Leadership Evansville receives Excellence in Innovation Award from Indiana Leadership Association
EVANSVILLE, Ind., August 17, 2015 — Leadership Evansville today announced that it has received the Excellence in Innovation Award from the Indiana Leadership Association for its VOICE initiative conducted in partnership with the City of Evansville Mayor’s Office. Leadership Evansville Chief Executive Officer Lynn Miller Pease accepted the award on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, during the Indiana Leadership Association’s annual meeting and awards luncheon in Kokomo, Ind. The event is held to connect and honor servant leaders from throughout the state. The Excellence in Innovation award recognizes community leadership programs that apply innovative ideas and approaches to improve the community.
“When we reviewed the nominations for this award, Leadership Evansville really stood out for the collaborative nature of the initiative and the tremendous impact it had on the community and the entire region,” said Juliann Jankowski, ILA Past President and Awards Committee Chair.
As a result of receiving the Excellence in Innovation award from the Indiana Leadership Association, Leadership Evansville will be the state of Indiana’s nominee for the 2016 national Excellence in Innovation award presented by the Association of Leadership Programs.
LE’s Lynn Miller Pease was excited to receive the award and the national nomination:
“We’re so pleased to have the innovative approach of our process for the VOICE community visioning and engagement initiative recognized by the Indiana Leadership Association. Since its inception in 2012, VOICE has had a far-reaching, transformational impact on Evansville and our region. It’s inspired more than 4,000 people to envision their preferred future for the community and hundreds more to lead new projects and activities that enabled them to create the change they wanted to see in our community. Today, we estimate that VOICE – through its projects and application by area organizations in their long-range planning – will have made a real and lasting impact on the lives of more than 250,000 people in our region.”
The VOICE Initiative
The VOICE Project is what true civic, servant leadership looks like in action. With respect for diversity at its foundation, VOICE has welcomed the ideas of people of all ages, ethnic and religious backgrounds from neighborhoods across our community. It encouraged them to identify the positives and negatives of Evansville and gave each participant the opportunity to articulate his or her vision of Evansville’s preferred future. VOICE has built a framework of ideas and suggestions that will lead our city into a better future. As these ideas develop, our community will need leadership and a collaborative process to assist with the shared implementation of the prioritized ideas generated through VOICE. VOICE is positioned to do this, not just today, but well into the future.
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. They help develop in them 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, businesses, educational institutions, neighborhood associations, churches and other leadership programs.