Sara W. Stephens, MAI of Little Rock was elected Appraisal Institute vice president by the organization’s Board of Directors. The Appraisal Institute is the nation’s largest association of real estate appraisers with more than 26,000 members and 91 chapters. Stephens’ term begins Jan. 1, 2010. After serving as vice president for one year, she will become president-elect in 2011, president in 2012 and immediate past president in 2013. “Being elected to this position is a very humbling experience,” Stephens said. “The Appraisal Institute faces a wide variety of challenges and opportunities, and I look forward to helping our organization rise to each of them.”
A member of the Appraisal Institute for more than 20 years, Stephens has been active at the Appraisal Institute’s chapter, regional and national levels. She served two terms as president of the Arkansas Chapter, is the chapter’s current Education Committee chair and has served as both chair and member of the Nominating Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. She attended the Leadership Development Advisory Council three years and was chosen to return a fourth year as a discussion leader. Her topic focused on the designation requirements of the Appraisal Institute.
Stephens is a member of the Board of Directors of the Appraisal Institute, currently serving as chair of Region IX (Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina) and chair of the National Audit Committee. She is also a member of the Admissions Designation Qualifications Committee, where she served as chair of the 2008 project team that formulated and implemented an alternative demonstration appraisal report format. As a member of ADQC, she serves as a member of a committee working on a review appraiser designation. Her committee service at the national level began as an Associate Member, where she was a representative to the Associate Guidance Committee.
“Our members are the Appraisal Institute’s greatest asset,” Stephens said, adding that she will make that a prominent theme during her four years as an officer. “I would like to continue helping our members achieve the Appraisal Institute’s MAI and SRA designations.”
Stephens graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in mathematics and English. She has a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she also completed some post-graduate work. She taught calculus, advanced trigonometry and algebra in the Little Rock Public School District and at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
She is the owner and principal of Richard A. Stephens and Associates, the oldest appraisal firm in Little Rock. Along with her business partner and husband, Richard A. Stephens, MAI, SRA, she maintains a practice offering a broad scope of services, specializing in eminent domain, litigation support and real estate tax appeal.
Stephens is one of eight members of the American Society of Real Estate Counselors in Arkansas, and the only woman invited to membership in Arkansas.
For more information, visit www.appraisalinstitute.org.
