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Award Program: Distinguished Service

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(Photo l. to r.) OR Officers: Michelle Billings, Ali Whitley, 2023 DSA Award Winner Rick Stallard, Medina and Ralph Mantica

2023 winner will be named at the upcoming Convention & EXPO

See Previous Award Winners …

The Distinguished Service Award is one of the top awards presented by Ohio REALTORS. The award is presented to individuals who have been actively involved in the three levels of the REALTOR organization for 25 years or more.

The following criteria apply:

  1. The nominee must have attained the age of 60.
  2. The nominee must have a minimum aggregate total of 25 years as a licensed Ohio real estate agent/broker.
  3. The nominee has contributed 25 years of voluntary service, including leadership positions in local, state and national association, including RPAC involvement and/or the Institutes, Societies and Councils. Further, nominees must be active in all levels of the Association at the time of submitting an application.
  4. The nominee has not served as president of the Ohio REALTORS, or is not an executive officer or local or state staff member.
  5. Only 1 nominee will be chosen for the award. If no one qualifies in any given year, the award will not be presented.

Selection Guidelines

The powers and prerogatives of the DSA Committee are described below:

  1. Local Boards and Ohio Institutes, Societies and Councils may nominate active OAR members as candidates for the OAR Distinguished Service Award. There can be more than one nominee per Board, Institute, Society and Council, however, the DSA Committee strongly encourages a Local Board to nominate only one person for the award.
  2. The DSA Committee will review all nomination forms submitted for consideration and will eliminate those candidates who do not qualify, or those whose forms do not follow the established guidelines.
  3. The DSA Committee will not see supportive documents and materials–letters of recommendation, newspaper articles, news releases, etc. with the candidate nomination form.
  4. Only nominations submitted on the official nomination form will be considered. Nominations that do not follow this exact format will be discarded.
  5. All nominations must be signed by the Local Board or Institute, Society or Council president (if the institute, society or council is making the nomination).
  6. Nominations are not carried over from year-to-year. A new nomination form must be submitted for consideration each year.
  7. All DSA nomination forms submitted for consideration are kept strictly confidential. All materials submitted become the property of OAR and will not be returned. After the DSA Committee determines the recipient(s), all materials are destroyed.
  8. All nominations must be received by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023
  9. There is no charge or application fee for nominating a DSA candidate.

Staff contact Nikki Gasbarro /