We offer in-person and virtual sessions for high school students, organizations, and others interested in learning more about the CRE industry.
The Introduction to Commercial Real Estate (“CRE”) Series was created to foster a new generation of leaders in the commercial real estate industry. For many of the scholars we’ve met, the Intro to CRE sessions are the first time they hear about career opportunities in this field. We’ve witnessed in these sessions students’ growing desire to gain knowledge about financial security, entrepreneurship, and generational wealth.
These sessions introduce the students to a group of leaders in the commercial real estate industry, sharing tips on how to have a successful career in Commercial Real Estate, their high school and college experiences, and how to build a personal brand. In each session, professionals from the industry introduce students to the various careers in commercial real estate, including Development, Investment, Property Management, Architecture, Technology, Environmental Services, Hospitality, Planning/Community Building, and Brokerage.
In-school sessions can be followed up with field trips to properties, offices of Commercial Real Estate companies, workshops, seminars, and/or other additional means of learning more about CRE.
Providing interested students opportunities to tour properties and developments with professionals in the industry.
Topics Include
Introduction to CRE
Real Estate in Your Neighborhood
How Real Estate Builds Communities
Visits to the offices of CRE professionals for students to gain behind the scenes access to a day in the life of a professional.
Each Year, our Goal is to reach double the amount of students the previous year
Founded in 2016 by Kirk Sykes (Board Chairman, Real Estate Executive Council (REEC)) & Steve Martin (then Chairman, NAIOP), the REEX (Real Estate Exchange) Summer Programs are aimed at addressing the lack of diverse representation in the commercial real estate (CRE) industry. In 2017, REEX launched its inaugural summer program at Georgia State University (GSU), and expanded to three (3) additional universities in 2018 at Villanova, Columbia University and Fordham University. In 2019, REEX impacted 103 new diverse students at Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Roosevelt University, and the University of Miami (Miami, FL).
In 2020 and 2021, propelled by the continued support from REEX’s lead sponsor, The PREA Foundation, the REEX program successfully pivoted from an in-person program to an online platform, with a total of two hundred and eighty three scholars participating in the virtual summer experience.
REEX continues to grow significantly each year as the industry’s leading high school CRE immersion program, and to date, has exposed over six hundred students to the industry. REEX returned on-campus in 2022, with the introduction of the REEX JumpStart Summer Program with LEAD, and will be back in 2023.
