New York, NY According to Adeola Adejobi, Esq., founder and CEO of Avant-Garde Network, the world is adjusting to new realities brought on by a global pandemic and social unrest. The commercial real estate industry is acknowledging the need for diversity in the industry and the impact on the built environment for communities of color. “For years, diverse CRE leaders led the charge, but now there is no way around it with the reshaping of the CRE industry and future demands,” said Adejobi, founder and CEO of Avant-Garde Network, graduate of Cornell Law School, and award-winning millennial entrepreneur.
Nationwide, on Saturday, November 14, the Diversity in Commercial Real Estate (DCRE) Virtual Summit powered by Avant-Garde Network will welcome participants nationwide to hear world class CRE professionals tell their story and demonstrate strategies to help communities of color succeed in commercial real estate, real estate investment, technology, opportunity zones and much more. The all-day event will run from 10AM-4PM EST.
Over 300 participants have already registered from cities across the nation, and Adejobi anticipates that 200 more will join in the coming weeks.
Speakers representing a cross-section of major cities across the U.S. will tell their story and how they surmounted the odds and rose to success in an industry where less than 1% of senior-level C-Suite executives are persons of color. They include:
- Don Peebles, CEO Peebles Corp. (NYC-based), known as one of the most successful CRE entrepreneurs in the nation, holding a multi-billion portfolio of properties in New York, Boston, Philly, DC and LA.
- Tammy Jones, a nationally recognized CRE entrepreneur with over 24 years in the field, the co-founder and CEO of Basis Investment Group, a NYC-based MWBE that focuses on debt and structured equity strategies and operates in partnership with a company that owns and manages over eight million s/f of CRE assets.
- H. Jerome Russell, president, H.J. Russell & Co. (Atlanta-based), founded over 60 years ago, a vertically integrated service provider specializing in development, construction, program management, and property management. He is also the president of Russell New Urban Development LLC and the Russell Center of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for Black entrepreneurs.
- Buwa Binitie, managing principal, Dantes Partners (DC-based), a firm that closed over $800 million in unconventional real estate transactions and created over 2,300 units of workforce and affordable housing units last year.
Attendees will learn insider insights into real estate acquisitions; real estate development; financing; investment; national MWBE opportunities. They will have the opportunity also to network and learn about issues that affect commercial real estate development around the nation. Over 15 additional speakers have backgrounds in development, law, finance, and other nationwide commercial real estate initiatives and policy.
For more information, schedule or to register, CLICK HERE