PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 6, 2022

Contact: Nicole Caravella Malone

nicole@libertysquaregroup.com

Beacon Communities Announces Fellowship Program to Provide Career Pathways in Affordable Housing to Underrepresented Youth

‘Affordable Housing Bridge Program’ aims to build a more diverse and inclusive pipeline of talent in mission-driven real estate sector

Boston, MA — Beacon Communities, an industry leader in affordable, market and mixed income community development, is thrilled to announce the Affordable Housing Bridge Program, a fellowship program in collaboration with Project Destined, the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), and California-based nonprofit Eden Housing.

Building off the successful real estate ‘boot camp’ internship programs for underrepresented youth in apartment communities, the Affordable Housing Bridge Program aims to bridge the gap between students’ education and real-world experience in the affordable housing industry by providing the knowledge, tools and resources – along with mentorship and networking opportunities – to build a more diverse and inclusive pipeline of future talent.

Along with an executive speaker series program featuring leaders from Beacon Communities and other organizations, the fellowship consists of over 40 hours of access to mentors and career information in the affordable housing sector, specialized workshops and career development coaching. Fellows will also receive a $1000 scholarship, as well as a travel stipend to visit Beacon Communities or their sponsor organization to participate in tours of their properties, meet residents on site, and attend construction management and planning meetings.

The inaugural cohort of fellows represents a diverse group of institutions of higher learning from across the United States. Almost half of the fellows have lived in affordable housing themselves and almost two-thirds are female, whereas the real-estate industry is traditionally dominated by men. The program will run from October 7 to November 18.

Beacon Communities has previously partnered with Project Destined on the internship program in which students were matched with both program alumni and a corporate sponsor to compete as teams in a weekly real estate competition. Each week, the interns learned technical skills and made professional connections while being mentored by their sponsors in preparation for the week’s competition. This past summer, Beacon’s Development Department hired one of the students from their team as a summer intern.

“Beacon Communities is committed to fostering a more diverse and inclusive affordable housing industry,” said Dara Kovel, CEO of Beacon Communities. “That starts with building a strong school-to-work pipeline and providing opportunities for the next generation to build critical connections in this field. We look forward to working alongside Project Destined, the Housing Partnership Network and Eden Housing to bring to the table those who too often have limited access to pathways into real estate and development careers.”

“We are thrilled to partner again with Beacon Communities to launch our inaugural Affordable Housing Bridge Program,” said Cedric Bobo, Co-Founder of Project Destined. “Our partnership with Beacon has already proven successful and we’re excited to see the results of this new program. We’re ready to bridge the gap between classroom and career and provide more opportunity to those ready and willing to jump into this growing and vibrant industry.”

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About Beacon Communities LLC

Beacon Communities LLC is a privately owned real estate firm that develops, acquires, invests in, and manages a wide range of multi-family housing. Their portfolio includes affordable housing, market rate housing and mixed income-housing. Their developments range from new construction, to historic adaptive reuse, to the renovation of existing housing. They take on challenging developments and make them succeed. Their driving passion is to create well-designed, healthy homes that improve the quality of life of their residents and enhance the neighborhoods in which they are located. For more information about Beacon Communities LLC please visit www.beaconcommunitiesllc.com.