LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance President John Thorpe has announced that Feroza Syed and Kenya Burrell-VanWormer have been appointed to the organization’s Board of Directors. 

Syed, an Association Broker with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, is a trans activist and advocate who was appointed by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to the first LGBTQ Advisory Board for the City of Atlanta. The 2019 Grand Marshall for Atlanta’s 50^th Pride celebration, Syed is active in numerous city organizations including PFLAG, the Trans Housing Coalition (THC) and DesiQ Diaspora, which works to create a safe haven for LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islander youth.

Burnell-VanWormer recently joined T3Sixty, a noted real estate brokerage consultancy, where she serves as Senior Vice President of Diversity Solutions and Executive Director of the Real Estate Apprentice Foundation. She has 20 years of real estate experience and was the 2018 chair of the Houston Association of Realtors^®. She was also the organization’s Realtor^® of the Year in 2009 and was honored by Inman News as its 2018 Person of the Year.

“Kenya and Feroza bring unique viewpoints and skillsets to our Board,” Thorpe said. “Kenya is a noted ally in Houston who has used her leadership platform in HAR and our industry to champion diversity, equality and inclusion. And, not only is Feroza an award-winning agent but she has become one of the nation’s most recognized trans leaders, recognizing the importance that safe and sustainable housing plays for the trans community and the entire LGBTQ+ population. To be able to attract such outstanding talent to our Board speaks volumes of the impact The Alliance has made – and will continue to make – on our real estate industry and the community.” 

The Alliance is an inclusive organization which launched in October 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. It currently has nearly 1,000 members.

The LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance will hold its inaugural LGBTQ+ Housing Policy Symposium on April 29-29. U.S. Congresswoman Angie Craig, Minnesota’s first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress, is scheduled to speak. 

ABOUT THE LGBTQ+ REAL ESTATE ALLIANCE

The LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance is a 501(c)6 nonprofit dedicated to empowering the LGBTQ+ community on the path to homeownership as we also advocate on behalf of the community on housing issues. The Alliance, founded in June 2020, is an all-inclusive organization that works to improve the professional lives of its members through a public-facing Alliance Referral Community. The Alliance began accepting members in October 2020 and has more than 50 chapters in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more information visit realestatealliance.org.