LaSalle Real Estate Scholarship for Minorities Launches

In an effort to further diversity in the commercial real estate industry, LaSalle Investment Management has launched the LaSalle Real Estate Scholarship, focused on providing college tuition assistance to minorities, specifically Black and Latinx college students. The scholarship program has been established for five years, and will contribute $100,000 per year in funds to provide college sophomores with $10,000 toward their education. However, the benefits don’t end with funding. The program also includes mentoring LaSalle executives on career options and advice. In addition, the scholarship program will feed into LaSalle’s leadership program.

To launch the program, LaSalle is initially partnering with four academic institutions, including some of the top Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the US: Roosevelt University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Florida A&M University. As the program expands, LaSalle continues to focus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as other institutions.

To be accepted into the program, students will need a 3.0 grade-point average. In addition, students accepted into the program will need to participate in four quarterly meetings, which includes an investment committee meeting. In addition, each student will partner with a senior member of the firm for mentorship and guidance.

This scholarship program is the latest effort from within the industry to support and grow diversity. Earlier this month, The Oakland Black Business Fund announced a new investment platform to support Black-owned businesses in the San Francisco Bay area. The investment program includes $1 billion investment in Black entrepreneurs and a $10 million relief fund, which will ultimately help to stabilize more than 500 Black-owned businesses in the Oakland market.

In addition, Ferguson Partners annual study of diversity at REITs included an evaluation of Black leadership. According to the report, 3.7% of all REIT boards in the study are led by Black directors, and 4.9% of S&P 500 REIT boards had Black directors. The study shows that REITs have a long way to go to achieve diversity. In fact, in the last year, only one Black director was hired in all of the S&P 500 REITs, and there is only one CEO across the S&P 500 REITs.

The report also analyzed gender diversity in the industry, which is trending better than racial diversity. For three consecutive years, half of newly elected, non-employee REIT directors were female, and only 6% of REITs have zero female representation. In the last two years, female representation on REIT boards has increased 67%, and 52 REITs now have three or more female directors.

While scholarship programs, like the new LaSalle program, will help to usher in more minority young professionals, companies also need to hire more minority professionals and leaders. In addition, companies and REITs should invest more in existing professionals to cultivate diversity and make sure that minority talent has a chance to advance.