NDILC in the News

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Welcome Tasha to NAWRB's Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Counci!

Tasha Liniger Tasha Liniger has rejoined Dialpad in her former role as CHRO after a year-long sabbatical. Prior to Dialpad, Liniger was a part of the founding team at BlueJeans as the Vice President of People where she helped expand the team globally and managed the company’s 100% year-over-year headcount growth.

Teresa Palacios Smith

Teresa Palacios Smith was recently named by RISMedia as a trailblazer in this year’s 2021 Newsmakers Awards. RISMedia calls their Trailblazers, “The Agents of Change.” From keeping pace with innovation to new technologies and more, celebrating agents of change for their contributions to moving the industry forward and improving agent-client relationships on every level. https://tinyurl.com/TrailblazersNDILC

Teresa Palacios Smith contributed by writing the forward to authors Johnnie Johnson and Dr. Michael E. Webber’s newly released book titled From Athletics to Engineering: 8 Ways to Support Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for All.” Johnnie Johnson is the President and CEO of World Class Coaching and a former NFL All Pro Safety for the Los Angeles Rams. Dr. Michael E. Webber serves at the Chief Science and Technology Officer of Engie, a global energy company based in Paris, France and professor of Engineering at the University of Texas in Austin.

Tami Bonnell

EXIT Realty Corp. International, recently announced that the single-level residual income paid to-date by the company to EXIT associates across the U.S. and Canada has topped a half a billion dollars. During economic upheavals like those caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic where real estate was declared an essential service in some areas but not all, receiving a paycheck from EXIT’s corporate offices helped many associates weather the storm when they couldn’t serve clients.

Communities across the U.S. and Canada will see a further bump in support as the funds pledged by EXIT Realty Corp. International to support local charities reach $6 million

Rebecca Steele

Rebecca Steele Spoke at HSoA’s virtual Belonging Summit April 7th & 8th on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives from across the HomeServices’ family of companies.

Desirée Patno

Launched NDILC’s Ten Women Leadership Principles designated as a Monthly Theme to collaborate and share stories across all media types. As a society we are too siloed in our professional and personal lives, we need to unite and share experiences to help embrace the legacy of generational stories. Learn from our past and past the torch!

Created Women, Impact, Change, Working w/Family Offices, Women Housing Ecosystem & NDILC Leadership Principles Clubs on the new Audio App Clubhouse with over 20 million users to bring daily value in live dynamic settings around the world.

About NDILC

The NDILC is dedicated to raising the number of women leaders and growing women’s employment and empowerment at all levels in the housing ecosystem. The Council, composed of senior executive women, works diligently toward gender equality and obtaining equal opportunity for women across America.

To learn more about the NDILC, please visit www.NAWRB.com/NDILC/.

Who do you know that is a perfect NDILC fit?

Teresa Bryce Bazemore

In a personal and candid interview, Teresa Bazemore, President and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, shares more than her background as a mortgage banking professional. Her story is one of emotional impact that inspired her to create a legacy of change. Teresa’s lifetime tenure and recent short lived semi-retirement hasn’t been a cakewalk, but she does make cakes for dogs!

Interview by Desirée Patno

Section 1: What Inspires Teresa?

NAWRB: Who has been the most inspirational person in your life and why?

Teresa Bryce Bazemore (TB):

to do the right thing, to work hard, and make things happen. That fundamental grounding was so important for me going forward, having that unwavering Well, it has to be my parents. I chalk support throughout my life. everything up to them - and especially my mom who was a school- NAWRB: What inspires you today teacher for 30-plus years. I have a lot and how do you measure success? of her mannerisms. She and my dad were leaders in their church commu- TB: What inspires me is seeing the nity. She was also a really beloved impact of what I do on the lives of peoschoolteacher. In fact, I had someone ple and particularly children, especially reach out to me recently because they when we're talking about homeownersaw that I had set up a scholarship fund at UVA in her name. It was a Teresa at 4 years old with parents Burie and Dorothy Bryce ship. It's one of the reasons why we've done a lot with Habitat for Humanity, former student of hers who said, "My because when you see a family moving wife and I are going to give to the scholarship fund because into the house, it's such an amazing feeling. Whether you she meant so much to me in high school." I was so over- donated towards the house, or you went and worked on the whelmed by that. house - which I've done a few times over the years—it's such a great feeling. That's really what inspires me, but also things I am an only child. My parents always taught me that I like being on the board of the Kimmel Center, where we could do anything I wanted to do. Even though they were started doing more to expand our offerings and bring the protective, they didn't try to stop me from doing new things. arts to the schools. Seeing the kids in these programs is so Whether it was being an exchange student in high school inspiring to me. and going to Europe, or whether it was other opportunities. For instance, I knew when I was going to law school that I would say the way I measure success for the companies my dad did not want me to be in New York City, yet he sup- that I lead is: Are we moving the mission forward while also ported me going. I view them as the foundation of who I am achieving financial health? Are we doing the right thing today. They were people who always cared about others, who for our employees? Are they engaged? Is it somewhere they gave back, and who were respected in the community. They want to be? And are we really doing the right thing for all believed that you should succeed and that it was up to you our stakeholders, including at the Federal Home Loan Bank

Teresa and her parents at a friend’s wedding in 1981

“Everyone here is the cream of the crop. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t the cream of the crop, but everybody is not going to be at the top of the class when these grades come out.”

of San Francisco? This will focus on our members, because this is a cooperative enterprise. In other places I’ve been, it's been a focus on stockholders and the communities we serve.

