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The National Association of Realtors on Monday named Nykia Wright its full-time chief executive officer, more than nine months after she took over in an interim capacity.
Wright is now the 117-year-old organization’s 13th CEO and the first woman to serve in the role.
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Wright was first chosen to lead the 1.5 million-member trade association two days after a jury issued a verdict against NAR and other major real estate players in the landmark Sitzer | Burnett decision that sent the industry into disarray.
Wright was head of the organization while it brokered a major settlement agreement with homeseller plaintiffs, as NAR agreed to pay $418 million and enact sweeping changes that took effect over the weekend.
NAR hadn’t publicly put an end date on Wright’s interim tenure, saying only that she would serve in the role while the organization conducted a nationwide search for a permanent replacement. NAR President Kevin Sears said in April that he asked Wright to extend her contract and stay on as interim CEO through the end of the year.
On Monday, NAR made it official that Wright would remain in the role.
“I am thrilled Nykia is staying on board to lead us through this time of transformation,” Sears said in a statement. “She has been instrumental in leading us up to this point, and her unwavering commitment to our members makes her the ideal steward for guiding our association through the evolving real estate landscape.”
Wright took the reins from Bob Goldberg, who served from August 2017 until he retired in November 2023. Goldberg’s tenure followed that of Dale Stinton, who had the role from 2005 through 2017.
Wright was thrust into an ongoing tumult that included mounting legal challenges, scrutiny from federal regulators and a simmering staff mutiny.
When she joined NAR in November, the organization had been publicly saying it would appeal the Sitzer | Burnett jury verdict. Financial analysts predicted that NAR’s core membership faced challenges that would lead many of them to abandon the real estate profession. Members began openly asking whether the Realtor brand had been ruined for good, and a competing association began to take shape.
Wright said in a recent interview that her extensive business experience prepared her to act as a steady hand through major disruption.
She led the Chicago Sun-Times when it became one of the few major newsrooms to transition into a nonprofit entity.
In her interim role, NAR said Wright has been guiding the implementation of a group of members that was tasked with improving the culture within the organization.
In an interview last week, Wright called on disengaged members to come back and share their voices with the organization.
“There’s a saying, ‘listen to the whispers so you don’t have to hear the screams,’” Wright said. “So the whispers of people wanting to leave is where we put our head on a swivel, get out there and start figuring out how we can bring those people back into the fold.
“When people are leaning out right now, it concerns me a little bit because their voice is not part of a future solution,” Wright said. “Being in business for yourself but not by yourself, when you leave the association, I consider [leaning out] going into the ‘by yourself’ type of box. And I think that we are truly stronger together, and we just have to continue to prove that.”
