Doreen Spagnuolo, CEO of the Long Island Board of REALTORS® (LIBOR), earned a spot among the Influencers on RISMedia’s 2025 Real Estate Newsmakers list.
After 15 years as legal counsel for LIBOR, she became CEO in 2023—with shockwaves through the industry right around the corner—and made education of professionals and consumers a cornerstone of her leadership.
“When I went to law school, they said, we’re going to teach you how to think like a lawyer. And I’m like, how could somebody make you think? What does that even mean? How could somebody change the way you think? But looking back, I think they were talking more about strategy and analyzing things, and that’s what I put into this role as the CEO,” Spagnuolo tells RISMedia.
During 2024, she hosted webinars, walked LIBOR members through new NAR rules, taught educational sessions for first-time homebuyers with local legislators and led the “Home for All of Us” Fair Housing campaign. In honor of National Fair Housing Month, RISMedia spoke with Spagnuolo about how she’s championed her influence for this cause.
Devin Meenan: How do you feel about being named an RISMedia Newsmaker?
Doreen Spagnuolo: It’s very exciting and I’m honored to even be considered something like that in this industry. I feel very strongly that in this industry, we all need to work together to move forward. So to be considered with that honor and that accolade, it’s just very important to me.
DM: More specifically, can you talk about your accomplishments that got you that accolade, why you think that you fall into the Influencer category?
DS: As you know, 2024 had a lot of twists and turns and a lot of big events and changes in it. Part of my job that I enjoy very much is strategizing and trying to come up with solutions, how best to protect our members and how best to make our members successful. I also feel we have an obligation as a large company to also provide information to the consumers.
We are the fourth-largest REALTOR® organization nationally and the largest in the state. It fluctuates a little bit, but we do have approximately 30,000 members. Our team members and us behind the scenes, we work very hard. We do the research, we keep current on the trends—what is going on in the industry, what do our members need to know and what do consumers need to know? We’re always on top of things. I even reached out when the NAR settlement came down and they were talking about the forms.
We did these little town halls, so members could come to different locations, as we represent Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. They could come to the meetings and ask questions. We had a slide presentation explaining to them the changes that the NAR settlement meant. We had to make the forms more consumer-friendly. Every buyer’s agent who brings a client into our home now needs to have a buyer representation agreement signed. So we updated all of our forms, and I was really proud.
DM: One of the things you did last year was start educational sessions for first time homebuyers. Can you talk about how those sessions relate to fair housing?
DS: Oh, absolutely. That’s one of the things I’m really proud of too, because it’s important to us that we partner with the fair housing associations on Long Island: Long Island Housing Partnership and Long Island Housing Services. There’s a number of different organizations that support Fair Housing and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), and we reach out to all of them.
By partnering, especially with Long Island Housing Partnership, they provide us with a wealth of information, especially about down payment assistance programs. I had asked if we could partner and do a first time homebuyer seminar together with them, and we did. Sitting and listening to all of the down payment assistant programs that are available, I was surprised. I didn’t even realize there was so much out there, it was incredible!
I said, again, here’s knowledge and information that we have. We can’t just sit on it. We have to do whatever we can to get that information out to the consumers. I was also surprised at the different levels of income that you could have and still be eligible for first-time homeowner assistance. It’s information that I don’t think the general public knows they have.
Homeownership is not only important for generational wealth, homeownership is important for a sense of community to bring people together, a feeling of accomplishment that in and of itself is something people aspire to. So if we could play any part or role in helping even one person achieve that, I think we would be extremely successful.
DM: Could you give your thoughts on what LIBOR is currently doing with DEI? Are you still committed to it?
DS: DEI is still as important as ever. Part of our strategic plan for 2025-2027 is inclusiveness and a feeling of belonging. That’s all part and parcel of it. We have a sheet for diversity, inclusion and belonging. If you’re looking to have a function, keep in mind these questions: Is it a minority-owned venue? Is it an all woman-owned venue? Is it more of an awareness? Keep this awareness going. We are very conscious about our leadership having the same representation as our members. It’s something that we understand the importance of. We are working towards achieving it, and it’s in everything. DEI is part of everything we do, truthfully.
DM: One of the big things you did was the Home for Us all campaign for fair housing last year. Can you just kind of walk through your experience leading that campaign?
DS: Home for All of Us is something that we’re very proud of, especially in 2019-2020 when there were a lot of fair housing concerns that were publicized in the industry. It was something we believed that it was important to have a part of our website, in addition to our fair housing page, but something more that we could explain to our members. Consumers can come to our website, as well, and if they feel that they’ve been discriminated against somehow, we provide information for other organizations and resources.
The second year, we focused on disability. Again, we go through exactly what it is, what discrimination looks like under that particular category or protected class, and additional resources. Last year, we focused on race and color. Same concept, same thing. We also spoke a little bit about the history of race, where we came from and where we are today. This year we’re going to focus on the LGBTQ+ community.
DM: What would you say to REALTORS® about why they should be fair housing advocates, and how do you encourage that mindset among LIBOR members?
DS: I think there’s just one kind of saying that sums it up: It’s not just the law, it’s the right thing to do. Everyone has the American Dream of homeownership. Everybody should have the right to decide where they want to live, and there shouldn’t be any other barriers involved in that.
RISMedia’s 2025 Real Estate Newsmakers showcase is sponsored by:
Gold Sponsor
Real Estate Webmasters
Bronze Sponsors
American Home Shield
HouseAmp
Lofty
RPR®
Stay tuned to RISMedia.com for ongoing coverage and close-up interviews with our 2025 Real Estate Newsmakers.