AWARD-WINNING LEADERSHIP

BOMA Georgia CEO Gabriel Eckert, FASAE, CAE, accepts the Summit Award in the Diversity and Inclusion category from the American Society of Association Executives at the 2022 Power of Associations Awards program.

Real estate professionals work in an increasingly diverse environment, interacting with tenants, building visitors, co-workers, service partners, and more. That is why it is essential for today’s real estate industry leaders to be equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to be more inclusive leaders.

To address this need, BOMA Georgia, the BOMA Georgia Foundation and CRE Insight Journal partnered together to develop the Inclusive Leadership Certificate Program.

Now, this award-winning program is helping individual leaders build skills that are essential in the specific areas of generational fluency, intercultural competency, emotional intelligence, and intentional cultural creation.

In 2022, BOMA Georgia was recognized by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) with a 2022 Summit Award in the Diversity and Inclusion Category. The Summit Award is the highest honor an association can earn from ASAE. In 2022, only six associations earned a Summit Award, each in a different category, through ASAE’s Power of Associations Awards program.

BOMA Georgia and its partners in the Inclusive Leadership Certificate Program were contending at the next tier with national associations from all across the country who were pursuing this honor. At the time the Summit Award was received, ASAE was a membership organization of more than 45,000 association executives and industry partners. The interactive, web-based certificate program helps real estate professionals to more effectively and inclusively lead across generations in the workplace; better understand and relate to different cultures; assess and grow their emotional intelligence; and intentionally create a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organization.

This study strengthens participants’ leadership skills, helps them to be more inclusive, and has a ripple effect of strengthening the tenants and communities served by real estate professionals.

While the program was initially envisioned to be local to Georgia, other BOMA associations throughout the United States asked if they could offer the program to their membership as well. This also strengthened the program, as it added geographic diversity to the cohort and group discussions.

The program was launched in November 2021. Participant feedback was so positive that the program was successfully offered again in 2022. Program graduates continue to praise the program and encourage others in their organization to participate. The BOMA Georgia Foundation supports the program through scholarships for every student, increasing real estate industry professionals access to this impactful program.

To meet this ongoing demand, the program is scheduled for its third class beginning in January of 2023.

“The association community continues to experience rapid change and disruption, and association leaders continue to be quite agile and innovative in serving the needs of their members as a result,” said Mark A. Vasquez, CAE, senior program manager, IEEE TechEthics, and Chair of ASAE’s Power of Associations Awards Committee. “The committee was impressed by the scope of the activities recognized in this year’s Power of Associations Awards, which illustrate how associations continue to lead in challenging times and frequently go above and beyond their missions to benefit society and improve our quality of life.” “It is really exciting to see a program that’s helped so many people earn this level of recognition, and it is another validation of the tremendous value members receive through BOMA Georgia,” said BOMA Georgia CEO Gabriel Eckert, FASAE, CAE. “We look forward to serving and developing future cohorts of commercial real estate industry leaders who will enhance themselves, their teams, and the industry through this impactful program.”

Learn more about the 2023 Inclusive Leadership Certificate Program at: www.bomageorgia.org/inclusive23