Savills Studley Wins 2017 Citizenship Award

Savills Studley, the leading commercial real estate firm specializing in tenant representation, was designated as a 2017 Citizenship Award honoree by the Washington Business Journal for the firm’s ongoing partnership with JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. The award recognizes an outstanding philanthropic collaboration between a Greater Washington business and a nonprofit.

Savills Studley’s affiliation with JDRF is an all-hands-on-deck initiative started and maintained by its employees. In 1989, Executive Managing Director Adam Singer, who was diagnosed with T1D at age 18, founded the JDRF Real Estate Games as an annual day-long, Olympics-style fundraising event, in which local commercial real estate businesses compete in a variety of games and athletic competitions.

Throughout the year, Savills Studley executives and staff volunteer hundreds of hours planning the Game’s logistics, enlisting fellow employees and professional peers as competitors or facilitators and recruiting donors. Nearly 30 years later, the signature event has expanded to new markets, built critical awareness around T1D and raised a sizable $8 million for diabetes research.

“Currently there are more than 1.5 million people in the United States living with T1D,” said Singer. “We are honored to be partners with JDRF and thank them for the opportunity to make an impact. Most importantly, we appreciate the work and participation of our employees, who are a wonderful part of the amazing advances in diabetes research and care.”

The firm’s partnership with JDRF extends beyond the Real Estate Games. Employees have gone on to serve as Chapter presidents, gala chairs, keynote speakers, Board members and more.

Savills Studley has been a philanthropic trailblazer setting the tone for charitable giving and community involvement since its founding in 1954. The firm contributes to a broad range of causes and nonprofit organizations, including the Higher Achievement Program; Washington Lawyers Committee; Commercial Real Estate Women; Avon Walk for Breast Cancer; Washington, DC’s Hendley Elementary; and Habitat for Humanity.