Carol Faber: Akerman partner set to greet International Women’s Forum

When Carol Faber looks at Miami’s evolving skyline, it reflects a legal and real estate career that has unfolded alongside the city’s transformation over more than four decades. That experience now anchors her role as president of the Florida chapter of the International Women’s Forum, where she leads one of the region’s most prominent networks of senior women leaders.

Ms. Faber is a long-time Miami real estate attorney and partner at Akerman LLP. When the firm opened its Miami office in 1982, Ms. Faber joined during its early growth as one of its first local hires, when it primarily served banking and lending clients. Today, the firm is a national AmLaw 100 practice headquartered in Miami, with its flagship office at Brickell City Centre since 2016. She now serves as co-chair of its national distressed property practice and leads its Miami real estate group.

Originally from New York, Ms. Faber grew up in Brooklyn and spent part of her childhood in Florida before earning a degree in anthropology from the University of Florida. She later attended the University of Miami School of Law on a full scholarship, a decision that anchored her long-term career in South Florida.

She began her career at Akerman handling commercial lending and real estate finance matters for institutions such as Sun Bank during a period of rapid growth in Miami’s banking and development sectors. She later left to co-found Perlman & Faber, representing international investors in U.S. real estate and business transactions, before returning to Akerman in 1998 as the firm expanded nationally.

Over her career, Ms. Faber has worked on major transactions across Miami and beyond, including financing large-scale condominium developments, landmark acquisitions and syndicated loan transactions reaching hundreds of millions of dollars. Her practice also includes distressed property work, restructurings and loan workouts through multiple economic cycles, including the 2009 financial crisis.

Beyond her legal work, she founded and led Akerman’s Women’s Initiative Network for more than a decade, building one of the firm’s key platforms for women attorneys.

Today, as president of the International Women’s Forum Florida chapter, she oversees a network of senior women leaders across law, business, finance and education and helps guide programming focused on mentorship and leadership development. The organization, which will host its World Leadership Conference in Miami in 2027, connects more than 8,000 women leaders worldwide.

Through both her legal career and her leadership with IWF, Ms. Faber has become part of a generation of Miami professionals whose careers have paralleled the city’s rise as a global hub for business, development and leadership.

Ms. Faber spoke with Miami Today reporter Genevieve Bowen.

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