The National Association of REALTORS® announced today that Jim Imhoff of Madison, Wis., and Colleen Badagliacco of Morgan Hill, Calif., are the 2024 recipients of the Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor outside the presidency bestowed on an NAR member.
Colleen Badagliacco, ABR, GRl, CRS, CRB, CIPS, ePro, AHWD, C2EX, SRES
Colleen Badagliacco’s career in real estate began as a temporary role while she awaited news of state funding to support her work as an educator. By the time the funding was approved a few months later, Badagliacco had decided real estate was where she wanted to be. More than 45 years later, she is an broker associate with Legacy Real Estate and Associates, an independent brokerage in Fremont, Calif.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” says Badagliacco. “So many of the leaders I most admire have received this honor, and to now be recognized as well is most humbling and a bit overwhelming. I hope to honor them in return with continued service to my community and the REALTOR® family.”
Badagliacco has served on the NAR Board of Directors continuously since 1995. She has chaired or served as a member of a diverse group of committees, presidential advisory groups, work groups and forums, including Executive, Strategic Planning, Business Issues, Multiple Listing Issues and Policy, Nominating, Finance, Business Issues, and Leadership Identification and Development. In 2008, she represented NAR on the Fannie Mae Advisory Board. In 2016, she served as an NAR Regional Vice President (Region 13), and in 2018, she was NAR Vice President for Association Affairs.
Badagliacco is a 2010 inductee into the REALTORS® Political Action Committee Hall of Fame and has been a longtime member of the President’s Circle.
“Colleen Badagliacco is the personification of a real estate professional,” says Joe Hanauer (2010 DSA), chair of the Distinguished Service Award Council. “Beyond her effectiveness in client interactions, she is a recognized leader in the industry. Her service as chair of some of the most critical committees on a local, state and national level has earned her numerous recognitions and honors acknowledging her leadership in developing the real estate profession.”
In 2007, Badagliacco served as president of the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR) and was honored as REALTOR® of the Year in 2007. She is also a past president of the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS® (1992) and was named REALTOR® of the Year by that organization in 1991. In 2008, Badagliacco was honored with the Byron Brawley Lifetime Service Award, which recognizes industry service in her local market.
Badagliacco commitment to service extends to her community, where she has been an active member of the San Jose Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and multiple strategic planning groups and community associations.
In 2007, the San Jose Business Journal named her Residential Broker of the Year and the Legislative Woman of Distinction. This same year, she received the Mayor Service Commendation from the City of San Jose. She has supported or volunteered with numerous organizations and initiatives, including Special Olympics, Children’s Miracle Network and Habitat for Humanity. She is a founding member of the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley.
Drawing on her background in education, Badagliacco has been a real estate instructor for CAR and California Community Colleges, and she has been a speaker and panelist at numerous local, state and national conferences. She is a graduate of Santa Clara University and holds a master’s degree in education from San Diego State University.
Reflecting on her years of involvement with NAR, Badagliacco imagines her career would likely have been shorter and less fulfilling without it. “Through involvement, your commitment strengthens,” says Badagliacco. “We need to grow leaders who do what they do for the commitment to service, not titles. It’s the contributions that help the organization that are ultimately the most personally rewarding.”
Badagliacco and her husband, Dennis, have made real estate a family affair. Dennis Badagliacco, CCIM, is a broker specializing in commercial real estate Together, they have two grown children: a son, Robert, also a real estate professional and a CCIM designee, and a daughter, Laura. They have five grandchildren.