Given the country’s current business and political atmosphere, these have been strange and worrisome times for those seeking to advance the cause of diversity within the business world, with companies as diffuse as Meta, McDonald’s, John Deere, Ford and Walmart either abandoning or restructuring their DEI initiatives.
But the Real Estate Board of New York’s Fellows program — a six-month training stint for mid-career professionals in real estate — is standing athwart the backlash.
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Currently in its fifth year, the Fellows program is run by REBNY in accordance with the Coro New York Leadership Center, a civic training organization that teaches an adaptive leadership framework developed at Harvard University.
The program works toward the stated goal of “helping the real estate sector cultivate diverse talent and build a leadership pipeline that brings new ideas, experiences and relationships to the table,” according to REBNY’s website, which adds, “We believe that increased diversity is key to the sector’s success.”
Yvonne Riley-Tepie, REBNY’s senior vice president of social impact, said that the current national business climate has not shaken that belief.
“Some people are pulling back from diversity initiatives. We’re not shying away from it, because it’s still necessary,” said Riley-Tepie, who noted that diversity of representation can include considerations of gender, age and lived experience. “REBNY sees this opportunity as a retention tool. We see it as the employees feeling valued and appreciated because their companies are supporting them in this effort. And we see no reason to dial it back, because the program has been successful.”
The power of diversity in all its forms is also appreciated by the new cohort of 23 Fellows. Some of them looked forward to the program, which held its in-person orientation last week, largely for the opportunity to get to know others in real estate who hailed from a wide range of experiential backgrounds.
“The REBNY Fellowship program is a very prestigious program, so it’s an honor to carry that title,” said Tiana Liriano, a 2025 Fellow who is director of real estate and property management at Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. Liriano noted the diversity of the group after the Fellows met at orientation.
“It’s a really diverse group with people from all aspects of the industry, which is very exciting because we can all learn from each other, including sharing ideas and knowledge,” said Liriano. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to network and to grow. I’m hoping that the skills I learn here will help propel me to grow as the leader I want to be.”
John Pagnanella is a senior property manager at Rose Associates and, like Liriano, a veteran of over 10 years in real estate. Pagnanella also sees the diversity of experience as a benefit in his quest to develop his leadership capabilities.
“I was very impressed by how many different unique backgrounds were in the room from people that would be considered experts in their fields,” said Pagnanella. “That part really excited me. It wasn’t just a group of, like, 20 property managers all talking about the same thing. There were people who work for banks and people who work in construction and people from all different elements of the real estate business.”
After orientation, the program will involve a two-day Hudson Valley retreat next month, where the participants will be able to immerse themselves in their training. Then it’s two days a month of additional sessions.
Participants in the program will hear from various speakers and mentors throughout six months of events. While this year’s speakers and mentors have yet to be confirmed, past ones have included Rudin Management’s Bill Rudin; Tishman Speyer Senior Managing Director Michelle Adams; Vicki Been, former New York deputy mayor for housing and economic development and now faculty director for New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy; and Trinity Wall Street Managing Director Sujohn Sarkar.
“I’m interested in getting some of our elected officials back in the room to talk about things like the City of Yes,” said Riley-Tepie, referring to a suite of sweeping zoning changes that the City Council passed last year. “I want to hear more about some of the policies that are coming, and how they’re impacting their constituents.”
Speakers also typically include representatives from the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Riley-Tepie said.
“We always have someone from the EDC talking about different projects like the Navy Yard, Governors Island and the Brooklyn Army Terminal. We did tours of all three facilities last year, and that was a big hit.”
While the program’s structure has remained fairly consistent since its 2020 inception, there are a few changes this year. REBNY is introducing a capstone project in which the Fellows will delve into three or four major issues facing the industry outside of their traditional exposure or workflow, seeking to develop solutions to present at their normal places of work.
“I wanted to challenge my partners at Coro and the Fellows to take it to the next level,” said Riley-Tepie. “So we invited them to come forward with problems they’re trying to solve within their organization, and see how, within the Fellowship, we could help them solve for that.”
Riley-Tepie said she views the capstone project as a natural evolution of what the program has taught over the years.
“We’re not trying to mess with the formula too much, but we want to tweak it to always make it more challenging, so that the participants and our members see the value in it,” she said. “As a trade association, we always want to provide value for our members.”
The final capstone topics have yet to be decided, as the Fellows will help determine them by which issues they choose to discuss in their training sessions. Based on discussions at the program’s orientation, Riley-Tepie said she anticipates sessions around policy and artificial intelligence as well as data.
“We got a sense of what they want to focus on at orientation,” said Riley-Tepie, who noted that the Fellows will take especially deep dives into these topics at February’s retreat. “There were a lot of questions around policy. For example, how are we going to meet the new laws for sustainability, like Local Law 97? Or questions about conversions from commercial to residential. Another big topic was about AI in real estate and the use of data.”
Another slight expansion of the program from years past is the inclusion of two Fellows from real estate-affiliated nonprofits Breaking Ground and The Trust for Governors Island in an effort to broaden the conversation around much-needed resources for housing.
“I worked at TD Bank for 16 years. I would fund 15 organizations that work on housing, but none of them spoke to each other,” said Riley-Tepie. “So we expanded the opportunity for nonprofits working on housing affordability or similar issues to be in the room with people who have the same concerns but are working in a different sector. We are all concerned with moving the city forward, but I don’t feel there’s enough conversation among different groups.
“So we wanted to give folks working in some of our member organizations the opportunity to hear from someone at Breaking Ground to see if there are similarities in their concerns, and how they can work together to make the city better while solving for issues around homelessness and affordability.”
With the program in its fifth year, Riley-Tepie also plans to have some program alumni speak to the new cohort. They would talk about the leadership knowledge and networking opportunities the program provided them, and how it has helped their career progress.
“A lot of our alumni have gotten promotions or more visibility in their organizations,” said Riley-Tepie. “So this year we’re going to have a formal panel of alumni to talk to the Fellows.”
And that is the most fulfilling aspect of this for Riley-Tepie — hearing how the program has enriched the lives of those who participate.
“I had someone say to me that since the death of his father, the program has had the most impact on his life. He has gone back to work and put into practice everything he’s learned in the program,” said Riley-Tepie. “The program’s feedback has been very positive. After participating, the Fellows feel more committed to real estate.”
