The questions we get most before people apply — who's eligible, what it costs, how much time it takes, how we pick mentors, and what alumni access actually means.
EDGE is open to active AREAA members. AREAA is an AAPI-focused trade organization, but membership and EDGE are open to allies who share the mission of advancing AAPI representation in real estate. Identity isn't the gate — AREAA membership and mission alignment are.
Not an AREAA member yet? Start by joining your local chapter — areaa.org has the directory.
EDGE runs a year, but how much time you spend depends on the role:
All three numbers are right — they're for different roles. The whole program runs a 12-month year, NC to NC.
No. The mentee application is open to every AREAA member. We do weight toward people who've already shown leadership signals — chapter board service, past AREAA program involvement, a clear growth trajectory — but the door itself is open. Active AREAA membership is the baseline.
No. Mentees, mentors, and committee members all pay nothing. We run on an anchor-sponsor model that funds the end-of-year mentor dinner at National Convention and the recognition pins. AREAA membership has its own dues — that's a separate thing through AREAA national.
Plan on 2 to 4 hours a month with your mentor (mix of 1:1 and group, depends on how they like to run it), plus the EDGEucation workshops (3 to 5 throughout the year, most are 2 to 4 hours each), plus real time on your capstone in Q3. It's a real commitment. We don't want anyone in here casually.
We default to 10 mentor seats — we'll add a seat or two in years where mentee demand, the qualified pipeline, and mentor availability all line up. Current mentors get first dibs on coming back next year. We fill open seats by going out and finding people at National Convention each October, and occasionally a sponsor becomes a mentor over time. There's no open application — it's relationship-driven.
Yes. National EDGE is open to every AREAA member, regardless of chapter. Local EDGE is the chapter-level version — useful if you want to bring the model home to your chapter — but it's not a prerequisite.
Early April, you find out who your mentor is at the pairing reveal. Monthly meetings start that month. Workshops kick off in May. We do a mid-year all-hands in June. Capstone presentations in late September. Graduation at National Convention in October. Then you're alumni — for life.
As long as you want. Once you've earned alumni status — as a mentor, mentee, or committee member — you're in. Workshop access, alumni events, and intros carry forward year after year.
EDGEucation is the workshop series — the educational arm of EDGE, open to anyone who's been through the program. EDGE itself is the on-ramp: the year-long group experience. EDGEucation is the library of workshops, classes, and learning sessions that alumni keep coming back to for life. Three ways to earn alumni status: mentee, mentor, or committee.
National EDGE is the small national group — ten mentor seats, interview-vetted at every level, focused on retention and turning people into leaders. Local EDGE runs at the chapter level — focused on recruitment and growth, friendlier on-ramp, and over time it feeds standouts up into National EDGE. They're two tiers of one pipeline.
The mentor group skews toward past or current AREAA national leadership and senior chapter leaders — that's how those ten seats hold their value. If you're building toward that level, start with committee. Serve a year as a Relationship Counselor or interviewer, and your case for a mentor seat gets stronger over time.
The chair and VC answer questions year-round — whether applications are open or not.