The Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative, better known as The Goldie Initiative®, has expanded its mentorship and scholarship program to the Northeast region of the United States.
The Buffalo Grove, Illinois-based nonprofit is focused on preparing women for senior leadership roles in all sectors of commercial real estate.
With the goal of increasing opportunities for high-potential female leaders to forge connections with industry professionals in influential East Coast markets, the organization kicked off its programmatic expansion with events in New York City and Philadelphia in February, which drew more than 250 current senior and future leaders in commercial real estate.
Named for Goldie B. Wolfe Miller, a female pioneer in the field of commercial real estate brokerage who established the organization nearly 20 years ago in the Midwest, The Goldie Initiative provides scholarships, mentoring, networking and skills development for women pursuing real estate-focused graduate studies in business, law, architecture and design, and management.
The current group of Goldie Scholars are currently enrolled in programs at nearly 20 universities nationwide, including several top schools in the Northeast.
“Top talent is not defined by geography, and over the years, we’ve broadened the reach of our program with Goldie Scholars and a growing network of former scholars and mentors based in different markets nationwide,” said Megan Abraham, chief executive officer of The Goldie Initiative.
“Because many of our alumnae and mentors are located in the Northeast, it makes sense for us to formalize our presence there with in-person programming that enhances our opportunities to support the next generation of female leaders in our industry, following the lead of our Goldie Scholars program, which has already expanded to graduate institutions outside of the Midwest.”
To officially launch its program in the Northeast, The Goldie Initiative partnered with prestigious graduate schools to present panels of industry leaders discussing career development in commercial real estate. While Goldie Scholars are exclusively women, Goldie Initiative mentors include several men, and the events were open to men and women. Events took place in Philadelphia on Feb. 6, at Columbia University on Feb. 7 and at NYU on Feb. 8.
“The Goldie Initiative stands out as the only organization dedicated solely to elevating women to leadership positions in commercial real estate, something that is critical in our industry not just to address lack of diversity in the C-suite, but also because studies show that companies with women in high-level positions perform better in a variety of meaningful metrics than those without,” said Katie Kazas, The Goldie Initiative board president and managing director – capital markets at Longfellow Real Estate Partners LLC.
“Being able to bring Goldie Initiative programming to the Northeast will undoubtably have an impact on opportunities for future senior leaders studying and working in East Coast markets.”
In April of 2024, The Goldie Initiative will return to the Northeast region with networking events focused on the Boston community.
