Honoring People Committed to Winona

Click here to NOMINATE NOW. Nominations due by Friday, June 2, 2023.

The Winona Community Foundation is seeking nominations now through Friday, June 2, 2023 for their annual Founders Award which recognizes individuals who:

  • Have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to improving life in the Winona area community through the use of their time, talent and treasure;

  • Have recognized unmet needs and untapped opportunities to better our community;

  • Have collaborated with others to create a vision of what could be, then motivated others within the community to take action towards pursuit of that vision;

  • Serve as role models for others related to charitable activities & community projects;

  • Advance philanthropic activities in the Winona area community.

Individuals selected to receive the award will have the opportunity to grant the funds to the charity of their choice. Nominations are accepted through June 2, 2023 from Winona area community members, with the recipient of the award selected by the Winona Community Foundation Board of Directors. The individual will be honored at the October 10, 2023 Founders Event.

History of the Founders Award

The Founders Fund was created in 2003 to honor all of the individuals who planted the seed for the start of the Winona Community Foundation in the 1980s. This endowed fund awards dollars to local non-profit chosen in the name of an individual or organization that clearly touched community life for all time. Past recipients of this award include:

  • 2022: Malia Fox, Community Leader (Click to watch video about Malia Fox)
  • 2021: Phil Feiten, Community Leader (Click to watch video about Phil Feiten)
  • 2020: JC Pfeiffer, Community Leader
  • 2012: Patte Peterson, Past Board Member of the Winona Community Foundation
  • 2010: The Winona HIMS
  • 2008: Sue Cornwell, Community Leader & First President of WCF
  • 2007: Tim Burchill, Past Development Program Director at Saint Mary’s University of MN
  • 2005: Gloria Ames, Community Volunteer
  • 2004: Dr. Darrell Krueger, Winona State University, Past President
  • 2004: Louis De Thomasis, Saint Mary’s University, Past President

QUESTIONS?

For more information or to learn more about the Founders Award, please contact the office directly at (507) 454 – 6511 or wcf@winonacf.org.