About our Instructors

Meet the Director of the Leasing Training Academy 

Candice Manning, Director of Workforce Development & Training for the MMHA 

Hello. My name is Candice Manning and I am passionate about people. In fact, I still operate under the rare belief that every organization’s success is not dependent on technology, processes, or product; the power lies within the people. It is the people of any organization that make said organization exceptional. Investing in “people” and developing “teams” offers a ROI that is immeasurable.

My passion for people stems from my fascination with communication. I have always been naturally inclined to appreciate communication in any form---verbal, written, interpersonal, organizational, etc. With this being the case, I decided to study communication in depth and earned my Bachelor of Science Degree in Speech Communication. While initially I wanted to work in broadcasting, life had other plans for me and I landed in sales which lead to several management roles within different organizations.

I have now worked in sales for nearly 20 years and have 15+ years’ management and multifamily experience. Being a “manager”, I observed how different companies engaged and trained their teams. I paid attention to different organizational structures i.e., pyramid, flat, etc. and how communication models differed. Ultimately, I found myself inspired when working for companies that placed a focus on training, development and “team”.

After extensive training paired with life/work experience, I find myself in a position where I am now able to train, develop and inspire others. Training for me offers a sense a personal fulfillment as it allows me the opportunity to assist with the development of others and offer learning experiences that are exceptional, practical, and most importantly applicable.

The Leasing Training academy is an innovative, thorough program that I designed from scratch to do exactly what I love to do---train and develop individuals to prepare for a career in Property Management. Spending many years working onsite at apartment communities has allowed me to effectively evaluate what skills are needed to succeed in property management; leasing launches careers. My goal is now to build those skills in others, serving both the industry that I love and helping the “people” for which I am so passionate about.

Meet the LTA PG Instructor 

Stacy Whyte, LTA Trainer 

Greetings! My name is Stacy Peoples Whyte, and I am a property management enthusiast with over 30 years’ experience in the multifamily industry. My simple ambition in life is to bring something positive to every interaction while simultaneously leaving the interaction with something of value. The multifamily industry has truly afforded me the opportunity to realize this ambition. Creating and subsequently working with groups of like-

minded individuals with the same level of passion and focus on a common goal has been one of the biggest joys in my career. It is my belief that the key to success in the multifamily industry is PEOPLE. Similarly, the most important asset of any apartment community is its PEOPLE.

Surprisingly, my introduction to property management was not intentional but rather a truly fortunate coincidence that changed the trajectory of my life. While completing my degree in Business Administration with a concentration in health administration, my employment search led me to the Mall at Prince Georges (formerly known as PG Plaza) as well as a large apartment community nearby. Having previous retail and membership sales experience I accepted a marketing consultant position with Grady Management at a 783-unit garden apartment community in Hyattsville. The experience of working at a large community filled with diverse renters and a well-managed site team positively affected my decision to pursue a career in property management. Thereafter, I held the roles of Assistant Manager and Community Manager before leaving Grady Management to further pursue other opportunities in the multifamily industry.

For the next decade, I worked for other local and national property management organizations. Spending time in various roles including Community Manager and Regional Sales Manager, provided valuable insight into the operational and managerial differences which exist in multifamily. While working as a Regional Sales Manager I was able to combine my understanding of operations and passion for sales and marketing. Managing a portfolio of between 15 and 20 communities, I conducted sales training, created successful marketing strategies to increase occupancies and managed advertising budgets as well.

My career came full circle in 2006 when I returned to Grady Management as a Regional Property Manager and later transitioned to the role of Director of Marketing in 2008. In addition to providing sales training for newly hired marketing consultants, evaluating, and developing marketing strategies for existing assets, I led the marketing efforts for many successful lease-ups and acquisitions. In 2012 I became a Certified RealPage trainer during Grady’s software conversion from Jenark to RealPage. Ensuring the marketing team members had a firm grasp of the new software and that it paired with the existing sales process was crucial. As

new and innovative products were introduced, I was instrumental in the implementation and rollout of these products and programs, serving as an intermediary between the organization and product vendor. Under my direction, GMI’s corporate and community social media presence was established and eventually included various social media accounts for over fifty communities. In addition, I managed the organization’s resident feedback program and was proud that Grady Management earned resident satisfaction awards for the six years during my tenure.

Profitability is important to owners; however, the most successful property management organizations are the ones who put their people first. After thirty years in the industry, I want to ensure those individuals looking to join our industry acquire the skills needed to achieve sustainable success for themselves and their communities. I look forward to the opportunity to educate and guide individuals looking to join the multifamily industry.

I hold both a Bachelors and Master of Business Administration from Howard University in Washington, DC.