It's a Wrap: See you in June!
Thank you for following our 2026 AE Institute coverage. We enjoyed covering the event this week in Minneapolis!
We also enjoyed meeting so many association executives. Erica Christoffer and Sara Geimer staffed our REALTOR® News table to let AEs know about our team's awesome programs, including the brand new Change Agents podcast and the Good Neighbor Awards, now in its 26th year! (Know an extraordinary Good Neighbor who is also a REALTOR®? You can submit nominations for the 2026 awards by April 10.)
Our whole team will be in Washington, D.C., June 13–18, to cover NAR's next big event, the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings.
In the meantime, we continue to look for great stories about how you're killing it in the business, serving your community, taking control of tech, and elevating the real estate industry by serving your clients with professionalism! We welcome your ideas at news@nar.realtor.
- Kyle Fobe and Lauren Pinch
Yun Still Upbeat, Despite Headwinds
National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun—always a highly popular speaker—presented this morning at the conclusion of AE Institute. He called the current environment "interesting times for real estate as oil prices rise during peak spring season."
Late last year, well before the war and oil price shock, Yun had forecast a 14% year-over-year increase in residential sales in 2026. Now, he's taking a wait-and-see approach to see what direction oil prices—and subsequently mortgage rates—will move over the next few months.
"Real estate is a cyclical business," and your members know this he told the association executives in the audience. As association staff, this temporary shock makes your job more difficult, he acknowledged.
A few talking points on why he's still feeling positive: Home prices in most areas remain high, and although the job market appears to be weakening, "the total number of jobs is still quite high," he said. "We have 6.2 million more people with jobs receiving paychecks" than pre-Covid, based on Dec 2025 numbers—and those are all people who could potentially use their income to buy a home.
- Lauren Pinch
Welcoming People Home
Thursday afternoon wrapped up with a special service project. Welcome Home baskets were made for folks who've faced homelessness but are now moving into apartments. Agate Housing and Services in Minneapolis is the charity this project is benefiting.
Every year, association executives choose a service project to benefit a nonprofit in the the AEI Institute host town. Roughly 30 AEI attendees this year helped put together these baskets!
AI Is the Hottest Topic Here
The go-to breakout session this morning was “Beyond the Chatbot: How AI is transforming industries and how you can do the same.” The ballroom was full of AE’s learning AI best practices.
Speaker Keatra Nesbitt is a principal solutions engineer and chair of the Responsible AI Team at Valkyrie Intelligence. In the session, Keatra discussed responsible AI practices, making sure your AI plan is not siloed from your business plan, and how to scale AI for the size of your organization.
Snacks were also provided! Free cookies to help feed the stomach while AE minds are fed with AI information.
- Kyle Fobe
Here Are the New RCEs!
Congratulations to these RCE designees: We commend you for your commitment to serving NAR members.
- Lauren Pinch
The Need for Human Connection
Thursday morning at AEI started with a much-needed focus on mental health.
Anthony McLean, storyteller, author and actor, shared tips on emotional intelligence and coping habits. When you're stressed about something at work, talk about it. Be open and honest. "You have to talk about it to people who understand what you're talking about," he said. "You have gotta talk to the people who get it. The people in this room know what you're going through. Get more plugged in with the people in this room; they're the ones who understand the pressure."
Audience members shared their stress relievers and the ways they recharge their batteries: knitting, birding, biking, golf, boxing, zoomba, reading.
Feeling irritable? Take magnesium glycinate, Anthony says.
We checked out that advice with the Mayo Clinic and here's what the website said: "While magnesium is often marketed to help with relaxation, sleep and mood, it hasn’t been proven in human studies." However, the Mayo went on to say, "Magnesium, in any form, might help with anxiety and depression. Magnesium is necessary to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter...that affects mental health and mood." (Not surprisingly, the Mayo suggests consulting with a healthcare professional.)
- Lauren Pinch
Meet and Greet, Part 3
Name: Ashlee Kieler, AHWD
Position: Director of Marketing & Communications, Iowa REALTORS®
Years attending AEI: 3
Why she keeps coming back: I love coming to AEI because of the professional development and variety of sessions—and to see what other associations are doing. The sessions this year are interesting and diverse. For REALTOR® association staff specialists on the fence: Even if you don’t think it applies to you or your area of work, there's something here for you.
Name: Jazz Lough, AHWD
Position: Leadership and Staff Development Manager, Texas REALTORS®
Years attending AEI: 3
Why she keeps coming back: The content is relevant for our state association to help gain content to support local associations. I love seeing what was promised last year come to fruition this year—specifically Nykia Wright's involvement in the transparency and grassroots support of state and local associations.
