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Triangle Individuals & Groups Honored for Regional Leadership
CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon (left) congratulates N&O President & Publisher Orage Quarles, a representative of the High 5 group. |
Celebrating regional thinking and action was the order of the evening at the 5th Annual Goodmon Awards. Presented by Leadership Triangle on Monday, December 11, 2006, the awards recognize individuals and groups for regional leadership and contributions to the greater Triangle community.
The Goodmon Awards Gala took place at American Tobacco’s Bay 7 in downtown Durham at 5:30pm. With the theme “The Triangle is Flat – Celebrating the Globalization of Our Triangle,” the gala melded a variety of cuisines and music styles from around the world. And the crowd came from their homes and workplaces all over the Triangle.
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| Music from a variety of cultures entertains the Goodmon Awards Gala attendees including (l to r) The African American Dance Ensemble, Circle in the Round with Janet Knight Ledbetter & Clarence Dozan Ledbetter, and members of the Opera Company of North Caroilna. |
“We wanted to have a leadership program that focused on the needs of the Triangle,” said CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon of Leadership Triangle, of which he is board chair. “We know there is no way we [the Triangle] can double in size in 20 years and not act regionally. Our mantra is the future depends on us all working together.”
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“The future depends on us all working together,” says CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon.
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“Hockey is truly a global game,” says Carolina Hurricanes owner Pete Karmanos. “We bring players from around the world, and they love it here.”
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Carolina Hurricanes Owner Peter Karmanos delivered the keynote address for the event. He purchased the Hartford Whalers in 1994 and immediately began looking for a place to move the NHL team from Connecticut. When he first planned to visit the Triangle, he said many people around him made quips about Mayberry and many similar comments. But he said he was met with a unified approach from the people here, that there were no turf wars and all sectors worked together.
“We have embraced this area, and you have embraced us in return,” he said. “Normally large public events pull people together for a short period of time. The Triangle is different because weeks after the Stanley Cup parade ended, we still felt the energy of the people.”
“You have to be a team to compete,” Karmanos said. And he said the Triangle works as one. “Under the guidance of the Leadership Triangle award winners, we will prevail.”
And the Goodmon Award Winners are:
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Exemplary Regional Leadership by an Individual
2006 Recipient: Bruce Lightner, CEO of the Lightner Funeral Home |
 Bruce Lightner (left) & Jim Goodmon
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Bruce Lightner has led the Raleigh Martin Luther King Celebration Committee for 26 years and is responsible for MLK Holiday presentation of wholesome, family-oriented, multi-racial events, bringing the Triangle community together to pray, march, break bread and share in ecumenical services.
Lightner also brings Dr. King’s teachings into the daily lives of Triangle residents though the MLK Resource Center. Created in 2001, the Center engages in community-based, people-driven dialogue and helps establish and foster “best practices” in improving race and ethnic relations.
Most recently, Lightner drove the creation of the Lost Generations Triangle Task Force, a joint effort between the MLK Resource Center, leaders within the faith community and concerned citizens of the Triangle. The task force engages the community in identifying strategies to reduce the number of African American and Hispanic youth in the criminal justice system.
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Exemplary Regional Leadership by an Elected Official
2006 Recipient: Alice Gordon, Orange County Commissioner |
Jim Goodmon (left) & Alice Gordon |
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Alice Gordon has been an Orange County Commissioner for 16 years. She promoted and helped to implement the first comprehensive county land acquisition program in North Carolina: The Lands Legacy Program and the new environmental department essential to its operation.
In six years the award-winning initiative has protected more than 1,700 acres of the county’s most important natural and cultural resources, including farmland, parkland and critical natural areas.
Gordon has been at the forefront of regional transportation leadership for a decade. Most recently, she spearheaded the creation of the new TTA Hillsborough – Chapel Hill bus route, a huge step toward inter-city connectivity. Gordon currently chairs the Triangle Transit Authority.
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Exemplary Regional Leadership by an Organization
2006 Recipient: The Triangle United Way |
TUW’s Craig Chancellor & Jim Goodmon |
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In 2006, Triangle United Way celebrated a decade of caring as a regional charitable organization working to improve lives across Durham, Orange and Wake counties. Since it began, caring volunteers have generated $50 million for human service programs through the Community Campaign.
Triangle United Way is committed to working with certified member agencies to support programs that create lasting change for children, families, seniors and those seeking access to health and basic services.
For its vision of a better future for all Triangle residents, and its ability to act on that vision, the Triangle United Way is truly a regional leader.
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Exemplary Regional Partnership
2006 Recipient: The High Five Regional Partnership for High School Excellence |
Jim Goodmon (left) & Orage Quarles
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The High Five Regional Partnership for High School Excellence, a collaboration between regional businesses, charitable foundations and the five Triangle school districts, believes that the Triangle’s continued economic growth and excellent quality of life depend on vastly improved outcomes from our K-12 educational systems.
Its goal is to graduate 100 percent of our high school students by 2013. The partnership also plans to see 90 percent of all students complete college tech prep or university prep courses, and 80 percent meeting minimum admission requirements to the UNC system by 2009.
By bringing together the Triangle’s business, faith and educational leaders, High Five provides a model for the kind of true regional partnership required to solve the most pressing problems facing the area.
For its dedication to promoting high school graduation and student achievement, The High Five Regional Partnership for High School Excellence is an exemplar of true partnership.
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Photo Gallery
Music of all kinds rotates through the event. |
Guests enjoy an extensive buffet of dishes from around the world. |
About the Awards
As communities across the Triangle come to understand the importance of working together, regional thinking and regional cooperation become more essential to our individual and collective well being. Yet, we have few mechanisms in place for rewarding such regional foresight and action. As a result, Leadership Triangle has established these annual awards in honor of James F. Goodmon to recognize leaders in our community who are regionally minded – and who exhibit that frame of mind in their personal and professional lives. |
The seemingly endless buffet provides a variety of delights. |
Members of the African American Dance Ensemble energetically dance for the crowd. |
WRAL-TV Anchor Debra Morgan, a Leadership Triangle alum herself, emcees the event. |
Musicians strike a beat as part of the African American Dance Ensemble. |
Leadership Triangle trains citizens, executives, business people and many others from all walks of the Triangle in becoming regional leaders. |
Chuck Davis shouts out a greeting from his group, the African American Ensemble, building the energy of the crowd. |
Robert Galbraith sings a stirring invocation with the lines: “If I can help somebody as I’m travelin’ on then my livin’ shall not be in vain.” |
A drum beat fills the air as performers from the African American Dance Ensemble brighten the room with their colorful dance costumes and lively performance. |
POSTED: December 14, 2006