NAWRB: Before you entered the working world, if there were a person who helped shape your thoughts and expectations as a professional, who would that influential person be and why? One of my law professors, a guy named Curtis Berger, who taught property law, gave a great lesson about what it means to be at the top of your profession. He did a lecture where he said, “Everyone here is the cream of the crop. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t the cream of the crop, but everybody is not going to be at the top of the class when these grades come out.” He talked about how important it was to be a whole person, a whole professional. He talked about why and gave us examples of famous people who had been having a positive effect on our lives across the country. He said, “Yeah, they were in the middle of the class.” That didn’t mean that any of us were going to aspire to be in the middle of the class; we are who we are. We’re always going to aspire to be the best. It was a great lesson in terms of helping us learn that what makes you a skilled professional is a lot of different things. I thought that was a wonderful thing to say to our class, so everyone would understand that they still had the ability to make a great impact, no matter how grades came out.

Section 2: A Passion That Became C-suite Executive

NAWRB: Congratulations on becoming President & CEO at Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco!! What do you hope to accomplish with this incredible new opportunity?

TB: The mission of the bank is to be a reliable source of lowcost liquidity to our members, to provide essential financial services, and expertise. A huge part of it is to also supply resources for affordable housing and economic development. Given my concerns around economic insecurity in our region and in our country, I’m really looking at: How do we expand what we’re doing? How do we build on what we’re doing to have more of an effect on those issues, whether it’s affordable housing or quality jobs? And how do we also make sure

that we have influence on closing the homeownership gap looked at that and said, “Okay, I think that means I want to for communities of color? Most people build their wealth be some kind of business lawyer,” but I didn’t know exactly through homeownership. It is also the way they’re able to transfer “I want to make sure that the what that meant either. I started to learn a little bit more about real wealth to the next generation. As a country, we have to get this right Federal Home Loan Bank estate from some friends who were pursuing it on the business side, and start making sure that every- of San Francisco continues and thought, “I’ll do that.” I decidone has an opportunity to participate. That’s a lot of what I want to to be financially strong while ed to go to a law firm in Baltimore – Piper & Marbury. It’s now DLA focus on. I want to make sure that the Federal Home Loan Bank of we support our members Piper, which is one of the biggest firms in the world these days. I San Francisco continues to be fi- and our community went there because I had the abilnancially strong while we support our members and our community partners.” ity to do real estate development. partners. I also want to continue to At that time, Baltimore was doing develop community programs that can make a difference, a lot of public-private partnerships. I did some work for the like the Bank’s affordable housing and homeownership pro- city – doing various kinds of developments that the city was grams have over the years. involved in, including multi-use projects and even a soccer field. There were all kinds of things that they were doing to NAWRB: What experience(s) shaped your passion for af- expand the community’s resources. I was able to work on fordable housing and community economic development? apartment building projects with set-asides, using municipal finance, for affordable units. I also worked with a community TB: When I went to law school, I decided that I would be a group to develop a community health care center. I had a good lawyer; I had the right skill set for it. However, I had no chance to see a lot of different projects, and it led me to be conception of what I wanted to do. I knew that I didn't want more interested in community development and affordable to be a criminal lawyer, litigator or family lawyer, because I housing. thought the latter would wrench my gut too much. It’s more about finding a way forward and bringing people together. I Later, I moved to Prudential, which is how I got into the residential mortgage lending instead of the commercial side of the business. During my time there, I was on a taskforce that focused on: How do we increase our lending to low- to-moderate income people? How do we make sure we're increasing access for communities of color? That became a focus of mine throughout the rest of my career. If you think about what we did at Radian Guaranty, a private mortgage insurance company where I was president for 8 years, it's all about access. That business is all about not needing to have 20% down to start living in a house, so that you can start your homeownership, start building your equity, and have a home for your family. Before Radian, when I joined NationsBank, they had a robust community development area that developed affordable housing. That unit of the bank became one of my clients, in addition to working as Chief Legal Officer for the mortgage banking business. So this became another opportunity for involvement in the community development business.

Columbia University Law graduation in 1984

NAWRB: What lessons learned from the 2008 housing crisis do you feel will be helpful as you address the COVID-19 impact on America, financially and economically?

TB: This crisis is different from the last one because it is not led by housing. The way I describe this is, take what happened over two-plus years before, and condense it into two months. Add in the effect on businesses, unseen before. While we seem to be recovering faster than we did previously, I'm still concerned about how this crisis has increased the wealth gap, and how it may have exacerbated some of the homeownership gap issues we were already trying to address. Some of the lessons we learned previously include how important it is to try to avoid foreclosures. We want to keep people in their homes because of the devastating impact that losing a home has on families and neighborhoods. We've seen that once houses transition from being homeowner-owned to rentals, it's exceedingly difficult to have those houses come back into the homeownership inventory. Additionally, we have a huge supply shortage that worsens the disparities that we already have. We also need to be exercising prudent risk management and ensure that we're not overreacting. The pendulum went too far before the Great Recession, with a lack of sufficient risk management and not enough prudent guidelines in place to ensure we would have sustainable homeownership - to allow people to stay in their homes and not be devastated by a foreclosure. Then the pendulum swung too far in the other direction, and that took a lot of work and data analysis to swing it back to a place that allowed for more but, sustainable, homeownership opportunities. We also learned that the average person didn't walk away from their home, even though they were underwater. The average person stayed, because, where else would they go if they could still afford to stay in their home? There usually had to be a double trigger. It wasn't only that you were underwater; it was that you also lost your job, or there was some other issue that happened in your life, that created the situation where you couldn't afford to pay anymore. Those are things that we've learned and so we're addressing them differently. That's also why the Fed’s quick action in the pandemic crisis is so important. Last time, it took a while to figure out how to respond. This time, it was very quick. I think that has helped us, and that we have more tools in our toolkit than when we entered the Great Recession.

