At the fourth Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders program, 19 students from colleges and universities around the country met for a 2.5-day virtual diversity, equity, and inclusion program designed to accelerate their future careers in commercial real estate and institutional investing.

Throughout the program, the students were given the opportunity to network with senior executives, engaged in “day-in-the-life” sessions from young professionals, and participated in a case competition that allowed them to work in groups to make an investment recommendation to a panel of portfolio managers.

The program kicked off with a presentation from ARA’s Chairman and CEO Stanley Iezman, who gave an overview of institutional investing and career opportunities, emphasizing the importance of diversity in the industry moving forward.

“The built world is very, very powerful, and what we need is a dynamic group of young leaders like yourselves who are going to rethink the way that we are going to use our real estate,” he said.

Aidan San Juan, a junior at the University of Wisconsin, said the program got him even more excited to start his career in real estate.

“The case competition and overall networking opportunities with ARA employees and other Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders participants were truly invaluable,” he said. “I look forward to maintaining those connections as I move forward through my career.”

In the program’s keynote interview, Mr. Iezman hosted a question-and-answer session with London Kemp Boykin, Director of World Wide Real Estate Development at Amazon.

They discussed Ms. Kemp Boykin’s career in corporate real estate, having worked for companies like Cheesecake Factory, Netflix, Walmart, and Amazon, and she offered advice to students entering careers in the field. She emphasized the need to stay curious.

“I built up a reputation of being curious. Whether I have the skillset or not, what people will know is that I’m adaptable and I’m willing to learn,” she said. “That adaptability competency is the one I think will serve any and all of you best. Being willing to do the new thing, the uncomfortable thing, the thing that nobody else wants to do, because it’s just another tool in your toolkit downstream.”

She added: “Don’t limit yourself because of what you have or have not done if there’s something that you want to pursue.”

Students also heard from Laurie Lustig-Bower, Executive Vice President at CBRE. She spoke about her career in brokerage and shared advice on building a business.  

“Be a good listener. Ask a lot of really good questions,” she said. “Really find out: what does your client want? If you can really get to the bottom of what their needs are, then you can start to figure out how to persuade them to use you or to buy your product.”

ABOUT TOMORROW'S REAL ESTATE LEADERS

Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders is ARA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program designed for students to accelerate their careers in investment management and commercial real estate.

Chris Smith, the program’s director, says he continues to be moved by the students and their enthusiasm for the industry. “It’s great to get a glimpse into our next generation of real estate leaders,” he said. “Based on what we see from these students, the industry is in good hands.”