The WRA Partnership for Success Program is designed to promote diversity within the REALTOR® membership and enhance the probability of long-term success in the real estate profession for new agents. The program offers the successful minority candidate the opportunity to have one year of REALTOR® dues and six months of MLS fees covered, as well as the ability for further education and to attend designation courses and REALTOR® events. Program benefits received are “paid forward” via cash reimbursements or community service hours within three years.
Take the success story of Fátima Marinho who was selected for a Partnership for Success Program award in March 2017. Fátima was a successful real estate agent in Brazil who came to the United States to study English and decided to stay. Fátima jumped into real estate here with both feet, learning all she could about the differences in the real estate market through webinars, MLS training and other classes and books. In 2017, she attended the WRA Annual Convention at the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino in Milwaukee, and she found her convention experience to be simply amazing!
Fátima aspires to grow Brazilian investors in the Milwaukee area as well as introduce those from this area to Brazilian market opportunities. She also hopes to personally invest in Milwaukee both in the real estate market and in the community by volunteering for various organizations.
Fátima presently holds a student visa. After she graduated from MATC’s Real Estate Program in December 2016, she worked for broker Mary Pangman Schmitt at 1st Advantage Realty for one year under the Option Practice Training program in the field she was studying for — real estate! In 2018, she returned to school and is in the MATC Marketing Management Program, which will further improve her real estate skills. Fátima has applied for lawful permanent residency with a green card and is waiting for her work permit, which should be coming soon.
Fátima has taken advantage of the opportunity to repay the benefits she has received from the Partnership for Success Program through volunteer hours, both as an assistant at an adult daycare center in Milwaukee and as a participant on the WRA Cultural Diversity in Housing Committee. Fátima found her one year volunteering at the daycare center to be a unique experience. She worked with a special group of individuals with memory loss problems. In Fátima’s words, “There were people from different nationalities and ages. I was there to help them with painting, sculptures, memory games, having lunch together and making sure that we don’t miss anybody. I learned about their culture, life experience, happy and sad histories, and skills that surprise me. I was there to help them, but I was learning more than expected about the human being and how to be grateful for our lives.” Fátima also believes participating in the WRA Cultural Diversity in Housing Committee is important to understanding and knowing the needs of our community and has found it to be a pleasure to work with dedicated professionals.
Well done, Fátima!
Debbi Conrad is Senior Attorney and Director of Legal Affairs for the WRA.
Partnership for Success Resources
Potential Partnership for Success applicants and their sponsoring brokers can watch the video found on the Program’s webpage at www.wra.org/Partnership for more information and follow the WRA Cultural Diversity in Housing Committee’s Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/CulturalDiversityInHousing for additional insight!