A mature industry dominated in many respects by family-owned businesses is wonderful for stability but is a challenge to break into, especially for a person of color. Such has been the case in commercial real estate for generations.
Then came Project REAP, which for the past 25 years has been working to attract and train professionals of color into the industry. Now celebrating its silver anniversary, the organization released a report that shows formidable progress.
Many of its 1,700 graduates began lucrative careers in the industry — from owning brokerage firms to heading site selection and store development for Fortune 500 companies, the report said.
According to the research, 71% of alumni who completed the survey were able to transition into, maintain or enhance their positions in CRE, with 56% reporting a significant shift in the trajectory of their career soon after graduating.
As a result, the survey showed a 20% increase in senior-level employment positions, as reported by alumni, and a 14% increase in executive-level employment positions. In addition, REAP graduates saw statistically significant increases in salary. Those making between $100,000 and $200,000 reported an overall 33% increase in salary, and those making more than $200,000 saw a 13% increase.
“Our goal is to build the tent to make sure that we’re constantly putting in front of the industry,” said Mannika Bowman, REAP’s current executive director. And we’ve created a space for those people to be seen.”
REAP, then the Real Estate Apprentice Program and now the Real Estate Associate Program, was developed by Mike Bush, then vice president of real estate for Giant Food, to train minority prospects to work in retail real estate. It became a 501(c)3 in 1998 and partnered with the then International Council of Shopping Centers and, eventually, other trade organizations to provide training and classroom space.
That helped recruit other associations to provide training to REAP students, said Osayamen Bartholomew, founder of The Gift Agency and formerly chief program officer at Project REAP.
With a master’s degree in media management and communications, Bartholomew had gone into the music industry, representing makeup artists, and working in event production and marketing. She began pursuing opportunities in the nonprofit trade association sector and was a coordinator for the New York City Bar Association.
A family background in entrepreneurship and retail, and experience working with Jay-Z during his involvement with the development of Barclays Center kindled Bartholomew’s interest in real estate.
“I was so intrigued by all of that, but I didn’t know how to get my foot in the door,” she said. “I would look up the development companies and I saw no one who looked like me. I got discouraged.”
In 2013, a recruiter called, and while she wasn’t interested in that particular position, she did express interest in working in real estate.
“But I didn’t want to sell. I wanted to work for a real estate trade association on diversity and inclusion,” she continued. “We stayed in touch, and he told me about ICSC and a program they supported called Project REAP. I said, ‘Sign me up!’”
Her career progressed from project manager to chief program officer, and eventually to interim executive director.
“We had the support of ICSC, BOMA, ULI and NAIOP. We were able to put a planning team together from those trade associations and school alumni,” she said.
The program needed to scale. A Brand Ambassador program was created to identify REAP alumni who could serve to represent the organization in new markets. And then came COVID-19. The organization pivoted to a six-week virtual program. But as the pandemic dragged on, it became clear that more would be needed.
“We knew we needed to make the whole thing virtual,” Bartholomew added. “We reached out to a board member, Gwinnett Cody of ULI, to turn the whole REAP program into a 10-week virtual program, but we didn’t have the platform. Within 24 hours, we were told, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Ironically, going virtual helped Project REAP grow even faster, Bowman observed.
“It expanded our reach,” she said. “Before, we would be in one or two communities a year. COVID-19 forced us into the 21st century.”
And now, it’s reaping (pun intended) the benefits of its previous work as REAP graduates are spreading the word about the program, and in the case of London Kemp Boykin, director of worldwide real estate development at Amazon, serving on its board.
Boykin, a lawyer, joined REAP in 2012 in its second Los Angeles class.
“I was already working in commercial real estate at In-n-Out Burger, but I knew long-term that I wouldn’t continue in restaurant real estate,” she said.
At that point, her experience was solely on the transaction side. REAP offered a survey of all aspects of commercial real estate, as well as new contacts. Boykin was quickly recruited by Walmart, a presenter in the program, to an operations role. Eventually, she was a speaker, too, and went on to join REAP’s national board. She later moved to NBC, overseeing real estate for its studios.
Now, having moved on to Amazon, where she oversees all real estate except for stores and oces (think fulfillment and hangars for its airplane fleet), Boykin is working to develop new scholarship programs for REAP.
“REAP was the launchpad for my career,” she said. “I got exposure to the largest portfolio you could possibly imagine in my first roll-outs. I was managing 80 million square feet. It made me a better legal drafter.”
