Leadership Fairfax (LFI) has chosen the 2013 Northern Virginia Leadership Awards (NVLA) recipients via a panel of community and business leaders evaluating nominations submitted by Leadership Fairfax alumni and the general public. The award recipients will be honored at the Northern Virginia Leadership Awards luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 7, at Westwood Country Club in Vienna.
The Regional Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual or organization for leadership in advancing the cause and spirit of regional collaboration and partnership, is being awarded to:
- Bob Chase, president, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance. Chase is recognized for his work over two decades with the NVTA, a business-citizen coalition founded in 1987 to promote greater business community and citizen awareness of, and involvement in, regional transportation issues. Today, the alliance is the only private sector organization focused exclusively on making better transportation a reality for Northern Virginia citizens and businesses. Chase has been invaluable to the group’s efforts to educate the public and motivate advocacy to advance major regional road and transit improvements. His efforts led directly to successfully securing statewide funding for transportation in the 2013 legislative session. The alliance also leads the Northern Virginia Transportation Business Coalition, a group of major business organizations working to develop consensus on transportation funding and other regional and state transportation issues.
The Trustee Leadership Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated visionary leadership in the Northern Virginia community by willingly embracing new opportunities, and taking innovative and collaborative approaches in pursuit of better outcomes.
- Lynn Tadlock, Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, an LFI ’02 graduate, was selected for her work over 28 years with the Fairfax County Park Authority, and her work in philanthropy at Claude Moore Foundation. She was instrumental in many programs that are still in existence in the county today, such as the redevelopment of the Lorton Prison site, the creation of the County Connector Trail, the creation of two county parks for disabled children, Clemyjontri, and the Special Harbor Spray Park at Lee District. Tadlock serves as chair of the board of the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, and is on the board of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce and the Moorefield Station Conservancy Board of Directors, as well as past service on many other boards and committees throughout the region. She has taken her years of experience and utilized them to better Fairfax and the surrounding counties for all residents.
The Nonprofit Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding nonprofit individual or organization that demonstrates service and stewardship in the Northern Virginia community. The organization will have exhibited excellence in the areas of innovation, motivation, community building, ethical integrity, and strategic leadership.
- Pam Michell, executive director of New Hope Housing, was selected for her inspirational leadership over 22 years at New Hope Housing. She has grown the organization from a small, local agency to a regional agency, with shelters, transitional and supportive housing, as well as outreach and support services. Michell has been a dedicated advocate for ending homelessness in the region, and was lauded in her nomination by a colleague for her “commitment to homeless services (which) has transformed an entire system of services into a group of dedicated non-profits producing effective, tangible outcomes that literally save lives in Fairfax County.”
The Corporate Leadership Award recognizes a private sector company that has demonstrated excellence and a commitment to the community, not only ethical leadership and corporate stewardship, but will have made a demonstrative and positive difference in the community.
- The JBG Companies was selected for its commitment to the community as part of its overall mission. The JBG Companies believes that every development it undertakes should enrich the community in some way and is dedicated to developing active, sustainable communities, advancing affordable housing and promoting public art. The company has also shown a commitment to green building and minimizing environmental impact. The JBG Companies also founded a volunteer arm, JBG Cares, which matches volunteers from the company in the areas of affordable housing, education, the environment, hunger and the arts.
The Educational Leadership Award recognizes an individual teacher or administrator at the primary or secondary school level, or an individual whose primary function is to educate, who has demonstrated a long-term and consistent pattern of excellent leadership in the education field.
- Joe Thompson, assistant principal at Annandale High School, was selected for his efforts in coordinating and launching the first Annandale Pyramid Resource Fair in August, which provided school supplies and personal services to almost 4,000 families in the Annandale High School Pyramid. Thompson will be recognized along with the event co-chair, Sherry Noud, for their leadership. The group identified top needs in the community, developed a website with information about community organizations and agencies that provide assistance, and encouraged the community to come together to provide the services needed at the Resource Fair, including clothing, hearing and sight testing, and haircuts for students. In all, the fair garnered $300,000 in donations, the largest effort in Fairfax County Public Schools’ history, and brought together all of the schools in the pyramid in partnership toward the goal.
The Chairman’s Award is given at the discretion of the current Chair of the Leadership Fairfax Board of Directors. It recognizes a person who has given passionately and personally of his or her time, talent or resources to Leadership Fairfax over the past year.
- The 2013 recipient of this award will be Patricia Stevens, LFI Class of 2008, executive director, Office of Public Private Partnerships, Fairfax County. In the 2012-2013 year, Stevens served on the Board of Directors of Leadership Fairfax as Governance Committee chair, a member of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Membership Committee. She also participated in several of the class days. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for Leadership Fairfax and its programs is contagious, and she contributed greatly to the Board of Directors during the year.
Since 1988, Leadership Fairfax has been developing community leaders in the county. The organization’s 1,500 graduates connect the Fairfax community across all sectors—public, private and non-profit—and ensure a continuing source of trained leaders to strengthen the county. For more information about the Northern Virginia Leadership Awards, visit www.leadershipfairfax.org or call 703-752-7555.