OCCD Annual Awards to be Announced at the Summer Annual Meeting

Ohio Conference of Community Development (OCCD), a statewide association of community and economic development practitioners, announced the winners of the 11th Annual OCCD Member Awards, the President’s Award for Innovative Practices, and this year’s Public Service Scholarships.

The 2023 honorees for the annual OCCD Member Awards are as follows:

         The George Voinovich Distinguished Public Service Award – In recognition of individuals who have devoted much of their lives to the benefit of society through careers in community development in the public and/or private sectors.

2023 Recipient:  Tom Leach

        Community Development Partner of the Year Award – In recognition of a non-profit or faith-based organization, individual, business, financial institution, foundation, intermediary, government agency, or other entity that has provided exceptional support to the community development industry.

2023 Recipient:  Greater Ohio Policy Center

        Community Development Professional of the Year – In recognition of community development professionals whose work on a project or program had a major impact on their community.

 2023 Recipient:  Jessica King, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership

       Young Community Development Professional of the Year – In recognition of young community development professionals whose work on a project or program had a major impact on their community. This is the inaugural year of this award that recognizes community development professionals under the age of 35.

 2023 Recipient:  Krystal Dunlap, Columbus

            Community Development Department of the Year – In recognition of a department whose programs collectively or one program singly has made a significant impact in their community.

 2023 Recipient:  Lorain Building, Housing & Planning Department

In addition to the Member Awards, OCCD created the Public Service Scholarship Fund in 2012 to support students who are passionate about the field of community development. The scholarship fund was established in honor of William Graves and Gary Locke, and in 2017 was expanded to include Karen Kerns Dresser, who committed their careers to community development and public service in Ohio. Recipients of $2,000 scholarships will include:  Allex Smith, an undergraduate majoring in CIty and Regional Planning at The Ohio State University, Stephan Raven Ho, a graduate student majoring in City and Regional Planning at The Ohio State University, and Troy Parks, an undergraduate majoring in Public Administration at Miami University Oxford. 

The winner of the 2023 OCCD President’s Award for Innovative Practices is the County Corp's Pathways to Homeownership Program.  CountyCorp worked with its partners to address the needs of those households that were living in a property impacted by the tornadoes of 2019, that had less than 120% of area median income, that were first-time homebuyers and had the ability to be mortgage ready within one year of application.  Many entities have been involved in the local recovery effort - specifically for this program, the State of Ohio provided funds to Montgomery County, who, in turn entered into a subrecipient agreement with CountyCorp and the Homeownership Center of Great Dayton.  Other partners include the City of Dayton, Harrison Township, the Cit yof Trotwood, the Montgomery County Landbank, various volunteer build teams and the Miami Valley Long-Term Recovery Operations group.  

This program reflects outstanding performance in addressing significant and immediate needs in the region.

OCCD is an association of more than 175 community and economic development professionals representing cities, counties, villages, non-profit organizations and consulting firms across Ohio. Its members are dedicated to improving the livability of their communities through various initiatives and collaborations that aim to eliminate urban blight and encourage planning practices that enable a healthy, sustainable, and equitable way of life for all citizens. The OCCD Member Awards were created to formally recognize those community development professionals who have made the greatest difference in their communities and in Ohio.

The 2023 award and scholarship recipients will be honored at OCCD’s Annual Summer Meeting held July 26, 2023.  For meeting details, go to www.occd.org.