Governors' Page

by Donald Taylor

Since 1987 the Governors of the Real Estate Foundation have met at least once a year in a session dedicated exclusively to policy considerations, including grant program goals. As one of two new Governors appointed to the Foundation in 1998, I participated in my first such policy meeting in August of this year.

Coming away from that session, I had the immediate reaction that the people of B.C. have a unique creation in the Real Estate Foundation. It is a credit to the originators and past Governors that the Foundation has grown in ten years from an idea created in legislation to the fourth largest foundation in British Columbia, with grant financing in 1998 projected to be in excess of 2.4 million dollars.

I realized, too, that granting money, though a pleasant task, also comes with a good deal of responsibility. Governors may often agonize over a specific application, balancing the risk of a project with the optimism that granting the requested funding will result in a successful outcome. If I had a wish list of where the Foundation might focus in the near future, it would include the following three strategic objectives:

1. To increase the number of community grant applications supported by the real estate industry at the grass roots level.

2. To see in 1999 the successful launch of the Bachelor of Business in Real Estate Degree.

3. To raise the profile of the Foundation.

I find it gratifying to be associated with people who are good at what they do, who believe in the Foundation's mandate, and who are committed to the future.