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The National Association of REALTORS® announced Monday that Nykia Wright has been named as NAR’s permanent chief executive officer, effective immediately. Wright, who has been serving as interim CEO since November 2023, brings a wealth of experience in organizational transformation and strategic leadership to the role, as well as a sense of continuity and stability to an organization that has faced change and uncertainty over the last year.
“I am thrilled Nykia is staying on board to lead us through this time of transformation,” says NAR President Kevin Sears. “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’s appointment comes at a critical juncture for NAR. In the last nine months, Wright successfully guided the association through complex negotiations related to broker commission claims, ensuring a resolution enabling NAR to continue fulfilling its mission to support members. Additionally, Wright has been instrumental in advancing the association’s Culture Transformation Commission, a key initiative designed to foster a more inclusive, welcoming and respectful environment for all members and staff.
“I am honored to have earned the confidence and trust from the Leadership Team to guide this organization at such a critical point,” Wright said. “I am clear-eyed about our past and present, and I am hyper-focused on building trust with NAR’s many stakeholders so that we can be successful in bringing the best of NAR to each and every one of our members.”
Wright comes from a diverse professional background. Early in her career, she was a strategy and business transformation consultant who advised Fortune 500 companies and top-tier universities on operational, financial and performance improvement projects. Later, she joined the Chicago Sun-Times as its chief operating officer and then as CEO, during which time she led the newspaper through a sweeping digital transformation and a merger with WBEZ (Chicago Public Media). The merger created one of the largest nonprofit local newsrooms in the country.
That role is what fully cemented Wright’s reputation as a recognized leader in managing significant industry disruption, driving change and implementing digital transformation. Her experience informs her present and future ambitions for the association, including priorities to:
- Usher NAR through the implementation of practice changes (MLS compliance, REALTOR® education, consumer education)
- Redefine what member experience means by dissecting the REALTOR® journey and articulating needs for the future
- Expand the market’s understanding of consumer choice and showcase those choices (campaigns and education)
- Minimize disenfranchisement across stakeholder groups whereby people feel left out of the buying process or innovation process
- Show REALTORS® beyond being brokers of real estate transactions but also as builders of communities
- Advocate for affordability by continuing to shine a light on inventory challenges, the effects of inflation and the changing insurance landscape
Ultimately, as Wright shared on a recent episode of the “Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered” podcast with James Dwiggins and Keith Robinson, her ambition is to solidify NAR as the “preeminent trade association across the world.”
“It's understanding who we are, how we show up for our members, the value that we add to them,” Wright says in the episode.