Another graduate, Otto Beatty III, president of The Otto Beatty Companies, also was an entrepreneur and attorney, working in the transportation business when he found Project REAP.
“I was interacting with a lot of building owners — at that time I was looking to transition from my current business and looking to be educated in different disciplines,” he said. “The program was brought to Columbus in 2014 and I was fortunate to be selected. I got a lot of exposure to many great real estate companies and really enjoyed the class and the networking in class.”
Using those relationships he went into the co-working sector, and by 2021 was involved in development, which brought him back to REAP. “I was looking for a refresher, so I approached REAP during the pandemic and asked about retaking the class. I went through the academy a second time,” he said.
The second go-round was dierent — Beatty observed that he had more experience and clarity about his goals, and the educational component through the partnership with ULI was a bit more academic. But the virtual format also helped in another way.
“It allowed you to interface with multiple individuals in other cities,” he said. “We would then go to a ULI Fall or Spring meeting or the ICSC, and regather.”
And the networking has continued. Beatty has reached out for assistance from REAP graduates in Atlanta via an exclusive social media portal and oered his expertise as a market leader and expert when asked. Now, he said, his responsibility is to encourage other interested professionals to enroll in Project REAP.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is in that last three to four years since I’ve been involved, we’ve gotten more people exposed, and that turned into employment op- portunity,” he said. “I’m seeing more people becoming aware. That’s the first thing. In many communities of color, there’s been a lack of awareness of the opportunities that exist in real estate.”
Problems still remain. Cracking the C-suite and venture capital firms is still a challenge.
“Real estate is so dominated by closely held, family-owned companies,” said Bartholomew, who left REAP, joined the Real Estate Executive Council and now runs her own talent and service management company. “I’m more optimistic now that we will see more diverse organizations rise up. The knowledge and experience gap is starting to close. We need to teach young people about commercial real estate and its path to generational wealth.”
Though there has been some incremental progress, Boykin said, “I still at my level am statistically insignificant in my industry.”
Education is still critical, Beatty said.
“People are generally aware there are brokers and developers,” he said. “They’re not aware of asset managers, property managers, appraisal and surveying. And there’s such a strong interest in communities of color, especially in affordable housing. That represented an opportunity.”
Society remains segregated in different ways, Bowman said, based on schools, where lifelong networks are built. That’s why REAP’s continuing expansion around the country is so important. It has inspired another networking platform, Avant-Garde Network (see sidebar).
“Certain circles rarely connect, and that’s the problem. Within commercial real estate, 25 years later, there are barriers. People have to push themselves to go beyond the network,” she said. “Hope springs eternal. I’m a clergywoman at the end of the day. What makes me hopeful is when I engage with our alumni, they’re dynamic, engaging individuals. We’re planting seeds for the industry. We know diverse environments cre- ate better outcomes for our organizations.”
Beyond the Avant-Garde
At least one Project REAP alumna has taken networking for professionals of color to new levels. Adeola Adejobi, founded Avant-Garde Network, which is now more than 25,000 strong. The network hosts an annual Diversity in Commercial Real Estate conference focused on commercial real estate, real estate investing, technology, opportunity zones and more, intending to diversify the industry from the executive leadership and entrepreneurial perspective.
Avant-Garde Network works in multiple industries, with real estate still a challenge, she said. “Obviously last year there was a big increase in interest from commercial real estate organizations. From a broader perspective — people trying to break into space and making an impact and change,” she said.
Despite growing public commitments to DEI in commercial real estate, it still isn’t easy. Real estate is more insular than other industries because it can be, she observed.
“The commercial real estate is an industry where people don’t necessarily look outside their network to build their teams,” she said. “But the market conditions are different.”
The goal has been to build a cross-section of professionals from various real estate sectors to build even more diverse networks. This year’s conference drew attendees from 31 states, up from 29 last year. That’s what the industry is about — relationships. The more you have, the more successful you’ll be.”
Diversity also extends to gender.
“At least 50% of our speakers are women — around 50% of our attendees are women,” Adejobi reported.
The conference itself has evolved from an initial focus on development and has grown as Avant-Garde partners with businesses in the industry that are looking to broaden their diversity.
“DEI is not charity, it’s good for business,” Adejobi said. “With that in mind, there is still a lot of work to get done in this area, even as we’re finally starting to get more diverse folks into the industry.”
