Elme Communities

The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee’s process for the recommendation of trustee candidates is described in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Set forth below is a general summary of the process that the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee currently utilizes for the consideration of trustee candidates. The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee may, in the future, modify or deviate from this process in connection with the selection of a particular trustee candidate.

•The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee develops and from time to time maintains a list of potential candidates for Board membership on an ongoing basis. Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee members and other Board members may recommend potential candidates for inclusion on such list. In addition, the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee, in its discretion, may seek potential candidates from organizations, such as the National Association of Corporate Directors, that maintain databases of potential candidates, or engage executive search firms to assist in identifying potential candidates. Shareholders may also put forward potential candidates for the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee’s consideration by submitting candidates to the attention of the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee at our executive offices in Bethesda, MD. The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee screens potential candidates in the same manner regardless of the source of the recommendation.

•The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee reviews the attributes, skill sets and other qualifications for potential candidates (as discussed below) from time to time and may modify them based upon the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee’s assessment of the needs of the Board and the skill sets required to meet those needs.

•When the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee is required to recommend a candidate for nomination for election to the Board at an annual or special meeting of shareholders, or otherwise expects a vacancy on the Board to occur that the Board would like to fill, it commences a candidate selection process by reviewing all potential candidates against the current attributes, skill sets and other preferred qualifications in order to determine whether a candidate is suitable for Board membership. The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee also annually evaluates each potential nominee’s prior services on and contributions to the Board, if any, and considers such nominee’s public company leadership positions and other outside commitments, prior to recommending a nominee for election or re-election to the Board. This review may also include an examination of publicly available information and consideration of the NYSE independence requirements, the number of boards on which the candidate serves, the possibility of interlocks, other requirements or prohibitions imposed by applicable laws, regulations or Elme policies and practices, and any actual or potential conflicts of interest. The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee then determines whether to remove any candidate from consideration as a result of the foregoing review. Thereafter, the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee determines a proposed interview list from among the remaining candidates and discusses such interview list to the Board.

•Following the Board’s approval of the interview list, the Chair of the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee or, at his or her discretion, other trustees, interview the potential candidates on such list. After the completion of candidate interviews, the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee determines a priority ranking of the potential candidates on the interview list and discusses such priority ranking to the Board.

•Following the Board’s discussion of the priority ranking with the Board, the Chair of the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee or, at his or her discretion, other trustees, contact the potential candidates based on their order in the priority ranking. When a potential candidate indicates his or her willingness to accept nomination to the Board, the recommendation process is substantially complete. Subject to a final review of eligibility under Elme policies and applicable laws and regulations using information supplied directly by the candidate, the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee then recommends the candidate for nomination.

The Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee’s minimum qualifications and specific qualities and skills required for trustees are also set forth in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines currently provide that each trustee candidate, at a minimum, should possess the following attributes:

integrity, trustworthiness, business judgment, credibility, collegiality, professional achievement, constructiveness and public awareness. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines also provide that, as a group, the independent trustees should possess the following skill sets and characteristics: financial acumen equivalent to the level of a public company chief financial officer or senior executive of a capital market, investment or financial services firm; operational or strategic acumen germane to the real estate industry; public and/or government affairs acumen; corporate governance acumen, gained through service as a senior officer or director of a publicly-owned corporation or through comparable academic or other experience; and diversity in terms of age, race, gender, ethnicity, geographic knowledge, industry experience and expertise, board tenure and culture. Additionally, our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide that no person shall be nominated for election as a trustee after his or her 75 th birthday, except under circumstances set forth in the Corporate Governance Guidelines.

The Board maintains a policy with regard to consideration of various qualities when identifying trustee nominees. Consistent with this policy, the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee considers qualities such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, geographic knowledge, industry experience and expertise, board tenure and culture as a factor in the selection of trustee nominees. The Board believes that the best decisions can be made when a variety of viewpoints contribute to the process.