According to a study from 2017 by Bella Research Group and the Knight Foundation, more than 75 percent of senior executive jobs in the U.S. commercial real estate industry were held by white men, while only 1.3 percent were held by Black men. White women held 14.1 percent, while nonwhite women held fewer than 1 percent of senior executive-level jobs.<\/p>\n
When it comes to ownership, only 0.7 percent of the 889 real estate investment management firms included in the researchers\u2019 data set were owned by women, while just 2 percent were minority owned.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Reggie Samuel. Image courtesy of The Leumas Group<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n In 2003, when Reggie Samuel was starting out in investment management, he attended the National Multifamily Housing Council annual conference and spotted only one or two other Black attendees out of the crowd of thousands. While he has seen that number grow, it hasn\u2019t been by much.<\/p>\n \u201cI was commonly the only African American in the room,\u201d said Samuel, founder & managing director of The Leumas Group, a Virginia-based real estate management firm.<\/p>\n Eight years later, when Samuel attempted to launch his own fund, he was feeling confident. He had a ton of experience and a successful track record, having done scores of deals with relatively large investors. But he didn\u2019t receive the interest he expected.<\/p>\n \u201cI was surprised at the limited traction that I was able to garner when trying to raise an institutional fund,\u201d he said. While he said he has never felt he was overtly discriminated against, he does believe there are systemic problems in the industry.<\/p>\n Collete English Dixon. Image courtesy of Collete English Dixon<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n While many in the industry reported seeing the number of minorities in commercial real estate tick up slowly over the years, Collete English Dixon saw the opposite occur. Dixon, currently the executive director of the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University in Chicago, started her real estate career in the real estate investment division of Prudential four decades ago after graduating from college. While the industry was smaller then, she says it was more diverse than it is now.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a kind of \u2018Wow, how did we get here?\u2019 moment,\u201d said Dixon, reflecting on what\u2019s changed in 40 years. \u201cWe have a bigger industry now and many more players, and those platforms appear to be significantly less diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n Osayamen Asemota-Bartholomew. Photo by MalaikaL Photography<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n One of the most commonly cited factors that have led to commercial real estate\u2019s continued lack of diversity is how people first enter the industry. The way in which companies recruit candidates often involves outreach to colleges, networking associations and connections with those already established in real estate.<\/p>\n However, many companies recruit only from a few colleges or pick the top colleges in a region\u2014most of which lack diversity. \u201cUsually those schools were predominantly white institutions,” Dixon said. Smaller and more diverse schools lack the same outreach, limiting exposure to the commercial real estate industry.<\/p>\n \u201cToo frequently we feel that Black talent is too hard to find,\u201d said Samuel. \u201cI think the problem is that we\u2019re all fishing for freshwater bass using saltwater tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n Furthermore, many minority candidates looking to break into commercial real estate are unaware of social networking opportunities that exist, said Osayamen Asemota-Bartholomew, the chief program officer & acting executive director at Project REAP, which helps connect talented minority professionals to careers in real estate.<\/p>\n \u201cToo frequently we feel that Black talent is too hard to find<\/span>,\u201d said Samuel.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cI think the problem is that we\u2019re all fishing for freshwater bass using saltwater tackle.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cA lot of minority professionals don\u2019t get those opportunities because they\u2019re not aware of it,\u201d said Asemota-Bartholomew. \u201cIf you take a look at how individuals are able to gain opportunities in commercial real estate, it really boils down to the social systems that revolve around it.\u201d<\/p>\n Residential real estate tends to be easier to break into, since certification and licensing can often be completed in less than two months. But in the commercial space, getting in the door comes with a lot more obstacles.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople kind of know what real estate is, but they don\u2019t know how to get in it,\u201d said Dixon, who believes there should be more energy placed on identifying diverse candidates for roles. \u201cHow to get in that space is virtually unseen.\u201d<\/p>\n Minority professionals are more likely to select a company with obvious diversity. Positions of leadership at real estate firms\u2014from the C-suite to corporate board members and top salespersons\u2014very often lack minority representation. \u201cYou may see a woman, which is great, but that\u2019s really where it ends,\u201d said Asemota-Bartholomew.<\/p>\n Companies need to be aware of the makeup of those at the top and challenge the hiring process from the beginning. \u201cDemand diversity,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of these organizations have chief diversity officers, but there\u2019s limited support to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Minority leaders in the field typically have a wealth of resources that could be tapped by allies in the industry. Many are alumni of college fraternities and sororities or members of Black or Hispanic professional associations that companies could be connecting with to identify talented candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we don\u2019t have a lot of those conversations,\u201d said Asemota-Bartholomew. \u201cIt\u2019s always \u2018Let me go to where I\u2019m comfortable with.\u2019 That\u2019s where the issue lies. If you look at a core team and it looks the same all the time, there isn\u2019t that conscious effort being made to diversify the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the progress that is being made in the industry is thanks to organizations dedicated to advancing talented minority professionals. Project REAP and the Real Estate Executive Council\u00a0 are two of the leading associations that help promote talented minority professionals in real estate through industry resources and relationship development. The programs have been around for years in the real estate industry and have a track record of success.<\/p>\n Meredith Marshall. Image courtesy of BRP Cos.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Both provide opportunities to minority candidates like real estate courses, site tours and networking events with representatives from industry associations and major real estate firms. Notable alumni from REAP include Angele Robinson-Gaylord, the president of U.S. real estate for IKEA, and London Kemp, the global head of corporate real estate for Netflix.<\/p>\n BRP Cos. Co-Founder & Managing Partner Meredith Marshall is one of New York City\u2019s most well-known developers. His firm has been behind several mixed-use housing developments across the city, including major projects in Harlem and the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens.<\/p>\n He sees programs within the industry to promote more diversity as well-intentioned, but notices opportunities to do more.<\/p>\n At his own firm, Marshall has been working on bigger projects that often entail partnering with large, non-diverse firms. \u201cBy partnering with us, we\u2019re helping solve the problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAny positive change, any focus, any real planning will help,\u201d said Marshall about the current movement toward racial equality across the country. \u201cI think real structural change requires a long-term effort that needs to be defined.\u201d<\/p>\n Real estate firms are getting the message about the importance of diversity, and in at least one case, making it a centerpiece of their company\u2019s vision for the future.<\/p>\n Toby Dodd. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Cushman & Wakefield Tri-State Region President Toby Dodd said his firm has pledged to make diversity and inclusion initiatives one of its foundational values going forward. Following its merger with DTZ in 2015 and going public in 2018, the company decided to \u201crecraft\u201d what the more than 100-year-old firm was all about.<\/p>\n The firm has made a big push on recruiting, but Dodd acknowledged that it still has a long way to go.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve made progress nationally recruiting from HBCUs,\u201d said Dodd. \u201cWe haven\u2019t made nearly enough progress, but we\u2019ve made progress.\u201d In New York in particular, Dodd said the firm has recruited from smaller colleges with more diverse student populations and diversified the panels conducting interviews.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a diversity problem in the industry, and that problem just keeps compounding,\u201d he said. \u201cWe started a new decade in 2020, and we\u2019re going to be judged on how we end it. This is our decade to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>Barriers to entry<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Making progress vs. staying static<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Keeping the focus<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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