NAWRB: You spent over 10 years growing Radian Guaranty, and then became the President. What was your greatest accomplishment now looking back?

TB: What I'm most proud of is that I was able to manage us through survival mode and still have growth at the same time. Which is typically not the case, right? Most of the time, if people are in survival mode, it’s a “total hunker down.” They’re just hoping that they can find their way out. One of the important things we had to do was mitigate our risk, including managing our losses. Our ability to write new business was one of the ways that would help us grow out of a difficult financial situation. Our quarterly reports about our portfolio were used to discuss the diminishing percentage of loans that were pre-2009. We then highlighted how many of those loans had been modified or refinanced under the HAMP and HARP programs. We also talked about all the loans that were insured in 2009 and beyond, because the quality and performance of those loans were superior. The capability to manage the losses and grow at the same time is one of the things that I'm most proud of, because it put the company in a great

Most of the time, if people are in survival mode, it’s a “total hunker down”. They’re just hoping that they can find their way out.

From left to right, 5 months old, Kindergarten graduation, 1st grade school photo

position coming out of the Great Recession. We started using a lot more data to drive our risk management decisions, in terms of what we needed to do at the beginning of the recession in terms of how we needed to tighten things up, but also understanding when there were opportunities for us to do more, and to have that pendulum come back closer to the middle, which is where people really would have an opportunity to have homeownership in a sustainable way. That’s how I think about my time at Radian.

I would also say that I'm proud of the time we spent partnering with organizations such as NAREB, NAHREP, AREAA, and the National Bankers Association. We took advantage of the partnerships to help our customers understand how they could do a better job reaching out to communities of color, and how they could partner with us to expand their loan volume. If you want to think about your customer base and how you grow it, you have to think about reaching out to everyone. I had a wonderful opportunity to use my position at Radian to help illuminate the growing diversity of future home buyers and to work with our customers to do more to serve a diverse customer base. That's also something that I feel good about.

NAWRB: How difficult was it to get to a C-level position in the mortgage banking industry, and has the industry really changed for women, or a person of color?

TB: It's interesting coming up through the legal ranks. I won't say it was easy, but it was a little bit easier to reach the general counsel position. Women have had more of an opportunity in that realm of the mortgage banking industry. I had a lot of folks who were supportive in that regard, in terms of reaching out to me about new opportunities over the years. Getting into the C-level side of it, where you're really on the business side - it was something that I always wanted to do. I would always have some of the folks I was working with saying to me, "you would be really good at running the business," but the opportunity never seemed to arise. I call becoming a member of the C-Suite the silver lining of the financial crisis. I had been at Radian long enough to demonstrate my capabilities, including the risk management work. I had added risk to my portfolio about four months into the job. It gave the board some confidence about me taking over this role. The wonderful thing was that I knew S.A. Ibrahim, Radian’s CEO, from other roles. We had been on the MBA board and the Fannie Mae National Advisory Council together. One of the things I had done before going to Radian was to join up with some of my former Prudential colleagues to build out a startup, Nexstar. When S.A. was at Greenpoint, that firm became one of our

customers. He saw me in those contexts. Even though I was the General Counsel, I was very much involved in growing and building Nexstar. He had a lot of confidence in my abilities when he hired me, and felt I could do more. That became the opportunity for me to move to the C-Suite.

We're starting to see more change than we have in the past. I can remember when I started getting involved in the leadership at MBA. Often, I was one of two women in the board room and sometimes there were two people of color, but sometimes I was the only one. We still have a lot of work to do with respect to diversity in mortgage banking, especially when it comes to people of color being in the highest positions in the industry. We're in a better place than we were, and the number of women we're seeing rising to top level positions is also much better than it was 15 years ago.

It's exciting to see someone like Kristy Fercho become the first African American and African American woman to become the chair of the MBA. I'm excited to see that happen and I think we'll see more of that. We're starting to see more people of color running large divisions of banks. For instance, seeing Thasunda Duckett, who was recently named the CEO of TIAA-CREF, after leading consumer banking at JPMorgan Chase, is very exciting. We're also starting to see some of

We still have to make sure that we're telling college students about these opportunities and getting more diversity coming into this industry.

Family trip to Napa Valley in 2019, Lenny, Teresa, Jordan and Alexis

the folks who've been coming through the ranks of banking, getting significant leadership opportunities, but I still believe that mortgage banking is one of those careers areas, that most people don't know about in order to consider it as a career. When you talk to others in the industry about how they chose their career, many of them say, "you know what, I sort of fell into this," or maybe a family member was in that business. If you're a woman, or you're a person of color, it may be less likely that you get into it that way. We still have to make sure that we're telling college students about these opportunities and getting more diversity coming into this industry, so eventually more people of color are promoted into C-suite positions.

