The University for Baltimore's Neighborhoods
The inaugural class of University of Baltimore Real Estate Fellows are working to address critical development needs within Baltimore's middle-market neighborhoods. UBalt students and alumni will participate in a 10-week mentoring program from seasoned professionals from the metro area. Students will identity a neighborhood, create a project, complete a development plan and develop an application for financing. The winning proposal will get the necessary financing up to $1 million in a Guidance Line of Credit from Baltimore Community Lending to proceed with the project.
Learn more about the selection process.
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Olusegun Aje
Olusegun Aje is 2017 graduate of the M.S. in Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship program.
Why the Fellows program?
The Fellows program aligns with my mission to build and develop communities. My brother and I started a nonprofit some years ago and started some of the groundwork needed to begin the process of community development. We hired staff and recruited volunteers to collect survey data from a community in Baltimore we wanted to target for redevelopment. This is a herculean task, but we planned to get there eventually. This opportunity with the Fellows program can only help to accelerate our work. I believe that this program will provide us with the resources, knowledge, and opportunity to take on the challenge of effective community development. -
William Casey
William Casey is a current student in the B.S. in Real Estate and Economic Development program. Why the Fellows program? Working for the Jacob France Institute under Dr. Seema Iyer has been my favorite experience so far at UBalt. It was a tremendous learning experience where I was able to create a solid foundation of real estate knowledge and be exposed to different professionals in their respective careers. My interest in the Fellows program is that I want to learn about the whole development process and learn what roles I would be suited for best. As well as, building a better understanding of underwriting practices. -
Joao David Garcia Ferraz
Joao David Garcia Ferraz is a current student in the B.S. in Real Estate and Economic Development program.
Why the Fellows program?
I have been fascinated with Real Estate since I was sixteen. At the age of eighteen, I got my real estate license and jumped in without knowing the full scope of the industry. It has taken me six years in the field to realize that commercial development and acquisition is the direction I see my career going. This was the primary reason for returning to higher education. This fellowship is the doorway into the business. I hope to soak in as much information as I can win or lose, I am grateful for this opportunity. -
Tiffany Green
Tiffany Green is a current student in the Master's of Public Administration program.
Why the Fellows program?
I always wondered why other communities looked nothing like mine. Growing up in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Pubic Housing Program, I was surround by poverty, drugs, and violence. While in summer camp and on family vacations, I was exposed to places that were considered an upgrade compared to my neighborhood.
As a child, I did not have the words to describe what I was witnessing until I became an adult and a second-generation housing choice voucher recipient. My housing experiences led to this burning passionate and desire to learn more about housing in America. I began to study housing programs offered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and managed to obtain employment at a local Public Housing Authority, which gave me the opportunity to help others have access to affordable, safe, and decent housing, while improving the same programs that housed my family. It is at this point, I realized the greatest impact occurs from within.
Being apart of this fellowship program, will give me access to experts in the Real Estate Development field which will help me gain the knowledge, experience, and connections. Based on my work history and personal experiences, this is the last component needed to develop a company that revitalize distress communities throughout the United States by implementing the permanent supportive housing model that systematically addresses social determinants of health. This fellowship will give me the tools needed to become a housing expert that offers solutions to a nation that is experiencing an increase in individuals and families who are trapped in a cycle of crisis and housing instability. -
Janna Holmes
Janna Holmes is a 2013 graduate from the Master's of Public Administration program.
Why the Fellows program?
I have seen and experienced the lack of investment can have on a community. I wanted to be a part of the UBalt Real Estate Fellowship program to acquire additional tools and knowledge that will help prepare me to be a partner in revitalizing the communities I grew up in. -
Nikolay Ratajczak
Nikolay Ratajczak is a 2014 graduate from the B.S. in Real Estate and Economic Development program.
Why the Fellows program?
I have been studying, writing about, and exploring urban redevelopment in Baltimore City since returning to UBalt in 2012. After completing my bachelor’s degree, earning a graduate degree at Johns Hopkins University, and working independently on land development projects, I am ready to pursue an urban pivot and to launch redevelopment plans in the city of Baltimore. -
Haydon Wyatt
Haydon Wyatt is a current student in the B.S. in Real Estate and Economic Development program.
Why the Fellows program?
I am studying development at UBalt with the goal of understanding how development can make positive changes beyond the physical buildings. I believe development can be used to not only improve the economy of an area, but the lives and social relationship between the people in urban areas. I believe through the UBalt Fellows Program I have an amazing opportunity to learn from and integrate my own ideas with the other fellows and our mentors in order to achieve my goal and take what I have learned into the urban development world. -
Leslie Wynn
Leslie Wynn is a current student in the Certificate of Accounting.
Why the Fellows program?
I started investing in single family houses, then graduated to four family apartment buildings, they were all successful projects, and this is where I am now. My goal is to develop a large multi-unit complex commercial or residential and I believe this fellowship will provide me with the tools necessary to shift my real estate career into high gear. I believe this program will be successful for the following reasons:
First, having access to a mentor, especially in the field of real estate is something so rare, that it’s almost inconceivable.
Secondly, I have come to understand that real estate is about much more than bricks and sticks, it’s about relationships, contacts with others in the business as well as those who aspire to be in the real estate business and all play a part in a successful career.
Thirdly, competing with others for financing resources is basically what can be expected in the real world because those same financing resources will be deciding whether your project or someone else’s project more promising.
Finally, I am more than honored to be participating within this career building framework, and I agree, there will be no losers in this competition, everyone involved will be a winner.
The University of Baltimore Real Estate Fellows and Venture Challenge (REFVC) is sponsored by M&T Bank, Baltimore Community Lending, Seawall Development and the UBalt Real Estate and Economic Development Advisory Board.
