“We’re making some changes. Doors are opening. ... I’m going to do everything I can to … make it a little bit easier for those who come after me,” said Reggie Copeland, 2022 president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR), at a ground-breaking Presidential Insight program hosted by NVAR’s African American Realtor® Advisory Forum (Forum) on Thursday, February 24.  

Board presidents from the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors® (GCAAR), Prince George’s County Association of Realtors® (PGCAR) and Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors® (VPAR) joined Copeland on the panel and spoke of obstacles and opportunities on the path to creating equity and inclusion, not only as it relates to Black homeownership, but also Black representation in industry leadership.

With Black Realtors® currently serving as 2022 presidents of four regional Realtor® associations, this year provides an historic opportunity to address systemic challenges facing both real estate professionals and prospective homeowners in the Washington Metro region.

Harrison Beacher, 2022 president of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors®, asked the audience to consider, “How do we get to a place where this isn’t so exceptional?”

The Presidential Insight panel, held in the same week the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) released its 2022 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America Report, offered perspective from Black Realtors® in the greater DMV about their experiences and those of their clients seeking to break historic homeownership barriers in the region.

"NAR reports that the gap in homeownership rates for Black and White Americans has widened,” said NVAR CEO Ryan McLaughlin. “As front-line professionals in the industry, it’s important for our members to understand the unique challenges that minority home buyers face. Based on Brookings Institute data as reported by the Virginia Association of Realtors®, we can trace the huge wealth gap between Black and White households to lower homeownership rates among African Americans.

“We’re fortunate that NVAR leaders have had a long-standing commitment to creating component communities within our membership that reflect the wide variety of cultural and business interests among our 13,000+ Realtor® and service provider members,” said McLaughlin. “Adding the African American Realtor® Advisory Forum this year was an important step towards creating professional opportunities in the real estate industry that mirror the demographics of our members and the communities we serve,” McLaughlin said.

Copeland explained that the Forum was created to generate awareness and provide education not only for the association’s African American members, but for everyone. “We realized not only does our leadership need to have a voice, but all of [our members] need to have a voice,” Copeland said.

As to why she decided to become a volunteer leader, Kaéra Mims, 2022 president of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors® said, “If you see us up here and you are inspired, that’s why we do it.”

Future Forum events will include a trip to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and a joint program with the National Association of Real Estate Brokers.

“This [event] is not the end. Be here, be involved, level up,” said Marc Pina, panel moderator and inaugural chair of NVAR’s Forum.

Pictured Left to Right: Harrison Beacher, 2022 president of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors®; Melanie Gamble, 2022 president of the Prince George’s County Association of Realtors®; Kaéra Mims, 2022 president of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors®; Reggie Copeland, 2022 president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®; Cassandra Welch, vice chair of the NVAR African American Realtor® Forum Advisory Group (Forum) and Marc Pina, chair of the Forum.

 

 Pictured Left to Right: Harrison Beacher, 2022 president of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors(r); Melanie Gamble, 2022 president of the Prince George’s County Association of Realtors®; Kaéra Mims, 2022 president of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors®; Reggie Copeland, 2022 president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® and Marc Pina, chair of the NVAR African American Realtor® Advisory Forum.