From VCF –
Nominations are now being accepted for the $15,000 Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership.
This will be the ninth annual award, a tribute to Con’s life’s work and commitment to public service. The goal of the award is to encourage and reward leaders who share his vision of a better Vermont—one that places the highest value on the public good—who seize the responsibility for making that vision real, and who mentor emerging leaders.
The prize money provides a unique opportunity for the recipient to nurture and further their leadership capacity and may be spent how ever the awardee chooses.
In 2022, Joe Wiah was honored with the Con Hogan Award. Wiah, a former refugee himself from war-torn Liberia, is the director of the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s (ECDC) Multicultural Community Center in Brattleboro. In this role, he coordinates with community organizations, government, and individuals to help refugees integrate into community life in Southern Vermont.
In his acceptance remarks at the award ceremony last October, Wiah asked listeners to educate themselves about refugees and immigrants. “These are intelligent and creative people whose dreams are not different from ours,” he said. “I didn’t have to educate myself, I experienced it.” Wiah highlighted that in addition to our obligation to help those fleeing persecution and crisis, the economic benefits to Vermont provide a strong reason for the state to invite refugees to come here.
The 2023 winner will be an individual selected by the Award Committee, whose members represent a broad range of interests and experience, including health care and human services, the arts, government service, early care and education, and the economy. The individual will have demonstrated the following characteristics: focusing on results, using data and measurement to mobilize action, working with people across diverse perspectives, taking risks in pursuit of the vision, and persisting through setbacks.
In addition to Wiah, previous winners are Dr. Lydia Clemmons (2021), Jan Demers (2019), James Baker (2018), Holly Morehouse (2017), Michael Monte (2016), and Ellen Kahler (2015). In 2020, the committee extended special recognition to the entire Vermont Department of Health staff for their untiring efforts to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The awardee must be a Vermont resident who has not yet received the prize and must be nominated by another individual. Nominations will be accepted through the Vermont Community Foundation’s website until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, 2023. The award will be presented at a public event in Montpelier, at 4:30 pm on October 11.
More Information or Submit a Nomination
The Vermont Community Foundation was established in 1986 as an enduring source of philanthropic support for Vermont communities. A family of more than 900 funds, foundations, and supporting organizations, the Foundation makes it easy for the people who care about Vermont to find and fund the causes they love. The Community Foundation and its partners put more than $60 million annually to work in Vermont communities and beyond. The heart of its work is closing the opportunity gap—the divide that leaves too many Vermonters struggling to get ahead, no matter how hard they work. The Community Foundation envisions Vermont at its best—where everyone can build a bright, secure future. Visit vermontcf.org or call 802-388-3355 for more information.