Past Award Recipients

• DEI Student Leader of the Year: SirMichael Carrington Williams-Thomas
• DEI Emerging Leader of the Year: La Toshia Burrell
• DEI Leader of the Year: Heather Schott
• DEI Ally of the Year: Dr. Erlin Kakkanad
• Small Business: The Joy of Curls
• Medium Business (50 – 249 employees): Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency 
• Large Business (250 and above): Turner Construction
• Nonprofit: Polk County Housing Trust Fund
• Education: Iowa Juneteenth
• Government: West Des Moines Human Rights Commission
• Best Inclusion Initiative: 2024 Aspire to Inspire ERG Conference (Iowa Safe Schools)

These award recipients were selected from a pool of 53 applicants by a panel of judges who come from all walks of life. They dedicated countless hours to thoroughly reviewing each application and curating valuable feedback for each applicant. That panel of judges included: Julie Bittner, Aleah Vaske, Stacey Cale, Courtney Greene, Jennifer Hahn, Jill Crosser, Joey Spivey, Jennifer Sorensen, Madison Melohn, Ashton Bierman, Eric Shepard, Gilmara Mitchell, Samantha Wepking, Lindsay Rone, Mary Core, Stacey Kimberlin, Moriah Morgan, Erin Kim Cho, Jerrica Marshall, Bobbi Segura, Ida Wood.