Celebrating Diversity: Working to Build One Community

Front row, left to right, Diana Bruno, director of the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley, Dolores Golden, chief executive officer of the Multicultural Real Estate Alliance, and Winnie Davis, president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. Standing, Richard Cooper, president of the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley and Gary E. Acosta, founder and president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.

Pictured at a recent conference on fair housing are, left to right, Gary E. Acosta, founder and president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, James Park, chief executive officer and president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America, Bryan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for enforcement and programs, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and Winnie Davis, president of the 12,500-member Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

Winnie Davis, the 2007 president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors, offers this overview of what the Association is doing to foster diversity and ensure that the opportunity to buy a home remains open to everyone throughout the San Fernando Valley.

By WINNIE DAVIS, President, and David Walker
Southland Regional Association of Realtors®

As the 2007 president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors I am particularly proud of the efforts the Association has made to educate our members and the community about the meaning and importance of fair housing.

With the help of the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley, we have educated many real estate professionals.

The Association recently embarked on a program of recruiting minorities to join our leadership and decision-making structure so we can truly represent the community that we serve. I am proud to announce that this year the National Association of Realtors provided funding for this program.

Our success over the years has resulted in growing diversity within the ranks of the Association's membership. Real estate professionals from under-represented communities have been recruited by our ambassador program and the Association's leadership institute trains many of those individuals to take leadership positions.

With the help of the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley, the association every year also organizes seminars for real estate professional. Those educational events sometimes include the Council's attorneys and representatives from the Housing Department of the City of Los Angeles.

The proactive approach by the Southland Regional Association of Realtors also extends deep into the community.

For example, five years ago the Association pioneered a program designed to teach students about the benefits of diversity that make our community and our culture so rich.

That program taught 25,700 students. The initial curriculum on fair housing developed years ago now is used statewide to touch more than 330,000 students.

Another school-based program developed by the Association in cooperation with the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley is titled "Home for the Holidays."

Local school kids are asked to create a poster and write an essay about what having a home means to them and why it's important for everyone to have an equal opportunity to purchase a home of their own.

Specialized seminars and efforts to educate Realtors and the community also extend to frequently overlooked groups, such as senior citizens, veterans and the disabled.

For 12 years the Association has organized what we call a multicultural mixer - a festive, colorful, fun-filled event that celebrates the food, dance, clothing and uniqueness of cultures worldwide.

Wherever and whenever possible, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors seizes every opportunity to spread the word about the concept and benefits of fair housing.

As a result of these campaigns, the hard work of many other groups and the understanding and acceptance of all citizens, California was fortunate not to be featured in a recent report noting fair housing violations by real estate agents.

To insure that we keep that position, every new member of the 12,500-member Southland Regional Association of Realtors must go through an orientation which includes material about fair housing laws and issues. We want to make people aware of the benefits of integration and the rewards that flow from ensuring a housing market that is free of discrimination.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors is a local trade association comprised of more than 12,000 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. SRAR is one of the largest local associations in the nation. Go to www.srar.com to search for every home listed for sale in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.