Section 3: Semi-Retirement, Passions, & A Dog Bakery

NAWRB: What did you love about semi-retirement? What passions did you continue and/or discover in your free time?

TB: I'm not sure - I might be a failure at retirement. I stayed busy during that time. One of the things I miss most about retirement is my morning walks with my husband and our dog. That was nice. While I was, quote-unquote, semi-retired – I'm a super Type A person and always needed to be engaged in other pursuits. I got more involved with boards, and as part of new boards it was about really getting to understand the business. When I was on the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh Board, I started to understand the Federal Home Loan Bank System in a way that I hadn't previously. Since being on the T Rowe Price Mutual Funds Board, I have spent a lot of time learning more about the mutual funds industry.

I chaired two nonprofit boards in semi-retirement. One, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which is in Philadelphia, is the second most impactful art center in the country, after Lincoln Center. I was the first woman and African American to chair that board. I also chaired, up until the end of this past year, the board of Public Media Company. PMC works with public broadcasting stations in both the radio and television space to make sure that nonprofit broadcasting and public media are available across the country. I continue to serve on the board of the University of Virginia Foundation, which is the real estate foundation for the university. We own a research park, a hotel, a golf course, and we manage properties for the university. I also chair the Audit Committee, which includes compensation. Last, but not least, I was co-chairing the planning of a national conference for another organization that I belong to. Unfortunately, we had to unwind the whole conference because it was supposed to take place at the end of May 2020. That was a whole other endeavor. I did find more time to work out consistently, to read and to connect with friends. But I did

2019 Hamilton Gala at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

not get back to playing the piano again. I had that on my list. I never got back to that.

NAWRB: Your husband opened a dog bakery -- how exciting, as a multiple furry girl owner! How has COVID-19 impacted the business and what do you love about the business?

TB: First, I should say my husband is a real estate developer. When we were in Philadelphia, he was doing a great deal of work in one of the historic districts of Philadelphia called Manayunk. He did a lot of redevelopment of buildings that

had retail on the bottom floor and apartments above. Occasionally, he would put a business in the retail space. He had an art gallery for about five years and a juice bar in one of his other buildings. For another building he owned, my two ideas were a shoe store or a pet bakery. I always thought it would be fun to own a pet bakery. So, he decided that that's what he would do.

What's great about the renovation he did of the pet bakery building is the play space in the basement and outdoor patio. When you walk downstairs, there is a community room where owners and their dogs could go down and play pre-pandemic. We had a variety of programs. Someone came in and taught doggy yoga classes and we’d have birthday parties and we'd we sell cakes for dogs. The great thing is the dogs in the community love it. Typically, the retail businesses are closed on Monday. We decided we would do the same thing. I had owners telling me how they would walk their dogs. Their dog would stop in front of the pet bakery, because they wanted to go in, but it was closed because it was Monday. We just love that. We love having something that is a great business for the community. People were incredibly supportive during the pandemic, but we did have to shut our doors for a couple of months. We were able to keep our employees on board. We had people calling in orders that they could pick up. We managed to get through that, and we're focused on building the business. He's looking at launching a couple of new products that could be sold on a national scale.

NAWRB: Where do you see yourself in five years, and what would you tell your younger self from lessons learned?

TB: In five years, I hope that I've significantly moved the mission forward at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco: that we will be seen as a leader in the system and that we are viewed as an important part of the housing ecosystem, by not only our members and the communities we serve, but also by the regulators and the legislators. I want to make sure that in doing that mission we're improving the lives of the citizens in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Those are the states in our district and we're looking at ways to do some more innovative things that could decrease the wealth gap, not only in our footprint, but also serving as a model in other states.

One of the things I loved about my younger self was being truly fearless. I still think I have that in terms of raising my hand, being willing to take on challenges, and thinking about things from a calculated risk point of view, and having fortitude as a way to move forward. What I would teach my younger self is to make sure that people know your accomplishments. I think as women we tend to keep our heads down and think that our work will get noticed. You realize, as you're going through your career, that you can make sure that people you work for or other people in your sphere are aware of your accomplishments. You can do it without being braggadocious. That's something that I learned and would have taught my younger self.

Section 4: Lessons to A Younger Self

High School graduation in 1977; I Delivered the Class address

I remember when I was a senior in high school, in January, a friend of mine (who was my boyfriend at the time) and another friend were killed in a car accident, when their car was hit by a train. It was at a train crossing near my house. The train crossing didn't have a gate or lights. Two cars had gone across, and then they were killed instantly crossing the

tracks. It had a significant impact on the community and on our school. As you can imagine, it also affected me personally. I felt like I had to make something good out of it. I decided that the way to do that was to get a petition going. I walked from house to house, and I petitioned the city council to put up lights and a gate at that railroad crossing to make sure that this never happened to anyone else. I had a meeting with the mayor and got it done. The lights and gate are still there.

One of the lessons that it taught me was, when you have things that happen in your life that may be setbacks, or difficulties, you have to understand how you're going to move forward beyond that. You should also take that experience and figure out: Are there ways to make it better, so that someone coming behind you doesn't have that same experience? That's what I did in that situation.

People have helped me in my career, and I believe it's important to pay it forward. Not everyone should have to reinvent the wheel. For those of us who had learnings across the course of our career, we should be able to share those learnings so other people can benefit from them and potentially accelerate in their career faster than we were capable of doing.

