Debi Clark, Area 4 Program Director for Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters, has been awarded the 2013 Kansas Leadership Forum Connector Award. Clark was nominated by the Southwestern College Leadership program.

The Connector Award is a joint effort between the Kansas Leadership Forum (KLF) and the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development and is supported by the Kansas Health Foundation.  The Kansas Leadership Forum (KLF) is a professional association designed to serve and assist those Kansas professionals and volunteers involved in providing youth and adult leadership development and education. The Connector Award is intended to recognize a person who has done an outstanding job in encouraging collaboration among partners and who has provided outstanding leadership in connecting people and programs for positive community purposes.

On Monday, Dec. 16, Clark was surprised with the presentation of the award at her monthly board meeting. Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development and chair of the Kansas Leadership Forum, came from Manhattan to present the award.  Debbie Lutz, state program director for Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters was also in attendance as part of the surprise.  (Area 4 covers nine Kansas counties.)

As part of the award, Clark was granted $1,000 to donate to a charity of her choice, and she intends to donate it to operating funds needed at the local BBBS organization.

Southwestern College junior biology major Sara Peck was the author of the nomination.  She worked closely with BBBS case manager Cathy Oller, as well as Matt O’Brien, head coach of the men’s basketball team at SC, to complete the nomination.

“We were excited to be able to honor Debi in front of a group of peers who recognized how much she deserves this award,” says Lindsay Wilke, assistant director for Leadership Southwestern.  “Debi is a long-standing force for positive change in our community, and she is wholly deserving of this award.”