REEC Diversity
Partners Program
This program seeks to form a partnership between REEC and collaborating industry partners on the mission of increasing diversity, equity and inclusivity in the commercial real estate industry. The partnerships focus on achieving goals across multiple dimensions of diversity, including:
Talent (pipeline and retention)
Corporate spend (supplier/vendor diversity)
Capital (investing in and/or with partners of color)
Advocating for diverse teams with internal and external vendors
EXISTING AND FUTURE DIVERSITY PARTNERS INCLUDE BROAD SPECTRUM OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL TYPES, SUCH AS:
- Developers – across property types and geographies
- Brokerage Firms
- Financial Service Firms (Banks, Insurance Companies, Investment Banks)
- Private Equity and Investment Management Firms
- Corporations (with large real estate holdings and/or Corporate Real Estate Teams)
- Builders/General Contractors
- Service providers (lawyers, appraisers, title companies, architects, consultants, et. al.)
- Trade Associations, and
- Academic Institutions
Diversity Partners will agree to commit to a multi-year financial investment with REEC for the continued development and expansion of programs and initiatives that will drive meaningful change in the levels of diversity in the commercial real estate industry and increase economic inclusion/equity for people of color through the activities of the commercial real estate industry.
In addition, Diversity Partners will provide REEC and REEC members access (as deemed appropriate) to executives and resources with their organizations that will support the activities and mission of REEC. In return, REEC will work with each partner to develop meaningful goals and objectives in the areas of Diversity and Inclusion across the following dimensions:
REEC’S SUGGESTED FRAMEWORK FOR INCREASING DIVERSITY IN CRE:
Firms and organizations should create “business plans for diversity”: explicit goals, measurable mileposts, specifics on who is responsible, how they will be held accountable and compensated.
Dimensions to diversity to be addressed in the business plan:
Hiring and developing talent – increasing the level of diverse talent in the workplace;
Diversity Spend – where firms “they spend money”;
Capital & Investment Allocations and Access – increase the amount of, and improve the access to, capital for minority owned investment managers, developers, projects and communities, including debt, equity, long term and working capital;
Diverse Teams – commitment to the advancement of minorities in the corporate environment by seeking ethnic diversity in the teams that present and/or execute for you as vendors, suppliers or partners.
Goals, measurements and transparency – firms should establish clear and measurable goals (with meaningful increases from current levels), procedures to measure and track progress towards those goals, and specifics about who is accountable to achieving the goals and what are the rewards/consequences.
The dimensions in the framework above should be complemented with an accountable Diversity & Inclusion initiative using internal or external resources empowered to create and measure meaningful change in the corporate culture of the firms agreeing to this framework.
As an industry where partnership is a common operating paradigm, addressing the diversity issue through partnership with organizations whose missions are to increase diversity in the financial services industry is the path REEC advocates. REEC, SEO, MLT, Toigo and InRoads all have contributed significantly to the current level of diversity in CRE and are examples of potential diversity partners.
