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President's Message
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Using ROI as the foundation for our programming helped us stay resilient
Sue Miller
2021 President
Wow, what a year we’ve had!
As my presidency of YOUR Illinois REALTORS® comes to an end, I want to let you know how proud I am of what we accomplished this year.
We helped revitalize communities struck by disaster through relief funding from the Illinois REALTORS® Relief Foundation. Our local Governmental Affairs Directors (GADS) worked with their communities to pass fair housing resolutions to promote equality in homeownership. The GADS also helped to elect to local offices candidates interested in protecting private property rights and helped defeat harmful local regulations.
I’m also pleased that many members who have been in the business for less than five years utilized the opportunity to improve their social media management skills and strengthen their business plans through our Learn Grow Connect series.
To help you grow your business, we stepped up our longtime commitment to diversity through our partnership with the Illinois Real Estate Educational Foundation (REEF). We sponsored a program for Illinois real estate firms to receive grants to retain experts in diversity and inclusion who helped them understand sensitive topics and implement business practices that prioritized diversity in the workplace. That partnership between REEF and Illinois REALTORS® also included increasing the number of minority scholarships.
Additionally, we continued strengthening and deepening our relationships with our industry partners. I, like other members of the Executive Committee, am a member of industry partners including the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Illinois, Asian Real Estate Association of America, Dearborn REALTIST® Board and NAHREP Chicago.
Lastly, we increased our influence at a critical time.
From early April through mid-May, we hosted our Lobby Days virtually with the four top leaders of both parties of the General Assembly. The first was with the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Chris Welch. The following week was with President of the Illinois Senate Don Harmon, and we concluded the series with Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
After seeing more than 600 REALTORS® on a Zoom meeting with him, Speaker Welch just shook his head and said: “Wow!” The other legislative leaders had similar responses after seeing and feeling our power and our influence.
Next, we used our influence to protect your property management rights. We thwarted major efforts to impose harmful rent control measures statewide. We also advocated for the development of more affordable housing while preserving the existing stock. A few of our measures were contained in the legislation passed to create new resources and incentives to finance affordable housing across the state.
Our advocacy successes were made possible by your continued support in RPAC. It put REALTORS® at the table with THE elected officials who would make the decisions on issues affecting real estate. It was not about political party. It was about securing our future at the local, state and federal levels. I want to personally thank each of you for your RPAC commitment and investment!
As I turn the reins over to Ezekiel “Zeke” Morris, I will still be very involved and want to hear from you.
I ask all of you to show Zeke the kind of wonderful support you provided me. Continue sharing your ideas and feedback. Please respond to those Illinois REALTORS® calls for action in the future.
Thank you all for everything you do each and every day for our industry, our communities and our state.
