Michelle Mills Clement, CEO
Nykea Pippion McGriff, President
Antje Gehrken, President-elect
Sarah Ware, Treasurer
Maurice Hampton, Immediate Past President
Serving over 16,500 real estate practitioners, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® (CAR) provides education, advocacy and resources for its members and their clients.
CAR’s leadership team worked tirelessly to ensure members’ needs were met during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world moved to a virtual space, it quickly put together resources Chicago REALTORS® needed to continue transacting safely. All of CAR’s events, classes and meetings were moved to a virtual format. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the organization has hosted over 150 events and 360 classes. Many of these events are available for playback so members can rewatch on a schedule that works for them.
When civil unrest hit Chicago last summer, CAR led discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). It published an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune discussing inequities in the industry, mandated DEI training for volunteers and had staff participate in cultural bias training. It also offered important training to members to combat biases, including a free Fair Housing CE course as a member benefit. Soon, it will be launching a leadership academy and diversity-leadership resource hub to help future minority leaders get the training and connections needed to level up in their careers.
CAR has also been investing in new technology to enhance the member experience. CAR’s REALTORS® Real Estate School launched a brand-new online education portal to make finding, registering for and taking CE courses easier than ever. Its new CasePro software makes filing and processing professional-standards complaints and violations a more streamlined process, and ensures we’re holding one another accountable for our actions. This August, it will debut Legal Library PRO, a commercial-forms management system that houses commercial contracts and forms to make transactions smoother. It also recently launched a new consumer website, BuySellOwnChicago.com, which contains resources for homebuyers and sellers to help make the process more transparent and underscore the importance of REALTORS® to the transaction.
These are a few of the ways CAR unites all facets of the industry as a leading advocate for real estate, driving Chicago REALTORS®’ business success and economic development of Chicago’s communities.
