In early April, VIBE was proud to host a vibrant, live panel discussion for fellow industry professionals with the aim of helping fight discrimination in real estate right here in the Twin Cities. “I left there super inspired for the amazing work everyone there wants to do together,” said Andrea Rodriguez, loan officer for Fairway. Featured on the panel were the local leaders of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance.
The afternoon included “important dialogue,” according to panelist Zaylore Stout, chief counsel for the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, and included a lot of focus on the issue of financial literacy, around which there are multiple proposed bills circulating through the state capitol. The free-flowing discussion lasted just over an hour and centered around how we, as real estate professionals, can more actively protect our clients from facing discrimination that risks impacting their housing outcomes. “I think how well attended this was is evidence that this is an important conversation, and I was heartened to see so many people spending their time and energy on this,” said Mandy Neuman, VIBE’s managing Broker.
The room was filled with local real estate agents from brokerages ranging from Coldwell Banker Burnet, EXP Realty and Keller Williams, as well as several lenders and title service providers. “I was thrilled to see our new space used for this purpose, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from the attendees,” said Rob Glynn, VIBE co-founder and president, who moderated the live panel discussion. There were many calls for this event to become a series, and VIBE is planning on hosting more events like this in the coming months, stay tuned!
The event’s panelists included:
NAREB (National Association of Real Estate Brokers)
https://www.narebtc.com
Cameron Perket, President (Twin Cities Chapter)
cameron.perket@usbank.com
NAHREP (National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals)
https://www.nahreptwincities.org
Estefania Borns, Vice-president (Twin Cities Chapter)
efyborns@gmail.com
AREAA (Asian Real Estate Association of America)
https://areaa.org/twincities
Vincent Jung, President (Twin Cities Chapter)
vincent.jung@usbank.com
LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance
https://realestatealliance.org
Zaylore Stout, Chief Legal Counsel
zaylore@stoutslaw.com
