LEADERSHIP EVANSVILLE HOSTS 18th ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF LEADERSHIP AWARDS CEREMONY

On Tuesday, March 19, Leadership Evansville will honor and
celebrate 124 community individuals, businesses, organizations and projects for their
servant leadership at Celebration of Leadership (COL). The ceremony will be held at
5:30 p.m. at The Centre Ballroom in downtown Evansville.
A total of 39 awards will be presented to recipients who have shown exceptional
community and public service in the following categories: Arts, Education, Environment,
Government & Public Service, Health & Social Service and Neighborhood &
Community.
One individual will receive the prestigious Jefferson Award through a partnership with
the Evansville Courier & Press.
“The diversity of the Celebration of Leadership nominations demonstrates the incredible
passion and commitment to our citizens in making our community even better,”
Executive Director Lynn Miller Pease. “Watching COL and learning about all of the
incredible things people are doing helps inspire all of us to engage in our community to
make it a better place.”
The partnership between Leadership Evansville and the Evansville Courier & Press has
led to four Evansville recipients of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Awards for Public
Service in the past nine years, an accomplishment no other community in the United
States has achieved. The past Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis recipients include: Kathryn
Martin, 2007; Holly Dunn-Pendleton, 2006; Billy Bolin and Paul Kirby, 2005; and
Bridget McDaniel, 2003.
Members of the Evansville community demonstrate leadership every day, according to
Miller Pease. However, many of those individuals, businesses and organizations go
unrecognized. COL is one channel for all of these leaders to be recognized and
applauded for their actions to better our community.
The nominations are diverse, emotional and amazing stories of our community. They
range from a teacher changing her students’ lives at school but also after school, a young
man who spent the last months of his life dedicated to cancer research, community
leaders setting out to make Evansville a more beautiful place to live, a high school girl
focused on teaching other women self-defense, a library who sees technology growing
and wants to get people an opportunity to learn and grow with it. These are just
examples of all of the fantastic nominations that will be recognized at COL.
“COL is the academy awards for servant leadership,” said Miller Pease. “Recognizing
ordinary individuals for doing extraordinary things to make our community the best place
to live, work and play.”
Reservations are still being taken for COL. If you would like to attend, call the
Leadership Evansville office at 812-425-3828 or make an online reservation at
http://leadershipevansville.org/programs/celebration-of-leadership. Admission is
$15/adult, $5/student.
ABOUT CELEBRATION OF LEADERSHIP
Celebration of Leadership is Leadership Evansville’s conscious effort to recognize
servant leaders in our community. Awards are given to recognize individuals,
organizations, projects and businesses for going above and beyond the call of duty to
improve our community.
ABOUT LEADERSHIP EVANSVILLE
Leadership Evansville was founded in 1976 by a group of future-thinking local leaders
whose original commitment to community-wide betterment remains unique and strong.
Leadership Evansville brings together people with different talents, gifts and perspectives
and transforms these individuals into leaders who embrace the concept of community
trusteeship and the collaborative process. The experience helps participants develop an
understanding of how today’s leaders function, and teaches them the skills to apply this
knowledge in provided real life opportunities through practice and performance. These
attitudes, skills and processes are taught to, adults, youth, organizations, not-for-profits,