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Denee Evans, the Council of Multiple Listing Services’ first CEO, will be stepping down at the end of this year.
Evans joined CMLS as its first full-time staff member in December 2014 and has grown the trade group from 163 MLS members representing 977,509 subscribers to 231 MLS members representing more than 1.6 million subscribers. CMLS now has seven employees, including its first-ever COO, Rene Galicia, who started in the role earlier this week.
Denee Evans
“Leading CMLS has been the honor of a lifetime,” Evans said in a statement.
“Together, we’ve built something lasting — an organization that supports, elevates and connects the MLS community like never before. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and confident in what comes next.
“While I’ve decided not to renew my contract at the end of the year, I remain fully committed to supporting a smooth transition and continuing our momentum through 2025.”
Evans told Inman that after leading CMLS for nearly 11 years, she believes it’s time to let someone else spearhead the trade association’s “next evolution.”
“I don’t have any immediate plans for my next role, as I’m still focused on and committed to serving CMLS through the end of the year,” she said in a statement.
“After that, I’m going to take a break to spend time with my family — I have one daughter who will be a senior in college and another who will be a junior in high school — and continue volunteering in my community through animal rescue and advocacy of children in the foster care system.”
CMLS plans to post the CEO position publicly the week of June 2 and aims to announce Evans’ successor by the organization’s annual conference, which will take place Sept. 23-25 in Toronto, Canada.
“CMLS will be looking for someone who deeply understands the MLS and what challenges lie ahead and can help navigate MLSs into the future,” John DiMichele, chair of CMLS and CEO of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board and PropTx, told Inman in a statement.
“We are looking to continue to evolve as an organization to meet the needs of professionals and consumers by understanding all of the dynamics at play, including what people believe the MLS is and where it’s going.”
CMLS’s board of directors has hired executive search firm Career Management Partners (CMP) to conduct a national search for CMLS’s next CEO.
“Our mandate is to identify a strategic leader who can build on Denee’s legacy to expand the influence and impact in support of MLS across North America, while maintaining financial health and shaping the strategic vision,” Mike Boate, CMP’s vice president of executive search, told Inman in a statement.
“The next CEO will actively work with MLS leaders and key stakeholders in the broader real estate ecosystem to drive innovation, consistency, professionalism and greater value for participants in real estate transactions.”
CMLS touted Evans’ accomplishments under her decade-plus-long tenure, noting that her leadership had resulted in CMLS becoming “a national voice for MLS policy, professionalism and collaboration” and that she had established CMLS “as a leading force within organized real estate — advocating for transparency, consumer value and marketplace efficiency.”
Regarding Evans’ specific accomplishments, DiMichele pointed specifically to CMLS formalizing its CMLX program, a three-year designation program to certify MLS management specialists; the creation of CMLS’s new initiative for building the future of MLS policy, MLS Framework; and the maturation of CMLS from a volunteer-led organization to a professional one that was able to meet with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and submit an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case exploring whether floor plans were protected under copyright.
Evans herself told Inman she was most proud of the community she helped build at CMLS.
“Even as the number of MLSs shrank [over the years], we continued to earn the trust of more organizations through continued value and service to our members,” Evans said.
One example of this community building is CMLS’s weekly “MLS Matters” webinars for CMLS members, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic and got such a positive response they continue to this day.
“Our members want to connect with and learn from each other, and CMLS has the honor of facilitating those relationships,” Evans said.
Evans also said she was proud of the work behind a CMLS white paper on “The Value of MLS” and an accompanying economic report that showed “the importance of the efficient, transparent and accurate real estate marketplace that MLS facilitates.”
From that work, CMLS was able to file an amicus brief in 2024 in a commission-related antitrust case known as Nosalek and to present those findings to the DOJ, Evans added. The brief, which is built around an analysis of 20 years of data from the Seattle area’s real estate market, blasted the DOJ’s proposal to decouple commissions.
Evans has led CMLS through change and growth with skill and heart “in abundance,” according to CMLS director Shelley Specchio.
“She led CMLS for the last decade with thoughtfulness, strength and deep commitment to elevating the MLS Industry,” Specchio said in a statement.
“Her influence will be felt long after her time with CMLS has ended.”