Favorite part of 2026 AEI so far: Leadership panel (see "Star Power on Stage" below) and broker session (see "Hey Brokers! We're Listening")
Pros and Cons of AI
One of the first breakout sessions of Wednesday afternoon was a well-attended session on AI best practices.
Gilbert Gonzalez, RCE, CEO of the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® in Texas, was asked, “At the executive level, what makes AI worth the risk?” He talked about the importance of being able to meet their members where they are. In the case of AI, that means being able to provide resources and answer questions at all times of every day, whereas leadership may be more limited in times they are available.
“The bigger risk is not getting comfortable, not exploring with AI,” said Shelley Speccio, RCE, AHWD, CEO of MIBOR REALTORS® in Indianapolis.
John DiMichele, CEO of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, received laughs from the crowd when he said he used AI to calculate the risk! His team is using AI to make sure listings are correct and compliant. He hired students studying AI to help build their system.
Editor's Note: Check out Nicole Slaughter Graham's article, "Why Every Brokerage Needs an AI Use Policy." It does a great job of spelling out the rationale and shares a new template NAR has created to help brokers develop their own policy.
- Kyle Fobe
Hey Brokers! We're Listening
The title of this session is a mouthful: "From the Broker's Chair: What Works, What Doesn't, and Are Associations Listening?" But it gets at the heart of a key REALTOR® organization priority—at all levels. Broker engagement.
During the panel, Nykea Pippion McGriff, NAR vice president of broker engagement, spoke with two Twin Cities practitioners: Emily Green, CRS, GRI, broker-owner of Sandy Green Realty in Minneapolis, and Brian Bolier, AHWD, regional vice president of Coldwell Banker Realty in St. Paul, Minn., about the challenges facing brokerages today, from adopting new tech to making sure that member communication sticks. They chatted about personalization, cross-team collaboration and the value of making new connections, no matter what specific association you belong to.
A note to AEs in the audience: Brokers are reading your emails! So be sure to maintain multiple points of contact with them.
Nykea—who brings more than two decades of experience in real estate to her role—asked Emily and Brian to talk about their biggest pain points today: “The speed of change,” Brian said. “This is driven by both fragmentation and consolidation in the marketplace.” He also cited the deteriorating margins facing many brokerages. “We have to be very competitive and strategic about the value we are bringing the agents. AEs do help take some strain off of us, to help with those bigger rocks we are carrying.”
Emily offered up a practical challenge that all brokers face: "deciding which of the many technology tools we should invest in.” Associations are helping with both tech selection and no-cost and discounted resources. "We have really doubled down on our brokerage's values … and the associations provide stability for us," she said.
One great resource that came up during the session: the “How to Onboard an Agent” toolkit. You can download it, along with other broker resources, here.
- Lauren Pinch
Sandwiches With a Side of Philanthropy
Today’s lunch programming was a panel discussion on the REALTORS® Relief Foundation. It features the foundation celebrating its 25th Anniversary.
Each of the panelists represents an area of the country that has received RRF funds after a natural disaster. The panelists were Josh Summers, CEO of Kentucky REALTORS®, Angela Shields, RCE, CIPS, CEO of Tennessee REALTORS®, Tiffany Claxton, RCE, AHWD, CEO of Spokane (Wash.) REALTORS®, and NAR member Kitty Wallace, CRS, AHWD, an agent with RE/MAX The Collective, in Cle Elum, Wash. Kitty is vice president of the RRF board.
"If you haven't experienced a natural disaster in your lifetime, it's likely that you will." - Kitty Wallace
Josh said Kentucky has had five major natural disasters in the past five years. Spokane used funds for wildfires in 2023.
"No disaster is too small" to apply for RRF grants," Angela said. "We need to keep fundraising to support all of our communities in need." Here's a fundraising toolkit associations can use, and Realtor.com announced last week that it's doubling donors' impact: Every dollar donated using this code is matched up to $100,000: Text RDCRRF26 to 71777, through May 31.
"RRF is a lifeline. It will help your communities; it will help your REALTOR® members. Thank you to those of you who have donated to RRF. We truly appreciate it." - Josh Summers
A big takeaway for association execs today: Before a natural disaster strikes your area, make sure you understand how the application process for funds works, because the first 24–48 hours after a disaster is most crucial.
- Kyle Fobe
Star Power on Stage
In one of the most anticipated sessions at this event, local, state and national executives gathered for a candid leadership conversation.
Bennett Richardson, NAR chief marketing & communications officer, kicked things off, discussing transparency and how NAR has been showing up for members in the past year. He reminded AEs that NAR has issued zero “no comments” to press inquiries in the past year. Bennett said the team is showing that "we are open for business, transparent and accountable, and responding quickly to any criticism."
