Building and Leading a Diverse Real Estate Firm

Program Description

As a growing number of commercial real estate firms embrace the diversity imperative, inclusive strategies for recruitment, retention, and advancement have emerged as immediate priorities for management teams. Over the course of three interactive case-based sessions, participants in this program will explore the many dimensions of diversity; practical tools for recruitment of early- and mid-career professionals, as well as managers and board members; mentorship, retention, and advancement of a diverse workforce; leveraging diversity in business decision-making; and engaging with external stakeholders and partners.

Program Outcomes

After completing this program, participants should gain:

A thorough understanding of the necessity and impacts of increasing organizational diversity and inclusion
Techniques for recruiting and retaining a more diverse professional workforce
Methods to increase diversity at the executive and board level
Tools to increase mentorship, retention and advancement for diverse professionals
An understanding of how to incorporate diversity into all business aspects, both internally and with external stakeholders

Program Faculty

Sam Chandan is the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair in Real Estate Development and Investment and Associate Dean of the NYU SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate. Dean Chandan was previously the Laurence and Susan Hirsch Adjunct Associate Professor of Real Estate at the Wharton School and a visiting professor on the faculty of the Economics Department at Dartmouth College. Prior to his academic positions, Dean Chandan was Global Chief Economist and Executive Vice President at Real Capital Analytics (RCA) and founded Chandan Economics, a provider of multifamily and commercial real estate mortgage data and risk analytics to banks and bank regulators. Dean Chandan is the co-host of The Real Estate Hour on SiriusXM Business Radio, and his commentary has been featured regularly in national and global press, including The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Among his recent publications, he is the editor and co-author of Real Estate Financing, published by PEI, and the lead investigator for Regulatory Design and Real Outcomes, a major study on the regulation of commercial real estate lending commissioned by the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC). Dean Chandan received his PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton School and holds graduate degrees in economics and engineering, and an undergraduate degree in economics, finance, and public policy.