Message from 2019 Chapter President Lauren Young
As the San Francisco Bay Area NAIOP President for 2019, I want to thank our members and sponsors for your contribution to our record-setting 2018 membership and programs.
I am honored to serve as the 2019 Chapter President. My NAIOP membership has afforded me invaluable networking and educational opportunities since I became involved in the Chapter 15 years ago, and I am excited to guide the Chapter in 2019, with a specific focus this year on engagement and connection. With the current level of market activity, and competition for time and mindshare, my goal is to help make NAIOP the most relevant and “go-to” real estate network in the SF Bay Area—the network in which our members and sponsors choose to engage and spend their time.
This year, to improve engagement and networking opportunities, we will be working to improve the new member onboarding process, as well as how existing members connect to other members and to valuable volunteer opportunities. We are also focused on increasing member involvement across the career spectrum as well as engaging sponsors in a deeper way to ensure we are delivering value.
Of course, we will continue the programs our Chapter is known for: A number of our events are already calendared (so please put them on your calendar!) such as Best of the Bay (February 13th), the “Golden Shovel” Challenge (April 25th), and the Golf Tournament (June 3rd). This year the Challenge is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Having started in our Chapter and spread to other markets, the Challenge provides a deep dive into the development process and enables our community to support an outstanding educational experience for 10 Cal and Stanford MBA students each year.
In addition to the larger events, the Chapter offers numerous smaller and medium size events, such as its Real Estate Insiders, Industrial breakfasts, and Behind the Scenes tours, each offering topical programming in an interactive environment to facilitate networking alongside an educational component. We continue to innovate and welcome feedback on how we can better serve our audience. In 2018 we introduced an East Bay Industrial Bus Tour as well as a Fleet Week fundraiser, both of which we look forward to bringing back in 2019.
The Young Professionals Group (YPG) development program continues in its 6th year, providing a select group of under-35-year-old CRE professionals with a 12 month long personal and professional program with lectures by industry leaders and personal development workshops. YPG has been instrumental in helping the Chapter and our industry diversify and foster developing leaders.
In 2018 we enhanced our Chapter’s focus on diversity with the creation of a Diversity Task Force, mission statement, and first diversity-focused event (with attendance so high we had to switch venues!). In 2019 we look forward to hosting more programs to support our individual and company members as they strive to create inclusive company cultures and policies that will drive growth for their businesses.
In 2018 we also renewed our focus on legislative advocacy. The Chapter’s Legislative Action Committee serves the important role of communicating and raising awareness towards legislative issues of importance to Chapter members. We recognize our members are busy, and our LAC can act as your legislative task force to help you stay informed on potential legislative changes. Please follow our legislative updates via twitter at @naiopsfba.
As you can see, our Chapter is busy and I know you are as well. Please reach out to me, our board members, or staff with any questions, comments, or feedback on how we can better serve you as we work to create the “go-to” real estate network in the SF Bay Area!
Lauren E. Young
Partner
PCCP, LLC