It's been a busy nine months since Bennett joined NAR: Among other things, the team has rebranded REALTOR® Magazine as REALTOR® News, published a comprehensive annual report, launched the REALTOR® News Change Agents podcast and a new ad campaign, and revamped NAR's Influencer Program.
"We are really committed to better communication with the industry," he said.
Jarrod Grasso, RCE, AHWD, NAR senior vice president of industry relations, spoke about NAR's relationships with different segments of the industry. A key member group is brokers, so the Industry Relations team is working with state and local associations to create opportunities for broker conversations around the country. Jarrod said there are 35 broker summits already scheduled for this year, and the team is also working on marketing materials for brokers. He spotlighted a new web page, smallbroker.realtor as a resource where NAR will be building out resources for smaller brokerages.
His message to the AEs: "We are trying to provide you a [high] level of service to better serve your membership." He pointed to resources like the new AI policy templates for brokers and associations, and new talking points on the three-way agreement.
Next up was NAR CEO Nykia Wright. Nykia expressed pride in what NAR has accomplished in the past year, highlighting key hires made at the C-suite level, and said she's excited to see what we accomplish in the next year.
Education is one area where big change is coming: NAR is "working very quickly with instructional designers and the Professional Development Committee ... to build authoritative assets for member education," Nykia said. NAR will continue to support the certifications and designations, she said, but is now focused on developing modular learning "quick hits" that will help members get to their next transaction.
Nykia, Jarrod and Bennett were joined on stage by Rob Campau, RCE, AHWD, CEO of Michigan REALTORS®, based in Lansing, Mich., and Laura Crowther, RCE, GRI, CEO of the Coastal Carolinas Association of REALTORS®, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Campau focused on the benefits of the state value proposition, such as getting ahead of evolving legislation and court cases, and the importance of states and locals engaging with NAR on advocacy issues to benefit the housing industry.
- Kyle Fobe and Lauren Pinch
Salute to One of Our Own
It's nice to see a colleague who has devoted her career to the organization get recognition. That happened this morning when Jeff Lasky, RCE, AHWD, called for a round of applause for Renee Holland. Holland, who retired at the end of 2025, managed the RCE designation program. The RCE—or REALTOR® Certified Executive designation—is an educational credential that demonstrates a commitment to the field of REALTOR® association management.
The audience recorded a thank you to Holland; then Lasky, 2026 chair of the RCE Certification Advisory Board, welcomed the largest class of RCEs in the 35-year history of the program. All RCEs received customized hockey jerseys to show off their achievement.
- Lauren Pinch
Sing It!
Bashinelli, a Nat Geo TV host, brought a few AEs up to the stage to share what strong leadership means to them—and to sing a little bit of karaoke!
Syreeta Bolton, RCE (far right), CEO of the Merced County Association of REALTORS® in California, said the ability to provide protection for one's team is a defining asset of a trusted leader: "protecting myself, protecting my association and protecting my leaders, so that they feel safe with me," Syreeta said, accompanied by a round of applause from the audience.
- Lauren Pinch
'I See You!'
This morning's keynote speaker Chris Bashinelli woke everyone up with a welcome exercise: grabbing a partners hand, and saying “I see you!”
Chris has such an exciting background, touring the world for National Geographic, learning about different cultures and building relationships. The latter is a very important message in his presentation today, focused on human-centered leadership.
- Kyle Fobe
Restoring Trust
Leslie and Tiffany passed the mic to 2026 NAR President Kevin Brown. His speech focused on themes we've been consistently hearing from NAR leadership: restoring member trust and getting back to business. The message is resonating here.
Wednesday Kick Off
This morning, Leslie Frazier, RCE, AHWD, and Tiffany Claxton, RCE, AHWD, opened AEI by recognizing AE advisory board members and thanking them for their help. Leslie, vice chair the the AE Institute Advisory Board, is senior vice president of community and industry relations for the Virginia REALTORS®, based in Glen Allen, Va. Tiffany, dean of 2026 AEI, is CEO at Spokane REALTORS® in Spokane, Wash.
More Meet and Greet
Name: Michelle Stenstrom
Position: CEO, North Central Indiana Association of REALTORS®
Years attending AEI: First time!
First impression: It’s been great so far. I went to "REALTOR® Party and Advocacy Training" to learn about grants. I'm learning contacts for help, learning about the RCE designation, and looking forward to next couple of days.
Name: Meghann Redding, GRI, AHWD
Position: CEO, South Bend Area REALTORS®, South Bend, Ind.
