Early in her career, Amy Hall discovered a passion for helping others develop professionally. She began in real estate on East Coast master-planned communities with homebuilder Del Webb; returned to the Midwest, transitioning to a specialty leasing role with GGP; later joined GK Development, now GK Real Estate, to head its local leasing efforts; and in 2016 transitioned to executive management in the third-party services-provider sector of commercial real estate.

While she was well-suited for the transaction business in enclosed malls and other retail formats, Hall received the most satisfaction from cultivating teams and helping people maximize their potential. Over the past 20-plus years, she has educated, mentored, coached and trained hundreds of industry leasing and leadership professionals within her organizations and ICSC.

Since becoming COO of brokerage and property management firm Caton Commercial in Chicago four years ago, Hall has helped brokers, support staff and others reach their personal and professional goals. That typically means finding out what motivates people and providing the support they need. “I have really evolved in my career and have been very intentional about seeking opportunities to grow more,” Hall said. “A lot of people talk about self-awareness and professional development, and many times they have self-awareness but they lack the self-improvement and self-regulation to become the person that they aspire to be.”

Given her eagerness to see people succeed, Hall was an ideal fit to help develop the pre-internship program for the Launch Academy. ICSC and the ICSC Foundation initiated the paid summer internship program in late 2020 under the Foundation’s Talent Incubator Project.

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What’s more, her strong desire to create an industry that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion accentuated the match. The Launch Academy is designed to recruit and prepare college students who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color for careers in commercial real estate. Currently, racially diverse professionals account for less than 2% of that industry. “Commercial real estate historically has been dominated by white males,” pointed out Hall, who is entering her third year as a Launch Academy volunteer. “To be able to purposefully reach out to audiences that are Black, brown, Indigenous and women or people in any minority category is really what appealed to me about the Launch Academy.”

Launch Academy Nuts and Bolts

The Launch Academy exposes undergraduate students to everyday roles associated with commercial real estate, including development, tenant representation, agency leasing, property management, site selection, finance and third-party brokerage. While some companies provide internships that focus on single disciplines, others rotate the students through a variety of jobs. Interns also explore a variety of marketplaces, such as shopping centers, online sales and mixed-use projects.

Twenty-nine interns from 22 universities participated in the first Launch Academy in 2021, and 21 interns from 20 schools took part the following year. The program aims to match 35 students with companies in 2023 and to introduce an early-application process and interview preparation, according to ICSC vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Jazmen Johnson. ICSC typically recruits the interns from its pool of 5,000 student members, from historically Black colleges and universities and from student-centered career placement networks. Though they come from a variety of academic disciplines, all candidates have expressed interest in real estate careers and an ambition to learn about the industry, Hall said.

More than 34 sponsor companies participated in the first two years, including SRS Real Estate Partners, Phillips Edison & Co., Colliers, JLL, Kimco Realty and Regency Centers. The program and companies provide interns with professional development and networking opportunities, resume support, continuing education, industry mentors and coaching. In some cases, mentoring and coaching proves to be the most influential and memorable part of the program. A philosophy student from Morehouse College described a trip to New York City in which he and other Macerich interns from around the country toured the company’s properties, but he also noted that his asset manager mentor took a genuine interest in him during weekly chats.

After the internship, the asset manager wrote a letter of recommendation for the student and kept in contact. That’s hardly surprising to Hall. “We have very committed sponsor companies that have not only provided students a repeat experience but that have also gone on to hire a number of interns,” she said.

Case Study Curriculum

Along with their everyday assignments at their respective companies, interns throughout the summer are presented a case study so they can dissect the entire development process, from site selection to opening to daily operations. Hall; Johnson; Open Realty Advisors national strategy advisor for retail Carren Coston, who then worked for Shake Shack; and other ICSC Foundation Launch Academy committee members spearheaded the development of the curriculum.

Over a few weeks before their internships, students learn about a case study and then meet to discuss. For each of the first two years, the case study was a Shake Shack deal in Minnesota developed by PGIM, the asset management business of Prudential. Hall moderates the interactive sessions, which include key players who explain what their roles and responsibilities were, as well as how they achieved their current positions, what they studied in school and other professional experiences. “We really seek to address all the things that students are wondering about, such as how they can apply what they’re learning in school to the project and more broadly, how it might apply to a job or career within the Marketplaces Industry,” Hall said.

The case study education culminates with a session in which the project’s principals provide interns with one more opportunity to ask questions, she added. All told, the curriculum not only provides students with insight into the more visible roles of developers, brokers and leasing agents but also highlights work done by participants like attorneys, marketing teams, asset managers and officials in economic development, planning, zoning and codes. “We get as broad a representation as possible so that students can visualize the wide spectrum of career paths available in real estate,” Hall explained.

Preparing for 2023

Over the summer, ICSC put out the call for would-be 2023 interns to begin the five-phase application process. Recipients also must successfully complete courses on creating resumes, on interviewing and on the Marketplaces Industry. Hall has preparation to do, as well: She and others are working on a new case study to present in 2023.

To Hall, a longtime ICSC member who has participated in numerous panels and education programs, the Launch Academy represents one of the most worthwhile initiatives produced by ICSC and its Foundation. As long as the Launch Academy will have her and as long as she can make positive contributions, she said, she will remain involved and doing her part to expand the participation of women and Black, Indigenous and people of color community members throughout the Marketplaces Industry.

“DEI is not about performative actions or checking boxes,” Hall said. “It’s truly about creating an inclusive environment where not only are there people that look different than us at every level and in every aspect of the business, but that they are also given the same opportunities to grow professionally. It’s not about equality, it’s about equity.”