News
DEVELOP, INSPIRE, GROW
October 23, 2009
| No, our headline is not the sequel to Eat, Pray, Love. Even better, it was the theme of this year's NYCREW Career Day—DIG This—at Crowell & Moring’s Madison Avenue office yesterday. |
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| Thirty girls from the Youth Empowerment Mission, an organization for young people living in Bed-Stuy and central Brooklyn, joined NYCREW. The partnership is designed to benefit YEM’s Blossom Program for Girls, which provides life-skills, leadership training, and educational services for ages 11-21 in high-risk situations. |
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| NYCREW members discussed all industry aspects including finance,brokerage, ownership, title, property management, and legal. The girls then formed teams and worked on proposals to help YEM find new space. Here, NYCREW prez-elect Sharon Khurdan and Unified New Cassel Community Revitalization Corp.’s Kennetha Pettus help the “Brooklyn Divas LP” team discuss how a 10k-SF building at Broadway and Nassau St. could work. |
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| NYCREW members assisted the groups with details. Here, Eurohypo AG’s Jo Hastings and “Big Red Apple” hash out details such as which real estate experts should be brought on board, what kind of renovations would be needed, and what features the girls would like. |
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| Cole Schotz’ Wendy Berger introduces the distinguished judges: New York Theological Seminary’s Dr. Cynthia Diaz, Colliers Meredith & Grew’s (and CREW prez-elect) Kristin Blount, DP Wright Investments’ Deborah Wright, and Columbia University’s Flores Forbes. Each team spent 10 minutes presenting. (And if anyone’s hiring, these girls thought of everything, from project costs, to asking for grants and negotiating lower rents with landlords—you'd never realize many of them didn’t know about real estate before yesterday.) |
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| While the judges conferred, consultant Deena Baikowitz conducted a seminar on the power of networking, how to apply it, making a good impression, representing their “brand,” and repositioning from girls to young adults growing their careers. |
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| The winning team: “Eco Green,” led by NYCREW adviser Karla Baig of Propark America, won iPods. Their new building, which would also be based in Bed-Stuy, would need a landlord open to renovations, rent with an option to buy, and fundraisers and grants to raise money for the venture, they say. Features included places to learn, an activity core, recycling center, and backyard. The other teams also won prizes for Most Creative, Best Teamwork, Fierce Financials, and Visionary. The girls went home with Structure Tone hard hats and bags from sponsors like The Wall Street Journal, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdale’s. |
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| Of course, it's not a real estate event without a keynote: welcome Kimberly Hardy, deputy commissioner of community partnerships for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development; she highlighted minority women who grew up in poverty, but were strong-minded and made great contributions to society. She urged the girls to stay in school, continue to learn, keep good friends, and protect yourself. “Connect with a power greater than yourself,” she concluded: “Keep that power, and you will always blossom.” |
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| Afterward, NYCREW held a panel on the art of the NYCREW deal, showing the attendees how referrals and working together bring results. Moderator Karen Dome of Justdan Realty joins Crowell & Moring’s Barbara Champoux, Ferzan Robbins & Associates’ Liz Muskat (NYCREW prez), and Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo. Faith notes that it’s imperative that you look for a broker that becomes part of your company; your goals become the broker’s goals, and most importantly, the broker listens. Make sure to bring team members like attorneys and architects on early, she adds, to make sure your business and bottom line are not impacted by hasty decisions or hidden costs. |
