Wisconsin REALTORS® Association: Message from the Chair

Message from the Chair

 Chris DeVincentis, 2025 WRA Chair  |    January 06, 2025
DeVincentis

To all of you, the members of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association: My wish for you and your families is a very happy and very prosperous 2025!

As I step into the role of the 2025 Chairman of such a focused and effective organization as the WRA, I’m filled with gratitude for the opportunity to serve such a dedicated group of fellow professionals at a time when our industry is filled with controversy and opportunity. Working for you, my fellow REALTORS® of Wisconsin, while working closely with the WRA board of directors, our executive committee and the WRA staff, is a highly anticipated honor.

As I reflect on the past year under the very competent leadership of our Madam Chair and dear friend Mary Jo Bowe and WRA President & CEO Tom Larson, we faced significant changes and challenges, particularly in light of the recent National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement. 

With that being said, I want to commend each of you, our members, for your resilience and commitment during this transition. The WRA pre-positioned our industry in Wisconsin far ahead of most every state regarding compliance with the required changes. Your WRA then pivoted to prioritize online and in-person training about the changes as a 2024 priority while still accomplishing many of the 2024 strategic goals that had previously been established.

This pivotal moment has reshaped our landscape and our mindset by pushing us to again adapt and innovate. As much as it may seem like the settlement is the end of a chapter in our industry, we in the WRA leadership view it as the first chapter of a book that will continue to be written in the years to come. Change in our industry and challenges to our industry demand that we explore ideas and innovation in ways we hadn’t previously considered. The process to accommodate the necessary time to accomplish this has now been made a priority in our 2025 board of directors meetings. If that sounds exciting and you feel like you can make a contribution to this process for the future of our industry, then you should make it a priority to step up into leadership in the future and serve your fellow REALTORS®.

Other top priorities on our 2025 agenda include: 

  • Continuing to advocate for affordable housing at the state and local level.
  • Fighting for property tax relief through the legislative process.
  • Identifying and supporting local advocacy opportunities across the state.
  • Finding areas of our practice that we can work with the state to codify so we’re protected from industry-impactful lawsuits that we feel may not be in the consumer’s best interest.
  • Revisiting agency to identify what agency in Wisconsin may look like in the future
  • Debating controversial topics such as NAR membership benefits and clear cooperation.
  • Finding ways to reduce costs and reallocate resources while expanding our member services, member communication and consumer awareness.

None of this is easy, but all of it is worthy and critical to the future of our industry. Difficult conversations are often the most important and productive, and we’ll be tackling all of this and more in the year to come and beyond.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Chair Mary Jo Bowe who guided us through the historic year of 2024. It was her calm presence, innovative leadership and fearless ideas that made such an impact for all of us at the WRA. Last year was without precedence, and I cannot thank her enough for being so immensely present throughout the year and setting a true example of what a servant leader should aspire to.

The year ahead is upon us with much anticipation, and I’m extremely excited and grateful to work with your 2025 leadership team consisting of Chair-elect Amy Curler, Treasurer Shawna Alt, Executive Vice Presidents Angela Walters and Brian Slinkman, and Outgoing Chair Mary Jo Bowe. We are indeed poised and ready for the opportunities before us, and we look forward to serving you, our REALTOR® members.

Thank you,
Chris DeVincentis
2025 WRA Chair

Copyright 1998 - 2025 Wisconsin REALTORS® Association. All rights reserved.

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