On April 23, the Columbus REALTORS® Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), Education, and Government Affairs committees hosted the first-ever Fair Housing Symposium.
Three hours of CE credit was offered, and there was no charge to members to attend the symposium. The programming was split into three sections.
First, a panel moderated by Columbus Realtist Association Qiana Jones featuring Rodelyn Frijas (Asian Real Estate Association of America, Columbus Chapter President),
Ty Nisthautz (Chair of the Columbus REALTORS Hispanic Professionals Network), and Wayne Henry (LGBRQ+ Real Estate Alliance President), spoke about “Working in a Diverse Market.”
Second, Columbus REALTORS® DEI committee chair Jason Hottle moderated a panel discussion titled “How local housing agencies and organizations impact DEI space in Central Ohio.
The panel featured Anna Teye-Kasongo (Director of Community Partnerships for the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio – Convergence Columbus), Leah Evans (President and CEO of Homeport), and Anthony F. Forte (Field Office Director, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).
The final programming section was a keynote presentation on Implicit Bias led by Primrose Igonor (Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Columbus State Community College). The presentation included demonstrations on the definition of implicit bias, the consequences of it and how to counteract it followed by group discussion.
Hannah Fenderson (Howard Hanna Real Estate), Tom Nichols (Choice Home Warranty), and Julie Horvath (Wright-Patt Credit Union) sponsored the event.
