. But we should celebrate the progress that has been made and get on with making a real difference.”
Having faced numerous challenges throughout her career, Mary wants the world to recognise how forward-thinking Oxford Brookes University is in its approach to diversity. She is now in a good place professionally and takes great pride in both her role and the university.
“Oxford Brookes is breaking the mould and breaking ranks with the norm. I was appointed on merit, not just because I am a Black woman. When I was told that I got the job, I burst into tears of joy and ran straight into church to thank God! I am so happy to be at a university that is trailblazing true diversity at the highest senior management levels, where others fear to tread. I am the UK’s first Black female Director of Estates and Campus Services at a large university. It’s early days yet, but I feel included and have ‘room to fly’. I want the world to know how forward-thinking Oxford Brookes University is.”
With her career journey progressing positively, Mary is already looking towards the future.
“My leadership will promote progression from within, ensuring succession planning and ultimately, passing my role over to the next Director of Estates. The next steps for me will be board-level and non-executive director opportunities.”
Mary's leadership philosophy is rooted in recognising and developing the potential in others. Her advice to Black women aspiring to senior leadership positions begins with the belief that everyone is a leader, even if they are not yet aware of it. She believes that, if people take the time to examine their lives, they will discover some aspect of leadership within themselves that may have remained hidden or unexplored.
Despite the challenges she has encountered throughout her career, Mary considers empowering and promoting talented staff to be one of her proudest professional achievements.
She once managed a Grounds Manager whom she recognised as an excellent leader. Mary asked him whether he had ever considered moving into senior management, and he replied that he had not. Recognising his potential, she coached and mentored him. During her time at the organisation, he progressed from Grounds Manager to Head of Estates.
He had not even realised that such progression was possible for him. While others doubted his ability to succeed, Mary believed in him and supported his development. She considers it a beautiful experience to help people progress into spaces they previously felt they could not enter or where they believed they did not belong.
Mary's pride in her achievements extends beyond the workplace and into her family life. One of her greatest personal achievements relates to her son. Despite having ADHD, being expelled from primary school and initially being refused entry to the secondary school of his choice, he went on to graduate from the University of Cambridge. For Mary, fighting for her child, irrespective of the personal cost, and seeing the fruits of that determination is simply marvellous.
Drawing on her extensive professional experience, Mary offers valuable advice to Black women navigating their careers and aspiring to leadership positions.
“Recognise that your work life should account for about 25% of your life. If it’s more than this, you might be heading for burnout and you might be missing out on nature, hobbies, homelife and friends. So many of us overcommit to work and don’t realise it until it is too late.
No man or woman is an island. Surround yourself with allies, a sponsor within your organisation, a mentor, a coach, a buddy, a life friend to support you and journey with you.
Maintain a portfolio of your achievements. When we were young, we had certificates, pictures and mementoes. But when we become adults, we sometimes forget to record our achievements. Record all the things you achieve and are proud of, and at times when you lack confidence or motivation, or when you’re applying for a new job, the portfolio of your achievements would be handy.”
These words reflect Mary's belief in the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, building a strong support network and recognising one's own accomplishments. Her advice is grounded in her personal experiences of navigating professional challenges while balancing the responsibilities of leadership and family life.
Mary's family has been one of her greatest inspirations throughout her journey. As a working mother of five amazing children, she wanted to serve as a role model for them. Four of her children have graduated from university and are in gainful employment, and Mary felt it was important to establish standards of success that they could follow if they chose to do so.
Another significant source of motivation has been her beloved mother, who never achieved her own career aspirations because she lacked the encouragement, help and support she needed. Mary was determined to pursue the dreams her mother had been unable to fulfil, and she is grateful to have achieved those ambitions and made her mother proud.
Mary believes her mother has not received the recognition she deserves and would do anything she could to elevate her and place her on the pedestal she believes she has always deserved but has never had the privilege or prosperity to enjoy. Her mother did not finish school and worked first as a domestic servant before becoming a nursing assistant. Despite the limitations she faced, she made enormous sacrifices for her daughter and remains Mary's greatest inspiration and heroine.
Reflecting on her mother's influence, Mary said, “I would not be where I am today without the sacrifice of her life that she made for me.”
Her mother's determination, compassion and sacrifices have left a lasting impression on Mary, shaping not only her professional ambitions but also her values, leadership style and commitment to helping others.
It has been a pleasure to share Mary's story. She has opened doors for Black women in the industry and demonstrated what is possible for our community, despite the many challenges she has overcome. Her journey is an inspiration and a powerful example of the opportunities that exist for us in the property industry. Mary's contribution extends far beyond her professional achievements. Through her work, volunteering and advocacy, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to supporting others and creating opportunities for those who may otherwise struggle to find their place. Her dedication to community service, racial justice, inclusion and mentorship reflects the values instilled in her from childhood. As she continues to build her legacy, she remains committed to helping others progress, opening doors and encouraging people to recognise their own potential.
