Kathy Atkinson | Cincinnati, Ohio
Kathy developed community partnerships for safety initiatives, sustained the push to develop a community learning center and spearheaded business district development in the Walnut Hills neighborhood. Her vision for the neighborhood is one that is vital, interactive, dignified and inclusive. Kathy has brought neighbors together for Citizens on Patrol, an Interstate 71 redesign, Good Guy Loitering, and Community Problem Oriented Policing (CPOP). She works with individuals of all ages including University of Cincinnati students at the Niehoff Studio for urban design, the Young Professionals for a Saturday Give Back in Cincinnati day, the community for the Great American Cleanup and neighborhood residents for the Neighborhood Support and Neighborhood Business District Support Programs. Kathy regularly walks the neighborhood building community through her personal interactions with people from all walks of life. She has been an active presence since her arrival in 1994.

Roy Baldridge | Lima, Ohio
Roy is a committed visionary and neighborhood advocate who works closely with city, county and township trustees. He also assists all neighborhood associations with requirements of the Internal Revenue Service. Roy has been involved with neighborhood and community improvement for over ten years. He believes the community vision needs to come from the people who live there, not consultants. Currently, Roy is serving a second term as President of the Lima-Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership. He is also President of his own Country Club Hills/Twin Lakes Neighborhood Association. He has been instrumental in neighborhood workshops, local participation in RNNC, a speaker at various organizations about the benefits of service in the community, and he trains on topics such as Block Watch Patrol, Community Healing Through Communication and Organizational Development, and community building through technology. Not only is Roy active in his local community, he has also participated in a Haiti Medical Mission trip in 2008 to teach dental hygiene, assist in the pharmacy and in bringing basic medical care to hundreds of Haitians.

Ms. Mary Ellington | Dayton, Ohio
Mary has volunteered for more than three decades in the Wright Dunbar neighborhood organizing block parties, alley sweeps, caring for the elderly, delivering welcome baskets to new residents, mentoring youth, and overall helping to make a positive difference in the community. Having survived the devastating race riots in 1968, she organized the Wright Dunbar residents to save the historic neighborhood from urban renewal demolition. She advocated and attracted a full-service gas station, family restaurant, and Laundromat to an underserved inner city neighborhood. On any given day, Ms. Ellington is attending neighborhood meeting to strategize about ways to improve the quality of life through beautification, planning and zoning, public safety, and community organizing through a variety of events. Under her leadership and partnership with the Innerwest Community Development Corporation, 60 new infill houses were built for low-to-moderately low income residents which included an option to buy at the end of the lease agreement. She also served as a neighborhood representative in the design of the Edison Neighborhood School, a $10 million elementary school. The Wright Brothers taught the world to fly and the African American Poet Laurence Dunbar transcended boundaries imposed on him by society. And, Mary Ellington's perseverance and determination saved a neighborhood and turned it into a community treasure!

Charles Loury | Decatur, Illinois
Charles is President of the Fans Field Neighborhood Association, works with a local Boy Scout Troop, has logged in over 1,500 hours with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and is a member-at-large of the Wildlife Conservation Federation. Mr. Loury is an Army veteran having served in the Vietnam War and is Commander of American Legion Post #1972. Weekly, he provides rides to veterans going to the Veterans Hospital and Clinic in Danville, Illinois and while there visits permanent residents in the facility. He also makes extra trips to Danville during the month of December to deliver gifts and do sing-a-longs with the residents. Mr. Loury is also a member of the Macon County Honor Guard and participates in the ceremony of military rites for area veterans. He serves as a true community role model through his giving spirit!

Mary L. Morris | Fort Wayne, Indiana
Mary has participated in and served as President of the Oxford Community Association over the past two decades. She continues to promote neighborhood involvement by organizing neighborhood cleanups and bake sales as a way to generate revenue for the association and to bring the over 1,000 neighbors together. Ahead of her time, Mary has been organizing recycling programs since the 1980s having collected over 15,000 pounds of newspapers and 240 pounds of aluminum cans. She organized a tire program to rid her neighborhood of unwanted, unused tires. She encouraged her Neighborhood Association to use the award funds they won to pay youths to make pine garbage can racks set in alleys as a way to keep dogs and other critters out of the garbage! Mary worked with the local Code Enforcement division to operate a weeding program and gave summer job contracts to minority contractors who could not bid on city contracts. She consistently participates in the Board of Zoning Appeals process in an effort to convey the neighborhood's sentiment regarding the compatibility of proposed businesses. Mary's forward-thinking and action-oriented nature proves that there are opportunities to grow and expand the untapped skills in her community!

Terry Simpson | Covington, Kentucky
Terry consistently engages residents in community-building activities, builds partnerships to bring diverse stakeholders together and has the ability to put other's ideas and needs ahead of his own as the Chairperson of the Covington Neighborhood Collaborative (CNC). He has served four consecutive terms of this umbrella organization comprised of 17 Neighborhood Associations. Terry founded Leavassor Park Neighborhood Association in March 2005 and served as President until 2010. He built the organization through knocking on doors and one-on-one engagement. In 2008, Terry created a litter task force which expanded its mission and eventually grew into Keep Covington Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. Under his leadership, Covington Clean and Green Team evolved to help keep the downtown business district and its main corridor attractive and safe. Terry has served on a number of committees and boards including Vacant Property Commission, Urban Forestry Board, to name a few. He has also worked with Covington's Center for Great Neighborhoods to develop a Covington Resident Handbook, now in its third edition. Without Terry's initiative, dedication, leadership, and enthusiasm, CNC would not have become the resident-led organization that has engaged civic groups, businesses, government, and residents throughout the years!