Schools

Roosevelt University Real Estate Student Wins Inaugural Scholarship from NAIOP


Jamila Danzy

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–October 1, 2015.  A Roosevelt University real estate student is one of only two students in Chicago to be selected to receive a prestigious first-ever scholarship from NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.

Jamila Danzy, a Chicago native and currently a resident of the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood, has been awarded the competitive scholarship for achievement as a Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) student and for her work as a program officer with a not-for-profit that works to stabilize communities dealing with distressed properties.

“Growing up in the Near North community area that bordered the former Cabrini Green public housing complex, I experienced first-hand how gentrification affected our community,” said Danzy, who was among hundreds of applicants for the inaugural NAIOP scholarship awarded this fall.

“I remember seeing public housing being torn down and wondering as a result where everyone had gone. Had they received resources and support?  It seemed to me at the time that our community had been destroyed because so many people were displaced. Ever since that time, I’ve been interested in working to stabilize and improve distressed neighborhoods,” said Danzy, who planses to graduate from Roosevelt’s Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate in December 2016.
 
Danzy was selected for the scholarship, according to one of her professors, because of her ambition and drive.
 
“I have come to be acquainted with several thousand students during 20 years of university teaching, and it is rare to find a student who combines high scholarship with accomplished professional experience,” Roosevelt Real Estate Instructor Thomas C. Bothen wrote in a scholarship recommendation letter.
 
Danzy graduated from Southern Illinois University with a BS in Geography and a Master’s of Public Administration in Policy and Analysis. She is currently the program officer for the Troubled Buildings Initiative at Community Investment Corporation where she does advocacy and community outreach to stabilize distressed multi-unit properties.

“Along with the scholarship covering a substantial portion of my tuition, it provides access to so many resources and networking opportunities through NAIOP,” said Danzy, who joined Roosevelt’s real estate program in 2013.

  The NAIOP Chicago University Initiative was created to provide students with unique opportunities to engage with commercial real estate professionals, not only in the Chicago area but also nationwide, through national and local meeting and conference opportunities.
 
Jon DeVries, director of the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University, said the NAIOP 2015-16 scholarship award was a major achievement for Danzy as well as for the University’s real estate program.

“We are deeply appreciative to NAIOP Chicago for establishing this new annual scholarship program which importantly also supports participation in local and national NAIOP programs,” said DeVries.

“I’ve never been in a program that catered so much to the needs of students and our individual success in our respective fields,” added Danzy.  “Thanks to the help of Jon DeVries and the MRSE program at Roosevelt, I have been able to network every week with important real estate developers and community partners who are helping me to understand the field and what I need to do to be successful,” she said.
 
After graduating next year, Danzy hopes to invest in distressed neighborhoods in Chicago, primarily in communities of color. She also wants to be involved with implementing community services in the real estate sector that will provide a better lifestyle for families, improving their quality of life for the future. 

Source: www.roosevelt.edu

 


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