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REALTORS Are Advocates, Community Servants & Dedicated to DEI Akron Rotarian Sandy Naragon who serves as CEO of the Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS (ACAR), along with ACAR COO Mike Valerino were guest speakers on Tuesday, February 15th. Naragon, who has worked for the REALTOR Association for 40 years, retires on March 31st. Mike Valerino, a 20-year REALTOR Association Executive, has been named her successor. As co-presenters they shared the good works of the Akron Cleveland REALTORS including: - Advocacy for private property owners
- Building better communities
- Philanthropic endeavors
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Advocacy: The Realtor Party is a non-partisan advocacy group that works to advance public policies and candidates that build strong communities, protect private property rights, and promote vibrant business environments. Advocacy helps landowners use their property the way they intended, protects investment by opposing point of sale ordinances, restrictive sign ordinances, restrictive zoning laws, excessive transfer taxes, etc. A huge victory was real estate being deemed an essential business by Governor DeWine in the height of the pandemic. Despite covid, the many reasons why people must move—job transfers, new babies, parents moving to assisted living, death, divorces, marriages didn’t stop. In states where real estate stopped—the economic and social impact was devastating. Placemaking: Realtors build stronger communities is by teaming up with the National Association to offer placemaking grants to turn spaces into places! Is there a vacant lot in your neighborhood? Are you working with a local non-profit or city government to turn that space into a welcoming neighborhood amenity like a pocket park, community garden, or all-abilities playground? Consider applying for a placemaking grant from ACAR, and if selected, we will be a community partner on the project! Grants are up to $5,000! Applications are due March 31. https://www.akronclevelandrealtors.com/placemaking Real Estate Community Cares: In 2014, the Real Estate Community Cares Fund was created to support community through financial donations to housing-related charities. We are also currently accepting applications for foundation grants! Here’s the link: ACAR Real Estate Community Cares Application Nationally, 2021 was the 20th anniversary of the Realtors Relief Foundation, which was created in the wake of the 911 attacks—it has distributed over $33 million to victims of natural disasters and manmade catastrophes. ACAR contributed $25,000 to the fund. DEI Mike Valerino spotlighted ACAR’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work. He kicked off his presentation with a bold apology from the National Association of Realtors 2021 President Charlie Oppler. Oppler said, “What Realtors did was an outrage to our morals and our ideals. It was a betrayal of our commitment to fairness and equality. “We can’t go back to fix the mistakes of the past, but we can look at this problem squarely in the eye and, on behalf of our industry, we can say that what Realtors did was shameful, and we are sorry.” Valerino went on to outline the ways in which the National Association and ACAR are attacking it’s DEI efforts including: - An award-winning interactive fair housing simulation called Fairhaven.
- Prohibiting racist conduct in its national Code of Ethics—in all facets of life, not just real estate transactions.
- Adding DEI to Realtor Association’s Core Standards
- Proactively formalizing Allied Partnerships
- Taking an active role in partnership organizations
- Applying for diversity grants
- Contracting with the Diversity Center of Cleveland to offer groundbreaking diversity series of training
- Requiring all employees to earn the At Home With Diversity designation
- Creating a DEI Presidential Advisory Group to oversee all activities
The Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS serves 6,750 members in Cuyahoga, Summit and Portage Counties. About Sandy and Mike:  Sandy Naragon Sandy Naragon is the CEO of the Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS. She has served the REALTOR family for 40 years. She manages a staff of twelve and her primary responsibilities include leadership development, DEI, finance, member outreach, strategic planning and governance. Sandy serves on committees at the Ohio and National Associations of REALTORS. She is a Rotarian and volunteers for the Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs and the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank. Sandy is a proud member of the Akron and Cleveland Realtist Associations, the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS and the LGBTQ Real Estate Alliance. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business & Organizational Communication from the University of Akron. She earned the At Home With Diversity designation in 2020 and the REALTORS Certified Executive designation in 2003 from the National Association of REALTORS. Sandy is married, has a stepdaughter, son-in-law, three grandchildren and one very chill German Shepherd named Zena.  Mike Valerino Mike Valerino is the Chief Operating Officer of the Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS®, and will become CEO starting April 1, 2022. Mike has worked for the REALTORS® in Northeast Ohio for over 20 years. In his current role Mike is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the operational and program aspects of the annual budget. He also partners with the CEO to have overall operational responsibility for the organization. Mike serves on committees at Ohio REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). He serves on CHN Housing Capital Advisory Board, Northeast Ohio Fair Housing Collaborative, Lead Safe Cleveland Steering Committee, and Avon Lake CRA Housing Council. Mike is a proud member of the Akron and Cleveland Realtist Associations, the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS and the LGBTQ Real Estate Alliance. Mike has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communication from Ohio University. He Holds the Certified Association Executive (CAE) and REALTOR® Association Certified Executive (RCE) designations as well as NAR’s At Home with Diversity certification. In 2017, Mike received the “AE Leaders of Tomorrow Young Professionals Award” from NAR. Mike is married with four children and a boxer dog named Penny. He enjoys coaching sports, making good barbeque, and playing bad golf. |
He is the caterer at Bounce Innovation Hub and he owns 3 stray dog cafes, 2 Bobs Hamburg’s and food trucks and carts. Also, the Akron pickle and Akron cares home health care.
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