REBNY and Coro New York Leadership Center celebrate new 2024 Class of REBNY Fellows

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the City’s leading real estate trade association, and Coro New York Leadership Center, the City’s premier civic leadership training program, are celebrating the newest cohort of REBNY Fellows. The first program of its kind for young real estate professionals of diverse backgrounds, 22 talented mid-career professionals in brokerage, development and other real estate fields have entered the program now in its fourth year. 

The REBNY Fellows Leadership Program brings in real estate professionals from diverse backgrounds for a high-impact, six-month training program designed to help elevate their careers and prepare them for opportunities to increase their impact on the industry and its future. In addition to gaining networking exposure and advocacy and civic leadership training, REBNY Fellows become part of a lifelong professional network that will support their continued success. Once accepted into the program, fellows’ employers sponsor their participation costs, demonstrating the commitment of these businesses to a diverse workforce. 

“The continued progress of this program is a testament to the talent within our city and our sponsors’ commitment to a more inclusive real estate industry reflective of the city it serves. There is much work still to be done but this program will help equip young professionals in real estate with the tools needed to create a more inclusive, thoughtful and agile industry and broader economy,” said Yvonne Riley-Tepie, Ed.D, REBNY’s senior vice president of Social Impact. “We are thrilled to welcome the latest cohort of fellows.” 

"At Coro, we are working on building the next generation of diverse leaders who are ready to step up and make a change in New York City,” said Garrett Lucien, Coro’s executive director. “More than ever, we need leaders who are ready to take on the biggest challenges we face, and we are proud to partner with REBNY to help us achieve that goal. It is going to take every sector of life in New York coming together to create a more inclusive and fair city and through this collaboration, we can help cultivate the leaders who will make it possible.” 

The program has added a new strategy day this year to give fellows the chance to share their thoughts on the future of New York City real estate directly with senior leaders in the field. This collaboration will give insight to decisionmakers seeking to address the most pressing issues in the market, including New York City’s housing crisis, land use challenges, diversity and inclusion and climate and environmental justice. 

The 2024 REBNY Fellows 

• Jide Akinpelu, assistant property manager at Hines 
• Dara Bachner, project management at CBRE 
• Celena Batista, residential property manager at The Durst Organization  
• Kim Bernardin, development manager at Lendlease 
• Alexandra Bluvol, project manager at Suffolk Construction  
• LeeAnn Cremin, community manager at Rose Associates  
• Vincent Cricco, portfolio manager at Rose Associates 
• Nicholas Fils-Aime, senior associate at Tishman Speyer 
• Olivia Frasco, assistant general manager at Related Companies 
• Anthony Genovese, general manager at Brookfield Properties 
• Ruqqiya Henson, property services administrator at Empire State Realty Trust 
• Omar Mahmoud, general manager at Rose Associates 
• Sebastian Morris, director, marketing & communications, FirstService Residential 
• William Neikam, property manager at Simone Development 
• Jake Nestola, director of property management at Dalan Real Estate, Inc. 
• Daniel Papa, senior vice resident at Lisa Management Inc. 
• Stephania Ponce, economic inclusion manager at Gilbane Building Company  
• Stephanie Shih, human resources business partner, Rudin Management Company 
• Emily Spence, Real Estate Portfolio Admin/Management Analyst, Mount Sinai Health Systems 
• Michael Taxin, managing director, Brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield  
• Israel Yanez, assistant property manager at The Durst Organization  
• Lydia Yohannes Benson, senior community manager at Gotham Organization 

REBNY is committed to advancing efforts that help attract, retain and advance women, people of color and others from diverse backgrounds in the real estate industry. The REBNY Fellows program was conceived and launched in 2020 based on an overarching initiative led by REBNY’s Diversity Committee, which works to create professional opportunities and improve and promote the diversity of the trade association’s membership and the real estate industry at large.  

This past summer, REBNY partnered with the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development to place 77 talented young people in paid real estate industry internships through New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Additionally, REBNY partners with Building Skills NY to connect underemployed New Yorkers with jobs and training to create new career pathways into the construction industry.