By Michael Fischer, 2023 President, Atlanta REALTORS Association
This past December, I had the honor of being installed as the 98th President of the Atlanta REALTORS Association. I have been involved with ARA since 2012 and in that time, our organization has grown to serve over 14,000 members, representing all corners of metro-Atlanta and reflecting the communities we live in. We are now the 19th largest local REALTOR association in the country and one of the most influential trade groups in the United States. ARA has a massive reach, not just in our local market, but across the state and nationally.
In preparing for 2023, I sought to talk to as many of our members, consumers and past leaders as possible. In those discussions, we talked about our priorities, opportunities and strengths. I was blown away by the stories shared with me, and there was a consistent theme of dedication to helping and improving the communities we live and serve in. For REALTORS in Atlanta, the job goes far past the transaction, and I knew I had to share these stories. With that, we launched a campaign this year, #showingourwork, to be giving our members a platform to communicate tell their stories about housing and their work in the marketplace.
I wanted to share a few of these stories today, with the promise of more to come throughout the year.
Sustainability and Affordable Housing
Our organization has been a strong voice on matters of sustainability and affordable housing. Over the past several years, we have held workshops, education seminars, and Town Halls with community leaders, consumers and our members to better educate the public on issues in the marketplace. Local zoning continues to be a hurdle to building more sustainable and affordable housing, for which there is massive demand in the Atlanta market. One of our members, Christopher Matos-Rogers was recently award the prestigious NAR EverGreen Award for his work promoting greener lifestyles. Many of our members have worked hard to educate and advance policy that would move the needle in a meaningful direction on these issues.
Philanthropy
The Atlanta REALTORS Association has built a culture of service that runs through the entire organization. Since our formation, ARA has been a stanch servant to the community. One of our members, Jennifer Barnes, was awarded the 2022 NAR Good Neighbor Award for her work for her work helping to feed members of her community through an organization she started, Solidarity Sandy Springs. In 2021, she distributed 875,000 pound to almost 20,000 shopped.
In the past, we have supported a number of charitable causes in the community and through our collective donations, raised 10’s of thousands of dollars every year to support these important organizations. We have a scholarship program that assists students attending college and we have a care fund that helps our members in need. Being natural problem solvers, its been inspiring to hear issues identified, and the members working to solve them in real time.
Advocacy
A big part of our purpose is to work with local, state and federal legislators to move the needle on policy that impacts the real estate industry. Many of our members are incredibly active on the advocacy front, by financially supporting real estate issues and putting in their personal time to meet and work on legislation. Ennis Antoine was recently awarded the Meritorious Service Award by the National Association of REALTORS, a distinguished honor given to two members yearly from the pool of our 1.6 million members nationally. For years, he’s worked tirelessly to protect things like the Mortgage Interest Deduction and advocated for issues on Fair and Equitable Housing.
I’m proud that REALTORS are among the most likely profession to vote and be engaged with local politics. We have a direct connection to the pulse of our communities and use this knowledge to work with our elected officials to create good policy.
Leadership
You can find our members in local and state government, on zoning commissions, HOA Boards, houses of worship or leading philanthropic organizations working hard to improve our communities. Last year, our organization created strategic partnerships with several multi-cultural real estate organizations, including the addition of a dedicated voting position on our Board of Directors. Together, they bring an enormous amount of information to help ensure the direction of our association includes input from all members in the communities we serve and represent. We have core philosophy to be agile and innovative, and we can only truly do this if we have the right voices adding input to the conversation.
In 2001, ARA started a leadership program, Atlanta REALTORS Emerging Leaders, and in 21 years of graduates, we instilled a culture of leadership throughout our membership. Many of graduates have gone on to serve as president (the class of 2014 touts five president’s from one class!), but more importantly, our members leave the program and find opportunities to impact their communities with skills learned in the one year program. I am excited to work with our 33 students in the 2023 class as we journey together this year.
As we look forward to another year, I am optimistic for what the future holds. Yes, we’ll have challenges to work through, but the future for our city is bright. NAR recently called named Atlanta the No. 1 market to watch in 2023, based on our region leading in several key metrics that support good fundamentals for housing. Home Ownership still remains the best way to build security and wealth, and where there’s a home and needs selling, the public will continue to trust a REALTOR.
Follow our hashtag #showingourwork on your favorite social media platform as we share the amazing stories in 2023!