Dear SIOR members and friends,

As we begin 2023, I want to highlight just some of your SIOR Foundation’s accomplishments in 2022. The Foundation provided SIOR Chapters with over $80,000 in matching scholarships, $15,000 for SIOR Regional Conferences, and $20,000 in support for chapter educational events and real estate challenges.

The SIOR Foundation continued its efforts to expand commercial real estate by providing funding to create three new endowed scholarships. The SIOR Foundation – Mildred C. Hanson Endowed Scholarship Fund, the SIOR Foundation Award in Real Estate Development, and the SIOR Foundation Award in Real Estate Asset Strategies will provide over $8,000 in scholarships yearly to students studying real estate at Montclair State University and the University of Alberta.

Last year the SIOR Foundation continued our partnership with the Real Estate Executive Council, supporting its Real Estate Exchange (REEX) Summer Program. This program introduces commercial real estate to students as a viable and worthwhile career option as they begin thinking about college and their futures. The Foundation also established sponsorships with the Commercial Real Estate influencers (CREi) to provide funding for speakers and scholarships for their yearly CREi Summit, and with CORE (Career Opportunities in Real Estate) Workforce Diversity Program. The CORE program partners with industry experts to provide entry level workforce development programs that enable diverse and underrepresented populations to transition into a career in commercial real estate.

I want to give a shout-out to the hardworking SIOR Foundation Board of Trustees. Without their support and dedication to our mission, none of these programs would be possible. During our 2022 Phonathon, the trustees worked incredibly hard reaching out to as many SIOR members as they could. Their efforts paid off tremendously and they received more than $290,000 in pledges from SIOR members and corporate partners. The generosity of our members proves why SIOR is the leading global professional office and industrial real estate association! All pledges of $300 or more were entered into a drawing for the signed Roger Staubach football caught at the SIOR Fall Conference in Dallas and donated by Bob Gibbons, SIOR, REATA Commercial Realty Inc., a newly minted SIOR Member out of Plano, Texas. I am pleased to announce the winner is Dean Willmore, SIOR, CBRE, Las Vegas! If you have not yet paid your pledge, please make sure to send it in!

I am looking forward to a very prosperous and successful year for the SIOR Foundation as we continue our mission to Educate, Enhance and Expand the commercial real estate industry. For more information about the SIOR Foundation and its programs, including how you can create a living legacy at your favorite real estate school, please contact your local trustee, SIOR Foundation staff or check our website at www.siorfoundation.org.

Sincerely,

Richard Sleasman, SIOR
+1.518.452.2700 x124
richard.sleasman@cbre-albany.com