By Darcey Leach

Grace Hill, the innovator of talent and customer management solutions for commercial and multifamily real estate, today announced a partnership with iEmpathize, a non-profit whose mission is to evoke empathy and empower people to eradicate human exploitation. The organizations will work together to create a training program that educates and equips people in the multifamily housing industry with tools to safely and effectively recognize and respond to potential human trafficking situations.

There are approximately 25 million people worldwide who are trafficked at any given time, according to the U.S. Department of State, many of whom are women and children. In an effort to help address this important issue, Grace Hill and iEmpathize will design a comprehensive educational program that will include training, informational and instructional pages, quizzes, videos and other tools to help multifamily teams recognize potential human trafficking activities and take appropriate action.  

“Human trafficking is an important social crisis that needs to be addressed,” said Kendall Pretzer, Grace Hill CEO. “We will work alongside iEmpathize to provide our industry with the tools necessary to not only recognize and fully understand the issue but to also be part of the solution.”

Under their partnership, iEmpathize will develop trafficking videos and training content geared toward the multifamily industry, which will then be distributed by Grace Hill to their extensive portfolio of more than 1,700 clients. This content will address what trafficking is, who the victims and perpetrators are, the tactics used by traffickers and how to report and respond. Grace Hill will provide iEmpathize with background, consultation and insight into the multifamily and commercial real estate industries. 

“We are proud to be partnering with Grace Hill to empower and equip the commercial and multifamily real estate community with the tools to recognize and respond to exploitation and human trafficking,” said Mariana Loboguerrero, Co-Director of Operations at iEmpathize. “Together we are making a powerful difference.”