August 17, 2018

NAIOP hosted a Closer Look discussion on diversity & inclusion within commercial real estate. Duchesne Drew, Community Network Vice President of the Bush Foundation, met with 40 NAIOP members on initiatives to increase awareness of the business case to build relationships to expand diversity and inclusivity in commercial real estate. Duchesne discussed the demographics in the Twin Cities and the advantages businesses have for emphasizing diversity in the workforce. Duchesne detailed Make It. MSP. and the resources available with their BE MSP workplace toolkit. Duchesne also recommended We Can’t Talk About That At Work by Mary-Frances Winters for advancing bold inclusive conversations.

Resources

• Presentation from this Closer Look discussion (PDF).
• BE MSP Workplace Toolkit on how diversity efforts can be a source for growth.
• Minnesota Commercial Real Estate Diversity Collaborative, with participating associations NAIOP Minnesota, MNCREW, MNCAR, BOMA Minneapolis, IREM Minnesota, MSCA, ULI Minnesota and the Minnesota chapter of CoreNet Global.
• The Bush Foundation, that encourages individuals and organizations to think bigger and think differently about what is possible in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geographic area.