Commercial real estate firms join to recruit Black student-athletes

When Darius Livingston graduated from UC Davis two years ago, he knew his football career was over. Like most of his former teammates, and most college athletes, he didn’t turn pro.

Instead, Livingston entered commercial real estate thanks to lessons he learned from a co-op program that teaches financial fundamentals to young students of color, with a particular focus on real estate investing.

The initiative, called Project Destined, is a nonprofit founded by former Carlyle chief Cedric Bobo.

Bobo made a name for himself in real estate investing, then decided to put it into practice. He started a financial program in 2016, primarily for high school students. He then expanded it to college, seeing opportunities for internships and jobs before and after graduation.

To diversify their workforce, some of the largest real estate development, finance and management companies have signed on to fund internships and mentor students.This includes names like boston propertyGray Star, Brookfield, CB Richard Ellis, property rights housingfifth wall, Jones Lang LaSalleSkanska, Vornado and Walker & Dunlop.

The program has trained more than 5,000 participants from more than 350 universities around the world and has partnered with more than 250 real estate companies.

Now, it is directing some of its efforts specifically to black student-athletes.

Following a recent pilot program with UC Davis student-athletes, Bobo announced a partnership with professional and academic support organization Black Student-Athlete Summit to provide paid virtual internships to 100 student-athletes from Division I schools Opportunity. It includes 25 hours of training.

“Program participants will also work with executives to evaluate real-time commercial real estate transactions in their communities and compete in pitch competitions with senior industry leaders,” said a press release announcing the partnership. “Internships include opportunities for scholarships and networking.”

Livingston participated in a pilot program at UC Davis during his final semester of college, then interned at Eastdil and Eden Housing. He is now an acquisitions and development associate for Catalyst Housing Group, a California-based real estate development firm, and the financial backer of the new partnership.

“I think, for me, I really realize that I might not be a first-round pick, and that’s okay,” Livingston explained. “It really opened me up to other opportunities. That’s why I was so lucky to have Project Destined come out and expose me to the commercial real estate industry and the mentality that I should be an owner of the community where I live.”

That kind of ownership has long been Bobo’s mantra, and it was key when he announced his new program to hundreds of students at USC’s Black Student-Athlete Summit. He wants them to understand that they can make a difference in their own communities by owning and managing real estate. More importantly, he wants them to know that ownership is possible.

“Our plan is not just about how we see all of you,” Bobo said of the real estate executives present at the announcement. “It’s how you see yourself.”

While graduation rates for black student-athletes are slowly improving, many students who receive significant resources at their schools find themselves stuck once they finish their sports and enter the workforce.

“A lot of these kids probably think they’re first-round picks, that’s the one percent of the one percent, so be really true to yourself and know that you deserve more than you deserve. It’s more just contact, it’s just movement,” Livingston said.

Financial support for the program comes from real estate firms including BGO, Brookfield, Catalyst Housing Group, Dune Real Estate Partners, Jemcor Development Partners, Landspire Group, Marcus & Millichap, Virtu Investments and The Vistria Group, among others.

“The expansion of this platform is a natural evolution of this collective effort and will provide thousands of Black student-athletes with practical avenues to pursue future careers in commercial real estate,” said Jordan Moss, Also a former student-athlete at UC Davis and founder and CEO of Catalyst.

Project Destined is also partnering with the NBA and WNBA to give professional athletes more options after their sports careers.

Livingston said he believes athletes are the best employees.

“We play to win,” he explained. “It’s the nature of competition. We want to beat our chances.”