The Possibilities of PropTech:

A decades long journey through the lens of data

Early days

The world was melting, one home at a time. It was the summer of 2008, and the white-hot height of the housing market was facing the harsh chill of reality coming to roost. Many of my family friends and colleagues were facing looming foreclosures due to death, sickness, and divorce, and were running short on both options and hope. It was the wild west of foreclosure “solutions,” with a lot of promises and slick marketing accompanied by equal amounts of disappointment and frustration by homeowners. I was trying to find a way to cut through the noise to curate people and companies who could actually help my friends. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t simply find one; so, I decided to make one.

At the time, the MLS didn’t have a limit on search records as they do today. I was able to mine the database to find which agents closed the most short sales in the fastest length of time with the most accurate pricing. I assembled an A-team where I was able to help a single mother move on from a devastating divorce. There was a couple who's pregnant wife was living in a mold infested, partially destroyed home due to a landslide who could finally afford to move to a safer place.

I was trying to find a way to cut through the noise to curate people and companies who could actually help my friends.

Then there was a family whose sole breadwinner became ill. Their daughter, fresh out of college, was bearing the financial burden for so long, could finally have her own life again. Being able to conduct a simple search on my end to get these families to the other side of their situation after months of pain has always stuck with me: the data helped drive a better future and shape a reality where they could dream of a life that didn’t involve being weighed down by a property that had once been full of hope and now had become a source of fear.

Leaving earth

I ended up working in commercial foreclosures doing asset management and acquisitions for a subsidiary of the largest distressed property owner nationwide. The commercial real estate world was for the most part pre-cloud; we only used two cloud-based solutions in the entirety of our work

which meant much of the effort was reconciling different (and oftentimes opposing) data sources. Our product was commercial mortgage-backed securities, which meant that we’d take large files of random PDF and picture files, and through a not very scientific process, turn them into bonds that were sold on Moody’s and rated a B+ or better. Despite my reservations on how these conclusions were made, our firm had a reputation for being technologically adept because apparently we were the only ones with a formal database to manage our assets.

My brother who was working in e-discovery, which was a predecessor to AI for legal documents, along with my friends who worked in software development, gave me context that for the volume of data we handled, our technology tools were not sufficient. I had the fortune of having an internal development team at my disposal, so I spearheading variance analysis and disposition tracking solutions to automate much of the brain damage my team was facing on a daily basis. At the time, I was newly engaged and planning my wedding while simultaneously putting in many late nights because of the sheer busy work involved with document processing. If we could just get the few data points that would determine whether an asset could be a bond, it would have eliminated 90% of the work. I knew the technology existed, but at that point it didn’t touch real estate. At that point, one of the driving forces in my life was to make that painstaking job go away with whatever new technology I could find.

At this point, it was 2014 and cloud-based technology was well underway. I worked as an internal product manager with VTS and Hightower, which created a mobile-based way for firms to gain unprecedented insight into leasing activity. Their merger would later create the first billion-dollar proptech unicorn. I also had the pleasure of working the Honest Buildings teams, who paved the way for automating the costly tenant and building improvement process. We spent six months in the trenches working across finance, accounting, and asset management teams in order to refine a process that impacted $200 million in construction annually. I was also able to work with the If we could just get executives of Voyanta, Real Founthe few data points that would determine whether dations, Pereview—comprehensive tools that were able to provide financial reporting and insights an asset could be a bond, it across an entire portfolio, from aswould have eliminated set to investor reports. However, 90% of the work. there was something missing: all of this data was thus far descriptive. While it was leaps and bounds ahead of where the industry had been just a few years earlier, once again looking at my peers’ work in the software industry, I knew we were up to a decade behind where the rest of the world was with technology. Beyond the cloud By 2018 I had finished my stint at business school, gotten certified in data science from Johns Hopkins, and achieved my software product manager (SPM) certification. At this point I finally felt well-equipped to leverage quantitative tools on thirty years of real estate data that was lying around, unused, just waiting to be learned from. This was a New heights pivotal time where I could start asking the following quesWith my resolve to put my previous job behind me, I did tions and finally had some options in the marketplace for a part-time MBA at UCLA with a focus on technology answers: How might we use similar algorithms in digital leadership. I got to study under Terry Kramer, who was a marketing (churn and retention) to anticipate tenants leavformer global telecom executive who launched the iPhone ing? How might we apply natural language process (NLP) with Steve Jobs in Europe. From him, I learned a whole that was actively being used to analyze legal contracts to new construct of how to assess and anticipate disruptive automate loan abstraction and improve work order mantechnologies, and I applied this newfound knowledge to agement? In what ways could we use AI to analyze letters my work at a $10B investment management shop that was of intents (LOI’s) with leases in order to formulate better the sixth largest global owner of office. pricing strategies when it come to the negotiating table with tenants like WeWork? This felt like the second inning of a game the was long overdue to be played.

The upcoming horizon

We have just begun to have tools that owners and operators in real estate can practically use. While there are many solutions flooding the proptech market, with early-stage startups hell bent on “fixing the broken trillion dollar industry,” there is still a large talent gap of technologists with operating experience, or those with operating experience with enough technical knowledge or partnerships to make changes. The next big move for the industry would be to have key real estate executives sponsor technology projects and support them. Here are a few practical steps for people to get started:

• CLEAR DIRECTION. Not just to have a “tech” initiative because other firms have such initiatives and your investors asked for them and so you put it on the deck and now you don’t know what to do. Set clear results areas: reduce X process by Y%, reallocate people to higher value activities, save Z% in costs annually.

