June 24, 2025

ULI Los Angeles REACH Cohort 4 brought together 20 Mentors and 20 Fellows from incredibly diverse professional paths and stages of life. For some, it was an opportunity to explore the full scope of what real estate and other careers in the built environment could offer. For others, it was a time to double down and hone in on key areas necessary to take the next step. Cohort 4 Chair, Maria Landeros, highlights the objectives and intentions of REACH best in saying that “the best part of REACH is the strong sense of community it fosters among minority professionals who often face challenges navigating the industry.”

Mentorship is a key throughline of the program and looks different for everyone. In the best cases, Fellows form deep, productive relationships with their Mentors. Jordan Ferguson, an MBA student pivoting back into real estate on the West Coast at the time, recalls how his Mentor, Khalil Clements, helped bring discipline and structure to their conversations. “He had me not just write down goals, but also subgoals and milestones. Every time we met, he’d ask: ‘How does this play into your long-term vision?’ ” That kind of intentional mentorship had real outcomes. Jordan was promoted less than a year after they began working together. “Khalil reminded me how to ask for what I wanted. I hadn’t been in an office in a true working environment since before the pandemic. He helped me plan out what I wanted to get from this role and how to grow.”

Diandra Dillon, who returned to LA in 2022 after years away and without a built-in professional community, found in REACH a path to both personal confidence and professional clarity. “I used to think networking meant meeting a volume of people,” she reflects. “But my Mentor helped me understand it’s really about quality. You meet one person, they introduce you to someone else, and suddenly you’ve built a meaningful network.” Describing herself as shy, Diandra said REACH gave her the tools to step out more confidently in her role as a broker. “The program is set up in a way that makes you feel like you’re just meeting friends. It doesn’t feel transactional. It empowers its peers to go out there and put yourself out there, especially in an industry where many of us weren’t born into it.”

Peer connection and collaboration are also critical elements of the REACH experience. During Cohort 4, Maria spearheaded the creation of REACH Coffee Connect, a monthly series where participants engage one-on-one outside of formal programming, a series which continues today as a standing element of the REACH program. Fellow LaTonya Whitfield-Horhn shares that “meeting new people with common interests” was the highlight of her experience and especially found “cross-over events with other ULI groups” to be a notable way to expand her network in a more relaxed setting.

Quarterly Meetings serve as pillars of the REACH calendar and program, a ritual that every Cohort 4 Fellow underwent. It allowed cohort members to take ownership of content, format, and speaker curation — developing leadership skills while spotlighting topics that mattered most to them. “It was incredibly rewarding to see an event come together from start to finish,” recalls Diandra.

While the flexibility of REACH is seen as one of its strengths, the program works best when Fellows come in with clarity and resolve. “REACH is not a program where you do your four quarterly sessions and say, ‘Wow, that was amazing,’” Jordan said. “You have to come in knowing what you want to get out of it, whether that’s 1, 2, or 10 things. There’s no one-size-fits-all structure, and that’s a good thing. But you’ve got to drive your own experience.” When self-direction is paired with the intentional support from the REACH community, the results are phenomenal.

Many Cohort 4 Fellows, much like Fellows before them, have remained involved as contributing members of the REACH program, finding ways to lend a hand. REACH isn’t just a year-long program. It’s a launchpad. And for Cohort 4, it became a proving ground for confidence, connection, and long-term commitment to shaping a more inclusive real estate industry.