The Chicago Association of REALTORS® proudly presented our 139th Annual Inaugural Gala on Friday, September 23. During the festivities, we debuted our 2023 Board of Directors and honored several members for their contributions throughout the year, including the recipient of the REALTOR® of the Year Award.
The REALTOR® of the Year Award recognizes an exemplary industry leader with a minimum 10 years of experience, who is a REALTOR® in good standing and involved in activities at the local, state and national levels.
REALTOR® OF THE YEAR: Nykea Pippion McGriff, Coldwell Banker Realty
Nykea Pippion McGriff is all about rising up to the occasion and making a difference. This is a hallmark of her career in real estate: she’s known for doing the work to be the best REALTOR® and advocate that she can be for her clients and her community.
She’s always been laser-focused on supporting the real estate community through advocacy. A longtime Federal Political Coordinator working with retiring Congressman Bobby Rush, she recently ran for his congressional seat to give a voice to those impacted by gun violence. Her advocacy work has given her a platform to raise awareness of issues that are critical, not only to our industry, but to the development and health of our communities.
In 2020, she was inaugurated as the association’s first Black woman president. Although she was the first, her determination not to be the last resulted in the creation of the association’s Leadership Accelerator program, designed to nurture a pipeline of diverse industry leadership and broaden opportunities for diverse voices and perspectives. Previously, Nykea served as the 2019 chair of our Finance Committee.
Her industry involvement is vast. She served as the 2019 president of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Illinois and as the 2017 president of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Chicago. She has also been active on the real estate administrative and disciplinary board of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the licensing body for real estate.