CLASS Notes
Building for the future
A
kilah Owens ’01 knows real estate. She also knows the value of serving others. In the midst of her fast-paced life as a real estate agent in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, Owens decided she wanted to give back to her community. She joined the local office of Operation Hope, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower low-income communities nationwide and overseas through seminars on banking, personal finance, repairing bad credit and small-business management. The organization, which started in Los Angeles following the 1992 race riots, emphasizes home ownership as the key to financial literacy and eliminating urban poverty. As a community-lending consultant at Operation Hope, Owens holds monthly mortgage and home-buying seminars and goes into the community to educate firsttime homebuyers about the importance of establishing equity and credit, and becoming financially secure. She also explains how mortgage loans work and the difference between fixed and adjustable rates. She advocates responsibility while urging people to think outside their comfort zones. “I try to debug the mindset of being comfortable and complacent,” Owens says. “We want to get you out of the rat race.” She also explains how financial security can benefit a family for many years to come.
By Robert Hoppey ’09
“It’s all about generational wealth,” she says. “You have to have money and reserves so that your kids can have money and continue spreading it down the line.” The battered housing market and credit crunch have combined to make
Akilah Owens ’01
home ownership an even greater challenge. Owens says she has counseled people in all income groups. “When you step into my office, everyone is on the same level,” she says. During her Elon days, Owens was more focused on becoming the next Oprah than learning the ins and outs of the housing market. Following graduation, the broadcast and corporate communications major attended Full Sail, a film school in Winter Park, Fla., and later worked at Robert
5/30/07. Sharon is a compliance officer Stacey Mennillo Dieterle ’98 and at Carey Financial LLC. Justin Dieterle, Ellington, Conn. Daughter: Teagan Grace. 6/7/07. She Shelly Roland Sullivan ’97 and joins older brother, Ryan Alexander. Todd Sullivan, Haymarket, Va. Son: Stacey is a project manager for Grant Marshal. 8/1/07. He joins older CIGNA. brother, Cameron. Shelly is a program control analyst at CACI in Chantilly, Heather Maltese Dorfer ’98 and Va. Daniel Dorfer, Manalapan, N.J. Son: Gavin Chad. 10/2/07. Heather is a Ashley Allen Child ’98 and Jeremy P. financial stock trader at Sandler O’Neill Child ’98, Charlotte, N.C. Daughter: Asset Management. Morgan Elizabeth. 7/3/07. Jennifer Good Jacobson ’98 and Eric Cone ’98 and Wendy Miller Nate D. Jacobson, Guilford, Conn. Cone ’00, Chesterfield, Va. Son: Daughter: Cambelle Eve. She joins William. 5/3/07. Eric is a business older sister, Rylan. owner, and Wendy is a Realtor. Melanie Wachter Whipple ’98 and Jeff Whipple, Suwanee, Ga. Daughter:
Redford’s Sundance Filmmakers Lab in Utah. After returning home, Owens began to focus on an entirely different industry, housing, largely based on the advice of her father, Torrence Owens, a former developer. He urged his daughter to explore the earning potential of real estate. Before long, Owens was hooked. She worked at two Washington-area real estate agencies before going to work full time with Operation Hope in fall 2006. She also works part time as a real estate agent. “I work a lot,” she concedes. “I’m trying to learn a work-life balance.” Owens says she would like to run her own business one day, which would be focused on real estate. Serving others is nothing new to this young alum; at Elon, Owens was active in service as a member of the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program and her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. She stays connected to Elon as a member of the Washington, D.C., alumni chapter, which she led for several years as president. The chapter hosts happy hour gatherings and holiday parties and recently formed a flag football team, of which Owens is a member. Even though Owens works in the housing industry, it is the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives that defines her experiences. “It touches me to see someone so excited to have their first house. It’s a good feeling.”
Parker Jaye. 11/1/07. She joins older Michelle Cater Rash ’99 and Chris brothers, Jack and Carson. Melanie is Rash, Gibsonville, N.C. Daughter: a homemaker. Ainsley Nicole. 6/10/07. Michelle is a reporter for the Triad Business Journal. Jim Archer ’99 and Erin Raines Chris is an Elon staff member. Archer ’99, Jacksonville, Fla. Daughter: Grace. She joins older sister Melissa Craig Thomas ’99 and Ella. 10/19/07. Jim is an airline pilot Nickolaus Thomas, Zuni, Va. for Southwest Airlines, and Erin is a Daughter: Maisie Callegan. 8/30/07. homemaker. Melissa is a manager for The Yearbook Company. Elizabeth Henderson Layton ’99 and Ben Layton, Zebulon, N.C. Daughter: Justin R. Zimmerman ’99 and Torry Emily Elizabeth. 7/5/07. Elizabeth left Plasman Zimmerman ’98, Atlanta. her job with the Carolina Hurricanes Daughter: Elizabeth Bolier “Libby.” to be a stay-at-home mom. 10/28/07. She joins her older sister, Ellie-Reed. Katie Bell Lemeshewsky ’99 and Steve Lemeshewsky ’99. Daughter: Elizabeth Jean. 3/8/07. Magazine of Elon
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