2021 EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS This is a working proposal. All details are subject to change. Alexis Stewart Diversity Equity & Inclusion Programs Manager
Empowerment Real Estate Scholarship/ Mentorship Fund
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
This scholarship and program seeks to create more accessibility to individuals from diverse backgrounds (with a focus on the Black/LatinX community) by providing funds and access to education and mentorship, critical components of a successful career in real estate. This is an effort to increase the representation of people of color in the Realtor community, specifically in our local San Francisco brokerages and Association. Clients will have more opportunities to work with Realtors that represent diverse backgrounds. SFAR and our local brokerages will have opportunities to directly invest in diversity and equity initiatives and practice their values of creating a more diverse, inclusive profession and industry. Initially, the fund will cover the cost of real estate courses, the background check and the real estate exam fee for candidates.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
After the applicant passes the real estate exam, they will have an option to join one of our offices to be mentored by an agent/agent team as a “rising agent� to learn the ropes and build their network. The first year of SFAR dues will be covered by the fund as well. In addition, for candidates that have either shown a strong interest in real estate, are progressing towards receiving their license, or have recently received their license, we will fund a select few to attend the REimagine! Real Estate Virtual Conference & Expo partnered with an agent/agent team that is already familiar with this conference. Agents that participated in this fund to receive their salesperson license initially can also apply to have their Broker License Exam covered after review of their two-year period as a salesperson by their sales manager/managing broker. A checklist of requirements will be provided separately for this.
Equal Opportunities/Equity & Diversity: This program creates more accessibility to Black/ Latinx youth by giving them stepping stones, education and funding to invest in a career in the real estate industry and financial stability. There will be more representation of people of color in the agent community within brokerages and on boards. The real estate market will also open its gates towards a greater range of potential clients that are also people of color. Consumers have the opportunity to work with realtors that they feel represented by and have an assurance that the realtor is part of a brokerage that is willing to support and invest in black and latinx agents, therefore, investing in their clients.
GOALS
Brokerage Partnerships: Alignment with other brokerage firms is a goal and expected outcome to furnish even more opportunities for the community and diversity within other brokerages.
Agent Donation Funded: Real Estate Agents will primarily donate to this program and donations should be tax deductible. Donations directly from companies are accepted as well.
IMPLEMENTATION
Vetting Candidates: This scholarship will be given first priority towards non-profit organizations and local college career centers that specialize in community outreach to black/latinx youth. Community Colleges/Universities that also offer a RE course will be included. Applicant Check-In: Applicants must provide a progress update for each RE course completion and submit a certificate of completion to Alexis. A copy of the fingerprint/live scan form, examination application and confirmed testing day appointment will also be submitted as proof of progress.
IMPLEMENTATION
Mentorship Aspects: Agents in accompanying offices will already have been informed of the mentorship aspect and can volunteer to be mentors. A mentorship learning agenda/checklist will be created and myself, the sales manager of the designated office and the mentor will have a meeting to discuss and review the agenda before mentor/mentee partnership is confirmed to ensure mentorship is as enriched and valuable as possible. Furthermore, the mentee will join the brokerage as a team member and/or junior agent to the agent/team that is mentoring them. A commission agreement meeting will also take place between the sales manager and mentee for any sales that occur during the mentorship. Option for licensed assistant hire should be included. Age Requirements: In order to apply for the scholarship/mentorship fund and the REImagine Conference, the applicant must be at least 18 years of age.
SALESPERSON LICENSE RE Courses - *$266.50-$300 (First Tuesday preferred) Examination Fee - $60 License Fee - $245 Fingerprint Fee - $49 Live Scan Service Fee -*$30-$40 1st Year SFAR Dues - *705 (Pricing as of 2020) TOTAL: Scholarship Amount Needed *$1,399
FUNDING
*pricing may be subject to change
Empowerment Internship
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Our redesigned internship program is created as a pathway for success for black/latinx youth to have more accessibility into the real estate industry. Intern’s skills will be cultivated in the fields of marketing, public speaking, product, office administrative duties, and other tasks to give them experience and preparation in their professional careers. Empowerment projects will also be assigned throughout the internship that allow the interns to research and be creative with showcasing their culture/history/what represents them to the agents and other staff to add an artistic outlet to the program. Past interns will also have priority in the hiring process if a staff position becomes available in one of our offices that they may be interested in.
Transportation Stipend: Company will fund public transportation stipends for the first two weeks of employment prior to their first paycheck to ensure interns have a reliable fund to get to work.
