Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) – like many organizations around the country – took a long, hard, deep look at itself, the work of its employees, the way those employees interact with one another as well as their interactions with HAR’s nearly 50,000 Realtor members around Greater Houston and across the state of Texas. Almost immediately, association leadership determined it was time to demonstrate meaningful and measurable commitment to do our part to heal social and cultural differences and expand awareness and understanding.

HAR leadership created a Diversity & Inclusion task force that I chair to ensure that equity and fairness are applied to all aspects of HAR’s business model and to review questionable DEI-related matters whenever they may arise. Members of the group include both REALTORS® and staff. They meet on a regular basis to identify opportunities and to suggest priorities.

Some of the priorities identified included making a commitment to educating HAR members about the impact of living in a multicultural metropolitan area and encouraging both members and staff to have more interaction with people from different cultural groups. This has resulted in changes to HAR programming, social media posting and event planning.

With a focus on HAR members, we have included DEI-related topics and featured DEI-related guests as part of our regular programming, like Member Focused Monday, where one of the most viewed programs offered has been a panel on racism in real estate. But, it is important to note that HAR has also offered content related the experience of LGBTQ+ REALTORS®, how to work with consumers from different age groups and webinars on serving people with disabilities.

Diversity of the topics and the presenters at our annual Engage Conference and at orientation and strategic planning events for our Board of Directors has been a topic of conversation and resulted in changes that have received positive feedback from our members. HAR has also increased its level of partnership with the real estate associations that serve specific members of the real estate profession based on race, age, gender or sexual orientation.

Quarterly training sessions for staff, facilitated by a nationally recognized equity/diversity author and speaker, began in early 2021 and continue today. Topics have included unconscious bias, recognizing the impact of culture and values on communication, and ways to respond to culturally influenced conflict. These are usually held as Zoom sessions to ensure all employees can participate.

Everyone from leadership on down has spoken favorably about the impact the training has had on them personally and professionally by creating an enhanced awareness and an improved skill level to interact with the cultural diversity all around us. It’s worth noting that HAR.com has been known to have an extremely ethnically diverse staff dating back many years before Floyd’s tragic death. This has helped us understand and serve the vast diversity in our membership.

Education and training have also been extended to HAR membership through classes offered by the association’s Professional Development department. Specifically, the At Home With Diversity® curriculum and the Fairhaven simulation, developed by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), encompass topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, fair housing and risk reduction. They both are designed to give participants practical skills and tools to expand their business and effectively serve all clients.

Course goals include developing an increased awareness of cultural and personal biases that may inhibit you from fully embracing diversity and creating a successful multicultural real estate business; learning inclusive, multi-cultural marketing and advertising strategies to broaden the client base; formulating an inclusive business plan to help you create an enduring business that is able to adapt and evolve to an ever-changing marketplace.

Real estate, as an industry, has an opportunity to serve as a beacon of excellence after a long history of insensitivity and inequality. For years, people have been discriminated against on many levels of a real estate transaction based on race, sexual orientation, gender and other cultural qualities. Whether that was through improper appraisals, higher interest rates or denied contracts in some neighborhoods, it was wrong. We are going into 2024, and those challenges are still relevant today with people still being affected.

HAR is determined to help turn things around and, as with any change, each one of us organizationally and individually must play a critical role in that process. This is not just important as contributing members of the real estate industry, but as humans living and interacting with other humans at home, in our neighborhoods, across the country and around the world. The HAR Board and staff are committed to setting a positive example.

Thomas Mouton is the Houston Association of Realtors chairman-elect.