Taneshia Nash Laird Convenes Inaugural REAP on the Vineyard at Her Mentor's Oak Bluffs Home
Taneshia Nash Laird Convenes Inaugural REAP on the Vineyard at Her Mentor's Oak Bluffs Home
OAK BLUFFS, MA — August 5, 2026 — Taneshia Nash Laird, Executive Director of Project REAP and the first alumna to lead the nation's oldest and largest commercial real estate career accelerator, convened the inaugural REAP on the Vineyard awards celebration on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. The four-hour gathering brought more than 150 REAP alumni, industry leaders, investors, developers, and public officials to Martha's Vineyard, and was presented in partnership with Cushman & Wakefield.
Nash Laird chose the setting with intention. "Oak Bluffs has been a place where Black families have built wealth and community for more than a century," she said, framing the convening as a statement about who belongs in commercial real estate.
The event was held at the Oak Bluffs home of the late Adrienne Hayling and Dr. Leslie Hayling, Sr., now maintained by their son, Dr. Leslie A. Hayling, Jr., D.D.S. As commercial real estate owners in Trenton, New Jersey, the Haylings lived out exactly what REAP stands for. Mrs. Hayling served on Nash Laird's board at the Trenton Downtown Association — Nash Laird's first executive director role — and mentored her at a formative moment in her career. Hosting the inaugural gathering in the Hayling home tied REAP's convening to a family legacy that helped shape Nash Laird's own path into the industry.
The room drew a cross-section of the commercial real estate industry rarely assembled outside a national conference — brokerage firms including Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, and JLL; capital markets leaders from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Walker & Dunlop; developers including Wharton Equity Partners and Lemor Development Group; and corporate real estate leaders from Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta. More than a quarter of those present were REAP Academy alumni.
Three honors were conferred during the program: REAP alumna London Kemp Boykin, Director of Global Realty Sustainable Development and North America Real Estate at Amazon, received the Excellence in Leadership Award; Troy Vincent, Sr., Executive Vice President of Football Operations at the NFL, was named Bridge Builder; and Amazon was recognized as Corporate Partner of the Year.
REAP on the Vineyard reflected Nash Laird's leadership approach — building rooms that put excellence, access, and legacy in direct conversation, and extending her work across capital, culture, and community.
