New vice president of strategy & innovation to drive organization’s influence in real estate technology
The National Association of REALTORS® announced today that Glenn Shimkus has been named vice president of Strategy & Innovation, effective immediately. Shimkus will work to establish a new Strategy & Innovation group, which will be housed within the Strategic Business, Innovation & Technology group (SBIT), launched last year to drive industry innovation and benefits to NAR members. Shimkus will report to Mark Birschbach, senior vice president of SBIT.
“Glenn has been heavily involved in the technology, real estate and investor communities for a large part of his career, and we are excited to put his knowledge to work for NAR,” says Bob Goldberg, CEO of NAR. “Glenn’s addition to SBIT will help push technological innovation that is beneficial to NAR members and the real estate industry.”
Shimkus’ Strategy & Innovation group will help to build and lead two teams announced at the end of 2018: the Emerging Technology team and Strategy team. The Emerging Technology team will identify and evaluate emerging technologies and their potential impact on real estate. It will also identify opportunities to partner and build relationships with other organizations, companies and institutions researching and developing new technologies. The Strategy team will be closely aligned with the Emerging Technology team and work on strategic projects involving NAR’s investment companies and large technology players.
“As a long-time technology enthusiast and entrepreneur, I look forward to positioning NAR to foster innovative technology growth,” says Shimkus. “Our focus on building key relationships with emerging technology partners, academic and government researchers and private technology corporations will allow us to drive innovation in the real estate industry and keep our members at the forefront of technological change.”
Shimkus previously worked for DocuSign and was responsible for leading DocuSign’s presence in the real estate industry. Prior to DocuSign, he was the co-founder and CEO of Cartavi, which was acquired by DocuSign. He is a technology enthusiast, gadget aficionado and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the fields of document management, mobile applications and cloud computing.
Shimkus will be instrumental in launching NAR’s forthcoming strategic think tank, a network of world-class business leaders and innovators from inside and outside of real estate. NAR says the think tank is a key component of the strategic vision Goldberg set for NAR when he was named CEO in 2017, and will provide insights to keep NAR at the forefront of emerging technologies and business trends that will guide the association into the future. Shimkus will also build on the success of NAR’s 2018 inaugural Innovation, Opportunity and Investment (iOi) Summit when it returns later this summer.
For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.
