Developer Academy

Check our Eventbrite page to learn about our upcoming ongoing education sessions!

What is the DA?

Spark, in partnership with Grow America, and with advice and support from a top-notch advisory team, has launched the Spark Developer Academy, an intensive training and networking opportunity for emerging real estate developers who identify as BIPOC, women and gender expansive individuals.

Participant Goals

The course is designed to assist emerging real estate developers with their professional development goals.

Provide access to training in the fundamentals of real estate development
Create networking opportunities to develop formal and informal business relationships with each other
Develop a supportive ecosystem that includes lenders, grant makers, city staff and mentors
Create opportunities to access financing for their projects

Our ideal participants

When selecting Developer Academy participants, we will focus on experience, track record and readiness. We are looking for individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset who already have a basic understanding of real estate development. An ideal candidate would have already gained some initial experience functioning as a real estate developer – even if their attempt at real estate development ultimately didn’t succeed.

Are you . . . ?

Motivated to learn, creative, and willing to take risks?
Currently working in construction, urban planning, mortgage lending, real estate sales, asset management or related fields?
Already engaged in a small-scale development projects such as purchasing, renovating and reselling a house, and looking for more?

See our 2020 and 2021 Developer Academy Graduates