NDILC in the News

Tami Bonnell is CEO of Exit Realty Corp. International, which has donated $300,000 each to victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, and $4 million for Habitat for Humanity. The organization pooled these funds for those hit hardest by these natural disasters from their Red Cross disaster relief efforts.

She recently partnered with Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), started in 1977 in Seattle, WA, as a way to involve the community to help watch over the safety and needs of child victims of abuse and neglect, by campaigning for auction items and donating voice-over services at CASA’s latest fundraising event titled “An Evening Under the Stars.” Thousands of dollars were raised for the non-profit organization.

Dr. Chitra Dorai , Computer Scientist, Data Science and AI Expert, and Founder and CEO at Amicus Brain Innovations, Inc., attended the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, which had over 70,000 attendees and was the largest entrepreneurial conference with participants ranging from IBM, Google, Amazon, and other major companies. Dr. Chitra Dorai also recently participated in DC Finance New York on October 23rd, 2018, regarding Future Proofing the Real Estate Business in AI (Artificial Intelligence) Era. Dr. Chitra Dorai also participated at MBA’s D&I Summit in Washington D.C. on Using Technology and Data Analytics to Impact D&I on November 28, 2018.

Desirée Patno, CEO & President of NAWRB, and Chairwoman of NDILC, has brought discussion of women’s economic growth to the forefront as a distinguished speaker at many events, including two events in New York and Miami by DC Finance, an international network of high net worth individuals, family offices and investors; MBA’s D&I Summit in Washington, D.C.; and the 2017 ICOGAS International Conference that took place on the margins of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly and featured a female President and several First Ladies from across the globe.

NAWRB wrote a formal letter in support of 2020 Women on Boards to the Banking and Finance Committee of the California State Assembly regarding the SB 826 bill, which requires public companies without women board members to hire at least one woman by the end of 2019. The bill is an important step in diversity and inclusion, as well as for the advancement of women, although it should be adopted with a mindset that acknowledges gender diversity as a multifaceted issue that will require a concerted effort at all employment levels. NAWRB letter in support of SB 826

She participated in DC Finance’s Real Estate Family Office Meetings: Opportunity Zones on Wednesday, December 12th, 2018 in New York City. She chaired the event and interviewed Chelsea Amelia Cruz, Associate Director of Community Development Finance at Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and John Cochrane, Senior Associate at the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance. She also participated in a Fireside chat with Karen Przpyszny, Managing Director of Special Initiatives at The National Equity Fund. Desiree also participated in DC Finance’s Women in Real Estate on October 23, 2018 in New York City, NAR’s Finance Your Business Expansion Dreams in Boston on November 3, 2018 and participated in MBA’s D&I Summit Keeping Up with D&I in a Down Market in Washington D.C. on November 28, 2018.

Marcia M. Davies, Chief Operating Officer for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and Founder of mPower, As COO, Marcia is responsible for ensuring cross organizational alignment and facilitating the implementation of strategic initiatives, as well as maintaining oversight of key organizational priorities. She is also the lead strategist for MBA’s external activities, providing leadership, guidance and overall management to the public affairs and marketing divisions. In addition, Marcia provides strategic direction and management of MBA’s Conferences, Membership, Education, Information Technology and Office Services divisions. She also provides management oversight to and is a Board member of MBA’s Opens Doors Foundation.

Women in the Housing & Real Estate Ecosystem (NAWRB) and mPower®, MBA Promoting Opportunities for Women to Extend their Reach, a network exclusively for women in the real estate finance industry by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), announce that they will join forces in a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Together, the organizations will help each other achieve the individual missions and shared goals of realizing women’s economic growth and increasing diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the housing ecosystem. NAWRB’s MOU with MPower

Marcia Davies mPower, which hosted mPowering You: MBA’s Summit for Women in Real Estate Finance on October 13, 2018 in Washington, D.C. mPoweringYou is a forum for women in the mortgage industry to promote and discuss professional development as well as diversity and inclusion in the workplace. A wide range of successful women executives provided helpful insights and engaged attendees in thought-provoking conversations to enhance their professional and personal skills. http://bit.ly/mpoweringyou2018