Illinois REALTOR® Daniel L. Goodwin, chairman and chief executive officer for the Inland Real Estate Group, Inc., of Oak Brook, was named today as one of five REALTOR® Magazine’s 2015 Good Neighbor Award winners.

Goodwin, a member of the NAR RPAC Investors Hall of Fame, and the other winners each receive $10,000 grants for their charities. Goodwin’s charity is the New Directions Housing Corp, a non-profit organization he founded in 1994 to supply low-income Illinois residents with affordable housing. New Directions has built or rehabilitated hundreds of multi-family units as well as worked with other groups to provide food, after-school care for children, immunizations and more to the people it serves.

Also, Goodwin is a member of the NAR President’s Circle, the Illinois Association of REALTORS® Hall of Fame and the Chicago Association of REALTORS® Hall of Fame. He is the founder of Retail Properties of America REIT and is chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Trusts Non-traded REIT Council. He is chairman of the Board of Inland Bancorp and a director of the Chicago Better Government Association.

Other Good Neighbor Award winners, who’ll receive $10,000 grants for their charities are:

  • Susan Stearns, GRI, Berkshire Hathaway, California Properties, Calabasas, Calif.;
  • Barbara Mills, RE/MAX Realty One, Inverness, Fla.;
  • John Kersten, CRB, Century 21 Town & Country, Rochester Hills, Mich.; and
  • Nancy E. Hines, CRS, GRI, F.C. Tucker Co. Inc., Avon, Ind.

All five will be featured in the November/December issue of REALTOR® Magazine and will receive crystal trophies Nov. 14 at the 2015 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego.

In addition, five more individuals received honorable mentions and will receive $2,500 grants for their charities:

  • George Demchak, Kissinger Bigatel & Brower, REALTORS®, State College, Penn.;
  • George S. Lucas, Harbor Country, Union Pier, Mich.;
  • Ida M. Petkus, Keller Williams, Medford, N.J.;
  • Dona Reynolds, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Stein & Summers Real Estate, St. Joseph, Mo.; and
  • Stephen L. Seidl, Seidl & Associates, a division of ShoreWest, REALTORS®, Green Bay, Green Bay, Wis.

Kersten was also celebrated as the Web Choice winner for receiving the most fan votes. As a result, Easter Seals of Michigan will receive an additional $1,000 grant.

In late August, the NAR announced 10 finalists for the awards, including Goodwin.

The Good Neighbor Awards have been granted annually since 2000 and are presented by NAR’s REALTOR® Magazine. More than $1 million in grants have been awarded to the winners’ charities since the inaugural award.

Liberty Mutual Insurance was the primary sponsor of the 2015 awards, according to NAR.