Canopy Continues Celebrating Leadership During Black History Month. February 21, 2023
Tuesday, March 3, 2015 3:55:21 PM
Canopy Continues Celebrating Leadership during Black History Month
Brenda Armstrong is a veteran Realtor®/Broker, with more than 20 years of residential real estate and property management experience in the Charlotte region. After graduating in 2007 from Canopy Realtor® Association’s Leadership Academy, Armstrong began her volunteer service through Canopy Housing Foundation, as chair of the Fair and Affordable Housing Advisory Council. Her service did not stop there, as she has volunteered and chaired a number of local committees since that time, that eventually earned her a seat on the Canopy Housing Foundation Board of Directors from 2009-2012. In 2013 she served on the Canopy MLS Board of Directors.
She has continued to be involved through her extensive volunteer work with the Realtors® Care Day Core Committee and the Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Alliance (DIA), serving as Chair of the DIA last year. Read more about Brenda Armstrong.
Charisma Smith, serves on the Executive Committee and is president-elect for Canopy Realtor® Association Association/Canopy MLS. Prior leadership appointments include NC REALTORS® Board of Directors and the National Association of Realtors® Board of Directors. Her long-time involvement with Canopy includes the Nominating and Election Committee, Canopy MLS Board of Directors, Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, Professional Standards Committee, the Leadership Academy, and the Fair and Affordable Housing Advisory Group.
Allen Dargins has been a member of Canopy Realtor® Association for more than 20 years. He currently serves as secretary on the Executive Committee for Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS. Prior leadership appointments include NC REALTORS® Region 8 Board of Directors, the MLS Board of Directors and past chair of the MLS Advisory Board among others. He holds the ABR, CRS, WHS, C2EX and e-PRO designations.
History.com aptly concludes that the 1960s was one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in world history. The era was marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, countercultural movements, political assassinations and the emerging "generation gap.”
Canopy100’s history blog showed the decade was truly one of great change, with urban renewal underway in Charlotte and association leadership initially opposing federal fair housing laws, but once the law passed, accepting it. At that time, the Association also took bold steps towards diversity and inclusion when Daniel Hennigan became the first African American member of the Charlotte Board of Realtors® in 1967. Read more about this volatile decade and the association’s growth at Canopy100.com.
T. Anthony Lindsey, a veteran Realtor®/Broker with more than 25 years of residential and commercial real estate experience, has served Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS in a number of capacities throughout the years, most recently on the executive committee in 2016 as interim treasurer of the Association/Canopy MLS. Lindsey has had extensive service and leadership that began in the early 2000s with the Association and the Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (REBIC), laying the groundwork for service at NC REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). From 2003-2014 he served as Federal Political Coordinator (FPC) for the 12th Congressional District and has led the Congressional Black Caucus (FPCs). In 2020, he received the Realtor® of the Year Award, the highest honor given by Canopy Realtor® Association.
Notably, in 2008, Lindsey represented the industry on the national level in testimony before a Congressional subcommittee on proposed changes by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which governs real estate closings. Read more about Lindsey on page 63 of "Canopy Through the Decades".
In 2017 Roger Parham made local headlines when he became the first African American president of Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS.Dedicated to service, Parham chaired and served on a number of local, state and national association and MLS committees. He was instrumental in the success of Canopy’s diversity and inclusion efforts, serving as the founding chair of Canopy Realtor® Association’s Diversity Council in 2007.
Notably, under his leadership as president in 2017, the Association closed on the first phase of Canopy’s new headquarters with Pappas Properties and Canopy MLS commenced a second, successful wholesale vendor relationship with the MLS in Catawba Valley (Hickory and Lenoir areas). Read more about Roger's contributions on page 84 of "Canopy Through the Decades".
