Announcement of Annual OCCD Member Award Recipients

Ohio Conference of Community Development (OCCD), a statewide association of community and economic development practitioners, will announce the winners of the 12th Annual OCCD Member Awards, the President’s Award for Innovative Practices, and this year’s Public Service Scholarships at the OCCD Summer Annual Meeting.

The 2024 Annual Awards will include:

            Legacy Award – In recognition of individuals who have advanced community development programs with particular ardor and creativity throughout their careers, and where long-term benefits are demonstrable and noteworthy.

            The George Voinovich Distinguished Public Service Awards – 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.

            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.

            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.

            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 and must be under the age of 35.

            Community Development Intern of the Year – In recognition of community development students who have performed exemplary work in and exhibited overwhelming commitment to their internship. The student must be currently enrolled or a recent graduate or a program related to community development at an accredited institution in Ohio

            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.

            President’s Award for Innovative Practices – In recognition of unique and creative programming that at least partially uses HUD or State Funds in the delivery of housing and community development services.  Selection is based upon the significance of need addressed, the ability to sustain the impact over time, the ability of the project to be replicated elsewhere with similar success, and the scope of the impact on the community.

Public Service Scholarships

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:  Two college students will be receiving scholarships this year from the OCCD Foundation Scholarship Fund. .

The 2024 award and scholarship recipients will be honored at OCCD’s Hybrid Annual Summer Meeting held July 24, 2024.  For meeting details, go to www.occd.org.

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.