With the enthusiastic support of industry leadership, REAP—the Real Estate Associate Program—is now widely acknowledged to be the most successful diversity initiative in the commercial real estate industry.
REAP's recruiting process is competitive and selective, attracting credentialed, career-changing, professionals—architects, bankers, engineers, MBA's, lawyers and sales people. They know how to add value to a company's bottom line.
Employers meet potential minority employees—not in mandatory diversity training—but in voluntary, business-oriented opportunities that raise comfort levels on both sides.
REAP's success has been validated by leading minority professional groups like Black MBA's, Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, National Organization of Minority Architects, and REEC (Real Estate Executive Council), and through REAP's affiliation with the Business Schools at Howard and Clark Atlanta Universities.
REAP was launched in Washington in 1997, in Atlanta in 2001, in New York City in 2006, in Chicago in 2009 and in Los Angeles in 2011.
REAP exists because the commercial real estate industry's professional ranks are less than 1% minority at management levels—less than 1,000 people of color in an industry with over 125,000 professionals. During its short existence, REAP has increased that minority cohort by 10%—by spotlighting a talent pool that was always there, but previously unacknowledged. Over 80 REAP Associates now work for leading firms in the industry, from London to Los Angeles, New York to New Mexico.
