Opportunity: To grow your business and perspective through diversity
Sample Training Videos
Free diversity and fair housing training videos featuring trainers from our grant program.
Appraisal Fairness Tools
Tools for REALTORS® to combat racial bias in residential appraisals.
Opportunity: To build equity through a career in real estate
Illinois Minority Real Estate Scholarships
100 scholarships to help minority students pursue an education and prosper in the real estate industry. Can also be used by current licensees to earn professional designations. In Partnership with the Illinois Real Estate Educational Foundation.
Appraisal Diversity Initiative
Real estate related professions are working to diversify the industry.
Diversity & Inclusion Courses
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion CE can help you expand your business and client base.
I am grateful to be a recipient of the Illinois Minority Real Estate Scholarship Program not once, but twice! The first helped me earn a Graduate, REALTOR® Institute (GRI) designation and a Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) designation. The second time I applied was to earn my Managing Broker’s license as I want to own and manage a brokerage office. Without these scholarships being available, I would not have been able to accomplish my goals.
With the assistance of an Illinois REEF scholarship, I was able to take the real estate course and successfully completed the Illinois exam. The scholarship will also enable me to take additional courses to obtain real estate designations in industry areas that I’m passionate about. As a female minority, I am grateful for the scholarship that helped me make my dreams and future goals a reality.
The aid I received from the James M. Kinney Scholarship helped me pay for living expenses freshman year. It helped to provide me with a home away from home where I made a friend for life, spent countless hours studying and relaxing and helped my experience at college become one of the best times of my life!
With both of my parents working in the real estate industry for over 30 years, I am proud to be a recipient of the James M. Kinney Scholarship. This generous scholarship not only assisted my pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in biology, but also encouraged me to continue my education and attend medical school in the future.
I have been able to pay for some of my college tuition as well as the travel and program costs for real estate ‘treks,’ to meet real estate companies through the University of Michigan Real Estate Club. Without the help of REEF, I am certain there are students who would not realize their professional potential or personal interest in real estate. Thank you for awarding me the Thomas F. Seay scholarship, which has opened many doors and opportunities for me in real estate!
The Morgan Fitch Scholarship allowed me to take an extra class on real estate valuation, a course that was extremely helpful when I took the broker’s exam as well as in my real estate practice.
Opportunity: To create inclusive partnerships and communities
REALTOR® Reads Book Club
Register for the next REALTOR® Reads Speaker Series events
October 20: Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights ActivistIndustry Partners
Illinois REALTORS® works with real estate organizations that represent the diversity found in the real estate industry.
Heritage Months
It is the heritage of EVERY one of us that makes our nation great. Celebrate our heritage to help unite us, make us stronger and more resilient.
Additional Resources
Test your fair housing knowledge in Fairhaven
Fairhaven is a free, online simulation program from NAR that allows you to test your knowledge and compliance with fair housing principles. As you work against the clock to close four real estate deals, you’ll encounter discriminatory situations inspired by real fair housing cases. Fairhaven provides customized feedback to help you incorporate fair housing principles in your daily interactions.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion News
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion News
Is Fair Housing in Your Blind Spot?
Dr. Lee Davenport, International Real Estate/Business Educator in this video encourages REALTORS® to challenge their world-view and look at the topic of Fair Housing from a top-down perspective in a practical way.
A Brief History of Fair Housing
Nate Johnson, President of The St. Louis Association of Real Estate Professionals, walks you through 150 years in the history of the fight for fair housing in this informative video.
The Umbrella Effect
This fast-paced, 1-hour course shares practical steps to make difficult conversations more comfortable and explains how to harness emotional intelligence, unconscious biases and microaggressions. The focus is on awareness and cooperation rather than criticism or shame, so everyone moves forward together.
