b'Sharing the Promise of Home OwnershipIt starts with educationBY ELLEN DONKERCamille and Luis Estrella have worked as a real estate team for the past five years. Photo credit: Sam ReneeI ts not easy to keep up with LuisThe couple brand their business the Estrella Con- reciting poetry as a way to productively channel Estrella. Talk to him about his ca- his thoughts. Luis went on to attend DePauw reer in real estate and hell rattle offUniversity in Greencastle, Indiana, thanks to a a half dozen projects hes involvedfull tuition scholarship from Posse, an organiza-with,whetheritscryptocurrencytion that helps top colleges recruit outstanding investing, lending seminars, a chil- young leaders from diverse backgrounds.drensbook,orfinancialliteracy.Camillewasalsoraisedbyasinglemom, Hisideasbouncearoundlikeapinball,a Zambian emigrant, and grew up in Maple-hitting the bumpers of his mind and reel- wood. Her mother chose the town so she could ing off to another related thought, with the aim ofsulting Group, and although they serve any type ofbe close to Seton Hall, where she was pursuing her deepening his understanding of a topic so he canbuyer and seller regardless of income level, they havemasters degree; she went on to teach business ac-represent it to an audience. Luis is a big picture guy,a heart for those who never imagined they couldcounting at Columbia High School. Through grit a communicator and a passionate individual. own a home. Their orientation comes from personaland determination, Camilles mom bought her own Camille, Luis wife and real estate partner, is theexperience. home, but not without first being told by a realtor measured one. She has known Luis for half her life,Luis, raised by a single mom, hails from Brook- that she couldnt afford to live here. When it was having met him in 2006 via a high school internshiplyn. With few financial resources, the family bouncedtime to enter high school, Camille was awarded a at UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) in New Yorkaround a lot, living in one-room rentals and even ex- scholarshipbythe WadleighScholarsProgramto City.Asaformerteacher,shemethodicallytakesperiencing homelessness for a stretch when Luis wasattend Stoneleigh Burnham School in Greenfield, Luis ideas and turns them into curricula that theyin his early teens. He credits his education at GeorgeMassachusetts. She went on to Tufts University in use to educate their buyers and sellers about the realWestinghouseHighSchool,avo-techschool,forBoston, and, eventually, grad school. estate process.teaching him to use his voice for good, writing andAftergraduatingcollege,thecouplecontinued 18/ matters magazine / hearth + home 2023'