Keller Williams (KW) is the latest real estate brand to partner with the new LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance.
Jason Abrams, head of industry, Keller Williams, recently made the announcement to the brand’s KW Rainbow Network.
“We are so honored to be a founding partner of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance,” said Abrams. “Across the KW ecosystem, we remain strongly committed to supporting our LGBTQ+ community and promoting equity and inclusion for everyone.”
“Keller Williams stands with the LGBTQ+ community largely because of the powerful presence of its KW Rainbow Network,” said Alliance CEO Ryan Weyandt in a statement. “Since we launched The Alliance in October, Keller Williams has been well-represented in our membership base and we are looking forward to expanding awareness within the organization.”
“The leadership at KW has joined The Alliance with a pledge to help us expand Fair Housing laws to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes, which will help us increase our community’s access to homeownership,” said Weyandt.
Founded in February 2004, the KW Rainbow Network is an independent, not-for-profit membership organization that offers educational, advocacy and networking opportunities. As the franchise’s LGBTQ+ resource, the KW Rainbow Network has more than 1,500 members.
“Keller Williams partnering with The Alliance is important because it’s a public statement that the brand stands against discrimination, bigotry and hate,” said Dave Gervase, a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based Keller Williams agent, KW Rainbow Network member and Alliance board member.
Keller Williams’ partnership with The Alliance provides the brand with a seat on the sponsor advisory board, the opportunity to share LGBTQ+ unconscious-bias training to its agent network, and collaboration on thought leadership programs to further awareness of how housing discrimination impacts LGBTQ+ people.
“What I admire is that in The Alliance, the majority of the chapter presidents and members are Keller Williams agents,” said Kimberly Davis, CEO of the Kimberly Davis Group at Keller Williams in Plano, Texas, KW Rainbow Network Leadership Council member, and chair of the Alliance’s PRISM resource group.
The Alliance, which launched on Oct. 1, is an inclusive member-based organization founded in June as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit corporation, dedicated to enhancing the professional lives of its members while providing consumers with the proper resources to assist in buying, selling and enjoying their home.
The Alliance already has more than 50 chapters around the nation and has taken a leadership role in advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ homebuyers and sellers.
For more information, please visit www.realestatealliance.org.
