Sustainability Street: Project REAP Turns 25

Project REAP Executive Director Manikka Bowman. Photo by Christopher Huang

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald interviews Manikka Bowman, executive director of Project REAP (Real Estate Associate Program).

This year, Project REAP has been working to diversify the CRE talent pipeline for 25 years. So to mark to the occasion, the organization conducted a quantitative and qualitive analysis of its work to date. Bowman discusses the survey results, her own paths to CRE entrepreneurship and to REAP, and directions for the future.

At the annual ICSC conference in Las Vegas, ICSC President & CEO Tom McGee (center) accepted Project REAP’s first Vanguard Award from REAP board members (L to R) Joseph French, Institutional Property Advisors; Katrina Rainey, Walgreens;  Angele Robinson-Gaylord; Rite Aid; and Manikka Bowman. The award is granted to those who have demonstrated a commitment to diversifying the talent pipeline. ICSC was instrumental in launching REAP, providing classroom space, funding, and headquarters for many years.

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

• Project REAP’s mission (1:03)
• The pandemic and new opportunities (2:12)
• REAP’s survey results (4:10)
• Maintaining the momentum for DEI (10:53)
• Bowman’s road to REAP (14:10)
• Invisible biases in CRE (17:48)
• Bowman’s call to action (20:05)