Inclusive Leadership in Action (ILIA) Awards
Join us for the 8th Annual ILIA Awards!
Monday, October 14, 2024 5:30 - 8:30 pm
The Museum of Photographic Arts
at the San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA)
1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
Since 2017, RISE San Diego has honored local leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion through the annual Inclusive Leadership in Action (ILIA) Awards.
Each summer, RISE seeks nominations from the community of individuals and organizations that are doing the work to make a real difference in the San Diego region. Our honorees are selected from these nominations and then announced and celebrated in October at the RISE ILIA Awards event.
Nominate a community leader for the 2024 RISE San Diego ILIA Awards. The ILIA Awards honor the work of individuals and organizations throughout San Diego County who are dedicated to the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Since 2020, the community has been invited to make nominations in the following award categories:
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Honors an individual who has shown dedication and action to address and support a community’s ability to come together to combat or resist adverse circumstances. It recognizes the work of fostering adaptation, growth, and resiliency within communities to more readily respond to and recover from problems together.
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Co-presented with the University of San Diego.
Honors an individual who has shown dedication and action to make real, sustainable, and systemic change through the creation of innovative programs, policy, platforms, or partnerships. It recognizes the work of assisting the community’s ability to thrive in areas such as education, social enterprise, health and wellness, or advocacy.
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Honors an individual who has shown dedication and action in shifting the culture of organizations and communities alike. It recognizes the effort of guiding groups to face a new challenge, disrupt outdated or harmful norms, and become more reflective and responsive to the needs of the communities they serve.
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Honors an individual between the ages of 16 and 25. It recognizes the voices of young adults who have shown dedication and action within their communities and are growing into their roles as action-driven thought leaders.
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Honors an individual who has shown dedication and action in fostering spaces of healing and compassion for others. It recognizes the commitment to restorative practices delivered with grace, empathy, and a strong ethic of care in support of diverse community groups.
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Honors an organization that has shown dedication and action to confronting challenges and spearheading opportunities to support and uplift San Diegans in meaningful and impactful ways. It recognizes the efforts of organizations and their teams to deliver exceptional programming and services for the communities they serve.
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Honors an individual who has been an advocate and champion for under-served or marginalized communities. It recognizes advocacy in words and in action to bring about meaningful change for the people. The award is named in honor of the late Anthony M. Medina, a RISE Urban Leadership Fellow (‘18) and ILIA award recipient (‘19), who founded People’s Legal Services to provide free and low-cost legal support to underserved communities.
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An internally nominated and selected award, this honors an individual or organization/group whose commitment to the community is represented in both its deeds and words. It recognizes those that actively and continuously support organizations and community groups leaning into the work of systemic change in communities across San Diego County. The award is named in honor of the Legler Benbough Foundation, which believed in RISE by providing seed funding to grow the organization and has continued to be one of its strongest supporters.
2023 ILIA Awards Honorees
Meet our 2023 honorees whose leadership was celebrated by the community on October 9, 2023 at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
STEVEN DILLEY
2023 COLLECTIVE RESILIENCE ADVOCATE AWARD
Steve has chosen to use his artistic superpowers to help individuals in his community. As the founder of The Veterans Art Project, he has built a strong community of creatives who happen to be veterans. This work was initially influenced by Glen Lukens and further enhanced by his study of the community impact of Joseph Beuys and Jimmy Durham—a legacy of social engagement that positions artmaking not as an economic engine but one of transformation of the society we live in. Steve earned an MFA from California State University, Fullerton.
KAY BLACK
2023 CULTURE SHIFTER AWARD
After moving to San Diego seven years ago after completing her military service, Kay earned a master’s degree in social work and began pursuing her passion of working with nonprofits in the community to expand their missions. In her career she has achieved her $100,000 goal in funding for nonprofit and grassroot organizations.
ALEXIS VILLANUEVA
2023 COMMUNITY CHANGE AGENT AWARD
Alexis joined City Heights CDC over two years ago as a senior program manager, was quickly promoted to director of economic development, and later appointed to its executive director position in May 2023. Raised in the community, she demonstrates an unwavering commitment to it that is grounded in the goal of integrating business expertise with improved, data-driven operations and stakeholder engagement that is crucial to community work. Alexis has spent the majority of her career dedicated to promoting policy and programming at the intersection of social work, education, workforce development, health access, digital equity, economic development, and so much more.
DONNA L. COOK, PhD
2023 RESTORATIVE PRACTITIONER AWARD
Donna is a certified psychiatric clinical nurse specialist with over thirty-five years of experience in psychiatric mental health. She is a mental health clinician specializing in treating trauma and PTSD for the San Diego Veterans Administration; she also founded Omni Behavioral Health, a private practice that provides culturally competent mental health care, and is a former professor of nursing. Donna received her BS in nursing from the University of Southern Mississippi, an MS in nursing from Wayne State University, and a doctorate in nursing from the University of San Diego. She is an avid theater lover and an active member of her church.
NICOLE GARCIA DELGADO
2023 NEXT-GEN INFLUENCER AWARD
Nicole is a first-generation Chicana foster youth who is paving the way for the next generation of Chicanx youth who come from resilient backgrounds like hers. Her great love for community organizing began at Lindsay Community School; at 15, she developed an implicit bias training in collaboration with USD and presented it to the chief probation officer, and she was a keynote speaker for multiple #EthnicStudiesNow panels campaigning for ethnic studies to be established as a K-12 mandate. Nicole is majoring in sociology and Chicanx studies and chairs the Movimiento Estudiantil de Chicanxs de Aztlan, which promotes the mission of liberatory education.
ROOSEVELT WILLIAMS III
2023 ANTHONY M. MEDINA PEOPLE’S CHAMPION AWARD
Roosevelt is a native San Diegan and an industrious, conscientious, disciplined, and self-motivated small business owner. He is the current CEO and president of Young Black & ‘N Business, a community organization devoted to serving and motivating the overlooked and the underserved majority working together as one to be healthy, happy and successful.
2023 ORGANIZATION FOR CHANGE AWARD
By accelerating the elimination of workplace discrimination, especially for people who are historically marginalized because of their personal backgrounds, the Kim Center envisions a society deeply rooted in self-respect and respect for others, which 1) grows and thrives by recognizing that important contributions come from every demographic, rather than any select group; 2) draws collective economic, social and political strength from fully empowered individuals of diverse personal backgrounds; and 3) teaches its children that life can be full of possibilities rather than limited by artificial constructs designed to maintain the power status quo.
TONY YOUNG
2023 ILIA Awards Nominees
Support inclusive leadership in the San Diego region as a sponsor of the 2024 ILIA Awards
Review our sponsorship deck and sign-up form below, or email our team at events@risesandiego.org for more information.
THANK YOU TO OUR PREVIOUS ILIA SPONSORS