• HIRE OUTSIDE. Having a third party, objective consultant to run short, effective pilots to evaluate technology products will save you time and minimize the politics involved with technology selection. Better yet, if the consultant is good, your team will have better tools in evaluating new technology early on.

• MAKE DATA A CORE DRIVER. Even before COVID, Bain determined that leaders in data had an unfair advantage that made them perform better, execute successfully, and move faster than their competition. It’s not enough to solely rely on broker’s opinions—at this point you can expect everyone has fairly similar access to market information. In order to stay competitive, real estate firms will need to seek access to data sets with unique insights that accelerate their decision making and minimize expenses.

Hazel Mann

CEO Volynt, Inc.

For the First Time, LGBTQ Americans will be protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA)

ination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in federally funded housing programs. No one should be discriminated against because of who they love or how they identify – but sadly this happens all too frequently. That is why we must finally get the Equality Act signed into law, so we can outlaw this kind of discrimination in every part of The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination conour society, not just in our federally funded programs. While cerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based we celebrate this progress in the fight for LGBTQ equality, on race, religion, national origin, sex, handicap and family we must also recommit to the work that still lies ahead.” status. Sexual orientation and gender identity were not ex[Statement, 2/11/21] plicitly included. As of 2020 according to In a US historic first, The HUD directive begins implementation of the new policy the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and For the full press release of the HUD Directive: https://www.hud.gov/press/ press_releases_media_advisories/hud_set forth in President Biden’s Executive Intersex Association, it was no_21_022 Order 13988 on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation issued on inarguation day. still illegal to be LGBT+ in 70 countries and in 12 countries could be given the Equal and fair housing opportunities are long overdue with so much more work to be done. On June 1st, 2021, President JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. proclaimed June 2021 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high.

As of 2020 according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, it was still illegal to be LGBT+ in 70 countries and in 12 countries could be given the death penalty. The world marks 31 years on May 17th, 2021 since the World Health Organization (WHO) declassified “homosexuality” as a mental disorder.

Equality Caucus Co-Chair Congresswoman Sharice L. Davids: “I am thrilled that HUD took an important step today to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act and prevent discrimFor a full press release from the Briefing Room: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-and-queer-pride-month-2021/

The Struggle for Fair Housing in the U.S.

The Fair Housing Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1968, one week after the Assassination of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Initially heralded as a major victory in the movement for Civil Rights in the U.S., the Fair Housing Law prohibited much of the overt or in your face discrimination based largely on race. However, the law lacked teeth for enforcement due to loopholes and much more. Just over 50 years later, housing in the U.S. remains largely racially segregated and very unequal.

Discrimination in Purchasing a Home

Two years ago, Newsday, released a report, “Long Island Divided-Investigation,” a two-year investigation of housing discrimination of major southern suburbs of New York City. Prospective Black homebuyers were usually steered to mostly Black neighborhoods, and often required to provide a pre-approval letter from a lender before being shown a home by a real estate agent. The opposite was true for prospective White homebuyers. In fact, at least one Black buyer was told to provide a copy of their tax return prior to being shown a home. This pattern of housing discrimination is not unique only to New York State.

Discrimination by Race and Income

When the Fair Housing Act was passed it permitted an owner-occupied, two-family home or duplex to engage a limited form of discrimination. Also, religious organizations and private clubs can discriminately limit housing to its members. Further, we know that organizations like the National Fair Housing Alliance and many of their local affiliates often bust unscrupulous landlords for racial bias in renting apartments. Unfortunately, in some neighborhoods in Maryland and across the country it is not uncommon for Black persons to be told that an apartment has been rented, only to be made available for a White person. Additionally, sometimes Black people may have to pay twice the amount of deposit compared to a White person. There remains constant bias in housing against persons on public assistance programs like Section 8 (which provides financial assistance to help pay the rent). Discrimination by Family Composition

While the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on family status or composition, there continues to be ads on social media, newspapers and other public places where property owners and landlords blatantly break the law. In recent years, Craigslist and Facebook were busted for allowing advertising on their website and social media networks that had postings such as “No tenants with Children.” In recent years, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development has sued and had various male landlords prosecuted for trying to exchange sex for rent payments with female tenants.

More Must Be Done to Stop Housing Discrimination

Although the signs may not say, “No Blacks” or “Whites Only,” the legacy of Jim Crow and racial discrimination persists in the housing system with one process for Black people and another for White people. Renting an apartment or buying a home “while Black” needs to become a thing of the past. Increased funding for fair housing monitoring, education and outreach must be expanded at the local, state, regional and national level.

Antoine M. Thompson is the Chair of the Board of Housing Options Planning Enterprises (H.O.P.E.) a local community development corporation in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He is also the National Executive Director for the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and licensed Real Estate Agent with MMB Realty Group.

Antoine M. Thompson National Executive Director NAREB

MAINTAINING FAMILY COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, AND CONNECTION

Even with the advantages of money, history tells us that maintaining family communication, collaboration, and connection will require its own investment to be successful. The adage “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” is not unique to America. In Asia, the phrase is “rice paddy to rice paddy” and in the Netherlands it’s “clog to clog.”

