Dianne English, executive director of the Community Building Initiative, is the 2017 recipient of the UNC Charlotte Distinguished Service Award. The honor was presented during a luncheon in the Popp Martin Student Union on Thursday, June 1.
In recognizing English, UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip L. Dubois said the University is honoring an individual who truly epitomizes the term “distinguished service.”
“Starting in 1997, the Community Building Initiative, thanks mainly to the energy and commitment of executive director Dianne English, has focused on increasing Charlotte's efforts to address a most difficult challenge – racial and ethnic inclusion and equity,” he said.
Dubois also noted that several top leaders from the Charlotte region have participated in the nonprofit organization's esteemed leadership programs.
“As Dianne might say, we are all a work in progress and the work continues,” he said.
The Community Building Initiative (CBI) is a nonprofit organization established in 1997 by government and civic leaders to achieve racial and ethnic inclusion and equity in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community.
CBI also played a major role in “Crossroads Charlotte,” which was launched in 2004 as a major collaborative civic project designed to increase social capital. The project’s goal was to encourage residents and influential organizations to make proactive decisions to remove barriers of mistrust and shape a positive future for tomorrow.
According to Dubois, “CBI's role in ‘Crossroads Charlotte’ put the organization at the center of a broad initiative to define what Charlotte would, or should, become.”
Mac Everett, a 2008 recipient of the DSA and former chair of the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees and UNC Charlotte Foundation, said English is a deserving honoree.
“Since 1997 CBI has engaged thousands of citizens in effective dialogue around issues of racial and ethnic inclusion and opportunity,” he said at the ceremony. “And Dianne English has been the one consistent ingredient in that dialogue.”
The Distinguished Service Award was established in 1987 by the Board of Trustees of UNC Charlotte and the Board of Directors of the University Foundation. It honors those who have provided outstanding leadership and exemplary service to the Charlotte community and to the advancement of UNC Charlotte. Each award recipient is presented a statue of a gold miner, cast from a sculpture by Lorenzo Ghiglieri.
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