Financial literacy program for BIPOC youth to Calgary

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A social impact platform that provides young People of Colour an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the commercial real estate industry is expanding to Calgary next month.

The Edmonton-based REET Institute is a non-profit that delivers a free, eight-week course to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) high-school students. Through the course, students learn about financial literacy and are introduced to the commercial real estate sector.

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The program will be offered in Calgary for the first time this February, and is available to interested students in grades 10 to 12.

Co-founder Andrel Wisdom said REET launched in 2020, in response to social justice movements that were gaining traction at the time.

Wisdom has worked in the commercial real estate sector on the valuations side for nearly a decade. He said he feels the dearth of ethnic and cultural diversity in the industry stems from a lack of awareness and access to opportunities among people of all backgrounds.

“Our program aims to bridge that gap by providing BIPOC youth with the knowledge, skills, and networks necessary to pursue a career in commercial real estate and become stakeholders in their communities,” he said.

During the two-month course, students learn in a setting that combines classroom instruction with building tours and industry exposure. They learn from industry representatives about how to pursue a career in commercial real estate while developing skills related to entrepreneurship, investing, public speaking, networking and collaboration.

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The program culminates with a pitch competition, fashioned after TV shows like Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den. Wisdom said the students, working in small teams, pitch their commercial real estate ideas to a panel of judges who all work in the industry.

As an added incentive, the winning team in the pitch competition gets to split a $10,000 scholarship as the grand prize.

While the course has run successfully in Edmonton, Wisdom said expanding to Calgary was a no-brainer for REET, considering the organizations partnering with the non-profit have operations and membership branches in both cities.

Those partners include the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, Ryan, the Altus Group, NAIOP (the local commercial real estate development association), Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA), the Oxford Properties Group and the Appraisal Institute of Canada.

“Calgary seemed like the natural next step for the program because it’s a stone’s throw away,” Wisdom said. “We spent 2023 working on a plan to expand into Calgary and … that’s what led us there in the end.”

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The Calgary course will launch Feb. 4, which Wisdom says is both fitting and intentional, considering February is recognized as Black History Month.

The commercial real estate sector can benefit from increased diversity, argued Wisdom, who likens REET to a potential “talent pipeline” for the industry.

“Being able to tap into the broadest amount of people coming from a wide range of backgrounds, skillsets and experiences gives you access to the best talent to make your organization best-suited for the future,” he said. “Canada is a land of immigrants. There’s tons of immigration coming into Canada, so to be as reflective of the population as possible, I think that helps benefit organizations.”

Calgary high-school students interested in taking part can apply at reetinstitute.ca. The course has a capacity of 25 students and the deadline to apply is Feb. 1.

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