Monthly Archives: August 2020

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Elizabeth Karwowski, CEO Get Credit Healthy, Inc.!

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NAWRB is proud to announce Elizabeth Karwowski as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Consumer Advocate Leader Award! Karwowski is the CEO of Get Credit Healthy, Inc. Elizabeth is recognized as a credit expert, and has been featured on NBC and Fox News, and published in Scotsman’s Guide and Today’s Chicago Women. In 2018 Elizabeth was named one of Mortgage Banking’s Most Powerful Women; and, one of the most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40. In 2019, Elizabeth was selected as the winner of the Woman with Vision Award; and, one of the Most Powerful Women in Fintech. Elizabeth believes that the only way to truly help consumers become financially healthy is to educate and change their behavior to improve their financial health.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, Elizabeth Karwowski!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Elizabeth Perez, CEO & Founder GCG!

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NAWRB is proud to announce Elizabeth Perez as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Veteran Leader Award! Perez is a Native American with Latin roots, a service-disabled veteran with a proud history of advocacy, entrepreneurship, and public service. Despite the adversities she has faced, Perez persevered and secured a job with a construction company and eventually started her own construction company, GC Green Inc. She later was appointed to the position of Deputy Secretary of Minority Veterans at CalVet where she spearheaded successful programs focused on a pathway to citizenship for deported veterans; became a tribal veteran representative connecting them to benefits they earned while serving; facilitated collaboration within the veteran LGTBQ community; and focused on reducing fraud within the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (CA DVBE) contracting spear.  Before she took the position, there had not been very much emphasis on any of these subset groups within the veteran community and she created awareness and made long-lasting positive change for veterans not only in California but across the country through groundbreaking policy and programming.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, Elizabeth Perez!

WHER Chat: Imperatives of the Commercial Real Estate Industry During COVID-19

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In 2020 NAWRB WHER, Volume II: Real Estate, we explore how the real estate industry is navigating COVID-19 challenges and utilizing technology as a solution. The industry must accomplish crucial initiatives during the pandemic to ensure the commercial real estate sector’s sustainability and reliability in the future.

1. Earning the respect, trust, and loyalty of customers and employees: In this time of uncertainty, leading operators are learning the importance of communicating to the point of overcommunication to make sure they are fully understanding and attending to their tenants’ needs at this moment and helping to protect everyone in their ecosystem. This may make communication as a company-level brand, rather than a property-level brand, more common, thereby speeding up an existing market trend.

In B2B environments, such as offices and retail stores, CEOs, and management teams are finding it helpful to asset managers and property managers by engaging directly with tenants. By interacting with the tenants directly, they not only address their needs more efficiently but also create a more trusting relationship with tenants who feel like they are being heard and valued.

2. Centralizing cash management: Prior to COVID-19, the McKinsey report notes that real estate was highly decentralized as important decisions regarding cash flow were made at the property level. However, due to the duration and depth of this crisis, which seems to have no end in sight in the United States, top management is now taking the initiative of centralized direction on property-level cash management in addition to company-level balance-sheet decisions and credit lines. As stated by the report, “All levels of management—including those at the property level and company level—are beginning to identify efficiency levers and when to pull them based on the underlying performance of properties and the business as a whole.”

3. Making tailored and informed decisions: Even within a single asset, needs will vary among tenants, particularly in commercial lease concessions. Real estate leaders are utilizing available behavioral data to generate fact-based insights that can help them make more informed decisions tailored to the needs of their diverse tenants (rather than a “one-size-fits-all” decision approach). They have data on local epidemiological and economic scenarios, competitive assets around a property, and the impact of the crisis on individual tenants.

4. Taking the digital leap: As we mentioned earlier, professionals in residential real estate have already taken the leap in digital sales and leasing processes, such as using virtual open houses and showings (sometimes augmented and virtual reality), as well omnichannel, targeted, and personalized sales. All of these tools are also available to the commercial real estate market in allowing their prospective tenants to find the right space for themselves.

5. Rethinking the future of real estate: Some landlords and lenders in the commercial real estate sector are looking ahead and preparing for how a business will change after the crisis is over. However, professionals are broadening their resources to include psychologists, sociologists, futurists, and technologists in addition to traditional economic or customer-survey-driven approaches. Some of the questions real estate professionals will have to ask include: “Will employees demand larger and more enclosed workspaces? Will people decide not to live in condominiums for fear of having to ride elevators?” By extending their research to include interdisciplinary resources and experts, business leaders will possibly find creative, informed solutions to these unprecedented challenges facing the industry.

About 2020 NAWRB WHER

The NAWRB Women Housing Ecosystem Report (WHER), our annual research report, provides the vision to revitalize communication and partnerships between industries as we work together to form mindful strategic solutions for social impact with a gender lens achievement. The 2020 NAWRB WHER includes the most diverse coverage of the Housing Ecosystem with almost eighty resources in six volumes: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Real Estate; Business Ownership; STEM; Access to Capital; and Aging Population. While waiting for the release of 2020 WHER, order a copy of the 2019 NAWRB WHER here!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Leora Ruzin, CMB, Director of Real Estate Lending!