Creating a structure and process for governance of the family itself is a long range investment to avoid these proverbs. A successful governance system equips your family with procedures to navigate the challenges of family, business, finance, and continuity. Creating a multi-generational approach that is inclusive enough to serve the current generation and flexible enough to meet the needs of future generations can position your family to thrive now and in the future. There are three main components of a Family Governance System:

A successful governance system equips your family with procedures to navigate the challenges of family, business, finance, and continuity.

1. A Family Constitution or Strategic Plan

• Sets the internal and external mission and vision for the family • Defines the values by which the family and related enterprises will operate • Identifies family leadership roles, rights, and responsibilities

2. Family Calendar

• Sets regular family meetings, which may involve an outside facilitator to help address issues, concerns or conflicts, and promote understanding • Creates opportunities to celebrate individual and family milestones • Allows the family to share or collect stories that capture multigenerational history

3. Succession Planning and Education

• Educate family members about roles and the responsibilities of ownership, family history, management of assets, and finance • Create experiences that prepare the next generation to work together

Families that create this system together are more invested in a successful outcome. Family meetings are an investment of time to identify and celebrate the unique gifts and talents in the family and foster communication and trust. Engaging your family members to collectively come up with your family’s mission, vision, and values can be a challenge in these divisive times, but the goal is to encourage unity around shared values. Stanford’s Effective Philanthropy Learning Center created a Values Card exercise that allows each family member to identify and share their top values, and incorporating a facilitator adds a neutral person.

A focus on family fun for connection is critical. You want your family to look forward to gathering. This can be accomplished by identifying interesting destinations (let generations take turns picking the location). Shared experiences create opportunities to invest in family memories. For example, the grandkids can put on a play for grandparents, generation 2 or 3 can interview generation 1, or the family can embrace “voluntourism,” a vacation that includes a component of volunteer work. Philanthropy can be the best family experience to strengthen collaboration. Designing a strategic giving plan and finding the shared family focus areas is a journey that can be navigated together. Philanthropic advisors can work with your family, and the Philanthropy Tool Kit (https://pacscenter. stanford.edu/the-philanthropy-toolkit/) launched by Stanford’s Effective Learning Initiative provides a step-by-step workbook to follow. It begins with finding your focus area, involving your family, structuring the giving, finding and vetting organizations and making and tracking gifts.

Identifying the giving structure (foundation, donor advised fund or writing checks) is best navigated with your advisors based on your immediate and long-term goals. A family foundation provides mentoring opportunities to prepare heirs for wealth. The reality is collective decision making as a family can get tense when divergent political and social opinions are at the table. One option is to allocate part of the giving to “core” grants but allow each family member to control a discretionary budget that allows them to support their personal causes. Having a seat at the table is a privilege and setting expectations up front allows family members to self-select. This table gives you a window into the future as you observe family members doing the work and making decisions together.

Family giving experiences, including site visits, volunteering, serving on boards and learning about the communities you serve, creates compassion. Your family will recognize their good fortune and giving empowers them to be the best person they can be. Collaborating with other like-minded individuals and families can increase your impact and also puts you in a community with like-minded philanthropists.

Thoughtfully designed, carefully implemented, and perpetually nourished family governance is an investment in your family and planning for generations not yet met.

A focus on family fun for connection is critical. You want your family to look forward to gathering.

Marty Dutch

VP, Director of Philanthropy Services First Foundation

Every Monday 5 pm pst

Who Cares for Caregivers?

AI Technology Rises to the Task

By: Dr. Chitra Dorai

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic of this century has accelerated the push to a profound shift in consumers attitude towards health care. Deloitte Study on the “Future of Health” in 2020 calls out a change of consumer focus from “health care” to “health” [https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/life-sciences-and-health-care/articles/future-of-health.html]. The study attributes this important shift to increased consumer engagement, availability of interoperable, open and secure platforms and higher connectivity between data generated and data maintained by various actors in the healthcare ecosystem. Foreshadowing the onset of this trend, Amicus Brain Innovations began its work two years ago with a focus on The number of people living the health and wellbeing of caregivers of people living with with Alzheimer’s disease is neurodegenerative disorders. Amicus Brain is a digital health technology startup devoted to the mission of transforming the task of caregiving and elevating dementia care expected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050. for the greying globe. Founded by an AI Scientist with over 30 years of experience in research and development alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures. of industry innovations, Amicus Brain’s purpose is to de- pdf], more than 6 million Americans who are 65 years mocratize access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease today. Alzsolutions that help increase caregivers’ wellness and enable heimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. people living with dementia to remain living in the com- Dementia refers to a set of symptoms indicating cognitive munity longer. decline such as memory loss, challenges with reasoning and thinking which affect a person’s ability to perform every day activities. Almost two-thirds of Americans with AlzWhy is Dementia Caregiving So Hard? heimer's disease are women. The number of people living According to the Alzheimer's Association’s 2021 Alz- with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to reach nearly 13 heimer's Disease Facts and Figures report [https://www. million by 2050.

Source: Alzheimer’s Association’s 2021 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Report.