Years attending AEI: 2
Favorite part: As a newer AE, my thought is that if you have one event to come to, it would be this one, because it’s the best one for professional development. I've been an AE just over a year, and the classes scheduled are great.
Let the Networking Begin
The party has officially started! NAR says about 880 association and MLS professionals are attending AE Institute. For most, the first stop after picking up their badge is the 2026 Welcome Reception.
- Kyle Fobe and Lauren Pinch
A Huge Member Benefit
I'm Lauren Pinch, senior editor of REALTOR® News, and I arrived in Minneapolis just in time to catch “Empower Your Association with Realtors Property Resource®,” presented by Liz Gunski, RPR vice president of industry relations (left), and Emily Line, RPR senior vice president of strategic engagement.
You'll be hearing a lot from the news team about RPR; we can't get enough of its advanced data and AI capabilities. Liz and Emily polled the crowd of association execs on their use of the many new “snacks and bites” the powerful tool has to offer, including local property insights within their markets, maps with residential and land zoning data, the new mobile CMA, marketing scriptwriter and more. The good news? Most of the AEs in the room are using and loving RPR.
One fun fact of particular interest to me: “RPR Commercial has a lion’s share of the commercial inventory from around the country, meaning it's competitive with the largest commercial national listings portals,” Line said. “Right now we have over 900,000 active commercial listings, and 58 million off-market opportunities with financial details. There is no other site around that aggregates land, commercial and residential in one place.” This is a huge, exclusive benefit for REALTORS®—the members of NAR.
- Lauren Pinch
Meet and Greet
This is my first official NAR event, and I'm enjoying meeting REALTOR® association executives and learning more about all they do for our members.
Name: Mike Berk, RCE, AHWD
Position: CEO, Longleaf Pine REALTORS®, Fayetteville N.C.
Years attending AEI: 4
Favorite part: Talking to fellow AE's and learning something new. The sessions are helpful and refresh you.
Name: Lyn Gotwalt, RCE, AHWD
Position: CEO, Centre County Association of REALTORS®, State College, Pa.
Years attending AEI: 12
Favorite part: Learning something new; networking and working with others
- Kyle Fobe
AE Institute guests mix and mingle in the lobby at the Hilton Minneapolis. We're expecting a high of 68 degrees F for opening day tomorrow.
- Lauren Pinch
Upholding Professionalism
Kyle here. I stumbled upon a very energized group of folks in the Marquette Ballroom. About 75 association staff are attending the certified professional standards administration training. The instructors are Diane Mosley, RCE, a member of the National Association of REALTORS® Professional Standards staff, and Diane Disbrow, ABR, CRB, a New Jersey real estate professional and instructor who wrote our ethics column back we were publishing a magazine.
Elizabeth McKenna, CAE, principal and managing partner of Agency McKenna, is helping administer the training session. She says the Code of Ethics is such a strong cornerstone of the National Association of REALTORS®' mission that having informed administrators across the country helps support self-policing and ensure a high ethical standard for all members.
I talked with Samantha L’Italien, a senior executive assistant and professional standards administrator, from the REALTOR® Association of Sarasota and Manatee in Florida. She’s attending this training for the first time. Her favorite parts of the training so far have been walking through the real-world examples that explain everything from the steps involved from receiving a complaint to ratifying the decision with the local board. She says attending the training and being able to discuss issues with others who deal with similar situations in their day-to-day work has been valuable.
The training continues through the end of the day, when all group members will take a certification test. If they pass, they're receive certification as Professional Standards Administrators.
- Kyle Fobe
Pre-conference session: MLS Deep Dive
At the MLS session, Twin Cities broker-owner Emily Green, CRS, GRI (third from right), discusses the benefits of RPR. Panelists say RPR is underutilized and hope this session helps bring awareness to its value.
MLS Deep Dive has officially kicked off. Liz Gunski, vice president of industry relations at Realtors Property Resource®, kicks off the program, discussing the benefits of RPR’s AI tools. RPR is an NAR member benefit.
AE Institute attendees are filing in for a pre-conference MLS session that's about to get underway. In addition to the MLS session, today agenda includes training for professional standards administrators and a session on how the National Association of REALTORS® advocacy resources can be used to advance the interests of REALTORS® across the country.
- Kyle Fobe
REALTOR® News Is In the House!
Welcome to NAR AE Institute 2026 live from Minneapolis! I’m Kyle Fobe, NAR’s director of news and content strategy, and for the next few days, one of your live coverage hosts. AE Institute is an opportunity for peer learning and collaboration among the executives who operate local and state REALTOR® associations and MLSs. Fun fact: NAR celebrated the 75th anniversary of AEI in 2018, which makes this the 84th year of the AE Institute.
