Leadership Anne Arundel (LAA), the premier leadership training and networking institute in Anne Arundel County, has announced the annual Tribute to Community Leadership and Graduation special honorees.
Each year, LAA hosts a celebration honoring the graduates from the Flagship and Neighborhood Leadership Academy classes along with the Excellence in Leadership, Distinguished Graduate and Bertina Nick Flagship Scholarship Honorees.
The Excellence in Leadership Award, selected by the LAA Board of Directors and sponsored by Live! Casino & Hotel, recognizes an Anne Arundel County business or individual who has made a significant local impact to our quality of life. The 2020 Excellence in Leadership Honoree is Karen Olscamp, President & CEO of University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center. Although this award is not limited to LAA graduates, Ms. Olscamp is a graduate of the LAA Flagship class of 1998 (FLG98). Ms. Olscamp was selected for her longstanding exemplary leadership at UM BWMC.
The purpose of the Distinguished Graduate Award is to recognize exceptional Leadership Anne Arundel graduates. Recipients are individuals who have adopted “the heart of community trusteeship” and have made significant and notable contributions for the betterment of our community. Distinguished Graduate Honorees are selected by an alumni committee of past recipients. This year the committee selected two 2020 Distinguished Graduate Honorees. Monica Alvarado (FLG09) was selected for her work with Feed Anne Arundel and LaToya Nkongolo (FLG18) was selected for her work educating the community on causes and treatment related to mental health and addictions.
The Bertina Nick NLA Flagship Scholarship is awarded a graduate of the Neighborhood Leadership Academy. The scholarship is named for activist and community leader Bertina Larkins Nick recognizing her lifetime of work in the county. It is the only full-scholarship available for the LAA Flagship program. The 2020 scholarship recipient is will be announced during the virtual event.
The annual Tribute to Community Leadership and Graduation Celebration is a feel-good evening celebrating more than 25 years of contributions, collaboration, innovation, and leadership of countless graduates from Leadership Anne Arundel. More than 1,400 LAA graduates have transformed our community’s landscape by serving throughout public, private, non-profit, and government sectors—all who are ready to develop, nurture, and connect the next generation of leaders.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event will take place virtually from 6:00 – 8:00p on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Class members and featured guests will convene on Zoom and the event will be broadcasted to the public on Facebook Live. The program will include inspirational multimedia, remarks from featured guests, award presentations and recognition of graduates from the 2020 Flagship and Neighborhood Leadership Academy classes.
According to LAA President & CEO Kris Valerio Shock, “The annual Tribute celebration typically draws more than 300 people to recognize community leaders and while we recognize it’s not practical to gather that size crowd in-person in the near future, we’re taking the celebration to the virtual space because these dedicated community leaders are having a profound impact on our community in a time when we need them more than ever. We literally can’t wait to celebrate them.”
The general public is encouraged to tune in to the LAA Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/leadershipannearundel) on Tuesday, June 23rd at 6:00p to catch the livestream.
For more information, visit https://leadershipaa.org/tribute
