IMG_1637

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® helped honor Vicky Silvano this past weekend at the Asian Real Estate Association of American’s convention in San Francisco. Silvano was named national chairwoman of the organization at the event which was attended by a number of Illinois REALTORS®. From left, IAR Immediate Past President Jim Kinney, IAR President-elect Doug Carpenter, Silvano, IAR President Mike Drews and IAR CEO Gary Clayton. Photo/Sharon Gorrell.

The 2015 Asian Real Estate Association of America wrapped up its convention in San Francisco over the weekend, but not before celebrating the installation of Illinois REALTOR® Vicky Silvano as the association’s national chairwoman.

Snip20151026_6Silvano, a broker at Century 21 SGR in Chicago, was honored by several hundred of her industry colleagues at the event’s Gala.

Showing their support for Silvano were IAR President Mike Drews, President-elect Doug Carpenter, Immediate Past President Jim Kinney, IAR CEO Gary Clayton and Housing Policy Advisor and Global Work group staff liaison Sharon Gorrell.  Several members from the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® and the Chicago chapter of AREAA also attended.

The event began with a moving presentation which shed light on the continued and often overlooked problem of discrimination of Asian Americans and the lack of recognition Asians have been given for their historic contributions to the U.S. The presentation highlighted the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, a project which involved large numbers of Chinese laborers. There were exhibits, presentations and several materials distributed on this topic and the Chinese Historical Society was there to answer questions.

Another notable component to the session highlighted Asian identity.  Through a campaign called “No Other” AREAA has taken the lead to discuss ethnic classifications within the U.S. Census for the Asian community rather than use of the term “other” in certain data fields.

There were several breakout sessions and panel discussions that highlighted topics on professional development, global business and public policy.  Access to credit and better credit scoring models was a focus of interest in addition to the future of the EB-5 visa program.

Senior housing and commercial lending discussions drew large crowds given the increasing level of demand for both.  Top producing Illinois REALTORS® Teresa Ryan of Ryan Hill Realty and Danielle Moy of Coldwell Banker were panelists at the event.