GFWAR Announces Annual Award Winners

·      Shelby Kimball, Kimball Real Estate | Charles McMillan REALTOR® of the Year Award

·      LaToya Williams, RJ Williams & Company | Marie and Dayton Sheridan REALTOR® Spirit Award

·      Alexis “Sparkles” Belt, Green Scene Home Inspections | Affiliate of the Year Award

·      Joan Trew, Williams Trew | A.L. Purvis Distinguished Service Award

“GFWAR has always been composed of members who strive to positively impact the real estate industry,” said Robert Gleason, CEO of GFWAR. “This year’s award recipients exemplify what it means to lead, motivate, and support our members and our community, something they accomplished despite a year that presented many new and unexpected challenges.”

The Charles McMillan REALTOR® of the Year Award recognizes a GFWAR member whose invaluable contributions have made a significant impact on the organization, the real estate profession, and the Fort Worth community. The 2020 REALTOR® of the Year Award was presented to Shelby Kimball of Kimball Real Estate. Kimball served as President of GFWAR’s Board of Directors in 2020, navigating the challenges the industry faced during the lockdown and leading an organization that had to quickly transition to serving its members in an all-virtual format. Along with his service to GFWAR, Kimball is active on the Texas REALTORS® Board of Directors; is the Vice-Chair of the Texas REALTORS® Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; serves on various committees and commissions for the City of Annetta, Texas; and will be the 2022 Board President of the Fort Worth-Arlington Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The Marie and Dayton Sheridan REALTOR® Spirit Award honors a member whose enthusiasm for their craft motivates their peers to rise to the occasion. LaToya Williams of RJ Williams & Company received the 2020 REALTOR® Spirit Award. As a founding member and 2020 Committee Chair of GFWAR’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Williams was integral to the Committee’s initiatives in 2020, including educating GFWAR’s members on the benefits of participating in the 2020 Census, and presenting two virtual panels that encouraged conversations among members on diversity in the real estate community. LaToya also previously chaired GFWAR’s Young Professionals Network Committee and currently serves on the Board of Directors for GFWAR.

The Affiliate of the Year Award is presented to one whose cultivation of the partnership between REALTOR® and affiliate member has positively contributed to the success of GFWAR. Going above and beyond is 2020 Affiliate of the Year Alexis “Sparkles” Belt of Green Scene Home Inspections. Sparkles is known for the joy she brings to her work, both as the Sales Manager at Green Scene and in serving on multiple committees at GFWAR. She is an active member of the Business After Hours, Special Events, and Young Professionals Network Committees, where she jumps in at every opportunity to help plan events and support various GFWAR initiatives.

The recipient of the A.L. Purvis Distinguished Service Award is someone who has made a lasting impact on Fort Worth’s real estate industry, including prolonged and distinguished service to both GFWAR and their community. For more than 40 years, Joan Trew has made that impact, and therefore has been named the 2020 Distinguished Service Award recipient. An ardent supporter of GFWAR and the Texas REALTORS® Political Action Committee, Trew founded Williams Trew with Martha Williams in 2000 and is a pillar of the Fort Worth real estate community. She is an avid philanthropist and supporter of a wide variety of charitable and educational endeavors, including the Tarrant Literacy Coalition, Fort Worth Sister Cities, the Rotary Club of Fort Worth, and Samaritan Medical Outreach Ministries. Trew was a recipient of the Great Women of Texas Award in 2002 and was named the Fort Worth Business Hall of Fame’s 2016 Business Executive of the Year.