Activist Awards

Every year, the Washington Peace Center throws the activist party of the season!

The Activist Awards Grassroots Gala is a wonderful event where we celebrate DC activists' hard work and successes in creating a more just and peaceful world.  We honor local activists and throw a party for the entire community.

Thank you to everyone who came out for the 2011 Activist Awards on Thursday, December 8th.  It was a fantastic and inspiring evening.  Click here to see the photos. 

This year we gave the newly dedicated Helga Herz Lifetime Achievement Award to Leslie Salgado. Helga Herz led a life devoted to peace and equality. She had a sincere, unyielding faith that one person can change the world. When she passed away at age 97 in February 2010, she left a legacy that embodies her personal philosophy of advocacy and activism. 

This year's winners are:

Earline Budd, Transgender Health Empowerment
Demissie Abebe, Director of Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition
Jon Liss, Director of VA New Majority, former Director of Tenants and Workers United
Kristen Kane-Osorto, Luther Place, Steinbruck Center for Urban Studies
Leslie Salgado, Howard County Friends of Latin America
Netfa Freeman, IPS, SALSA, WPFW, Empower DC
Sylvia Robinson, Emergence Community Arts Collective, Georgia Ave Task Force, Diverse City Fund
Vasudha Desikan, former Left Turn and NCOR, active in INCITE and at Occupy DC
Michael Kemp,  Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, the school to prison pipeline.
The Walter Reed Vigil

Have you been to all six previous Activist Awards? Click here to see the impressive awardees from the Activist Awards from the past six years and click here to see photos from the 2010 Gala!

Check out our pictures from the last six years here with photos from the first Activist Awards in 2004!