In 2021, the Kentucky REALTORS® Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee was created. It is tasked with promoting diversity and unity within KYR membership, as well as educating REALTORS® on how to be more inclusive with peers and clients alike.
Our Mission: To promote a passionate and committed organization that celebrates and embraces the uniqueness of each member within The Kentucky REALTORS.
Open Books, Open Minds Book Club
KYR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee’s book club, Open Books, Open Minds was created to encourage a healthy conversation between REALTORS® from all walks of life. As our association grows and continues to diversify, it is important that we provide open discussions on matters that have been historical taboos, uncomfortable, or simply unfamiliar.
Open Books, Open Minds Book Club meets via Zoom on the 4th Thursday of each month at noon EST. All Realtors® are welcome to join our conversations led by members of the DEI committee. If you are interested in becoming a book club member, click here to JOIN TODAY!
2024 Book List:
February
Just Action by Rothstein and Rothstein
The Color of Law brilliantly recounted how government at all levels created segregation. Just Action describes how we can begin to undo it.
March
The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike
As late as 1999, women who succeeded in science were called “exceptional” as if it were unusual for them to be so bright. They were exceptional, not because they could succeed at science but because of all they accomplished despite the hurdles.
June
Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen
In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah, to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: “Something gay every day.” Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more.
September
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
One of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard reveals the hidden lives of her fellow undocumented Americans in this deeply personal and groundbreaking portrait of a nation.
Looking beyond the flashpoints of the border or the activism of the DREAMers, Cornejo Villavicencio explores the lives of the undocumented—and the mysteries of her own life. She finds the singular, effervescent characters across the nation often reduced in the media to political pawns or nameless laborers. The stories she tells are not deferential or naively inspirational but show the love, magic, heartbreak, insanity, and vulgarity that infuse the day-to-day lives of her subjects.
November
A Disability History of the United States (ReVisioning History) by Kim E. Nielsen
Disability is not only the story of someone we love or the story of whom we may become; rather it is undoubtedly the story of our nation. Covering the entirety of US history from pre-1492 to the present, A Disability History of the United States is the first book to place the experiences of disabled people at the center of the American narrative. In many ways, it’s a familiar telling. In other ways, it is a radical repositioning of US history. By doing so, the book casts new light on familiar stories, such as slavery and immigration, while breaking ground about the ties between nativism and oralism in the late nineteenth century and the role of ableism in the development of democracy.
2022 Book List:
2021 Book List:
WE WANT YOUR REQUESTS. If you have any future book suggestions, please email Suzanne Reeves at sreeves@kyrealtors.com
Here are links to past meetings:
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America: by Richard Rothstein
What If I Say the Wrong Thing?: 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People, by Verna A. Myers
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, By Isabel Wilkerson
The book of pride: LGBTQ Heroes who changed the world, by mason funk
Undaunted, by Tonya Biank
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of good people, by Mahzarin R. R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
- Meeting 1 – October 27, 2022 – COMING SOON
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ZOOM Backgrounds: (right-click to save)
DEI EDUCATION
Fair Housing: Challenges and Solutions
This is a joint forum hosted by the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee of Kentucky REALTORS® (KYR) and the Kentucky chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) discussing the challenges and solutions regarding Fair Housing in our communities.
On the panel were: Arthur Crosby Executive Director, Lexington Fair Housing Council Mark Alston Chairman of Public Affairs, NAREB Al Pina Chair, FMCRC / Assets & Hope HousingKentucky REALTORS® (KYR).
Fairhaven
In November 2020, NAR launched Fairhaven a new fair housing simulation training for REALTORS® that uses the power of storytelling to help members identify, prevent, and address discriminatory practices in real estate. Inspired by real stories, this innovative online experience has agents work against the clock to sell homes in the fictional town of Fairhaven while confronting discrimination in the homebuying process. Learners will also walk in the shoes of a homebuyer facing discrimination. The training provides customized feedback that learners can apply to daily business interactions.
This innovative training platform is available to all 1.4 million NAR members at no additional cost. Be an advocate for fair housing and the future of our industry. Commit to combating discrimination in real estate.
Get started by visiting fairhaven.realtor to explore the fictional town of Fairhaven and assess how well you are adhering to fair housing principles.
At Home With Diversity
The coursework for the At Home with Diversity® certification is designed to enable you to work successfully with and within a rapidly changing multicultural market. It will help you to learn diversity sensitivity, how it applies to U.S. fair housing laws in your business, and ways to develop professional guidelines for working with people in the increasingly multicultural real estate market.
You gain:
- Knowledge of the subtleties of U.S. fair housing laws
- Business etiquette for specific cultures
- An edge in expanding your business to include international clientele
- Credit towards the ABR® and CIPS designations, and as a task in the C2EX program
- Some states also give continuing education (CE) credit and GRI credit for this course
Implicit Bias
Click here to watch Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing.
The mind science experts at the Perception Institute present an online workshop to help members avoid implicit bias in their daily business interactions. Drawing upon the latest evidence-based research, Perception explains how our brains’ automatic, instant association of stereotypes with particular groups can cause us to treat those who are different from us unfairly, despite our best intentions and often without our conscious awareness. Perception then applies these concepts to the everyday work of REALTORS® and offers strategies to override bias in order to convey respect, ensure fairness, and improve business relationships.
July 2022
Month-long observances:
- National Mentoring Month
- Poverty in America Awareness Month
- Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month
Important DE&I calendar dates:
- January 1 – New Year’s Day
- January 4 – National Braille Day
- January 6 – Coptic Orthodox Christmas
- January 7 – Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
- January 13 – Maghi (Sikh)
- January 15 – World Religion Day
- January 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- January 22 — Chinese New Year (Year of the Rabbit)
- January 24 – International Day of Education
- January 26 – International Customs Day
- January 27 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day
PAST DEI EVENTS:
Long Island Divided – Fair Housing Event
Zoom hosted by Open Books, Open Minds Book Club – Friday, June 10, 2022
Open Books, Open Minds Book Club Meeting (In-person)
KYR 2021 Summer Retreat – Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Open Books, Open Minds DEI Welcome Reception: Featuring Woman in Real Estate
KYR 2021 Annual Convention & Expo – Monday, September 27, 2021