DLI Program Graduation & Overview
September marked the end of the 2020 Developing Leaders Institute (DLI) Program. The graduation was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the year‐long commitment and accomplishments of all its members although limited number of attendees due to COVID.
For those who are unfamiliar with the DLI Program – every other year, NAIOP Southern Nevada hosts a year‐long program that fosters an environment for young professionals to learn, grow, network and flourish. In this year’s class, 19 promising leaders of Las Vegas’ real estate industry met once a month for a 3‐4 hour class on various real estate topics. Led by prominent leaders of our industry, these classes covered subjects such as Market Analysis, Finance, Construction, Marketing, Real Estate Operations, Investment Analysis, Architecture and Economic Development.
In addition to these monthly meetings, the class was assigned a group project, which took over 6 months to complete. There were four total groups that, given the same project guidelines, were responsible for selecting a site and creating an office, industrial or retail development that would be viable in the real world. Prior to the graduation, each group presented its complete project to a panel of NAIOP’s finest judges, with the winning team to be announced at graduation.
Hosted at Lawry’s, the Prime Rib, graduation night started off with a casual mixer sponsored by CapRock Partners and an opportunity for the 19 graduates to mingle with class sponsors, the DLI Committee, former DLI graduates and NAIOP’s Board of Directors. It was also an opportunity to feel out the competition as all the students anxiously anticipated the announcement of who this year’s DLI Class Project Winner would be. After some drinks, everyone was seated for dinner. Samantha Flaherty, the DLI Committee Chair, welcomed everyone and Julie Cleaver, NAIOP Southern Nevada’s chapter president, gave a quick overview of the program. Next, each team gave a 3‐minute overview of the projects they had been working on all year. This was the first time the students were able to hear what the other groups chose to do for their projects, and it was very interesting hearing striking similarities as well as vast differences between groups. At the end of each group’s presentation, each graduate was presented with a Graduation Certificate and ‘Class of 2020’ crystal paperweight.
After all the presentations were complete, one of our judges shared feedback from the judge’s panel that this year’s presentations were extremely competitive. Kudos were given to each team, as they all significantly raised the bar for future classes. But, ultimately, there was only one winning team, which Samantha then announced as Team 3, comprised of Emily Dobbins, Brendan Leake, Jordan Leavitt, Anna Saravia, and Gabriel Skerlich. Congrats to Team 3! Congrats to all the 2020 DLI graduates – you should all be so proud of this year’s hard work, accomplishments and the life‐long friendships that were formed.
Thank you to the committee members, Board of Directors, class instructors and sponsors for making this program possible. Each student walked away with invaluable knowledge and opportunities because of this program.
DLI Committee Chair
Samantha Flaherty
C: 602.931.9134 | Email: samanthajflaherty@gmail.com
Board Liaison
Jennifer Turchin, Coda Group Inc
702-336-7596 x 306 | jennifer@codagroupinc.com
