industry knowledge. He has also worked to create an environment that fostered creativity in the workplace as a goal for the NAREB members.
Donnell Williams
Apart from his professional commitment to NAREB, Mr. Williams also holds membership in the North Central Jersey Association of Realtors and the New Jersey Association of Realtors. He is a member of the Board of Adjustment for Morris (N.J.) Township, and a member of the United States Developers Council.
In addition, Mr. Williams is a licensed realtor since 1992 and a licensed broker since 2001, he earned membership in the New Jersey Million Dollar Club (1995-2000). He also holds certification as a residential manager and housing counselor. Currently, he serves as a chairman of the Board of the New Jersey Association of Minority Real Estate Professionals.
Community involvement
As a resident of Morris Township, Donnell’s community and civic involvements include active membership as a Deputy Grand Master of the Most worshipful Oriental Grand Lodge, a Member of Morris Community Minority Concerns Advisory Committee and an NAACP Silver Level Lifetime member.
An Agenda for the Millennials
After his inauguration as the 31st NAREB president on August 1st in his speech, Donnell set a bold yet targeted an agenda to increase Black Wealth through homeownership with a special focus on reaching the country’s millennials. The 72nd Annual NAREB convention happened just a few days after the U.S Census Bureau released its 2nd quarter 2019 homeownership rates, which listed Black Homeownership rate at 40.6%, the lowest in more than 50 years. Which in comparison to the non-Hispanic whites, there was a 30 percent gap.
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”Bold, energetic, and effective action must be taken to stop this unthinkable slippage in Black wealth. Homeownership and investment in real estate represent the tools Black Americans, in general, and millennials, in particular, can use to build or rebuild their wealth. My plan to reverse the downward slide is to reach the 1.7 million mortgage-ready Black millennials who make over $100,000 annually, but have delayed or not considered homeownership as part of their wealthbuilding strategy,” Williams stated. He also stated several initiatives that speak directly to the millennial demographics. In the spotlight, one program that drew a lot of applause from the audience when he said, ”Our people need to know that you are in violation if you drive a Land Rover and you pay rent to a landlord.” This is an initiative dubbed House Then a Car is set to launch shortly, and it concentrates its financial focus on attracting millennials and Gen-X-ers to home buying or investment in real estate investment opportunities to build sustainable wealth.
Donnell emphasizes that NAREB members Realtists have to embolden themselves as well as their potential customers. He noted, ”We must Educate, Empower, and Mobilize ourselves as well as the Black American public. Wealth building through homeownership is indeed possible, and we need to make that happen.” Sources; http://housethenthecar.com/ http://www.nareb.com/2mn5/ http://www.nareb.com/profile/dwilliams/
THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | JUNE 2020
