A new diversity initiative aims to prepare more minorities for careers in community development careers in accounting, legal, finance, consultancy, development and related areas.
Project REAP (Real Estate Associate Program), the nation’s leading program to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the commercial real estate (CRE) industry, has launched Open Access and invited applications from qualified candidates.
Open Access Fellows will benefit from paid fellowships with industry leaders, training, networking, webinars and conference attendance sponsored by Novogradac & Company LLC, to prepare for community development careers in accounting, legal, finance, consultancy, development and related areas.
The program will attract and cultivate an initial cohort of economic development talent – professionals seeking to become agents of change, restoration and empowerment in communities of color.
“We need to have our industry be more representative of the communities where we work. There is great talent in the market. This is not just the right thing to do, the proper representation influences our allocation of resources, the projects we fund and the impacts we create and achieve in the communities,” said Jeff Monge, managing partner of Monge Capital and co-founder of the Open Access initiative with Gina D. Nisbeth, director, Citi.
Applicants must have a four-year degree from an accredited institution and be able to commit to 160 hours (20 eight-hour days) over up to 12 weeks from January 18 through April 18, 2021. Applications are open and will close on Saturday, December 5, 2020 (11:59 pm EST).
Accepted candidates will be announced January 2021; training and fellowships begin Monday, January 18, 2021. Sponsors include U.S. Bancorp, Chase, PNC, Citi, Greenline Ventures, Novogradac, Advantage Capital, NTCIC and Monge Capital. https://www.projectreap.org/
