Diversity, inclusion & equity at GCAAR

Discrimination has no home here.

The National Association of REALTORS®, representing more than 1.4 million REALTORS® in diverse communities across the country, fully embraces perspectives from all walks of life. NAR commits to bringing out the best in themselves, uncovering hidden talents and celebrating differences in day-to-day interactions. These beliefs are essential in serving NAR members, who help fulfill the dream of home and property ownership in America. As your REALTOR® association, we are doing our part to identify opportunities for diversity and inclusion conversation and education and to promote the practice of inclusion and equity among our leadership, members, staff and within the industry. The following are a few examples of GCAAR's work in this area.

Partnership to help underprivileged families achieve the American dream

GCAAR is invested in helping all individuals and families in our community achieve the dream of homeownership. To demonstrate our commitment, in April 2021 GCAAR and the nonprofit organization Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB) launched a strategic partnership to offer a series of educational opportunities to help underprivileged individuals and families get on the path toward homeownership. The three-year partnership features a series of real-time, online workshops in both the District and in Montgomery County. Each workshop offers one hour-long class daily during a five-day period on relevant topics, taught in part by instructors who are GCAAR REALTOR® and affiliate members. Through the partnership, CAAB’s financial tools and resources will also be more broadly distributed to potential first-time homebuyers who may not otherwise receive them.

Events and education programming

The History & Power of Real Estate webinar

series: Soon after the tragedies and antidiscrimination protests that gained a national spotlight in 2020, GCAAR took action to continue the conversation about racism and discrimination—particularly as they relate to real estate. We launched the History & Power of Real Estate webinar series to generate a healthy discussion around the history of our nation’s legislative barriers to homeownership based on race—and how those barriers still affect today’s society, both nationally and in our local communities. To date, we’ve held six webinars in the series attracting more than 800 registrants, including neighborhood history sessions and presentations by Richard Rothstein, renowned author of “The Color of Law” and Bill Dedman, one of Newsday’s investigative reporters who broke the Long Island Steering story.

Profession Sessions: Our Profession Sessions, offered exclusively to GCAAR members, bring important topics to the forefront for discussion in a virtual format—at no cost to our membership. A recent session brought in a representative from the Equal Rights Center to highlight developments in fair housing at the local and federal levels related to new protected identities in the region, along with new guidance from HUD about how it views discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. At Home with Diversity® courses: GCAAR regularly offers NAR’s At Home with Diversity® (AHWD) certification course at a deeply subsidized rate because we’re so passionate about encouraging our members to take the course. AHWD covers how to work effectively with diverse populations by developing business practices rooted in inclusion and equality to help buyers of all cultural backgrounds achieve the dream of homeownership. More than 300 members have participated in the course thus far. Other NAR program promotions: In addition to offering AHWD, GCAAR regularly encourages members to become actively involved in NAR’s own diversity and inclusion initiatives. We actively promote the fall 2020 changes in the Code of Ethics prohibiting discriminatory speech and conduct; Fairhaven, NAR’s innovative training platform that helps REALTORS® identify, prevent and address discriminatory practices in real estate; implicit bias training and other important programs.

Diversity & Inclusion Committee

Established in 2021, the mission of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee aligns completely with our goals at GCAAR to identify opportunities for conversation and education, establish expectations of diversity and promote the practice of inclusion within our membership base and industry. The committee focuses its efforts on both personal growth and business development.

Advocacy for fair housing initiatives

We are staunch advocates for fair housing-related legislation in both Montgomery County and the District of Columbia. We advocate for transparency and education on Montgomery County and the District of Columbia’s laws and rules as they relate to fair housing, so our members are continuously educated on them, and we seek to close any gaps in fair housing laws with sound legislative measures.

Helpful links

• Strategic partnership, GCAAR and Capital Area Asset Builders: gcaar.com/media • Diversity & Inclusion Committee: gcaar.com/committees • History & Power of Real Estate webinar series:

gcaar.com/hpre

• NAR’s diversity and inclusion programs:

nar.realtor/diversity