Broker Public Portal Names New Board Officers

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif., March 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Managers of the Broker Public Portal (BPP) today announced four new Board members. The Broker Public Portal, owned and managed by real estate brokerages and MLSs, operates a joint venture with Homesnap, the BPP's public-facing brand and real estate’s top-rated mobile app.

Through Homesnap, the BPP connects consumer home searchers to over one million real estate professionals in America today through agreements with nearly 250 million MLSs. Fueling tens of millions of consumer engagements with local real estate agents, Homesnap is the only national home search platform providing consumers with the same comprehensive, real-time MLS data used by real estate professionals. Only Homesnap adheres to Fair Display Guidelines among national home search providers, which protects consumers and agents.

The four real estate industry leaders joining the Broker Public Portal Board of Managers include Lacey Merrick Conway, CEO of Latter and Blum; John OB Jacobi, Co-President of Windermere Real Estate; Dana Strandmo, SVP/CAO of HomeServices of America; and Shelley Specchio, CEO of MIBOR REALTOR^® Association. These four new board members fill existing board vacancies.

“BPP continues to attract real estate industry’s most trusted, thoughtful, and enterprising leaders,” said Alon Chaver, Chairman of the Broker Public Portal, a real estate and technology investor who served as Chief Information Officer at Home Services of America. "Today's real estate industry is at an apex of change, and these new leaders will help BPP continue its work in eliminating barriers between consumers and their real estate brokers and agents,” Chaver added.

The nationwide footprint of Homesnap connects nearly 40 million consumers to local real estate agents, making the BPP with Homesnap the number one real estate engagement platform. Homesnap continues to generate millions of free leads to agents.

The Broker Public Portal Board of Managers includes, as it notes in its Charter, a "fair and balanced group of executives who represent the interests of large brokers, medium brokers, small brokers, independent managers, and multiple listing service organizations." The agent count of participating firms establishes the size of brokerages eligible.

2020 New Board members:

• Lacey Merrick Conway, CEO, Latter and Blum
• John OB Jacobi, Co-President, Windermere Real Estate
• Dana Strandmo, SVP/CAO, HomeServices of America
• Shelley Specchio, CEO of MIBOR REALTOR^® Association

2020 Board of Managers also includes:

• Alon Chaver, Investor and former CIO, HomeServices of America (Chairman)
• Craig McClelland, COO, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers (Secretary)
• Chad Gilbert, President and Owner, RE/MAX Suburban (Treasurer)
• Bill Miller, CEO, MetroList Services, Inc.
• Christina Pappas, Vice President, The Keyes Company
• Craig Cheatham, President and CEO, The Realty Alliance
• Donna Kreps, President, FC Tucker Company, Inc.
• Gurtej Sodhi, Chief Information and Operations Officer, Crye-Leike
• Daniel J. Riley, Esq., EVP, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
• Pat Shea, President and CEO, Lyon Real Estate
• Rebecca Jensen, CEO Midwest Real Estate Data
• Stan Martin, COO, Austin Board of REALTORS^® and ACTRIS
• Tom Hosack, CEO & President, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty

Each officer term is three years, with about one-third of the directors rotating off each year.

About the New Board Members
Lacey Merrick Conway: Lacey is the President of Latter & Blum Inc., the largest independently owned real estate brokerage in the Gulf South with 25 offices located throughout Louisiana, Texas, and Southern Mississippi. She has been active in residential real estate sales and broker management for more than fifteen years and oversees all company operations, strategic planning, and general management. Lacey holds an undergraduate degree from Boston University, an MBA from the University of New Orleans, and is a CCIM. She serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Latter & Blum, Inc. and serves on the board of United Way Southeast Louisiana and Greater New Orleans, Inc.

John OB Jacobi: OB brings a second generation of leadership to Windermere Real Estate which was founded by his father, John Jacobi, in Seattle in 1972. As president, OB has helped facilitate Windermere’s growth into the largest regional real estate company in the Western United States with more than 6,500 agents and 300 offices in 10 states and Mexico. In addition to guiding business strategies for the Windermere network, OB oversees operations for six family-owned Windermere offices. He also serves on the board of the Windermere Foundation, which has provided over $43 million in funding to non-profit organizations that support low-income and homeless children and their families.

Dana Strandmo: Dana is senior vice president and chief administrative officer for HomeServices of America. He has been employed with HomeServices from its beginning in 1998 and served as general counsel before being promoted to his current position in 2015. Previously, Strandmo was corporate counsel for Edina Realty Home Services. In addition to his voluntary service with the National Association of Realtors, the Minnesota Association of Realtors, RESPRO, and the The Realty Alliance in various positions. Strandmo has been an instructor with Minnesota State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education and an adjunct instructor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Shelley Specchio: As CEO of MIBOR REALTOR^® Association and the Broker Listing Cooperative^®, in 2017, Shelley brought her desire to build and foster strong relationships and her dedication to a culture of excellence to complement MIBOR’s strong tradition of community involvement. MIBOR, the professional association representing central Indiana’s REALTORS, was founded in 1912 and today serves the needs of more than 8,500 members. Shelley was the 2015 President of the Council of Multiple Listing Services and began her career in the real estate industry in 1994 with the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS^®. She went on to lead the Northern Nevada Regional MLS as CEO from 2008 to 2017. Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Shelley earned her degree from the University of Nevada.

About Broker Public Portal
Broker Public Portal, LLC is a collaborative effort owned and operated by real estate brokerages and MLSs to deliver a better home search experience defined by simplicity, integrity, and common sense. Homesnap is BPP in action and provides the same comprehensive, real-time data directly from the MLS used by real professionals, the people who sell homes, not ads. Broker Public Portal with Homesnap follows industry-defined Fair Display Guidelines: there are no display ads from other agents or brokers on one's listings, and all inquiries are sent to the listing agent or broker for free. Discover more at www.brokerpublicportal.com.

About Homesnap
With easy-to-use mobile technology fueled by unmatched, real-time data intelligence, Homesnap is changing the way real estate agents connect with consumers and serve their clients. Homesnap combines people, property and data with enterprise-grade software for real estate professionals to run and grow their business at every stage of the real estate transaction. The industry-endorsed Homesnap platform leverages AI, machine learning and big data from over 500 data sources and over 240 MLSs to provide more than one million U.S. agents with access to powerful mobile software that automates workflow and optimizes the search and sell experience for their clients. With the Homesnap mobile app, the highest rated consumer home search application; Homesnap Pro, the industry-standard mobile business platform for agents; and the Homesnap national home search portal, a joint venture with the industry-backed Broker Public Portal, the integrated Homesnap platform is transforming the real estate business. More information can be found at www.homesnap.com.

Note: The term REALTOR^® is a federally registered collective membership mark, which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics

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