SPECIFICATIONS
Paid Internship: This will be a paid, hourly internship with a bi-weekly paycheck. Hours/Duration: Program will be maximum three months - duration cannot go past three months. Minimum amount of hours for work is 25 hours a week and the max is 40 hours a week depending on office sizes and amount of agent support. Sourcing Candidates: We are vetting applicants from local non-profits per region that specialize in black/latinx youth outreach/ mentoring/career programs.
Training: All interns will go to their designated locations and get trained (may change in case transportation is an issue). Intern groups will have two different start days (one group will get trained and then start first, while the other group will start a week after). Paid training.
SPECIFICATIONS
Mentorship Aspects: Interns will have a mentor in their region that is also a person of color (that’s not a direct supervisor). Mentor review with nonprofit at end of internship term. Application Requirements: Applicants must be at least 17 years of age and have either graduated high school or obtained a GE equivalent. Interest in marketing/real estate/administrative work is a plus. An unpaid internship will occur if the candidate is getting college credit. Swag Bag: Interns will be provided with a swag bag of company branded items as a welcome gift.
Creating Racial Equity *Creating programs/policies/pathways for long-term solutions and long lasting change.
HIRING PRACTICES (AGENTS)
Sales managers need to recruit more agents of colors (both black and latin)- but specifically black agents as there is a very low percentage for NorCal. Scholarship/Mentorship programs are a long term solution, but so is recruiting fairly and looking at numbers. a. Challenges/questions that arise: BUT, there is a low number of black real estate agents to recruit from other brokerages? BUT, are there existing agents (including white agents too) that are willing to mentor?) b. Solutions: Reach out to colleges that have RE courses and license companies (like First Tuesday, Kaplan, etc) and form an active alliance/opportunity with their career center that agents of color are welcome in our offices after getting their licenses. Instate a recruiting policy - recruiting managers should look at the round of last agents they recruited and look at the demographics.
HIRING PRACTICES (STAFF)
a. Extend job applications to outlets like nonprofit organizations that focus on career/education development for black/latin candidates (like the Success Center in SF or 100 BM of Silicon Valley, as examples) and even community college career centers (not all students that are there are full time, some of them are doing online certificates, or just want to be part of a program). b. Adopt a version of the “Rooney Rule� - if final candidates for a job are all white AND male, we need to continue to look for a competitive candidate that is female and/or a person of color. The hiring manager needs to follow this policy, but HR should also give a check in. c. Run a partnership with a recruiting company like the Thurgood Marshall Fund - their speciality is cultivating talent and connecting their members with companies. Their members are black professionals. d. Leadership needs to take anti-bias training. This should be required. If there is already an anti-bias training in place, it needs to be reviewed to make sure it is up to standard. Staff should also take antibias training when hired. e. Run reports twice a year of hiring statistics - an important statistic to look at is leadership/manager demographics v. staff demographics.
RETAINING TALENT
a. Office environment and pay is key. Making sure when talent is hired that they have competitive pay and a good environment. Making sure when black/ latin real estate agents are recruited they have a competitive commissions split that make them reconsider offers from other brokerages. b. When black/latin professionals are hired, we need to make sure they are invested in to retain their talent. This comes in the form of competitive compensation and representation. c. Staff are more likely to leave to another company that cuts them a better salary if they have to do similar duties. Piggybacking off of that, staff are even more likely to leave if they don’t see representation of themselves in their leadership team and the office environment.
d. Pipeline & Talent development - Look at the data of employee growth. How are people being promoted?
RETAINING TALENT
e. Two way communication: Data and subjectivity‌ How are you talking to the people with whom you aren’t having every day conversations? Groups are already telling how they feel - but have you picked up on it? Employee survey is always an option (not a generic one) - what could we be doing better? f. Think strategically about the organization structure and culture - a company is only as good as its people. Staff keeps the back end afloat, so recognize them and ask them how can we continue to build a culture where they belong. g. Save time and money by implementing new strateigies instead of always training new employees. h. Accountability is vital - we have to have a system that holds management and departments accountable, and just have processes streamlined. What are we going to do to commit to model inclusive leadership? Individual accountability for leaders to put a stake in the ground to model this type of leadership.
15% PLEDGE OFFICE VEN DORS
This is another area where Real Estate/Association offices can serve as an example - we have the goal of allocating 15% of real estate spend to black vendors. However, we should also do the same for our offices/office events - companies we use on a daily basis, like cleaning, food suppliers, caterers, carpet cleaners, etc.