The Goldie Initiative expansion continues with record-breaking 2025026 Goldie Scholar Cohort

Chicago, IL The Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing women to advance as leaders in commercial real estate by providing financial and professional support, recently announced scholarship winners for the upcoming school year. Since 2007, The Goldie Initiative has created a professional community of women with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, known as Goldie Scholars.

With a unique strategy of scholarship, mentoring, networking and leadership 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.

An unprecedented 40 Goldie Scholars representing 20 universities nationally, were selected this month, for the prestigious scholarship program with The Goldie Initiative for the 2025-26 academic year. Notably, this year’s cohort proudly welcomes three new graduate institutions to its ranks: Fordham University, St. John’s University and University of Maryland.

This year’s Goldie Scholar cohort increased by two female graduate students studying in the Chicago area, in thanks to a partnership with the Debbie Frank Legacy Fund and CREW Chicago. Debbie Frank, who passed away in 2020, was a respected and accomplished leader in the Chicago area CRE community and she was passionate about helping women succeed in the field. The selected Goldie Scholars, Sydney Dea, a student at Loyola University, and Jessica Ravitch, a student at Northwestern University, were chosen via collaborative efforts. Thanks to this generous contribution, the 2025-2026 Goldie Scholar cohort increases in size and impact.

The incoming cohort of Goldie Scholars will be celebrated and introduced to the community at the ninth annual Goldie Gala, on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at Union Station Chicago. This year’s Shero award winner is Kimberly Adams, managing director at Clarion Partners. The Shero award is presented annually by The Goldie Initiative to a woman executive whose achievements inspire the next generation of female commercial real estate professionals.

Adams is looking forward to the event and said: “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.”

Tickets are now available for the Goldie Gala at www.goldieinitiative.org/gala.

The 2025-26 cohort of Goldie Scholars represent the following universities:

• Columbia University - Columbia Business School - Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

• Cornell University - Baker Program in Real Estate - SC Johnson College of Business

• DePaul University - Kellstadt Graduate School of Business

• Fordham University - Gabelli School of Business

• George Washinton University - Corcoran School of Arts and Design

• Georgetown University - McDonough School of Business - School of Continuing Studies

• Harvard University - Graduate School of Design

• Loyola University Chicago - School of Law

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Center for Real Estate - Sloan School of Management

• New York University - NYU Stern - NYU SPS Schack Institute

• Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management

• St. John’s University - School of Law

• University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

• University of Illinois-Chicago - College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs

• University of Maryland - School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

• University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business

• University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

• University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

• University of Wisconsin – Madison - Wisconsin School of Business

• Yale University - School of Law.