ELECT MAURA NEILL

Vice President of Professional development
Georgia REALTORS®

I am honored to be the Nominating Committee’s slated candidate for the position of 2024 Vice President of Professional Development for the Georgia REALTORS®. I am passionate about our industry and our Association, and I am equally passionate about education and professional development, as they are the cornerstone of what makes REALTORS® great and sets us apart. You can scroll down to see my experience, but I want to take a few moments to tell you more about who I am and what I believe.

WHO I AM

My parents made sure that my younger brother and I were raised to be service-minded, to think of giving back as our obligation, to believe that giving back was repaying what we were given in this life. We grew up modestly, the children of an Army veteran-turned-REALTOR®-turned-mortgage-underwriter and a lifelong educator. We were Scouts, and I am a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts of America. My brother followed in our dad’s lead; he is now in his 21st year as a soldier, serving in the Army’s Delta Force and is retiring in October of this year.

From a young age, I knew I would follow my mother’s path and be an educator, and after teaching at Florida State University and the University of Phoenix, and then Gwinnett County (Georgia) public schools, I consider myself lucky to be able to marry my two passions — real estate and education. I have had my own CE approved in over three dozen states, assisted NAR in the creation of the Military Relocation Professional (MRP) certification course in 2011-2012, serving as the first Lead Instructor and Subject Matter Expert, as well as for electives for the ABR designation, and up next, I am excited to serve as part of 2024 NAR President Tracy Kasper’s initiative for financial literacy for 11th graders in our public high schools.

WHAT I BELIEVE

I believe in “dressing for the job you want” — and the job I want is Vice President of Professional Development for the Georgia REALTORS®. I am a REALTOR® and I am also an educator — I believe those two are inextricably linked, and I believe I am the best candidate for the position.

RESPECT

Real estate education must come from a place of RESPECT for the past — we are in the place we are because of our decisions and actions in the past, as an industry and as individuals. Acknowledging our past, respecting its impact on our industry, our reputation, our relationships with consumers and with each other is crucial to our ability to grow, to evolve, and to improve.

Our past leaders have fortified our strategic plan into a living, breathing roadmap for our future; they created our robust contract forms, enabling us to not only have statewide forms at our disposal but making property ownership possible for our Association. They have made our GRI program one of the best in the country; they have revamped our conference to include a strong educational component and continue to improve those offerings. They have prioritized initiatives for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the betterment of our Association and set us on the beginnings of a path that we, as the future, are inspired to continue to build upon.

OPTIMISM

I believe our future as an industry is bright, and I believe in approaching education with OPTIMISM. In a time of negative media coverage and click-bait headlines, we have a responsibility to our members, to our clients and consumers to be honest, innovative, and also optimistic. Consumers need honest voices to cut through the headlines and give them a candid, frank, factual assessment of where they, as individuals, stand in the real estate market. Our lawmakers need to hear the hard truths about housing and the impact that the economics of low inventory has on American society; everyone deserves housing.

Finally, and most crucially, our members deserve cutting-edge education to help them approach the current (and future) market conditions from a place of abundance rather than scarcity, to provide them with opportunities to not only better serve their clients but also to better run their businesses, and ultimately, to be successful.

EDUCATION IS IMPERATIVE

Education is how we overcome difficulties in our businesses; education is the answer to continuing our mission for greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and to improve our members’ understanding of the importance of Fair Housing and the Code of Ethics; education is how we help consumers understand and appreciate the REALTOR® brand and comprehend our compensation and our value. Education is how we help our legislators to understand the importance of private property rights and the crucial role of homeownership and the American dream. I believe that my experience, my passion and commitment, and my outlook are not only the reasons that the Nominating Committee chose me for 2024 Vice President of Professional Development; I believe those things make me the right person, right now, for the position.

I humbly ask you to vote for me on September 8 for the 2024 Vice President of Professional Development for the Georgia Association of REALTORS®.

