Gunster’s Orlando office managing shareholder Derek Bruce was featured in a recent article in the Orlando Business Journal covering the lack of diversity in the commercial real estate industry.
Many central Florida-based universities do not address industry diversity in their real estate programs and moreover, many historically black colleges and universities do not offer programming at all. Education aside, recruiting of ethnically diverse brokers into some of the top commercial real estate firms is limited, according to research by the author.
Derek Bruce explained, “Owning real estate and buying land and assets that you can pass on generationally is a huge and valuable part of improving economic circumstance and community.”
Despite the country growing to be more racially and ethnically diverse, the lack of recruiting people of color in the commercial real estate industry leaves it with mostly white leadership and employees, the article states.
Derek Bruce is a shareholder in Gunster’s Government Affair’s and Law Lobbying Practice. He focuses on government procurement in addition to environmental and land use law as well as hospitality and leisure. Derek is active in the business and civic community, currently serves as a board member for BusinessForce, as a member of the Alliance for Regional Transportation workgroup for the Orlando Economic Partnership and formerly served on the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission.
