A new summer program taking place at the Wentworth Institute of Technology will give young people in Greater Boston skills in real estate investing.
The Fallon Real Estate Entrepreneurship Youth Program will teach Boston-area students ages 16-21 how to identify and evaluate potential investment opportunities, conduct property valuation and market analysis, raise capital, and submit and negotiate a winning offer. The free program is hosted by The Fallon Co., a Boston real estate development firm, and entrepreneurial incubator Street2Ivy.
The Fallon Co. said it launched this program as part of its commitment to providing support to overlooked communities and building a more inclusive company and real estate industry.
“We’re proud to have pioneered this unique and essential program that is serving to bolster the pipeline of diverse real estate professionals and create a better economic future for more young people in our community,” Michael Fallon, CEO of The Fallon Company, said in a statement. “After the program’s successful launch last year, we’re thrilled to collaborate with Street2Ivy to once again offer a summer session and expose more students to all facets of the industry.”
Sign up for The Beat, BostInno’s free daily innovation newsletter from BostInno reporter Hannah Green. See past examples here.
The real estate industry has a long history of racist practices, including redlining of certain areas intended only for people of color. These practices led to segregation in cities that exist to this day — even in Boston. Leaders within the real estate industry also remain largely white and male. Around 2% of C-level positions in the real estate industry are held by Black men, according to a report from the Bella Research Group and the Knight Foundation.
Tavares Brewington, founder of Street2Ivy, said programs like these help residents to achieve economic empowerment. Street2Ivy runs programs that let students work with industry experts. Across its programs, students focus on building skills in design thinking, financial modeling, inclusive design and digital marketing.
The Fallon Real Estate Entrepreneurship Youth Program expects to welcome 21 students from underserved communities in Boston into this year’s cohort.
The program is accepting applications through July 8 and will kick off on July 12.
The cohort will be split into seven teams. The teams will meet with mentors in the classroom at WIT and at property development sites. Before the program ends on August 18, each team will prepare and present investment strategies to mentors and peers based on hypothetical properties and situations.
Sign up for the Boston Business Journal's Real Estate Inc. e-newsletter, your free twice-weekly source for real estate and development news in Greater Boston.
