Ollie Scholarship Applications Due February 6!

The BOMA/Chicago Foundation is accepting applications for the Reginald L. Ollie Inclusion and Outreach Scholarship. The Ollie Scholarship provides the $10,000 full tuition to underrepresented professionals in the commercial real estate industry to achieve the Real Property Administrator (RPA) designation.

Please review the eligibility criteria (listed below) for this scholarship. If you meet these criteria, we invite you to apply! Click here to download the packet containing the application and reference forms (note: forms must be submitted online using links in the packet). All parts of the application are due on February 6, 2024.

Eligibility Criteria

• Belong to an underrepresented group. Underrepresented professionals are classified as: racial, ethnic, LGBTQIA+, and disabled.
• Must have a minimum of two years of experience in the commercial real estate industry.
  • Applicants must have 24 months of commercial real estate experience by March 2024. The experience must specifically be in a commercial real estate property management role (residential and retail experience does not count toward the 24 months).
  • *Internships may be eligible to count toward the 24 months of experience. Please see the below note.
  • Please contact Jaclynne Madden at jmadden@bomachicago.org if you have questions about your eligibility.
• Must be at least 21 years old.
• You do NOT have to be a BOMA/Chicago member.
• Have taken three or less RPA/FMA designation classes prior to applying for the scholarship.
• Completion of at least one year of college level courses at a college/university and earned a GPA of 2.5/4.0 or 3.5/5.
• Completion of the Scholarship Application form, with its requested attachments received by February 6, 2024.
• Attend an in-person interview, if selected, on February 21, 2024.

*Internship Experience Requirements

If you have completed a commercial real estate internship, you may apply to have the time spent in the internship count towards the required 24 months of experience. The internship experience must be focused on commercial real estate property management (residential and retail experience does not count). Along with your application, please include one document that describes:

1. Timeframe: Indicate the dates of your internship(s).
2. Number of Hours: Indicate the number of hours for each internship and whether the internships were full-time or part-time.
3. Responsibilities: Describe your internship responsibilities and the skills you acquired.

The Foundation's Scholarship Committee or other appropriate body will determine whether an internship may count toward the required experience by comparing its length, contiguousness, recentness, and scope of work to typical full-time work experience. Applicants may be required to submit additional material to aid in this evaluation.

If you plan to apply for this scholarship, please email Jaclynne Madden or call (312) 870-9608 so that we can discuss the application process and requirements.

Recipient Benefits: Along with earning the $10K full RPA designation tuition, the recipient will also be able to enroll in RPA classes as early as March 2024. The recipient will also be honored at the 2024 Diversity Celebration and will give a speech.

Runner-Up Scholarship: The scholarship runner-up will be given the opportunity to use a Single Course Scholarship for one RPA class offered in 2024.