The Foundation Welcomes Charlie Ponde to our Board of Governors

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In October of this year the Foundation welcomed its newest member to the board, Charlie Ponde. Charlie comes to us from the Alberta Real Estate Association and will stay on as a Governor for 3 years. 

Charlie Ponde was born in India and completed his university education in the city of Mumbai.
Charlie immigrated to Canada 43 years ago. After working in the dental field, Charlie entered the
real estate profession in 1992, to fulfill a passion for buying and selling real estate and for
working with people. Charlie has been an active and full-time member of the REALTORS®
Association of Edmonton ever since. Charlie was first elected as a Director in 2003 and again in
2006.

Charlie was elected and served as the President of The Realtors® Association Of Edmonton in
2009 and now is a Life Member of the association. He served on numerous committees relating
to real estate including AREX Claims Committee, the Edmonton Realtors’ Charitable Foundation
(Governor and President), the Arbitration and Professional Standards Committee, the
Technology Committee and the Government and Political Action Committee.

An active member of the community, Charlie was involved with the: Affordable Housing
Committee, Sign of Hope Campaign – Catholic Social Services, The Christmas Bureau, Realty
Watch and the Neighborhood Watch Programs, St. Albert Lottery Board, St. Albert’s City Plan
2000 Advisory Committee (Municipal Development Plan) and the Edmonton Immigrant Services
Association.

Charlie is married to his wife Brenda for 30 years, has two married daughters and is very proud
of his grandchildren. Charlie loves travelling, golf, fitness, Yoga, and spending quality time with
his family and friends.

Did you miss the AREF event with Todd Hirsch? Opportunity to view the presentation.

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The Alberta Real Estate Foundation featured Todd Hirsch, Senior Economist at ATB Financial and co-author of The Boiling Frog Dilemma, as part of their Thought Leader Series. Over two hundred Real Estate professionals and representatives attended this event in Calgary and Edmonton. So far, the feedback from attendees has been excellent – mostly due to the unique nature of information presented.

At the crux of his presentation Hirsch argues that Canada’s economy has done reasonably well, yet things are not all they seem. Like a frog in a pot of warm water, Canadians have not yet realized the changes an increasingly global economy can bring. That takes creative thinking. Hirsch says, “In Real Estate, it’s all about asking yourself, “How can I become more creative in what I’m doing, how can I offer more innovative services to my clients?” He encouraged REALTORS® to break free of old frameworks and present themselves in a different way from what others are doing through invention and reinvention.

Here’s what attendees had to say about the presentation:
 

 “Always good to get economic news from a practicing economist. Good speaker
and very knowledgeable on the local, provincial, Canadian and global markets.
Easy to listen to as well. Good job!”   
“Todd was very convincing in outlining the inter connectivity between Canada and
the world and how vulnerable we are in spite of all our resources: I liked his idea
that we have to move beyond “value added” , instead create and innovate and
sell that to the world.”  
 “Appreciated the overall global outlook in relationship to Alberta’s economy.
Great presentation! Thanks!”  

If you want to watch this presentation for yourself, view our Tedx-style talk below. As always, we would appreciate your feedback. Did you like the presentation? Was is helpful to you as a REALTOR®? Please leave your comments.