Create professional development programs that help REALTORS® strengthen their businesses.
Protect private property rights and promote the value of REALTORS®.
Advance ethics enforcement programs that increase REALTOR® professionalism.
Protect REALTORS® by providing legal guidance and education.
Stay current on industry issues with daily news from Illinois REALTORS®, network with other professionals, attend a seminar, and keep up with industry trends through events throughout the year.
Illinois REALTORS® 2022 President Ezekiel “Zeke” Morris recognized REALTORS® Alex Ruggieri and Andy Velkme and Illinois REALTORS® Vice President of Marketing and Communications Anthony Hebron with Presidential Medallions at the 2022 Fall Business Meetings in Oak Brook.
Outgoing presidents annually award the medallions to people who make significant contributions to the association and the real estate industry.
“Presidential Medallions are meant to recognize individuals who over the course of the past year have gone above and beyond, in a manner that has made the year that much better for the President and the association as a whole,” Morris said.
Naperville REALTOR® Andy Velkme of Caton Commercial Real Estate Group and Savoy REALTOR® Alex Ruggieri of North Star Equities were honored for promoting global real estate investment and for helping Illinois REALTORS® share that message.
“These two members have attended events on our behalf and gone out of their way to record video and podcast interviews with other members and attendees, they have been our photographers and they have provided content for blog posts,” Morris said. “Both of these individuals have been our face and represented our interests at marquee national and international events this past year, helping to burnish our reputation as a leader in the industry.”
The third Presidential Medallion was awarded to Anthony Hebron for his work the marketing and promotion of Illinois REALTORS® homeownership campaign, “Everyone Deserves the American Dream.”
“When it comes to helping me communicate the importance of the American Dream and what our campaign has meant to me personally, I cannot emphasize enough how meaningful it has been to me to have someone that can help me tell my story and to tell it well,” Morris said. “Through hours of calls and meetings and extra-long days, this person has been one of the reasons I can look back on this past year and say confidently: ‘we did not miss our moment.’”
More about this year’s Presidential Medallion winners:
Andy Velkme
Velkme is the 2022 chair of the Illinois REALTORS® Global Forum and has been a leader in promoting Illinois and commercial global development. He has represented Illinois REALTORS® at multiple commercial/international events including Expo REAL in Germany, MIPIM in France and the newest, C5 Summit in New York. At MIPIM earlier this year, he represented Illinois in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Spotlight America.
In 2018, he served on NAR’s Global Alliances Advisory Board. He is a 2017 graduate of the Illinois REALTORS® Leadership Development Program and has served as the association’s Consulate General Liaison to Latvia. He is the 2022 president of the Northern Illinois Commercial Association of REALTORS®. He was his local association’s REALTOR® of the Year in 2018.
Alex Ruggieri
Ruggieri is member of the Illinois REALTORS® Board of Directors and a longtime member of the association’s Commercial and Property Management Committee, chairing it in 2020. He chaired the Illinois REALTORS® Global Working Group in 2017.
Ruggieri has been just as active at the national level. He is a member of NAR’s Business Issues Policy Committee, the CIPS Advisory Board and the Commercial Committee. In 2017, he chaired NAR’s Commercial Leadership Forum. The same year, he was honored with a National Commercial Award from NAR. As the contributing editor for the Commercial Corner column in Illinois REALTOR® magazine, he raises the profile of commercial industry trends and practitioners.
Anthony Hebron
Hebron leads Illinois REALTORS® reorganized Marketing and Communications Department. In his time with Illinois REALTORS®, Hebron has enhanced the association’s profile with media outlets and spearheaded the marketing and promotion of Illinois REALTORS® member and consumer homeownership campaign, “Everyone Deserves the American Dream.”
Hebron joined Illinois REALTORS® in 2020. A former newspaper reporter, he later spent 27 years in corporate communications and marketing for companies such as Kellogg Company, L Brands and Battelle Memorial Institute and Tax Analysts.
