Hello WomanUP!® Community!
This week's wonderful welcome is for Michelle Mills Clement:
Michelle Mills Clement is the CEO of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®. An experienced association executive, she previously served as president and CEO of the Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) in Seattle, WA, association executive for the Washington State Commercial Association of REALTORS®, and Executive Director of NAIOP Washington Chapter: The Commercial Real Estate Development Association. She is a Director on the board of the Association Forum, and a Fellow of ASAE: The Center for Association Excellence, an honor bestowed on less than 1% of the association’s membership.
Michelle is a passionate voice for fair housing and antiracism in the real estate industry. Under her leadership, in 2018, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® issued an apology for past actions in promoting inequality and segregation in Chicago. She has been a vocal advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, penning an op ed for the Chicago Tribune on the importance of ending segregation in real estate and issuing an Industry Call for Action seeking more equity for Black REALTORS® and fair and equal treatment for Black and minority property owners. She has spoken out on these topics at the national level, including on behalf of the National Association of REALTORS®, and as cohost of a new podcast focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion, Texts to Table, with three of her Black association executive peers.
A native Chicagoan, she enjoys political campaign fundraising and volunteer management. She was integral in the election of Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) from Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. In 2019, Michelle was elected to the Board of Trustees for Bradley University; she is also active in Bradley’s Black Alumni Alliance, of which she is a past president. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and volunteers regularly with CREW Chicago (Commercial Real Estate Women) and the CREW Careers Program, which introduces the career of commercial real estate to girls ages 12 – 18 on Chicago’s west side.
She has won many honors and awards, including Crain’s Chicago Business’s “40 Under 40” (2019), twice Chicago Agent Magazine’s “Association CEO of the Year” (2020 and 2019), Connect CRE’s “2020 Women in Real Estate” award, Bisnow Chicago’s Commercial Real Estate “Power Woman & Rising Star,” and most recently was named to the prestigious Swanepoel Power 200 List of most powerful and influential executives and leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry, amongst others.
Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Bradley University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from DePaul University. She has a certificate in commercial real estate from the University of Washington and has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification from ASAE and the REALTOR® Certified Executive (RCE) certification from the National Association of REALTORS®. Michelle lives in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago with her husband Brace and three-year-old son Broyce.
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What advice do you have for other women considering stepping into a leadership role like yours?
Believe in yourself and take a risk. Break away from plans sometimes.
What topics do you love to mentor others on and teach?
Being able to speak on the fly. Have a funny story when a national sorority leader literally gave me a moments notice to give a national committee report to an audience of 6,000. I was terrified! She did NOT let me off the hook. Even when I completely bombed, she made be get back up there. She's now a congresswoman and in line for HUD Secretary. But she shares she did that because she saw my potential long before I did and wanted to push me to be ready. I'm now always ready to speak on the fly. But have learned that skill is really valuable and helps bring confidence.
What is your most treasured advice from a mentor?
Never let anyone steal your joy, Congresswoman Marcia L Fudge
You Can Do the Job, Lynda Patterson
Was there anything else you'd like to share during our chat?
My web series Texts to Table is a passion project with three black CEO friends. We launched it in the wake of George Floyd's murder. textstotable.com
Learn more about and connect with Michelle:
A native Chicagoan, she enjoys political campaign fundraising and volunteer management. She was integral in the election of Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) from Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. In 2019, Michelle was elected to the Board of Trustees for Bradley University; she is also active in Bradley’s Black Alumni Alliance, of which she is a past president. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and volunteers regularly with CREW Chicago (Commercial Real Estate Women) and the CREW Careers Program, which introduces the career of commercial real estate to girls ages 12 – 18 on Chicago’s west side.
She has won many honors and awards, including Crain’s Chicago Business’s “40 Under 40” (2019), twice Chicago Agent Magazine’s “Association CEO of the Year” (2020 and 2019), Connect CRE’s “2020 Women in Real Estate” award, Bisnow Chicago’s Commercial Real Estate “Power Woman & Rising Star,” and most recently was named to the prestigious Swanepoel Power 200 List of most powerful and influential executives and leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry, amongst others.
Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Bradley University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from DePaul University. She has a certificate in commercial real estate from the University of Washington and has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification from ASAE and the REALTOR® Certified Executive (RCE) certification from the National Association of REALTORS®. Michelle lives in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago with her husband Brace and three-year-old son Broyce.
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