EXPERIENCE

RPAC COMMITMENT:

RPAC Platinum R, 2017-present
RPAC President’s Circle, 2016-present
RPAC Major Investor, 2012-present
RPAC Hall of Fame: $25k level – 2017; $50k level – 2021

Georgia REALTORS® Experience:

Executive Committee – 2023-24, 2019-20, 2017
Administration and Operations Committee – 2021-22
Housing Opportunity Committee – CHAIR 2023 (Vice Chair 2022)
Region Restructure Task Force – CHAIR 2023
Special Recognition Committee – CHAIR 2021
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force – 2020-21
Regional Director – 2019-20
Communications and PR Committee Committee – 2019-20
Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) for Fair Housing Initiative – 2018
Strategic Planning Committee – CHAIR 2018 (Vice Chair 2017)
Professional Development Committee – VICE CHAIR 2018 (Member 2017)
YPN – CHAIR 2016 (Vice Chair 2015; Member 2014)
Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) for YPN – CHAIR 2016
Director – 2015-present
Leadership Academy, class of 2009

Atlanta REALTORS® Experience:

RPAC Committee – VICE CHAIR 2023 (Slated to be Chair 2024)
Atlanta RPAC (ARPAC) Action Board of Trustees – 2023-24
Committee & Board Voting Structure Task Force – 2022
Director – 2015-20
Atlanta RPAC (ARPAC) Board of Trustees – CHAIR 2020 (Member 2013-14, 2019)
Emerging Leaders Program (Leadership Academy) – CHAIR 2017
Vice President of Member Services – 2016
Executive Committee – 2016
New REALTOR® Member Orientation Program – CHAIR 2015
Professional Development Committee – CHAIR 2014 (Member 2013, 2015)
Strategic Planning – 2013
Governmental Affairs & RPAC – 2009-11, 2013-14
YPN – 2013-16
Atlanta REALTORS® Leadership Academy, class of 2008
YCR (Young Council of REALTORS®, predecessor to YPN) – 2007-09

National association of REALTORS® Experience:

Director – 2021 (Also 2022, Slated 2024-26)
Federal Legislative and Political Forum – VICE CHAIR 2023 (Slated to be Chair 2024)
Public Policy Coordinating Committee – 2017-18, 2020-24
Public and Federal Issues Liaison* (to 18 committees and work groups) for President Charlie Oppler – 2021
REALTOR® University Regent – 2020
Federal Financing and Housing Policy – CHAIR 2018 (Vice Chair 2017; Immediate Past Chair 2019; Member 2015-16)
Fair Housing 50th Anniversary Task Force – 2017-18
Professional Development Committee – 2016
Leadership Academy, class of 2016
Member Communications Committee – 2014
Data Strategies Committee – 2013
Federal Technology Policy Advisory Board – 2013
Issues Mobilization Committee – 2010

Residential real estate council (formerly CRS) Experience:

Election Guidelines Implementation Committee – CHAIR 2021
Election Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) – CHAIR 2020
Strategic Planning Committee 2020
Director – 2019-20
Finance Committee – 2018
President’s Advisory Group on Education/CRS Courses – 2017
Membership Development Committee – VICE CHAIR 2016
Strategic Planning Committee – 2014-16
Membership Development Committee – 2014-15
President’s Advisory Group on YPN – 2013
CRS Leadership Academy, class of 2013
CRS Designee, since 2009

WOMEN’S COUNCIL Experience:

Speaker, Georgia Leadership Academy – June 2023
National Committee Liaison to NAR’s Public Policy Coordinating Committee – 2021-22
Speaker and Moderator, Network360 Conference – August 2021
Speaker, National Conference – November 2018
Speaker, National Conference – November 2013

*NAR Liaison to the following NAR Committees (2021): Business Insurance Work Group, Business Issues Policy Committee, Commercial Federal Policy Committee, Consumer Communications Committee, Conventional Financing and Policy Committee, Disaster Policy Work Group, Executive Committee, Federal Financing & Housing Policy Committee, Fair Housing Policy Committee, Federal Legislative and Political Forum, Federal Taxation Committee, Federal Technology Policy Committee, Housing Voucher Work Group, Insurance Committee, Land Use Property Rights and Environment Committee, NAR Franchise Policy Work Group, Public Policy Coordinating Committee, Regulatory Issues Forum