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NAWRB is proud to announce Leora Ruzin, CMB as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Media Leader Award! Ruzin is the Director of Real Estate Lending at Valley First Credit Union and managing editor of Mortgage Women Magazine. With her involvement in a host of committees within ACUMA, MBA, CU: REALM, and Mortgage Women Magazine, Ruzin has been able to share her knowledge and passions with a vast audience that spans across all financial sectors. Leora was acknowledged for her passion and willingness to help others in 2019 by being selected as one of the “Most Powerful Women in FinTech” and “Lending Luminary” by Progress in Lending, and as one of 30 “Women with Vision” by 20/20 Vision for Success Coaching. In addition to her volunteer work, she lends her time to teach the next mortgage professional as an instructor for the MBA’s School of Mortgage Banking and Certified Mortgage Banker program. She uses every opportunity she can to pay it forward and share her passion with the world.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, Leora Ruzin!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Regina Lowrie, President & CEO, Dytrix Inc.!

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NAWRB is proud to announce Regina Lowrie, CMB as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Corporate Leader Award! Lowrie is the President & CEO of Dytrix, Inc. (@dytrixinc) with more than 30 years of experience as a C-suite executive. Regina served as the first female chairperson of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and continues to serve on a variety of committees. She has testified before Congress on public policy to include GSE Reform, and has served as an expert witness for the financial services industry. She is an exceptional leader, mentor to other women, and a highly respected individual in the mortgage industry while giving back to the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, The Forum of Executive Women and Credit Counseling Community Services of Delaware Valley.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, Regina Lowrie!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Twyla Hankins, EVP – Operations, American Financial Network, Inc.

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NAWRB is proud to announce Twyla Hankins as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Finance Leader Award! Hankins is the EVP of Operations at American Financial Network, Inc. and strives to make mortgage operations leadership look easy. With a career that spans more than three decades, she has a big-picture vision of how operations must adapt to meet the challenges and developed a cohesive team of talent that works well together, even while apart.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, Twyla Hankins!

Know the Rules of the GameⓇ Podcast: Bear the Truth

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As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to fight for racial equality and justice, it is crucial for non-BIPOC to analyze and understand how we can be better allies doing it right from the start! Find out more in this episode of Know the Rules of the GameⓇ Podcast: Bear the Truth with host Desirée Patno, CEO & President of Women in the Housing and Real Estate Ecosystem (NAWRB) and Special Guests Sabaea and Sydni Wynter of Bear the Truth, a non-profit 5013(c). Sabaea and Sydni will discuss the ways to help mitigate the issues at the core of the #BlackLivesMatter movement: love, empathy, service, and compassion and explain how to tackle society’s racial ideologies starting from a very early age.

To listen, click here!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner DeAnn Golden, Senior VP & Managing Broker, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties!

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NAWRB is proud to announce DeAnn Golden as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Residential Leader Award! Golden is the Senior VP & Managing Broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties. In the course of her career, Golden has fulfilled multiple leadership roles in the real estate markets of Athens, Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlanta and successfully launched total and company-wide performance coaching initiatives to engage and stimulate the production of real estate agents during the downturn of the market. When she mentors others, she focuses on accountability, communication, lead generation and sales call reluctance, and the mastery of sales and negotiation skills.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, DeAnn Golden!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Fabiola Candlish, CRA Branch Manager US Bank!

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NAWRB is proud to announce Fabiola Candlish as the winner of the 2020 NAWRB Mentor Leader Award! Candlish is the CRA Branch Manager at US Bank and has held executive positions for multiple organizations such as the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America, Oak Park Regional Housing, and more. From residential partners to non-profit organizations, she has been able to gather influencers together to bring forth awareness and education that empowers women and families altogether.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations, Fabiola Candlish!

Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Tami Bonnell, CEO Exit Realty Corp. International!

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NAWRB is proud to award Tami Bonnell with the 2020 NAWRB Diversity & Inclusion Leader Award! Tami Bonnell is the CEO of EXIT Realty Corp. International and is an internationally renowned leader and speaker in the real estate industry. Over the course of her career, Bonnell has been recognized as one of the top 200 most powerful and influential people in residential real estate. She has been integral to NAWRB Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Council (NDILC) for the past several years. Bonnell leads with love, patience, and strength. She is always concerned with the psychological safety and wellbeing of her staff, agents, and owners on all levels of the company. She believes that attitude is a person’s number one strength and creating an inclusive environment creates an incredible culture. 75% of Exit’s Leaders are Women.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor exceptional women leaders in the housing and real estate ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise, passion, and drive to redefine leadership and facilitate additional growth in their industry and local communities. Congratulations Tami Bonnell!