AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 2, 2025--
Keller Williams Realty, LLC (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, announces Alexia “Lexie” Rodriguez, CEO of KW Cares®, a 501(c)(3) public charity created to support the KW community and their families, has been recognized as a 2025 HousingWire Vanguard Award winner.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250902314258/en/
“Lexie’s leadership has continued to elevate KW Cares into one of the most impactful nonprofit organizations across all industries,” said Chris Czarnecki, CEO and president, KW. “She has ensured KW-affiliated associates and their families have meaningful support when it matters most.”
The 2025 Vanguards were chosen by HousingWire’s editorial team in collaboration with a panel of respected industry professionals. Winners were selected for their contributions to guide their organizations through market headwinds while delivering transformative results.
“The 2025 HousingWire Vanguards exemplify what it means to lead with vision and resilience,” said Sarah Wheeler, Editor-in-Chief, HousingWire.
Over the past year, Rodriguez has continued to transform KW Cares with forward-thinking initiatives, including the establishment of a $14 million Reserve Investment Fund. Her leadership drove a 10% increase in market centers meeting tithing goals, strengthening the foundation’s capacity to serve.
In July, KW and KW Cares donated $150,000 to support flood relief efforts in Central Texas.
In 2024, KW Cares awarded 497 emergency grants and 141 catastrophic hardship grants to KW ® associates and their dependent families facing financial hardship due to a sudden emergency. In total, KW Cares awarded more than $4.8 million in grants and disaster relief last year.
Beyond KW, Rodriguez serves on four nonprofit boards, including TEXSAR (Texas Search and Rescue), Austin New Church, the PTSA for Austin High School, and the Austin High Football Booster Club.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized as a HousingWire Vanguard, but this award truly belongs to the Keller Williams family, who make KW Cares possible,” said Rodriguez. “Every dollar, every volunteer hour, and every act of generosity ensures we can stand beside our agents and their families in their greatest times of need.”
“And, a very special thank you to our incredible staff and board members who are the driving force of all we accomplish at KW Cares,” said Rodriguez.
Since 2003, KW Cares has provided over $67.0 million in assistance through more than 7,300 grants to KW ® agents and families. KW Cares is funded primarily through KW ® agents who donate a portion of their real estate commissions.
KW Cares has received the 2025 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest recognition awarded to charitable organizations, from Candid, a nonprofit research group. KW Cares maintains a Four-Star rating from Charity Navigator, the world’s largest nonprofit evaluator.
About KW Cares
KW Cares is a 501(c)(3) public charity created to support KW ® associates and their families through hardships they experience as a result of a sudden emergency.
This charity is at the heart of Keller Williams’ culture in action—finding and serving the higher purpose of business through charitable giving in the market centers and communities where associates live and work.
About Keller Williams
Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams Realty, LLC is the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count. It has more than 1,000 market center offices and 162,000 affiliated agents. The franchise is No. 1 in units and sales volume in the U.S.
Since 1983, the company has cultivated an agent-centric, technology-driven, and education-based culture that rewards affiliated agents. For more information, visit kwri.kw.com.
Alexia “Lexie” Rodriguez, CEO of KW Cares, has been recognized as a 2025 HousingWire Vanguard Award winner.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, An independent counsel has requested the death sentence over that charge, and the Seoul Central District Court will decide on that in a ruling on Feb. 19.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him and fabricating the martial law proclamation. He was also sentenced for sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting, which deprived some Cabinet members who were not convened of their rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a heavy punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also said restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Even if Yoon is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial, he may still face other prison sentences in the multiple smaller trials he faces.
Some observers say Yoon is likely retaining a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's decree caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea in decades and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