Who are the caregivers of the rising population of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia? More than 11 million Americans as family members and friends of people living with dementia are estimated to provide unpaid care. In 2020, the extent of the unpaid care is projected to be 15+ billion care hours and the economic value of this time is estimated to be nearly $257 billion [https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf]. About two-thirds of caregivers are women and over one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters. Approximately 10% of caregivers are spouses of people living with the dementia. About 60% of caregivers are employed. Patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease live 4-8years on the average, while some live even longer, signaling slow disease progression. To the family, this means extended, costly, and stressful caregiving period. What’s the caregiving burden like? It is physically tiring with increasing demand of caregiver’s time as disease progresses, emotionally draining as the person living with dementia goes through personality changes and the caring gets tough, and financially depleting with out of pocket costs, reduced hours of work and lost income. As the disease progresses, caregivers burn out with continued stress leading to suboptimal decisions. There is a ripple effect of the burden with escalating employer costs, health insurance costs and workplace impact. This is an enormous issue globally as the aging population grows in many countries. Caregiving, as the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls it [https://www.cdc.gov/aging/caregiving/caregiver-brief. html], is a public health issue. The federal government of the United States of America has recognized the scale and severity of the issue and set up a alzheimers.gov website [https://www.alzheimers.gov/] in March 2021 as a federal government portal for dementia information and resources. At Amicus Brain, caregivers have come to occupy the central focus of our work towards building technology solutions that provide meaningful support to caregivers to tackle the tasks of caregiving and decrease their burden.

The Solution

Amicus Brain’s AI-embedded platform and services meet the informational, educational, and community resources needs of dementia caregivers and provide psychosocial support across dementia progression. This technology is HIPAA and FHIR compliant, making it easy to interoperate with clinical systems and electronic medical records. The personalized services make it easier and save time to acquire resources needed, increase patient adherence to care plans and get training at the time of need. The assistive services are easily accessible wherever and whenever needed on smartphones and tablets. Our technology is in user trials now. Interested caregivers are welcome to participate in community pilots (contact info@amicusbrain.com). Caregiver engagement and feedback will accelerate the rollout of scalable, cost-effective tools that significantly reduce caregiver burden and elevate the standard of care for people living with neurodegenerative disorders.

Dr.Chitra Dorai

Founder & CEO of Amicus Brain Innovations, Inc.

Could You Live in the Streets for Ten Years Waiting to Find a Home?

Most people could not. Now imagine being a victim of domestic violence, fleeing your abuser, only to find yourself alone and living in the streets, and then having to wait over ten years to find a place to call home. Could you do it? Most would probably say no. Unfortunately, this is the stark reality for over 115,000 women living in California today.

Nationally, 1 in 3 people living homeless are unaccompanied women, meaning they are alone without children or dependents, and 80% of them report trauma or abuse as the reason for their homelessness.

Living on the streets is a breeding ground for additional trauma, violence, and both physical and sexual abuse. In fact, homeless women are 5-10x more likely to die or be assaulted than the general population and are victimized at a much higher rate than men (70% are victims of domestic violence and 41% are sexual assault victims). Couple this with the average time of ten years to find a home (which is 2.5 times longer than men) and it is imperative that these women are able to find services who specialize in their unique needs.

It is imperative for their survival that women are provided with support and shelter.

Senate Bill 678 – the Unaccompanied Women Experiencing Homelessness Act of 2021 looks to address this very issue. As it is now, unaccompanied women, who make up 29% of the entire homeless population nationally, are not recognized as their own individualized group of people. This is a problem because most shelters provide services for men or for women with dependents, leaving women without dependents literally out in the cold to fend for themselves.

This is where WISEPlace comes in.

WISEPlace has been serving the Orange County community since 1924. We are the only shelter in Orange County solely dedicated to the needs of unaccompanied women. In 2020, of the 187 women we provided services for, 57% were survivors of domestic violence and 67% reported a disability. Women range in ages from 18 to 85+ and many have spent several years being homeless and without medical care. Through safe, transitional shelter and holistic, trauma-informed wraparound services, women who are fleeing abuse or trauma, or who have spent years fending for themselves on the street are able to get back on their feet, heal, and move from hopelessness and homelessness to housing and self-reliance.

Senate Bill 678 will have a significant impact on the work that we do. By recognizing unaccompanied women for who they are, the state will be able to place a greater emphasis on preventing and ending homelessness for these women, which in turn will create more options for women seeking services.

With 1 in 3 of all homeless people being an unaccompanied woman, it is far past time to recognize the unique needs of these women so we as a community are able to help them heal and get back on their feet.

Since inception, WISEPlace has helped over 8,400 women transition from hopelessness and homelessness to permanent housing and self-reliance.

Kellie Aamodt, first got involved with WISEPlace while she was Vice President of Sales at UPS. She and her staff volunteered and assisted in a variety of ways. Now, as one of the members of the NAWRB National Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council, she continues to find ways to support WISEPlace. “They do amazing work and are one of the only shelters to focus one unaccompanied women. Having WISEPlace in Santa Ana makes a true difference in our fight against homelessness, specifically for women. It’s a fantastic organization.” How Can I Help?

• Help them Home. Join us in a countywide giving day for Orange County’s homeless population. You can find out more and support us here.

• Support Senate Bill 678 to give unaccompanied women the support and services they so desperately need.

• Amazon and Instacart Gift Cards. Due to the pandemic, women in the program are in need of basic necessities for work and life.

• Lunch or Dinner Sponsorships. $350-$500 provides a meal for all the women in the shelter.

• Volunteer. WISEPlace utilizes volunteers for a range of services, workshops and activities.

• Stay in Touch. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Brateil Aghasi

CEO WISEPlace To get involved or support WISEPlace through our wish list, please visit https://wiseplace.org/wish-lists/, contact us at volunteers@wiseplace.org or call 714-542-3577.