Megan Abraham (center) joined by board members of The Goldie Initiative, Katie Kazas and Cindy Malone, receives award from CREA co-chairs.
The Goldie Initiative® Honored with “Special Achievement of the Year” at Commercial Real Estate Awards
Female-focused Organization Recognized at Event Supporting the Greater Chicago Food Depository
Chicago, IL – May 2, 2024 – The Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative (‘The Goldie Initiative®”), a nonprofit organization designed to prepare women for senior leadership roles in all sectors of commercial real estate, was the recipient of the “Special Achievement of the Year” award at the 36th Annual Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards on May 1, 2024. The annual event brings together more than 1,850 of Chicago’s top architects, brokers, developers, property managers, contractors and design professionals to celebrate outstanding achievements in all facets of the industry and to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Katie Kazas, Board President, and Megan Abraham, CEO, accepted the award on behalf of The Goldie Initiative, along with several other board members, current Goldie Scholars, and Alumnae.
Since inception in 2007, The Goldie Initiative has made a considerable impact on Chicago’s CRE industry and has created a professional community of women with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, known as Goldie Scholars, nationally. With a unique strategy of scholarship, mentoring, networking and skills development, The Goldie Initiative cultivates talented women into future leaders. The program supports women pursuing graduate-level studies in business, law, design, or management with a focus on real estate. Over 30 current Goldie Scholars are currently studying in real estate-related programs at nearly 20 universities nationwide.
Goldie B. Wolfe Miller, the founder and chair of The Goldie Initiative, remains actively involved in the organization. She was recognized for her personal contributions to the industry at the Commercial Real Estate Awards with the inaugural “Legend” Award on March 15, 2018.
Since inception and beyond, The Goldie Initiative has grown beyond Goldie’s personal contributions (both programmatically and financially). In 2017, The Goldie Initiative celebrated its 10-year anniversary by hosting its first annual “Goldie Gala.” That same year, the Goldie Scholar cohort hit a record high of 15 graduate students from approximately six Midwestern graduate institutions.
At its 7th annual Goldie Gala in September 2023, The Goldie Initiative welcomed 34 Goldie Scholars from nearly 20 graduate institutions from around the country. In addition, the Goldie Gala now features a “Shero” award winner. Goldie Gala 2024 will honor Molly McShane, CEO of The McShane Companies on September 19, 2024 at Chicago Union Station. Many other trailblazing women have been honored over the years for their contributions to the industry and support of the next generation of female leaders. The Goldie Gala has grown exponentially and has become one of Chicago’s premier industry networking events.
The Goldie Initiative is an organization that has demonstrated a positive impact on the real estate industry and will continue to do so for many years. The program focuses on addressing the lack of female LEADERS in the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) industry by streamlining support of students in graduate school. There are many women in early-stage careers in CRE; it is at top management levels that the number of female leaders dwindle. That is where The Goldie Initiative comes in – the program supplies the CRE industry with leadership-caliber candidates. The organization’s impact in Midwestern graduate programs has become so well-known, that it is now poised for growth nationally.
Learn more about The Goldie Initiative at www.goldieinitiative.org.
Photo Credit: Eric Masi