ULI Targets Diversity for Next Generation of Developers
Date Posted: June 28, 2019
Posted In: News, Organizations,
From St. Louis Business Journal: The Urban Land Institute’s local chapter is launching a new program to help women and people of color advance their careers as real estate developers.
The Real Estate Diversity Initiative (REDI) will offer a 15-session curriculum for 30 applicants to learn the ins and outs of real estate development. Industry professionals will teach the sessions, and students will also get experience working on an active development site in Fountain Park with Kingsway Development Corp. (More information is available here; deadline is Monday.)
“A lot of the developers oftentimes come up through the ranks in development companies and learn on the job in apprenticeships or mentorships. That hasn’t always been readily accessible for women and people of color,” ULI St. Louis District Coordinator Kelly Annis said. “We saw a way to fill that need.”
There’s no available data compiled on the ethnicity or gender of the real estate executives behind the recent spate of development across the region, but many of St. Louis’ most prominent projects have been led by white men.