The Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative (‘The Goldie Initiative®”), a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing women to advance as leaders in commercial real estate by providing financial and professional support, hosted its ‘Goldie Gala’ fundraising evening at Chicago Union Station on Thursday, September 18. The 9th annual power networking event brought together leaders from across commercial real estate to celebrate The Goldie Initiative’s 2025-26 cohort, who will participate in the organization’s innovative scholarship and career development program, which includes an industry-leading mentorship platform. The organization is focused on. developing women for leadership roles in CRE by fostering strong industry relationships and leadership skills.

At the 2025 Goldie Gala, Kimberly Adams, Managing Director at Clarion Partners was honored with the 2025 ‘Shero” Award, which is presented annually by The Goldie Initiative to a female executive whose achievements inspire the next generation of commercial real estate professionals. 

“I feel it’s important to give back to the real estate community. And part of doing that is sharing lessons learned I might have to the next generation of women leaders—particularly the Goldie Scholars, who embody the qualities that drive success: hard work, authenticity, humanity, humility, and connection. These women have it.” Adams stated. 

The Goldie Gala is an opportunity to celebrate Goldie Scholars, valued stakeholders, and the commercial real estate industry. It is often referred to as ‘the networking event of the season,’ attracting the best and brightest throughout commercial real estate. This year’s Goldie Gala raised over $1.2 Million in support of the organization’s mission and welcomed around 1,000 attendees, surpassing previous totals.  Donations are still being accepted and any gifts received through the end of September will be included in event fundraising totals. A special fundraising campaign associated with this year’s gala – in memory of Susan Rosen – also remains available to donors.  

Founded in 2007 by Goldie B. Wolfe Miller, The Goldie Initiative has made a considerable impact on the commercial real estate industry and has created a professional community of women with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, known as Goldie Scholars, nationally. The Goldie Initiative leads efforts in the industry to help solve issues such as the gender gap in commercial real estate; indeed, women make up 37% of the commercial real estate industry—a figure that hasn’t changed in over 15 years—and only 9% hold C-suite roles. With a unique strategy of scholarship, mentoring, networking and skills development, The Goldie Initiative cultivates talented women into future leaders, so the real estate workforce better mirrors its diverse audience of users and buyers.  The program supports women pursuing graduate-level studies in business, law, design, or management with a focus on real estate. This year, 40 current Goldie Scholars are currently studying in real estate-related programs at 20 universities nationwide. Once they graduate, Goldie Scholars will help companies succeed: balanced gender representation enhances financial results, innovation, decision-making, talent retention, brand reputation, and risk management.

“I am so proud of what The Goldie Initiative has accomplished, as the largest program of its kind in the country. The Goldie Scholars are so talented and represent the future success of our industry. Our program has grown to include not only Midwest graduate school programs, but also universities in the Northeast. Our continued growth is fueled by our program pillars which include scholarships, mentorship, leadership development training and networking opportunities. We are so grateful for the spectacular support of the commercial real estate industry. I am so appreciative of the sponsorship dollars as well as the contributions by our amazing 200 volunteers who give their time and energy to these young professionals,” said Goldie B. Wolfe Miller. 

Cindy Malone and Marissa Rose, two of Chicago’s leading CRE professionals, are the co-chairs for this year’s Goldie Gala.  Malone is Senior Vice President/Director of Sales at Chicago Title Insurance Company and Rose is Associate Director/Occupier Services at Avison Young and a Goldie Scholar Alumna. 

“We are thrilled with the new milestone we reached this year thanks to the unprecedented generosity of our 200 plus Sponsors and the countless volunteer hours of many. My co-chair Marissa Rose and I are beyond appreciative of all who worked so hard to help exceed our $1.2 Million goal. This would not have been possible but for the efforts of our amazing Gala Committee, fantastic Event Vice Chairs, our incredible Shero Kim Adams, our truly committed Board, our phenomenal Goldie Initiative Staff, all our stellar consultants and finally us out of this world inspiring leader and founder Goldie Wolfe Miller. We are excited these funds will allow us to continue to help make an impact on the next generation of female leaders.” said this year’s Goldie Gala Co-Chair Cindy Malone. 

Presenting Sponsors ($50,000+)

• Chicago Title Insurance Company
• Jack Miller Family Foundation / Jack and Goldie Wolfe Miller Fund

Diamond Level Sponsors ($25,000):

• Avison Young
• Clarion Partners
• Eastdil Secured
• JLL
• Millbrook Properties
• Wintrust

To see a full list of sponsors. click here.

To view the Shero Video featuring Kimberly Adams of Clarion Partners, click here.

About The Goldie Initiative

Founded by Goldie B. Wolfe Miller in 2007, the mission of the Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate® Initiative (“The Goldie Initiative®”) is to prepare women to advance as leaders in commercial real estate by providing financial and professional support. The Goldie Initiative does this by providing scholarship support for graduate study, mentorship, and networking opportunities to women with high potential who are committed to becoming leaders in the real estate industry.

For further information about The Goldie Initiative, visit https://goldieinitiative.org/.

Read full article here.