Goldie Scholar Michelle Kilgallon and her team from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management emerged as the winners of the Real Estate Venture competition at the 9th Annual Real Estate Conference on April 26, 2023. The Kellogg Real Estate Conference and Venture Competition is hosted by the Guthrie Center for Real Estate Research and takes place annually at the Kellogg Global Hub in Evanston. The Conference brings together global leaders in real estate who provide industry updates and relevant market information.
The Kellogg Real Estate Venture Competition is an opportunity for students studying real estate to pitch to a high-profile panel of judges for significant cash and in-kind prizes. The final competition is intended to act as, or simulate, the real-world process of real estate entrepreneurs soliciting equity funds from private equity investors and angels. The Venture Competition invites applications from student teams from any school worldwide. Each team must have no more than six members, all of whom must be students, with at least one member being a graduate student. Teams created an executive summary of the real estate venture, highlighting the qualifications of team members, the idea, the investment sought, and the associated risk and reward.
Multiple teams presented their pitches several times, with the finalists joining the conference and presenting to a live audience of real estate professionals, Kellogg alumni and special guests, in Evanston. Ultimately, the Kellogg team – headed up by Kilgallon – prevailed, with its life-sciences-focused real estate investment proposal edging out the competition. The winning team took home cash and in-kind prizes totaling $100,000.
The Goldie Initiative congratulates current Goldie Scholar Michelle Kilgallon and her team on its victory in the competition. In addition to her teammates, Kilgallon was joined at the competition by her Mentor from The Goldie Initiative, Suzanne Martinez, Director, Investor Relations at AEW Capital Management, and The Goldie Initiative’s CEO, Megan Abraham, among other supporters. Kilgallon has demonstrated exceptional skill, talent, and leadership, and we are thrilled to celebrate this big win, as well as her graduation from Kellogg’s Full-time MBA program in June 2023.
Goldie Scholar, Michelle Kilgallon (left) and CEO of The Goldie Initiative, Megan Abraham (right).